Ocular migraine

[ruhligv]

All,

ive had migraines for years but just experienced my first ocular migraine and I literally thought I was going to die. I couldn’t see out of my right eye and everything was blurry and flashing. I drove home and on the way called my mom, it felt like I was slurring my words. It was terrifying and I was having a total panic attack but luckily my mom has had them before and let me know I wasn’t dying.

Now im terrified of when I’ll get one again. Luckily I didn’t get n or anything with it (aside from the panic attack n) but I felt completely out of control and it freaked me out!

Anyone else gave these?

[AndreaAndee]

Hello,
Yes, I get these. Funny, I don't get the headache but just the ocular part. It starts out as a small, flashy zigzag in the center of my vision. Then it grows into a arc of zigzag flashes and slowly moves out of my vision. It lasts about half an hour. It is freaky and I used to get nervous about them. I get them maybe once a month, sometimes more, sometimes less. Once when I increased an anti depressant, I was getting them almost every day, so I went back to the lower dose. I'm sure you are ok and it could just be another type of migraine, or stress, etc. Glad your mom was able to talk to you. I laugh now but the first time I got one was when I was in 8th grade in reading class. I couldn't read with it, the words were disappearing. I was terrified that the teacher would call on me to read!! Take care!

[mdgirl1977]

I get this exact type of migraine for about 30 years. They are absolutely terrifying. For me it's more white lights and light sensitivity and a very dull headache. I've learned that if you feel one coming on, the best thing to do is get into a darkroom, put a washcloth over your eyes, get a glass of water to sip, and just turn some TV on very quietly. If you can nap, that usually go away a lot quicker than if you stay awake.

You definitely cannot just push your way through them. Don't drive, don't try to go back to a normal day. If you do that they will last a lot longer. I'm really sorry you went through that. I know how terrifying they are.

[tiredofitall]

I get them too. I’ve had them during class and I just had to continue teaching. They don’t scare me anymore. They are just an annoyance. I don’t usually get a headache with them - just the vision disturbance. They go away on their own after about 30 minutes. You just have to wait it out. The first one was very scary though.

[gumdropper1]

I've had them too but it's been years. I hope they don't cause you stress.

[Trudy]

I’ve had them twice. The first time scared the crap out of me, as I thought I was having a stroke or retinal detachment! The second time, I was cool. My Ma gets headache migraines and I hope this never progresses to that. I wouldn’t wish a migraine on my worst enemy.