Do you have Visual Migraines?

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Yes, it's more often called "migraine aura" -- there are even a few threads here about it I think.

Some people get it with headaches, some independently. I get both headaches and aura, but not at the same time.

Unfortunately, my visual snow has been there since child hood. Like somebody else said, I used to entertain myself as a child on nights I couldn't sleep by watching the fireworks on the ceiling. It's not always a migraine aura.

Funny thing is that I thought everybody saw the visual snow that I see. I only discovered that very few people see it when I was at a migraine specialist and read a pamphlet about "silent migraines."

Mine's way more severe than this. Way more distracting, and blocks way more of my vision.

My mom gets those sometimes, and usually gets an aura (visual disturbance) with her more standard migraines. My migraines, on the other hand, never have any sort of visual component to them - it's just an extremely intense pain in an area about the size of my fingertip, for maybe half an hour to a full hour, so bad that I can't really do much besides just sit there in agony, often accompanied by nausea. Then for the rest of the day, the pain spreads out over my entire head so it's more like a bad headache, I can't think very well, and I'm even less coordinated than usual.

I do get the visual snow mentioned earlier in the thread. That's a constant thing that doesn't have anything to do with my migraines.

Reading back, I noticed someone mentioned the taking of painkillers as soon as you get the first signs. Of the over-the-counter medications, I find anti-inflammatory painkillers (e.g. Ibuprofen) much more effective than straightforward analgesics. The usual caveats regarding on-line medical advice apply, of course, especially as there may be multiple causes for migraine.

Is that not normal? My vision always looks like that. I used to worry I was in the Matrix and it was dodgy rendering. Yes these are the things my brain get caught up in.

I use, and have read research to support use of, high dose aspirin as soon as I'm aware of the aura. It can cut the headache time in half.

Last year sometime, was when I started getting a visual disturbance going down the left corner of my eye for like 4 seconds or less: like a bright light from a scanner, a thin line...my eyes were thoroughly checked and no pain or headache. This usually happens in only location in the house!

Mine is more severe too. It is like the snow but coloured and like everything gets broken down into coloured pixels which then start flashing and rotating and it is over my whole field of vision. I would say at the height of it I would struggle to get across a room as I just can't see well enough.

They gave me an MRI with my first one. It was so surprising to hear that this was "just a migraine" I have some other visual sensory issues, like I get low level flashing quite a lot even without a migraine, especially when I am concentrating on unfamiliar faces in conversation.

I was sent to a pain clinic and there is this nasal inhaler pain killer you can take which is super fast acting and gets to it straight away as soon as you notice symptoms.

try and get to an expert.

Last edited by elsapelsa on 29 Mar 2018, 3:51 am, edited 1 time in total.

Do you remember the name?

No it was 20 years ago at a pain clinic in Sweden. I reckon there would be better stuff on the market now. The expert I saw was amazing though. He compared living with severe migraines to living without one limb! He recommended increased exercise, acupuncture for avoiding them and then immediate pain killers if they still came.

I have certain triggers like msg which is in a lot of food.,

When i was in my 30s migraine auras were common.

Starts out like a spot on the field of vision, as if i had been staring at the sun, then it grows to a half circle appearing mostly on the left side, then it grow so big that it passes beyond what i can see. I remember that the half circle is filled with patterns and colours that repeat and move in multiple directions, i cannot focus on it to see details. I can still see, walk around and grab objects etc, it's just annoying when it happens.

I get no headaches, just the temporary partial visual impairment. Haven't had one for years. I have read about them and it seems related to the visual centre in the back of the brain and pressure or something like that.

Found a good animation of what it looks like.

Yes, that is very close to what mine look like but there is no normal vision left, it is my whole field of vision.

I don't usually get the visual impairment anymore myself. I do lose the ability to comprehend words however, it just turns into gibberish. The professionals I've seen say it's like stress induced aura migraines.

Two years ago, when my vision was getting really bad, I had ocular migraine. It was uncomfortable to read or do computer work. It got so bad that it gave me nausea. Last year, I had my prescription changed and it made a world of difference. I haven't had any bad headaches since then.

I get 2 different types of "sparklies" (I was 10 when I had my first)
The first I called "fireflies" and they were brightly coloured dots that floated randomly around my vision usually 10 - 20 of them. I equate this to ultra low frequency snow.

The other is like WW1 dazzle camouflage for warships, but with about 20% coloured stripes instead of straight B&W

I once had a decent GIF animator that let me paint this picture.. then start the colour palette rotating.
So, the stripes start sliding in a loop.
Sorry I can't be arsed finding another animator to recreate it.

The dazzle usually starts in the centre and mostly moves to an edge (inner or outer) in a deformed arc (always fatter on the bottom). It can slide either way, and often feels like it's in one eye, but it's impossible to tell from darkening either eye... And I realise it's either in both or in my head.

Mine are usually triggered by repeated daylight/artificial light transitions, although I have been triggered by sustained loud noise.
If I take a gram of paracetamol within the first 5 minutes they usually do not progress to headache/nausea. But I have to close my eyes or sit on the dark for 15 minutes to erase the aura. I haven't found ibuprofen or aspirin to help. (Nor opioids. But with them I no longer care and can enjoy the show)