# Migraine with Aura



## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

Its only if you or someone you know suffers with this you will understand what a debilitating illness it is.
Hans has lived with the problem for 60 years, every remedy has been tried including herbal.
3 years ago it was discovered quite by accident, he has a heart rhythm disorder and to cut a long story short he takes a lot of tablets each day.
Two of these tablets are 1 per day 100 mg asprin and 2 x per day 47.5 mg Metroprolol. 
Through trial and error we are certain this combination keeps his Migrain Aura at bay. He has not had a migrain with Aura since last November when this combination of medicine became part of his regular medication.
His symptoms include, pins and needles in his fingers, seeing only half of anything, forgets who people are i.e. a new friend he would not know, he doesn´t know which language he is speaking in (English or German) and cannot put together a sensible sentence, he has to go to bed because he feels ill and is absolutely useless. This would carry on for 3-5 days, after that for a few days his head thumps when bending over, however an actual headache he *does not *have. At times he would not be able to work for 2 weeks, for someone who is, even now he´s retired, a workaholic, thats a sure sign of illness.
www.mayoclinic.org/.../*migraine-with-aura*/.../*migraine*-*aura*.
If this information helps someone else I will be very happy.


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## Chrisv (Jun 10, 2007)

Hi Janhank,
This is truly a debilitating illness and Hans has my sympathy. I don't suppose he has got used to it but has probably learned to cope (because you have to).
Your tag line says 'We learn something new everyday' and I have learned something today and that is that I have suffered from migraine with aura although I had never heard of it until now. In my case my eyes would become very light sensitive and when that happened I learnt to go home and sleep for about 5/6 hours (whatever the time of day). The following day I would be an 'empty shell' but after that fine so just two days for me. I haven't had an attack since I retired 5 years ago. Tiredness was always a precursor for me. Has Hans worked out what causes his attacks? 
I can't imagine what it must be like for Hans.


Chris


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

Anyone who suffers from any form of migraine has my sympathy. I've had bouts of cluster migraine on and off for around 20 years. None for about four years now but that's happened before. I typically have several attacks a day for anything up to around 6 weeks. Modern medications are quite effective luckily and will end attacks quite quickly as long as I recognise the beginnings. If I take the medication before the headache develops fully it can be over in 15 minutes.

I know my problem isn't the same as the one Hans has but I thought it worth adding as so little is known about migraines. It was several years before I was even diagnosed so this may be a helpful alert.

http://www.migrainetrust.org/factsheet-cluster-headache-10908

Alan.


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## HurricaneSmith (Jul 13, 2007)

Hans has our sympathy too.

For most of her life adult life, my wife has suffered from migraine attacks. In her case they either revolved around her regular cycle or stress. She occasionally suffered an attack on the first day of a holiday.

She suffered vision problems, couldn't stand sunlight, and suffered from vomiting. Over the counter pain killers didn't help at all, until her doctor prescribed self injections into her thigh and that eased things considerably. Her only solution was to go to bed, draw the curtains, and try to sleep it off. There was nothing I could do to help, other than manage things around her until she felt better. I seem to remember that the symptoms started reducing once she reached around 50 years and now it is pretty much a thing of the past.

It will be dreadful for Hans but it is also hard for you too, watching it happen. I understand some of what you have gone through.


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

*The worst week of my life*

Thank you all for your replies.
The worst week of my life was in January last year when he made medical history.
As I said, Hans has a heart problem, he already had 1 stent and had the second last year. I was waiting for him to call me to say it was over, but had a call from a doctor instead telling me Hans had become very aggressive, was this normal. She said they had sedated him. Luckily the doctor spoke some English, but not enough for me to fully understand what was going on. I said I would come and insisted on seeing the Professor who performed the operation, I knew he spoke good English because he had worked in the UK. The hospital is 1 hours journey away.
As soon as the prof. told me while he was carrying out the procedure Hans said "I do not understand" I knew he had Migraine Aura. I was shocked when I saw Hans strapped to a bed. It had taken 4 medics to hold him down and that was the reason for the sadative which we were told afterwards was nearly enough to knock out an elephant. After the stent is inserted you need to lay perfectly still for 5 hours to allow the vein to fuzz. He was knocked out for 3 days, he had no idea when he finally came round that he had lost 3 days.
It is still not known why the migraine caused the violant movement, the professor has searched all medical books etc, but found no explanation.
Its was the only time I have felt alone whilst in this country.


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

I'm not sure if mine has a name, but it started about 10 years ago, my eyesight just goes all weird, like a black and white kaleidoscope effect, I can see better with peripheral vision than straight on, not sure if this is migraine or not, I tend to get it with very bright sunlight or too long on the PC, I struggle to read anything printed now too, which is a pain as I used to love reading a good book.


