Newbie. - help and advice please

[millie123fairy]

Hi. I'm 38 years old and have never suffered with headaches let alone migraines. Last Friday I came home from work and started seeing zig zag lines. Didnt think anything of it and it went after 30 minutes. The next day in the morning I was driving to asda and my vision went blurry in my left eye. Again, this went after 30 minutes or so. That scared me so went to see an optician who said everything was fine with my eyes and pressures and I experienced a migraine attack. I did have a slight headache soon after each vision problem but nowt serious. Went to the dr on the Monday who confirmed I was having migraines and gave me migraleve. No more attacks until Saturday just gone when I was out shopping and again got zig zag lines. By the time I got home I was find do did not take migraleve. However, has zig zag lines again this morning in school run. Sat in car until it passed and took 2 pink tablets when I got home. Feel fine now. I was diagnosed with heart arrhythmia last September and given beta blockers which are fine. I'm really scared of the auras and terrified when my next attack will come. Has anyone any advice about auras they can give me of about how to cope with them. I am a secretary and work mainly on a computer but have never differed from this before. Thank you and sorry for rambling.

[Juliapester3]

Hi, sorry to hear of your recent migraine attacks. You are lucky you have aura because if you medicate and catch the migraine at this point the pain is much less severe. That said aura can be quite scary at first but you,ll soon realise that they follow the same pattern each time and last for the same length of time. Whilst you have visual disturbance I would recommend you don't drive, try to sit somewhere quiet and take your medication until it passes.

Beta blockers are used as a migraine preventative so that may be why you are not in too much pain with them?

I hope this is just a phase for you and not an ongoing drama!!

[Hidden]

Hi! I occasionally have the migraine aura which seems to be similar to yours. More often than not, it's not followed by the headache. Have said that, I get the headaches 15-20 times a month now and am waiting for new treatment from a local neurologist.

If you don't get disabling headaches, I'd try to avoid taking any medication if possible. Once you start, it's easy to get hooked on it. Your brain will soon start to decide that it wants the tablets or it will give you a headache!

I think migralieve contains codeine, doesn't it? That in particular is something to be wary of as it is quite addictive! But if you do start getting bad headaches, juliapeter3 is right: you need to take the tablets as soon as you notice that something is going wrong! Good luck!

[Gambit62]

Some people do just get auras without the headaches - think it is called silent migraine.

Having said that the auras themselves can be very debilitating. One friend who has them is an artist and it makes it impossible to work at times.

Do you have any idea what might be triggering the migraines - think that might be more helpful than anything if you can find out ... though finding out might be quite frustrating. For me it is changes in hormone levels that trigger the migraines but foods are a common trigger. Has there been any change in your environment recently - specific types of artificial lighting can be another trigger. Unfortunately stress can also be a trigger but that can be more difficult to avoid

It might be worth keeping a diary of food and headaches and anything else you can think of that might be going on for a month or so to see if you can track things down.

[weddinglady]

I get this kind of migraine when I am in a period of high stress. Luckily it has only happened about 3 times in 30 years.

[jezzamck]

Hi Hope you are developing coping mechanisms for your new symptoms. I get periodic migraines always preceded by slight aura and a pain over my left eye. I find stress, variable sleep patterns, alochol and excessive caffeine are my main triggers.. never usually one trigger usually a combination of 2 or more of the above. Good luck with it. You do get used to them and if you can cope without medication I am sure it is for the best. For severe attacks I use Sumatriptan which I think is similar to migraleve .. Jeremy