Doesn't this sound fun:
"It is usually a visual symptom, such as an arc of sparkling (scintillating) zig-zag lines or a blotting out of vision or both. But any other brain-related symptom may occur, such as numbness of one side of the face and hand, weakness, unsteadiness, or altered consciousness." (from here)
I get all of these symptoms, severely, when I have an aura migraine. I had my second one yesterday, and while I was experiencing "blotting out of vision" I was at the EPA office in downtown Denver. Nausea and "weakness, unsteadiness, [and] altered consciousness" set in as I was waiting for the bus back to Boulder, and then I had to take another bus home. I saw a friend, and when she asked how I was, my reply was: "good, well, actually I'm hallucinating. But I'm fine, I just feel like I'm on drugs. How are you?" I think I freaked her out.
The first time I had an aura migraine, Rex thought I was having a stroke. So he took me to the emergency room, where I lost some speech functionality, and over and over "thank you" came out as "yank you," no matter how hard I tried to say "t." I kind of hoped I'd never have another one, but now I'm having what I like to call the aura hangover, which is like a mild aura migraine for days (or weeks) after the original. Doctors have never heard of this phenomenon, but in the interest of not being a medical mystery and not being able to afford more doctors, I've decided that it's nothing to worry about. In the meantime, cheers to a few days of "altered consciousness!"
By the by, most information and doctors indicate that aura precedes a migraine. For me, the aura is mostly all I get. There's some headache, but it's simultaneous, the aura lasts hours (rather than the usual 1/2 hour-hour), and there's no real migraine afterwards. Does anyone know more about this type of aura phenomenon? I don't really like disabling visual and tactile hallucinations that render me unable to work.
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I was diagnosed with ocular migraines, which sounds like the same thing. I don't get the hallucinations though. And they only last about 30 minutes. The only problem is when I'm driving--I couldn't see to drive, but usually I'm home when it happens.
They come in spurts--last summer I was having them a lot, but I haven't had one in a while. I have a slight headache afterward, but it's almost unnoticable. I also seem to have them when I'm stressed, and when the sun is bright.
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