Migraine with aura- anyone else get these

[dizzy daisy]

I'm having an awful bout of health anxiety and I suppose just GAD after many years more or less free of this.
I've had a number of issues in the last few years bereavements, miscarriages etc etc which all could have contributed to this. I'm into my 3rd month of dealing with this and just recently started counselling to talk things through.
I think I've worked out what's brought this on and it's migraine.
I've had migraine for years and probably about 9 years ago I started to get migraine with aura. I was terrified with that shimmery, zig zaggy thing in my eye and then the headache hits afterwards. I thought I was having a stroke or had a tumour or something. I was unable to get hold of my GP surgery so called shat was then NHS direct. The dr called me back and went through s number of questions and said its nothing to worry about and was probably an inner ear problem or visual effects of migraine. Advised to see an optician so that they could confirm nothing was wrong with or behind eyes. I saw optician who agreed was probably aura.
Anyway to cut a long story short I had one a few months back and they always really frighten me so much. Since then I've been anxious and I've just now realised that I'm panicking everyone time I see a flash of light or anything at all in my vision - like I'm terrified I'm starting with another migraine!! The stupid thing is I know the more stressed and tense I am the more likely I'll have another one.
Does anyone else have migraine? Can anyone relate to this?
Thanks xxx

[feelthelove]

I'm having an awful bout of health anxiety and I suppose just GAD after many years more or less free of this.
I've had a number of issues in the last few years bereavements, miscarriages etc etc which all could have contributed to this. I'm into my 3rd month of dealing with this and just recently started counselling to talk things through.
I think I've worked out what's brought this on and it's migraine.
I've had migraine for years and probably about 9 years ago I started to get migraine with aura. I was terrified with that shimmery, zig zaggy thing in my eye and then the headache hits afterwards. I thought I was having a stroke or had a tumour or something. I was unable to get hold of my GP surgery so called shat was then NHS direct. The dr called me back and went through s number of questions and said its nothing to worry about and was probably an inner ear problem or visual effects of migraine. Advised to see an optician so that they could confirm nothing was wrong with or behind eyes. I saw optician who agreed was probably aura.
Anyway to cut a long story short I had one a few months back and they always really frighten me so much. Since then I've been anxious and I've just now realised that I'm panicking everyone time I see a flash of light or anything at all in my vision - like I'm terrified I'm starting with another migraine!! The stupid thing is I know the more stressed and tense I am the more likely I'll have another one.
Does anyone else have migraine? Can anyone relate to this?
Thanks xxx

I know exactly how you feel and how frightened you get because i have been getting aura since i was 25 years old and I'm 52 this year its the worse thing for me because the fear just sets anxiety and panic on even worse and then im out of it for days and i search ways to prevent them and as yet nothing has stopped them happening . At one point in my life i would have a month then it got to a few months and then at one time i went 15 months without one and i thought i had cracked it but then i got one and i was just as terrified and the panic was terrible.Since then i have had them 2-3-4 times a year , the doctor doesn't seem worried and never has, and yet i am always dreading another one and it affects my daily life for fear of another starting, i often think it is one starting when the sun hits a car window and it leaves that bright light , i know an ingredient in supermarket bread and it is called calcium proprionate which is a migraine trigger i don't eat any bread now i just don't trust it . Maybe you could look into that it might be a trigger , and also the additive is also disquised as an e-number .xx

[dizzy daisy]

Feelthelove thanks for your reply. In the same really, probably get 2-3 per year but they freak me out so much I just dread having another. I'll definitely look into the additives. I've also recently read that taking magnesium, b2 and Cq10 can for some people help prevent or reduce attacks. I've started taking these out of pure desperation!!
For me I noticed a significant increase in migraine when I moved office into a really bright open plan environment. The desks, walls, everything was also white!! And really bright lights too. Even people who didn't have issues with headache complained of headache. I had to wear sunglasses at work and that really helped but I felt stupid. I decided to change jobs due to this and was really enjoying my new job - sunglasses free when a migraine hit after a few months!! I think this really disheartened me and since then I've been terrified of having another. The have such a horrible effect on your life don't they.
Thanks so much for your reply, it's nice to talk to people who know how horrible and frightening it can be x.

