# Ocular migraine **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 12, 2013, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ocular-migraine/655516 "2013-04-12T16:23:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2013, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ocular-migraine/655516/1 "2013-04-12T16:23:39Z")
Blech. Have a lot of stuff to do today too. No pain, but auras, vision loss, and it makes it harder to concentrate. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2013, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ocular-migraine/655516/2 "2013-04-12T16:41:33Z")
I’ve had them twice. Each time, the weird vision thing went away in twenty minutes. I don’t remember if I was fuzzy-headed the rest of the day, but I was very disconcerted because I thought it was something much more serious. That sucks, though, **Folly**. I hope you feel better. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2013, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ocular-migraine/655516/3 "2013-04-12T16:51:19Z")
Thanks. Vision has pretty much cleared up now about 45 minutes later. If the past is any indication, I’ll be fuzzy headed for a couple of more hours and then ok. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2013, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ocular-migraine/655516/4 "2013-04-12T20:03:23Z")
My sympathies. I get migraines fairly rarely, thank goodness, but when they happen I always have the pre-aura with either tunnel vision, pixilated central vision, or simply inability to read without really straining my eyes. About 40 minutes later the vision is fine and the headache begins. A handful of times, it’s never actually progressed to pain. I think partly because I gulped down some Advil or something **immediately** and it nipped it in the bud. As sucky as the fog is, at least it isn’t real “shoot me now” pain like sometimes happens. Hopefully you’re feeling better soon. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Stilettos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/fbc32d/32.png) [@Red\_Stilettos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Stilettos)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2013, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ocular-migraine/655516/5 "2013-04-12T20:11:13Z")
I get ocular migraines occasionally. Mine are triggered by bright lights. Like the OP, it’s more of a hassle than anything else, as its never progressed to pain. I once got one while I was teaching (I had briefly looked into the overhead projector). It was…interesting to tell my students that I couldn’t answer their questions because I temporarily couldn’t read. I’m sure they thought I was losing it. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2013, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ocular-migraine/655516/6 "2013-04-12T21:26:29Z")
Feeling ok. Will probably feel drained for the rest of the day. Thank goodness I don’t have the horrible shooting pain type. If I have some sort of trigger, I’ve never identified it. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2013, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ocular-migraine/655516/7 "2013-04-12T23:15:20Z")
I get ocular migraines, and in my case, I get neither pain or fuzzy-headedness. I just get a trippy light show for 15 to 20 minutes. Luckily I don’t drive, so it’s never been a danger. Not being able to see out of the center of my vision sucks, but I can usually lie down, take a shower, or do something else that doesn’t really require vision for a bit. ---
**Author:** ![sinjin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@sinjin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sinjin)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2013, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ocular-migraine/655516/8 "2013-04-12T23:23:53Z")
I have been getting them for the past 10 years, only once with an actual head-ache. What’s weird is that they sometimes seem to be triggered by peppermint or maybe it’s just a weird coincidence:confused: ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ocular-migraine/655516/9 "2013-04-13T00:06:46Z")
I had them together with nauseating headaches as a teenager, and now get them occasionally with relatively little pain. I don’t know what triggers them, but I know instantly when I’m going to have one; I notice a shift in my vision and then a tiny floating blind spot that grows and grows into a shimmering dragon’s tail on one side of my world. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ocular-migraine/655516/10 "2013-04-13T00:40:42Z")
Funny to see this post, just finished an ocular migraine about an hour ago. Mine usually have no pain, just the fuzzy aura around my peripheral for 10-20 minutes. It’s hard to read or type or anything like that, and I tend to look at people sideways and/or do a lot of hard blinking. Mine are usually due to some kind of stress and one of my cats is going through a bad flare-up of pancreatitis right now and it was hard to leave him to go to work. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ocular-migraine/655516/11 "2013-04-13T02:13:57Z")
