Ocular Migraine - Visual Disturbances And Bright Zigzag Lines
Mar 18, 2015
I've had migraines throughout my life. Mine really peeked in my early 40s going through peri menopause they would be 3 days long. Now the painful migraines have gotten so much better and shorter. I also use Imitrex as needed.
I would also get an Ocular Migraine (visual disturbances such a bright zig zag lines, vibrating bright lines in vision) about every 4-5 years. They were checked out the first time and the doc said they were not harmful.
Recently my dog decided to put me on Atenolol to prevent migraines. After 3 days of being on them I started to have the Ocular Migraines every single day now! I've never had that happen. The Atenolol has stopped the painful migraines completely but I don't think I can handle something like an LSD trip every single day. This doesn't seem right. My doc doesn't think it's causing it but suggested I go off of it to see.
Anyone else with Ocular migraines?
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Each day for the past three days I experienced a little disturbance in the middle of my vision which developed into a jagged zig-zaggy circle that eventually extended outwards and within 30 minutes it had disappeared.
I had something like this a couple of times in the past and the optometrist said "ocular migraine" and there was nothing to do for it but to let it pass and if I was driving just pull over.
So, for the past three days in a row I have gotten one of these all of a sudden. The visual disturbance goes away with 30 minutes, but now I get a headache afterwards. It is not a nauseating, leave work, drop everything type of headache, but it still thumps and on each time it was thumping in a different location on my head. It lasts about 3-4 hours, although last night it was longer. I still have a "heavy head" today but no flashes of light so far.
I have been researching and do you think I may have (rather than a ocular migraine), a classic migraine with aura? That may be stretching it. I am at a loss.
I can't get in to see a doctor for 5 weeks and my ophthalmologist is not available either. My only choice is the ER to hope they have an eye doctor on call. A general doctor won't even touch this here.
Please, I'm getting desperate and scared. What do you think it could be? By the way I forgot to mention , the lights I see are in both eyes, not just one.
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I am 46 and have just started having these strange migraines, the first time I had one a couple of weeks ago , I thought I was having a stroke, saw flashing lights and zigzags and things were distorted like looking through broken glass but only one eye, that lasted about 15 mins then I felt sick and then I had a bad head which lasted a few hours , I went to the opticians who checked my eyes and said they were fine and then went to the GP who didn't even examine me just said these are ocular migraines, I have had two more this week, has anyone else had these or similar.
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I'm wondering if anyone has this condition if they have found vit b12 injections have helped their symptoms of ocular migraine
I was getting shimmering most mornings when I woke and sometimes going from light to dark or dark to light and occasionally zigzags and even blank bits! Dr said it was probably ocular migraines.
I have just finished my loading dose and they have improved significantly.
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This has happened a few times and usually it comes and goes. I can have a few in the matter of a couple weeks and then not have it happen for a couple of months and then it rarely appear again. The first time it happened was after a big exam and I started having trouble focusing in class and then gradually a blind spot appeared in my central vision. It then became bright a multi-colored zig zag half circle in my peripheral vision and lasted about twenty minutes before floating out of my peripheral. There was no pain and no other symptoms rather than the visual distortion and I was completely panicked by the whole thing. I have noticed that it comes on during stressful times..and sometimes it will be just random. Because there is no pain I'm wondering if this is possibly an ocular migraine?... as opposed to a migraine aura. The weird thing is, is that I've never had an actual migraine with pain but my mom gets them so maybe family history could come into play. I've seen a NP about this but she was confused by it and just referred me to a neuro and said I would probably need a CT or MRI. She told me that ocular migraines always occur with pain but from what I have researched this isn't true. I currently don't have insurance so I probably won't be going to the neuro. I also take birth control so now I'm freaked out about the whole stroke thing but she assured me that I should continue (young age no other health issues). I was just wondering if anyone else has ever experienced this without the pain? and from experience is it dangerous or something to seriously be worried about?
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I've been suffering from post exercise migraines for 12 years (since I was 11). Every time when I have muscle tension, I get a headache or migraine with aura (zig - zag lines). It all started when I was 11 and started to play tennis. After one year I stopped training and after that migraines were less frequent. But now, even if I walk, I have headache. I noticed that magnesium helps to reduce the pain, but migraines are still present.