[Phuzella]

I've had them occasionally over the years but since Christmas I've had them quite often. I don't get bad headaches but I get the aura and feel dizzy and generally yuck a few days before and after it. Anxiety certainly doesn't help as I've been very stressed lately.

---------- Post added at 15:35 ---------- Previous post was at 15:33 ----------

Oh and a very stiff neck and shoulders too

[feelthelove]

Feelthelove thanks for your reply. In the same really, probably get 2-3 per year but they freak me out so much I just dread having another. I'll definitely look into the additives. I've also recently read that taking magnesium, b2 and Cq10 can for some people help prevent or reduce attacks. I've started taking these out of pure desperation!!
For me I noticed a significant increase in migraine when I moved office into a really bright open plan environment. The desks, walls, everything was also white!! And really bright lights too. Even people who didn't have issues with headache complained of headache. I had to wear sunglasses at work and that really helped but I felt stupid. I decided to change jobs due to this and was really enjoying my new job - sunglasses free when a migraine hit after a few months!! I think this really disheartened me and since then I've been terrified of having another. The have such a horrible effect on your life don't they.
Thanks so much for your reply, it's nice to talk to people who know how horrible and frightening it can be x.

you're welcome, it does help to know you're not alone, i have heard that too abut magnesium, if i could afford an intolerance test i would because they show foods that can cause aura , let us know how you get on with the magnesium etc x

[countrygirl]

I get silent migraines in that I just get the visual aura of zizag lines that lasts about 15 minutes and no other symptoms at all! I had my first one about 20 years ago that scared me witless and thankfully I can go years in between then have a little run of them usually when I am super anxious.

My friend had her first one about 2 years ago like mine and has had another one since - incredibly common but yes a bit scary at first.

[Phuzella]

Countrygirl , do you get any dizziness or vertigo??

[countrygirl]

No I get no symptoms other than the visual one although thats freaky enough. Dizziness etc is very common though - I know one lady with migraine with aura and she loses the use of one side of her body as if she has had a stroke but its only while she is having the migraine. She gets the aura about half an hour before the headache etc so knows she has to get somewhere to lay down. She has had this since she was in her teens and is no in her 50's.

[.Poppy.]

I've had migraines since I was 11 (am 24 now) and they've varied in severity but I never really got the aura.

When I was a freshman in college, about 19 years old, I got my first aura. I really didn't know what it was at first. I came in from a sunny day to do a group project with some friends in a cafe and my eyes just never adjusted. I had those "sun spots" and remember thinking it was strange. An hour later the pain arrived, worse than it had been in awhile but doable.

Then, two years later, I woke up to the zig zags in my vision. It was terrifying. Worse was when the zig zags disappeared and I just had a blind spot. I called my dad in a panic and he took me to the eye doctor who confirmed it was a migraine. The pain set in and it was BAD. I honestly thought I was having a stroke - couldn't speak properly, very dizzy and out of it. I was panicking so much my hands went numb. It was very, very scary and ultimately I called my mom and she took me to the hospital. I saw a neurologist and had an MRI but all was well. "Just" a migraine.

I still get headaches but haven't had any kind of aura since then. I think if I did I would freak out immediately - the idea of that level of pain and loss of control is absolutely terrifying.

[rsanchez]

Daisy I have the same situation as you with regards to bright open office. I've suffered from migraines since my late teens, I am now 25 years old. I used to have them very occasionally, maybe 3-4 times a year. Since changing desks at work a few months ago to a desk next to a window, which is across the street from a white building that casts a really strong glare midday, I have started getting migraines 3-4 times per month.

I started suffering from migraines since before I started suffering from anxiety and panic attacks, so over the years I never was too concerned about them. I just knew that when I started seeing those shimmering zig zags my day would basically be ruined but if I went to sleep as soon as possible then I could avoid the headache. It was an inconvenience for sure, but never something I was afraid of.

However, over the past few months the greatly increased frequency did start to concern me. I went to the doctor with my concerns and she agrees that the bright lights could have been what triggered greater frequency of migraines.

Similar to you, I am also starting to take magnesium supplements. I'm specifically taking chelated magnesium because it's supposed to be better absorbed by the body. You're not supposed to see results for a while though, up to a few months, so I hope we'll both see relief from magnesium.

I'd say the biggest thing is not worry about migraines as detrimental to your health. They are a huge inconvenience when they happen, but it doesn't mean you'll have a stroke.