I get them, usually when I’m sleep deprived. They last about 20 minutes, as the ring of blurred vision slowly expands and vanished. Sometimes I have a slight headache afterwards. My father got them, too. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ocular-migraine/655516/12 "2013-04-13T03:32:23Z")
I don’t have pain either, not even a slight headache, and mine aren’t fuzzy. They’re sharp-edged, like little lightning bolts. It was scary (OMG brain tumor!) until I figured out what they were. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ocular-migraine/655516/13 "2013-04-13T03:44:17Z")
Had one myself today at 4:30, with a client sitting in my office, writing a brief for him on a rush basis. Double vision, nothing readable all of a sudden. I had to take a time out. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ocular-migraine/655516/14 "2013-04-13T03:52:56Z")
I’ve had them since I lived in West Africa about 17 years ago. Mine are sharp-edged, and if I try to read while having them, the words fracture and parts of the text are blanked. I normally just lie down in a darkened room and close my eyes for about 15 minutes until it’s gone. Afterwards, I usually get a low-level headache and feel kinda whipped for a while. ---
**Author:** ![dwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwyr/32/363_2.png) [@dwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwyr)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ocular-migraine/655516/15 "2013-04-13T03:59:30Z")
Blech. I get them too, as well as the regular migraines. The sparkly vision lasts less than an hour and I usually have a low level headache afterwards. Thankfully they’re infrequent. Unfortunately the first time I had an ocular migraine was at work and I had no idea what it was. I had to go home because I couldn’t see well enough to read the crossmatches in the Blood Bank. Now I know to just wait them out. ---
**Author:** ![flatlined](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@flatlined](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flatlined)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ocular-migraine/655516/16 "2013-04-13T04:04:47Z")
I know when mine are coming on because I smell orange trees in bloom. I’m pretty sure that mine are brought on by stress. I have learned that what I need to do to stop the all day acid trip is to work on vascular constriction. As soon as I smell orange blossoms, I take a Benadryl and then put ice on my forehead. This often works very well. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ocular-migraine/655516/17 "2013-04-13T05:48:08Z")
Pulled an allnighter and worked for almost 40 hrs straight the previous couple days. By the time I laid down to sleep, I had the most amazing (and somewhat disconcerting) auras Ive ever experienced. I’ve seen colorfully abstract blobs before, and also I’ve had the annoying blind spot that grows, with a shimmering edge, until it fades. But this was some amazing workings of my visual cortex. In the dark, I clearly saw orange, dimentional wedges, cascading and unfolding in a clockwise spiral, graduating into a neon green; colors and shapes so vivid and fractal, I marveled that here was some process unfolding in my brain somewhere, creating these impossible designs I couldn’t imagine if I tried. Then I slept for 13 hrs straight. No pain. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ocular-migraine/655516/18 "2013-04-13T06:02:40Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > I don’t have pain either, not even a slight headache, and mine aren’t fuzzy. They’re sharp-edged, like little lightning bolts. Mine are geodesic patterns composed of triangles, and are colored like an oil rainbow. The closest visual approximation is [the growth of the Andromeda Strain](http://youtu.be/8qEsqjJAY-k?t=1m44s) from the old movie. > [@](#): > > It was scary (OMG brain tumor!) until I figured out what they were. I was lucky in that one of my clients is a neurologist who explained what they were. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2013, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ocular-migraine/655516/19 "2013-04-14T16:13:20Z")
A couple of years ago I started getting occasional ocular migraines. I used to get the painful kind, and had one that lasted 10 days. The pain was so great that I wanted to kill myself, just to stop the pain. Compared to that, the oculars are a blessing. Mine begin as a small scintillating spot near where I’m looking. It gradually gets larger and more scintillating and vibrating. Its outer border remains circular, but the inside is composed of sharp-edged geometric shapes, like a vibrating golden crystal with some slightly green facets. Eventually it expands until it exceeds my visual space, and it’s over. ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ocular-migraine/655516/20 "2013-04-15T16:08:46Z")
I’ve been getting them for a few years, really jagged expanding flash followed by low level headache/malaise. I’ve noticed they almost always come on in the morning, and a couple of attacks ago I had one while I was dreaming. Could recognize the jagged aura, and it was still there when I woke up. I think I get them more often than I realize in the last hour or so of sleep, sometimes I wake up with the mild headache/funk and I think I’ve slept through the actual aura phase. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ocular-migraine/655516.md?page=2)