Migraines / Head Pressure / Visual Snow :(

[inthemind85]

I've had migraines for two years now. They came on suddenly from one every other month to one every two weeks, then every week, and now one every 3-4 days.

They last for hours and I have blind spots/aura throughout the entire migraine (in right eye only). I've been looking at my eyes and they seem more bloodshot than usual.

I also get head tightness and if I bend down and then bend up again I get visual snow, again typically only in the right eye.

My GP has refused me an mri as 'if you have had them for two years it will not be a tumour'. I also occasionally get pulses in my vision, again in my right eye! I went to my optician for an exam but confirmed all seems ok, visual field test is fine and eye pressure is normal.

I'm at my wits end and scared to take beta blockers or preventative meds. Is it really anxiety causing 2 migraines a week?

I just feel like going to London and spending thousands to go private for full body check up. I feel the nhs has let me down :(. In need of some reassurance from other migraneurs!

[RaverNeko]

I would have to agree with what your GP said. I remember reading either on here or another forum for hypochondria that people with undiagnosed brain tumors only live for a maximum of a year.

I'm curious about those "pulses" you get though. What are they like? Y'know, considering the fact that you had a good eye exam pretty much confirms that you don't have a tumor or anything like that. Opticians and opthamologists are able to pick up on those sort of things!

I'm not a doctor, but I deal with anxiety just like you. When you are in a state of anxiety, you tend to hyper-focus on your symptoms, thus making them worse than they actually are. It's extremely difficult to not focus on the symptoms, but if you can then see how much that helps. Why are you scared to take the medicine, if I may ask?

[.Poppy.]

Migraines are due to constriction of blood vessels, so pulsing isn't out of the ordinary. I get migraines above my left eye, and when I'm getting one I can feel the blood vessel at the corner of my eye pulsing when I touch it.

Migraines also can spring up suddenly and they can -and often do- change. I started getting mine when I was 11 and would get *at least* once a month. After awhile, they became sporadic and still are. But I never got any sort of visual auras, until four years ago. I didn't have blind spots at all until a year ago - so obviously that was terrifying! I've been for MRIs whenever there is a change but it's always all-clear.

Your migraines could be caused by any number of things. Stress/anxiety, hormones, even things like grinding your teeth or the way you sleep at night. You can always mess with certain things to see what works, but if they're that bad and that frequent a preventative medication may not hurt.

[Kelley]

Hey there.

I too suffer from these scary as hell episodes as i call them. Mine started at about the age of 32. Until then migraines weren't a part of my life. I went from 10 a year to 6 to 3 to two to one and then the last i had was a 16 month gap!!! Since that one a month ago, ive had another in the space of 3 weeks. I spend every minute of every day obsessed over my vision and these things. I have almost turned into a agoraphobic over them. I changed everything in my life from cutting out caffeine, cheese, chocolate, and now the computer screen and iphone/ipad (which was my only outlet and distraction) i supplement with every damn supplement you could imagine, i have to get 8 hours sleep every night, i don't go out and have fun anymore. I feel like a prisoner inside my own skin! Every time i come home from being out, i shut my eyes for like 20 minutes cause i'm too scared to look incase my eyes trip out cause it almost always happens from coming inside after driving or when i get out of bed in the morning. I hate my life right now. I feel like there's just no point to it.
My auras start with a blind spot that progresses over 40 minutes to zig zags and loss of peripheral vision. Then comes the pain on the top left side of my head that runs down my neck, then my hearing goes funny and sensitive (this can last hours). Then usually up to an hour later my left hand goes pins and needles and totally numb and this sensation can travel up my arm. Then i feel groggy, tired and have a migraine for anywhere up to the week following!! Scary as hell. This fear lives with me day and night. They have stolen the life away from me and noone has any answers.
I understand your anxiety over this, i really do. Yours are frequent at the moment and i know i don't cope so i don't know what the answer is for you other than you're not alone with the fight. Maybe taking the medication might help you. It may be worth a try, might not be as scary as living in fear perhaps?