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A little history on me: I'm 21/F. I have generalized anxiety, panic disorder, depression, PCOS, TMJ, and IBSD. These are all issues I have been dealing with. Medication list: Prozac (20 mg). Vitamin D (5,000 IU). Vitamin B12 injection (once a month). Iron (324 mg). Birth control. Ativan (.05 as needed).
My vision has changed since the beginning of this year. I now see small, clear halos when looking at bright, solid surfaces (such as the sky, walls, etc). I also see an odd wave, jelly-like substance when looking at similar surfaces. When I squint my eyes, I see a line of 20 small dots. All of the floaters I have mentioned move in an odd way, like they're falling. When I try to focus on them, my eyes make the floaters "jump" back to the top of my vision, only to begin falling again. These always look different (never the same spots or lines) and occur in both eyes. When I am focusing on something, such as the TV, I see random dots in my peripheral vision, but when I look in that direction there is nothing there. Went to the eye doctor, said everything looked fine, I am nearsighted, and any disturbances were ocular migraines. I have had three ocular migraines, where I can very clearly see rainbow lines in my vision. These occur when I have gotten very worked up/anxious and only last a few seconds. The floaters I have previously mentioned occur ALL the time. I can look at the sky at any time during daylight, and see them. Brought these issues up to my general practitioner and said this was nothing to worry about, but keep an eye on it.
When looking down or look around quickly, I feel a visual dizziness and off-balance.
PLEASE, if you have any information on what the possible causes of these disturbances/floaters could be, let me know. My doctors aren't worried, but I 100% am. I'm young, why am I having eye issues? I don't wear contacts and only wear glasses when driving.
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Recently I have been diagnosed with a daily type of migraine which causes imbalance, dizziness and visual blurring although I don't always have a headache. The doctor put me on nortriptyline 10mg once a day at night. I'm on my second day and my dizziness and visual symptoms have gotten far worse? Is this normal and does it go away after a while? Feeling rather panicky as I struggle to even go to the shop. Nothing feels real. Any advice out there?
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In my jaw, it can sometimes be painful which seems to trigger neck pain and a headache that covers specifically the right side of my neck, the upper right-middle part of my head, and pressure on the right side of my face behind and under my right eye. My vision then goes blurry/hazy. On a side note, sometimes my jaw on the ride side makes a crackling noise when I open it slowly and focus on the area.
My symptoms started about 4 years ago when I woke up one morning to find that the vision in my right eye was blurred. The symptom would occur at random, day and night. I've seen multiple optometrists, an ophthalmologist, a general physician and a neurologist and no would has found anything wrong as of yet. I have found a few things though. (posting more below as i've run out of characters)
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Is anyone else experiencing ocular migraines and how frequently do they occur? My eye doctor wants me to have an MRI and my medical doctor prescribed propranolol.
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This is just a post to ease some peoples worries as i was very worried when this happened to me. I'm male 23 and i've been having ocular migraine on and off since i was about 15. normally i just got the usual aura in my right eye which went after about an hour and then i just got a long dull headache, not that painful, just making me feel run down and tired. But my most recent migraine was different: had the aura, then the headache, but i was left with a small shimmer across my right eye which would not got away! waited a few days, then went the optician who said there was nothing visibly wrong with my eye. i then went to my gp who told be to go to eye casualty as soon as poss, which scared me a lot! went to eye casualty and was again told there was nothing wrong with my eye and they did not know what it could be but it was too early for a brain scan and they hoped it would go away or i may have to live with it! basically i was fobbed off. this was now a week in and my eye still had this annoying shimmer across it. so i decided to wait another week. after two weeks in it eventually began to fade and now after 3 weeks in my site is back to normal. So if this happens to you, don't worry, it can happen and although it is not the norm for ocular migraines it is obviously some sort of side effect. hope this helps others to ease their worries and not to think the worst all the time like me!
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Last week I had my first ocular migraine. I was sitting on my phone and noticed a small flashing dot in the center of my vision. It was like when you look at something bright then look away. I thought it was from starring at my phone to long. So I got up, and tried calming down. I tried texting my husband and noticed there were missing letters that I could not see. I also had these blurry lines running across my vision. I called 911 and had a massive panic attack thinking I was having a stroke or going blind. By the time they got to my house they had gone away. I also went outside to get air, and came back inside and that made it 100x worse. My entire peripheral vision was flashing. Anyways they ran blood work, ekg and monitored my heart for two hours. Diagnosed ocular migraine and he told me the first one is always scary and nothing to worry about. ( I see my regular dr tomorrow) Now I am having insane anxiety thinking something is really wrong like I am gonna go blind, have another attack or I have a brain tumor. I am terrified of getting another one of these. I don't even want to leave my house in case it happens and I am alone. Can anyone help alleviate some of this fear for me? I am going mad concentrating on my vision 24.7
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I have had silent migraines 24 years.. and recently had the first ocular one. With no warning, went blind for a few seconds, twice in ten minutes. The doctor confirmed it was not a stroke, ''just ocular migraine''. For most people, if the temporary blindness recurs, does the the time of the blindness usually last longer than a few seconds or for most people, does it stay at a few seconds? I am in my seventies.
