First migraine....

[hansonmw]

*trigger warning*

I had what was likely my first real migraine last night. It started out with an aura like one I found on YouTube. With some help from friend and a bit of searching, I realized what it was. It still frightened me a lot though. My head and neck did get tense, but I didn't have much of a headache to speak of. I then got really nauseated and almost threw up. All said, the visual stuff lasted maybe 20-30 minutes and the whole thing a couple of hours.

On the downside, it triggered major anxiety that I am still coming down from 18 hours later. Being a longtime sufferer of GAD, there is always that little thought in the back of might head that tells me I have a major medical problem. I get to see my doctor in a few, and that will likely lead to confirmation and comfort.

Looking back on some rough anxiety years, 2012-13, I probably had some migraines that lacked most of the visual stages and much of the headache, but still fit the description. I am 40, so it seems somewhat late for me to have, but still well within reason. I hadn't been sleeping right lately, typically have some issues with the seasonal light changes, etc.

Does this match what others have experienced from time to time? Thank you ahead of time for sharing. :)

[GingerFish]

I've had migraines and anxiety all my life and this summer, I had my first migraine with visual aura. Usually I would either just go straight to the headache stage or my aura would be aching muscles, feeling off and just not quite right but this time, I had the aura.

I was feeling fine and I was in the car and saw a black dot in my vision. I thought it was a sun spot at first because it was a bright sunny day but within a min it got bigger and bigger and then I could only see half of things and then the zig zags came on. I knew deep down it was an aura because my mum and papa have migraines with those auras but I panicked more and more and I couldn't shake off that I was having a stroke or something. I even called my doctor after I couldn't get through to NHS24 since the surgeries were still open. The surgery was just about to close but he took sympathy on me and asked me to come in. I got checked over and he confirmed it was just an aura and he gets them too and he understood how scary they are, especially when its your first.

I went into a sort of breakdown after that aura due to how much it scared me. I also had a lot else stressing me out that week that probably caused the migraine in the first place.

[.Poppy.]

I think migraines are so unique to everyone it's hard to say what is "normal". I've had them for 13 years now (since I was 11) and they've changed for me over that time quite a bit.

I've had really, really nasty painful ones and ones that weren't too bad that I couldn't function; but I've only had two with aura. One was like a sun spot, it wasn't too bad, the other I had the blind spots in my vision. With the second one, I had an immensely bad headache and wasn't able to speak properly - it mimicked a stroke in some respects. I ended up in the hospital because nothing worked to ease the pain and I was absolutely terrified :)

Obviously, I thought something was wrong but I saw my doctor and a neurologist and I got the all clear. Just another migraine.

I think it's good to see your doc - if nothing else, they can give you stronger medication should you ever need it.

Lots of people have migraines and just get the aura, not so much the pain. But, it could change too. It's hard to say :)

Best of luck.

[hansonmw]

A visit to my doctor uncovered the problem. They were not worried about any brain problems or anything major like that. Turns out I have had a sinus infection in addition to stress and anxiety. Some antibiotics for the sinuses and some stress reduction have so far prevented anymore migraines.

[dizzy daisy]

I've been having them since 16 and am now 39. At first they were just headache type but about 7 years ago I had my first one with aura. They are frightening and I too thought it was something more serious. I feel like such a hypocrite saying this but try not to panic. It is normal for migraine.

I posted in here because I got on on Monday which had horrible fatigue afterwards. I'm still not right now, but after a visit to the walk in they say I have a virus. I'm still scared though as still fatigued and dizzy- that's anxiety for us though eh.

Take care and take comfort in the fact you're not alone and everything is ok xx