does anybody have this problem

[HN16DFD]

Hi All

My problem is my eyes get flashing lights, tongue and cheeks go numb and I become a bit vague it takes a few minutes to clear and it leave me with a headache does any body have this problem, any suggestions!

[FRANKJONES1]

Hi. I get the same occasionally, less frequently now. It's always a bit of a surprise when it happens but I think there must be a trigger. Trick is working out what it is. Might be diet when for example a number of indulgent items are included on the same day, like cheese, chocolate, red wine! Sitting in the dark and breathing deeply helps, plenty of water and maybe early pills like paracetamol to head off or lessen the headache. First time it really hit me a few years ago, I was referred to the Stroke centre as it was thought I'd had a TIA. I hadn't but the symptoms are similar. I'm taking regular magnesium, which seems to have cut frequency right down. I was advised Vit B2 but I only take that occasionally as there seems to be enough in food. Good luck. Frank

[bamboo89]

Sounds like aura migraine, where you get a visual disturbance, followed by the headache for some people. I just used mostly to get the aura - flashing lights and zig zag lines that move across my field of vision and take about 40 minutes to clear, with a mild or no headache afterwards, unless I had 2 or 3 in a day and then I felt really unwell and out of kilter. I found out by accident that mine were caused by dairy, cheese in particular, after I gave it up for another reason, so I don't eat cheese or most dairy any more, other than a bit of cream and butter, and they've stopped, thank heavens.

I started to recognise when I was having a 'migraine' day - I'd notice some photophobia, especially on sunny bright days, when I'd wear sunglasses to dim the light a bit, accompanied by being a bit clumsy (things like making loads of mistakes when typing, or knocking things over) and feeling tired and slightly off colour - but it usually meant I could expect a visual disturbance within the next few hours. What usually happens is you get a little blind spot in your field of vision for a few seconds, which you may or may not notice, just before the other visual symptoms start - bit freaky when driving, I'd suddenly realise I couldn't see the all the numbers on the plate of the car in front of me, and would immediately try to find somewhere to pull in and stop within 5 minutes before the disturbance got going properly. You might get numbness or tingling in the face or elsewhere in the body during one too, there's a range of strange things that can happen - I sometimes noticed I'd be dribbling a bit on one or other side of my mouth, producing too much saliva, often with a weird taste on the affected side. After all, migraine is a neurological dysfunction and might have far reaching (but temporary) effects when its happening. I once had a hemiplegic attack instead - I'd been expecting a visual disturbance at some point in the day, but 'lost' my left arm completely for a few minutes instead, with shooting pains and numbness up into my jaw and face that side - ended up in the stroke unit at the hospital. At my age, they were convinced I'd had a stroke because the MRI showed white areas in the brain but it wasn't, it was the one and only hemiplegic migraine attack I've ever had, which I was able to prove because luckily, I had a brain MRI 2 months previously for another reason, and there was no difference between the two scans.

Might be worth cutting out certain foods for a while to see if it makes a difference.

Miriam

[Kelli0905]

Yes that’s sensory migraine aura. It’s not fun. No medication really helps with this phase of the migraine unfortunately. I found in the past, taking a baby aspirin everyday seemed to keep them at bay. Hang in there