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It all started a few months ago when I noticed blood on my toilet paper. It was just a few spots. Then I started to notice these random red lines and also orange lines on my toilet paper. Then ii also started to notice these black specks and spots on my toilet paper. That was two months ago and these symptoms are still concurrent. Lately though I find that my bowel activities are strange. Ive been having to a lot more lately, Diarrhea, Constipation diarrhea.
And also last week my poop was completely green, and this morning my stool has these weird yellow round things in it. I know it wasn't corn as I haven't eaten that in a few months. The blood is usually bright red and sometimes its more of a dark maroon color. A few months ago I also had a weird a cold that made me have blood in my throat when i would clear my throat but it went away. I have also had shortness of breath and abdominal pains once in awhile.
I went to the doctor and they said that they will send me for a ultrasound but what are chances that this cancer?
I'm going to list all my symptoms.:
Blood on toilet paper once in a while. (Brighjt red and sometimes dark maroon...)
Black Specks/Spots on toilet paper once in a while.
Orange little lines, and also little red lines on toilet paper...
Frequent diarrhea/Runny stool.
Green Stool all day yesterday.
Today = Stool has yellow round things in it, looks like corn.
Abdominal pain sometimes,
Shortness of breath
Fatigue a lot of the time
Blood when clearing throat a few months ago but it never happened again.
I also went for a blood test when i had shortness of breathe a few months ago and they din't find anything.
Is it colon cancer?
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I never suffered from migraine attacks until I was in my mid-40's.
They seemed to be linked to the beginning of hormonal changes related to the start of menopause. I would get a pain over my left eye (usually, though right occasionally), with a feeling of nausea and sometimes slight numb feeling on the side of my face. I would turn quite a pale white colour, and also feel very tired, yawning a lot. I would take medication, migraleve tablets and lay down in a darkened room. Usually, I would recover within 24 hours, though I would feel 'worn out' for a few days after the attack.
Since I have discovered by self analysis, that citrus fruits, especially orange juice (which I no longer drink), chocolate and strong coffee all seem to be triggers, which I try to avoid.
For the last five years, I have been clear of migraines, but have now started to get them again. I have passed the menopause but have had a lot of stress in my life recently, so I wonder if this is the cause of the recurrence? My last attack was quite different from the others I have experienced, in that I was feeling fine (though had been really tired the day before for no apparent reason) when I suddenly developed black zigzag lines across my left eye (very frightening at first). These went on for about 10 minutes and then slowly I developed a severe migraine, though this was not over one particular eye, but both. I had feelings of nausea and also felt cold at times. I took Migraleve pink and yellow but the headache is still persisting the next day. I wonder why I developed these other symptoms of visual disturbance. Can stress really do this to your body?!
PS I know there is a family history of migraine.
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I had classic migraines through my teenage years which stopped for a couple of years before continuing at on average one every couple of months with the odd instance of a back to back cluster of 3-10 at once. They were always the same 20 minute aura then axe in the head pain and repeated vomiting for 6 hours followed by a 24hr hangover. Over the years I have tried all preventers with only Epilim and Topiramate working for 18 months. I built up tolerance to Epilim and Topiramate gave me side effects that ended in a blood disorder so cannot take either any more. Beta blockers and antidepressants never worked and Lisinopril was also a short lived waste of time. The only triptan that ever worked was Maxalt rizatriptan but again it lost its effect after 6 months. Something weird has now happened and I wonder if others have had this? I am now 36 and in the last 6 months my migraines have totally changed. I still get the aura but if I take Express Nurofen and an anti sickness tablet straight away or use a heat pack on the back of the neck no pain or sickness comes just 6 hours of extreme tiredness. I always used to throw up any tablets so this is a miracle however the frequency has stepped up to between 5 and 20 a month so it is really impacting on my life. I have had an MRI and all is normal. I have also tried supplements and alternative therapies with no success. Botox and nerve blockers are the next suggestion but will they treat this scenario if there is no pain? Will it stop the aura too and prevent the whole episode? Help!
