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Thread: Scary visual disturbance, really worried

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2018
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    Scary visual disturbance, really worried

    I'm panicking instead of enjoying my weekend. Yesterday evening before going to sleep, I was using my phone, when I noticed that it's difficult to read, because the middle of my vision was a blind spot. I turned the light on and the strangest things happened. The blind spot was growing and moving around, then I was seeing a colorful (red and blue) line above the center of my vision. Soon after, the whole left side of my vision looked like a heat wave which was moving rapidly, here's a really accurate depiction - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File...ng_scotoma.gif

    After about 15 minutes my vision came back to normal and I started googling. As you can see in the link above, I think that it was a scintillating scotoma, which is an aura that happens before migraines. The thing is, I had no headache after, and I never suffered from migraines. I'm panicking about a brain tumor, because I've read that such aura without a headache before age 40 warrants neuroimaging, and I'm 26. I'm going to a wedding today but I'm literally shaking in my bed right now, what do I do?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2017
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    214

    Re: Scary visual disturbance, really worried

    Are you sure it couldn't have been an afterimage from your phone screen? Even if not, it could have been a migraine aura. I get that it's scary, but if it was a brain tumour you'd most likely be getting other, more intense symptoms - not a single visual disturbance one time. I think if you're worried about it, speak to a doctor for a peace of mind but if it's a one time thing it's probably nothing. My vision does all sorts of things too.

  3. #3

    Re: Scary visual disturbance, really worried

    It is most probably an ocular migraine. I get them quite regularly. Nothing to worry about

  4. #4
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    Re: Scary visual disturbance, really worried

    I get migraine auras just like you’re describing. I don’t ever get a headache with them.

  5. #5
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    Re: Scary visual disturbance, really worried

    Sounds like an aura to me. I used to get a few of them a week, generally without a headache. Scary, yes, but pretty much always harmless; my GP wasn't bothered even when I had two in three hours.

  6. #6
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    Re: Scary visual disturbance, really worried

    Booked a brain MRI for 28 September, I need to check if my brain is clear. Thanks for the reassurance anyways

  7. #7
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    Re: Scary visual disturbance, really worried

    ...Why in the world do I ever bother trying to help out on this site?
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  8. #8
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    Re: Scary visual disturbance, really worried

    I don’t ever get a headache with my migraines either. I had an MRI with my first migraine aura and recently the doc sent me for a ct scan when my auras changed. (I now see the pulsing zig zags.) Maybe it’s because I’m 61, but my doc told me to tell her if they change again. So I think imaging is probably a good idea.

  9. #9
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    Re: Scary visual disturbance, really worried

    Quote Originally Posted by Cptdebbie View Post
    So I think imaging is probably a good idea.
    I disagree. Paid reassurance is just a way to drain your bank account and doesn't work as evidenced many times on this forum.

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  10. #10
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    Re: Scary visual disturbance, really worried

    I have health anxiety, so my judgment in these matters is inherently flawed. Thanks for your input Fishman.

    Don’t you think, though, that we are morally obligated to sometimes encourage posters to seek appropriate medical care? I was sent for an MRI when I had my first migraine aura. My husband refused to go get checked when he started having migraine auras. He would likely still be alive today had he done so.
    Last edited by Cptdebbie; 23-09-21 at 17:32.

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