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## BillCreer (Jan 23, 2010)

Kev_n_Liz said:


> I'm not sure if mine has a name, but it started about 10 years ago, my eyesight just goes all weird, like a black and white kaleidoscope effect, I can see better with peripheral vision than straight on, not sure if this is migraine or not, I tend to get it with very bright sunlight or too long on the PC, I struggle to read anything printed now too, which is a pain as I used to love reading a good book.


I get the same as you and it is classic migraine with aura. I'm lucky because the pattern and loss of central vision is all I get with no other symptoms. I can chase it away in about 30 mins if I have something to eat.
I discovered it was migraine when reading about cave paintings in France as cave men painted the same patterns on the walls and the author said that it indicated they were suffering from "classic migraines". My Doctor and Optician have since confirmed it.


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## JLO (Sep 27, 2006)

I was diagnosed about 8 years ago. They thought I had, had a TIA (mini stroke) and stopped me driving for a month. 

I realised there was something wrong when I was reading a new book and I thought half the print was missing, then I realised I couldn't see the face on the clock but could see around the edge.

I was told by the consultant it's a migraine with aura which is a "true" migraine, I don't always get a headache but I do sometimes. Bright sunlight sets it off so I now always have dark glasses with me. I get a sort of zig zag rainbow effect around the edge of my vision and I know when one might be coming because I feel a bit different in myself nothing I can put my finger on, I'm usually laid back and happy but less so prior to a migraine coming on.


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## con-tiki (Oct 16, 2009)

I had had migraine with Aura since I was 13 . We were moving to Glasgow in the 1983 and when registering with my new GP I mentioned about the migraines and said my peripheral vision was affected when having a migraine ie could not read a newspaper as my peripheral vision was affected. He examined my eyes with an ophthalmoscope and said he was going to refer me to a Neurologist. When I saw the neurologist he tested my peripheral vision then I had an x ray. He told me that I had had a stroke ...I was only 32 then..I was in total shock. He said I would need a CT scan to confirm his diagnosis. I duly went for the scan and it turned out that I did not have a stroke ..but a haemangioma (brain tumour)..It was about the size of a tennis ball and the difficulty removing it was that it was very vascular so the tried to do an embolization which is via a cerebral angiogram which is like a cardiac angiogram but goes further up to the brain. They basically try to cut of the blood supply to the tumour by putting an embolus in a suitable vessel feeding the tumour...Alas there were no suitable vessels..so I underwent surgery. Obviously it was a success ( that was 28yrs ago ) I still get the aura now and then and sometimes a bit of a headache but it goes away very quickly.


Shirl


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

con-tiki said:


> I had had migraine with Aura since I was 13 . We were moving to Glasgow in the 1983 and when registering with my new GP I mentioned about the migraines and said my peripheral vision was affected when having a migraine ie could not read a newspaper as my peripheral vision was affected. He examined my eyes with an ophthalmoscope and said he was going to refer me to a Neurologist. When I saw the neurologist he tested my peripheral vision then I had an x ray. He told me that I had had a stroke ...I was only 32 then..I was in total shock. He said I would need a CT scan to confirm his diagnosis. I duly went for the scan and it turned out that I did not have a stroke ..but a haemangioma (brain tumour)..It was about the size of a tennis ball and the difficulty removing it was that it was very vascular so the tried to do an embolization which is via a cerebral angiogram which is like a cardiac angiogram but goes further up to the brain. They basically try to cut of the blood supply to the tumour by putting an embolus in a suitable vessel feeding the tumour...Alas there were no suitable vessels..so I underwent surgery. Obviously it was a success ( that was 28yrs ago ) I still get the aura now and then and sometimes a bit of a headache but it goes away very quickly.
> 
> Shirl


It doesn´t matter what our problems are, there is always someone who has or had a worse one. Thank goodness the tumour was found in time, a tennis ball size, it must have been pressing on more than just your optic nerve.
Nice to meet you Shirl this forum isn´t usually doom and gloom, there are a lot of raskels to contend with.
_P.S. I tick like not because I´m please you have migraine, but to confim I have read your posts. Jan._


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## HermanHymer (Dec 5, 2008)

Hey how debilitating migraines are! You all have my sympathy.

My bobsworth: 

Low blood sugar can also bring on a migraine. My stepson used to suffer if he went off to play an early rugby match at school without having a proper breakfast. But he used to suffer from carsickness and the match usually involved travelling to a another school which was often miles away.

I also had a friend who used to suffer regularly. Her migraines were reduced significantly in frequency and severity by a herbal medicine - feverfew (a flower) - taken as a preventative. This is one herbal treatment which was endorsed for proven efficacy by one of SA's most pre-eminent medical professors and they don't endorse herbal treatments lightly and without thorough valid research.


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

HermanHymer said:


> Hey how debilitating migraines are! You all have my sympathy.
> 
> My bobsworth:
> 
> ...


 Fever Few, yes thats against migraine headaches which is not what Hans has, he has Migraine with Aura without the headache. He tried Fever Few some years ago, unfortunately it didn´t work, in fact we still have some. Just checked, better throw them away, expiry date Jan 2013, they still smell though :laugh:


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