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I think I have Oral Lichen Planus but I can't get a doctor to confirm it. I have had mouth sores in my cheek area since 2009 and now my gums are very red and inflamed and have been told that I have white lines on my inside cheek area. When I go to a dentist to have my teeth cleaned, I am always turned away because they don't like the looks of my mouth sores. In 2013 I had doctor swab my mouth and send for testing and also did blood work but was told nothing showed up. I think she was looking for bacterial infection. In the mean time, I continue with a very sore mouth.
I have a hard time eating anything because the sores are next to my bottom back teeth so eating irritates the sores a lot at night I sometimes bite the area with sores due to swelling so they pretty much never heal.
I recently went to a new dentist and she too wouldn't work on my teeth but she gave me details as to her concerns and told me to get checked for an Auto Immune disorder. I have since been to a doctor and had blood taken to check for that and then they sent me to ENT. He mentioned Oral Lichen Planus which was the first time I have heard of it. He wants to do a biopsy and then he mentioned a steroid rinse.
I also researched OLP and I have all the symptoms listed so I just don't understand how going to doctors since 2010 about the mouth sores, no one can figure it out? Am I finally heading in the right directions for diagnosis? I scares me that it has been left un treated for 5 years when I read that sometimes those with OPL can lead to mouth cancer.
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Yesterday a rheumatologist diagnosed me with GCA and, in an attempt to remove any threat to my sight, put me on 60 mg of prednisone immediately. He based this on the PMR symptoms and some visual symptoms.
He advised me to see my eye doctor. She did not see anything at all in my visual symptoms characteristic of GCA. She was surprised and disturbed that he made this significant diagnosis without more blood work and a biopsy.
Now that I have been on the prednisone, though only 2 days on 60 mg, the inflammation will be gone and there is no way, she says, we will ever know whether I really had/have GCA.
She will talk to him today to see if he had any other information she does not know about.
I'll trust my GP to sort out the best thing to do. I certainly am not staying on 60 mg of prednisone a day longer than I have to!
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I was diagnosed 5 years ago as a paranoid schizophrenic. I have allot of auditory hallucinations, but never once a visual one.
A week ago when I was in my room I stared at the ceiling, I have a wood one. Suddenly the marks and patterns on it started to move, then dance. I just thought that I must have been tired and went to sleep.
Since then it got a little worse. Every night the ceiling would dance for me. Then inanimate objects would start to bend and move around. The weird thing is that when my keyboard against the wall moves, the shadow casted on the wall by it, moves with it. I found this a bit odd.
Tonight was the worst case. The blanked on my bed puffed up and moves around, exactly like there was a dog underneath. My closet door handle would move up and down while the closet opens and closes, with no sound.
When my laptop's light went down and I stared at my own reflection, things got weird. My reflection's hands would move while I am sitting still. "He" would blink when I do not. Then my whole face started to change. It puffed up and my hair was longer. When I turned my face one way, he turned a different way and started smiling at me. And our eyes never made contact. When I looked into "his" eyes, he would look to the sides or roll them back.
Because I have had this illness for a long time I didn't go into a panic as I kind of got the jest of what was going on.
Since this was my first visual experience, I just want to know if this is the "norm" of it. I did not see anything that was not there, just things moving and getting distorted.
And does anyone know if the visual part can come for the first time after me having this illness for so long?
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I'm a 24 year old guy. Not a virgin (not sure if relevant) and I have a white lump / or white clot along the lines of my penile raphe. I've had it since I was a teen and I've noticed that it's getting bigger over the years. I'm worried and fear that it might endanger my health in the future.
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Just out of interest, I get the following, although somewhat reduced by my current medication (quetiapine)
1. Flashes, peripheral disturbances;
2. Illusions -- shadows morphing into animals / people;
3. Seeing what I call 'black rats / cats';
4. Spiders on your desk...;
5. 'Throbbing' objects such as keyboards;
6. Seeing people on the street who just vanish into thin air;
7. Seeing people morph into skeletons
8. People faces screaming at your window...
9. People walking into your lounge you know but are dead / or miles away
10. Talking to people who aren't there.
Fortunately my medication stops at about number 6.
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