Ocular migraine.

Has anyone ever had one of these? I think I had one today.

Ocular migraine.

bit blotchy spot in the middle of the visual field that didn't move no matter what you did. lasted for a while, then felt really sick to my stomach etc shortly afterward.... pretty sure that's what it was.

Ocular migraine.

Had a friend who one described it to me. From what i understand they are a little scary but harmless.

Ocular migraine.

I had them after DD was born. I'd see black spirals in my eyes, almost like looking through a kaleidoscope. That lasted for about 10-15 minutes, then I'd get a killer headache.

Re: Ocular migraine.

My daughter (10 yo) gets these. She was diagnosed a couple of years ago by an ophthalmologist.

She's described them in various ways... sometimes she sees diagonal lines in her vision, sometimes it's a blurred spot, sometimes she sees the words on paper as doubled/blurry/swimming/a host of other descriptions.

It's always interesting to try to explain it to teachers lol. I try to let them know at the beginning of the year because, well heck... if I were a teacher and a child came and told me they were randomly seeing diagonal lines or a big black spot or that their words were suddenly swimming, I might freak out! I mean, I am not normally a panicky person, but she would scare me when she would describe them! I would immediately think the worst - detaching retina, tumor, MS, etc.

To make things even more confusing, sometimes she feels ill afterwards (nauseous), sometimes she has a massive headache, and sometimes... nothing.

The doctor tells us it's really not as scary as it seems. She is not being medicated for the headaches right now, as they don't interfere with her life to a point that we feel she needs it. However, he says that as she goes through puberty it may get worse and we will continue to evaluate the need for meds as we go. For now, he gave us a list of things to limit/avoid; such as chocolate, sugar/sugar substitutes, MSG, nitrates, nitrites, alcohol (obv not an issue yet lol), and a few other things.

When they happen, she rests her eyes and drinks some water until the weirdness goes away. Then if there is nausea or headache afterwards, we deal with that as it comes. Otherwise, it's back to whatever she was doing.

Of course, if you think you are having ocular migraines, you should definitely go for a very comprehensive eye exam with an ophthalmologist just to rule out those other things.

Good luck. They can be scary!

Re: Ocular migraine.

Re: Ocular migraine.

Re: Ocular migraine.

Re: Ocular migraine.

This helps explain the difference:

Ocular migraines are painless, temporary visual disturbances that can affect one or both eyes. Though they can be frightening, ocular migraines typically are harmless and self-resolve without medication within 20 to 30 minutes.

Other terms used by eye doctors to describe ocular migraines include ophthalmic migraines, retinal migraines and eye migraines.

If an ocular migraine-like vision disturbance is followed by a throbbing, usually one-sided headache, this is called a "migraine with aura" (previously called a classic migraine), and the visual disturbance is referred to as an aura rather than an ocular migraine.


So bottom line- if you are getting a headache with or without nausea after the visual disturbance it's a migraine with aura.
If just the visual disturbance and nothing afterwards, it's an ocular migraine.

Message edited 10/9/2014 4:56:05 PM.

Ocular migraine.

My DH sees silvery patches and sparkles. He gets terrible headaches with them. My DS also gets the headaches but doesn't see silvery anything. Taking a Tylenol when they first suspect one is coming on is essential to controlling them, otherwise the headaches can become crushing, cause nausea and require lying down in dark room.

Re: Ocular migraine.

I get both. Sometimes the squiggly lines or blank spots just go away and sometimes I get either nauseas or a headache after. Mine are not debilitating but are uncomfortable. I take an excedrine migraine the second the vision starts and they disappear, it can be hard when they get bad and I can't see a fairly large area. Mine are hormonally related.

Re: Ocular migraine.