Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I woke up with an ocular migraine today and the only thought I had is that it’s like looking through a triangle kaleidoscope as it swirls around. The first time it happened (2019 car collision), I found it disturbing, disorienting, scary, tiring. Today, it’s just cool, and it’s never longer than 20 minutes. Built in kaleidoscope!
We had a thunder storm this afternoon - might has something to do with it. I usually need a short nap after a visual migraine. For me, cause was car accident, trigger is stress and maybe barometric pressure change such as thunderstorms and Chinook winds.
was driving and waiting at a light .all of a sudden got dizzy and vision doubled …
my wife guided me in to a parking spot , closed my eyes for a minute and all was fine .
so far nothing again .
double vision happened once before about ten years ago . i get mostly a flickering in the edges and a white out in the center of vision typically
The flickering - I see that as similar to looking through a triangle kaleidoscope, first one triangle, then many, and there is almost a blip where vision in the centre is like a circle blocking what you should be seeing. Thankfully, mine pass after 20 minutes. I could not drive while that is going on.
I have yet to read the physiological cause ... I'm curious.
If it's in one eye, it can be a retinal migraine which is not very common and can be dangerous.
Otherwise, it's generally in both eyes and there are two names for it. Migraine aura (or migraine with aura). I don't use this term because I almost never have a headache with them and when communicating with others, if I say the word "migraine" they think "headache." The name I hear most frequently is scintillating scotoma. That seems to describe it the best too.
Those are caused by a "cortical spreading depression." Wikipedia defines it as "a pattern of changes in the behavior of nerves in the brain."
Mine I call "left sided" if they are a C shape and "right sided" if they are a reverse C. They always start right in the center and are very small. I can't read for 5 minutes when they are first happening. After a few minutes they start to move off to the side of my eyes and they get bigger as they do this. Sometimes I have one a year and sometimes 4 or 5. I kind of like them. They are pretty and I'm an artist. Mine are caused by hormone fluctuations - I'm on estrogen and when it seems unstable, that's when I often get one.
The most interesting part with mine is that even when they leave my field of vision off to the side, I can kind of sense them moving to the side of my head before they leave. Not physically. Just a sense that if you asked me where it went, I could point to it. The brain is a funny thing.
That's it! The C shape. You described it perfectly - what started 4 years ago and scared me. Today I kind of like it too, part-time artist. Reminds me of Monet art.
And my seventh one today at work. It lasted about half an hour and was mostly in my left eye. Shortly after I got an intense headache and felt nauseous. I'd been drinking lots of coffee and not so much water prior, was feeling nervous and stressed about my job, in a bright area and probably had high blood pressure. Poor posture too. But this is my third one this year so far. Before I got them years apart. Not sure why I'm suddenly getting them more.
Having my eight in total and fourth for this year. Time to make an appointment with an eye doctor. I can see it now in my bottom right eye that just started maybe ten minutes ago. I've had a headache the last few hours and haven't felt well all day either.
Last edited by floridarebel; 11-09-2023 at 07:18 PM..
I get them occasionally especially after being out in bright sunlight. Kind of like looking through a kaleidoscope as everything is pixelated and swirling for about 15 minutes.
Ive had it 3x, and one was today. The first time was scary, but after being reassured by Dr. Internet that they are harmless, I don’t freak out about it.
If you don’t know, it’s a floating spot in the eye that looks like you’re looking through water or Vaseline, and it’s surrounded by a colored prism. It is painless, and lasts about 5 minutes.
I used to get migraine headaches, but I don’t know if there is any connection.
I have had them for years. Didn't know what they were until my eye doctor explained that they can be a precursor to a migraine headache, but mine never do. I would rather have the ocular migraine than the headache any day. You just have to stop, breathe, and let them pass. They can be quite disorienting. But at least for me, no pain.
My husband has been getting them for 2 years now. In most cases, his headache follows after 15 minutes or so. Sometimes he gets no headache, but he takes a Nurtec now when he gets the aura just incase.
Our weather is changing to winter and is it ever hitting me hard this year! Twice this week I've had to get up, take a migraine pill and go back to bed. I obviously don't know if it would turn into a full blown migraine if I didn't do that, but that's happened twice in the past and once it hits the pill doesn't help much. Hopefully I adjust soon.
I started getting them maybe 10 years ago, and they stopped around 2 years ago. They all followed a similar pattern. There'd first be a small blind spot in the middle, and it would expand out to a shimmering C-shaped prism that would continue to expand until it dissipated at the margins of my field of vision. They consistently lasted around 40 minutes each. The C-shape would sometimes go to the left, and sometimes go to the right (so a backwards C). After they were done, there would be a small dull headache in the opposite side of my head from the curve of the prism... regular C shape meant the headache would be on the right, and backwards C meant the left.
I never figured out what caused them. The only triggers I ever noticed was that I seemed to be engaged in higher energy activities before they started, like rushing somewhere in a hurry. They could occur at any time of day. One time I even woke up with one of them in progress. They didn't really interfere that much with my life. I could even drive, work, and so on with them going on, although they could be rather annoying. They happened at most every 2 weeks or so, and around 2 years ago I stopped getting them altogether. I have no idea why. The whole thing is pretty mysterious since it seems no one seems to know much about them. One other thing, I used to get a lot of eye floaters around the time I was getting the visual auras, and I wonder if they are somehow connected.
Yep I get these infrequently. The first time thought I was having a stroke or maybe had a brain tumor. Mine get triggered by light. Sometimes I have gotten them when going from a lighted room into a dark one. They last sometimes up to an hour and I get zigzags, strobe lights and it messes with my peripheral vision. And they don't get better if you close your eyes, you still see all that mess. One time I was a school and the glare of the windows reflected off the movie we were watching. My husband had to come pick me up because you can't see or teach like that.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
It lasted about half an hour and was mostly in my left eye. Shortly after I got an intense headache and felt nauseous. I'd been drinking lots of coffee and not so much water prior, was feeling nervous and stressed about my job, in a bright area and probably had high blood pressure. Poor posture too. But this is my third one this year so far. Before I got them years apart. Not sure why I'm suddenly getting them more.