Kel :)

---------- Post added at 14:33 ---------- Previous post was at 14:32 ----------

Hey there.

I too suffer from these scary as hell episodes as i call them. Mine started at about the age of 32. Until then migraines weren't a part of my life. I went from 10 a year to 6 to 3 to two to one and then the last i had was a 16 month gap!!! Since that one a month ago, ive had another in the space of 3 weeks. I spend every minute of every day obsessed over my vision and these things. I have almost turned into a agoraphobic over them. I changed everything in my life from cutting out caffeine, cheese, chocolate, and now the computer screen and iphone/ipad (which was my only outlet and distraction) i supplement with every damn supplement you could imagine, i have to get 8 hours sleep every night, i don't go out and have fun anymore. I feel like a prisoner inside my own skin! Every time i come home from being out, i shut my eyes for like 20 minutes cause i'm too scared to look incase my eyes trip out cause it almost always happens from coming inside after driving or when i get out of bed in the morning. I hate my life right now. I feel like there's just no point to it.
My auras start with a blind spot that progresses over 40 minutes to zig zags and loss of peripheral vision. Then comes the pain on the top left side of my head that runs down my neck, then my hearing goes funny and sensitive (this can last hours). Then usually up to an hour later my left hand goes pins and needles and totally numb and this sensation can travel up my arm. Then i feel groggy, tired and have a migraine for anywhere up to the week following!! Scary as hell. This fear lives with me day and night. They have stolen the life away from me and noone has any answers.
I understand your anxiety over this, i really do. Yours are frequent at the moment and i know i don't cope so i don't know what the answer is for you other than you're not alone with the fight. Maybe taking the medication might help you. It may be worth a try, might not be as scary as living in fear perhaps?

Kel :)

[inthemind85]

I'm curious about those "pulses" you get though.

I notice when looking up at say the sky or a white background, i can see a dark shape (which looks like veins) appearing then disappearing in the same rhythm as my pulse. Usually it's in my peripheral vision, it is exacerbated by quick movements (walking up stairs etc). I have only had this since I started getting panic attacks earlier this year though!

When I start to get the migraine, my first symptom isn't aura, it is that I can see veins appearing in my vision (again, right eye only). And a LOT of tightness in neck/head. Sometimes numbness in my neck/head/whole body. Also my eyes feel under insane pressure like they're going to burst. This doesn't go for about 6-9 hours every time! Very scary :(.


Why are you scared to take the medicine, if I may ask?

I was given Atenolol recently (Beta Blocker) which may help. My blood pressure is higher than normal but not necessarily hypertensive. Avg. 140/90 - however I suspect a bit of white coat syndrome when I go to the docs, so I'm not sure!

As I have Health Anxiety I did the WORST thing possible which was to google atenolol. First youtube video I come to, somebody is saying these beta blockers can actually cause heart problems rather than prevent them.

I want to try and control my BP naturally, and start regular exercise.

I've also been off work since Feb, and to be honest been pretty sedentary since then. I'm scared to exercise due to this and the panic attacks i've had. Bit of a catch 22 :(.

[RaverNeko]

I apologize for my delayed reply. I was actually getting the same veiny-like pulses in my vision last night. I noticed them appearing when I closed my eyes and shake my head. I'm not sure what's causing them, but my guess it's related to classic anxiety, especially considering that I haven't noticed them in a while.

Sorry you got those terrible results when Googling your medicine. Y'know, a lot of medicines have crazy side effects, but taking them is usually a tradeoff, if that makes sense. I'd agree with your recommendation that exercising and all that other stuff will be a good way to control your blood pressure. Y'know, I forgot to mention that my mother actually got some REALLY high blood pressure and it was causing her to have some nasty headaches. They prescribed her medication for it and it's been helping her ever since.