Treatment Of Migraine With Aura
When you get treated for migraine with aura, the main goal is to prevent and manage pain.
Your doctor may suggest medications to prevent migraine with aura, including:
- Calcitonin gene-related peptide monoclonal antibodies
Your doctor may also suggest you take magnesium or riboflavin to prevent migraine with aura.
To stop a migraine with aura once it has started, you can try over-the-counter pain relievers such as acetaminophen, ibuprofen, or a combination of caffeine and acetaminophen.
Your doctor may also suggest prescription drugs called triptans and ergotamines. If the pain is severe, you may need to get treatment in an emergency room with medications you take through an IV.
If you are vomiting, your doctor may recommend anti-nausea drugs.
How To Treat And Prevent Ocular Migraines
There is usually no treatment needed for an ocular migraine, as the symptoms disappear on their own within the hour. However, if you experience visual disturbances alongside a migraine headache, see your optician or GP for additional advice on treatment.
The most common treatment for ocular migraines includes pain relief for headaches and being able to reduce your exposure to any known triggers. It may be helpful to make a diary of your diet and lifestyle, especially anything that happens just before an episode. These records could lead to an established pattern of what triggers your ocular migraines, allowing you to try and reduce the frequency.
Retinal Migraine Is A Rare Type Of Migraine That Can Cause Visual Symptoms In One Eye Most Attacks Are Short
Do you get symptoms like twinkling lights, flashes or temporary vision loss in one eye only? You may have retinal migraine, a type of migraine with repeated attacks of visual disturbances that happen in one eye. We spoke with Deborah I. Friedman, MD, MPH, a neuro-ophthalmologist and Professor in the Departments of Neurology and Ophthalmology at UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, for more information on identifying retinal migraine and understanding the differences with other types of headache.
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How Do You Treat Visual Disturbance
Firstly, do not panic visual disturbances can be frightening, but in most cases are short lived. If you are driving or operating machinery, stop what you are doing and wait for the symptoms to go away. Make a note of your symptoms, how long they lasted and what you were doing just before they began. In most cases, there is a common trigger and keeping a diary of symptoms can help work out what the trigger is. Simply avoiding the trigger, where possible, may be all you need to do.
Common triggers include:
- flashing or flickering lights
What Are The Acute Treatments For Migraine
An isolated visual migraine, without headache, typically does not require any acute treatment, since the visual symptoms resolve on their own fairly quickly. The first few times someone experiences a visual migraine it usually causes a lot of anxiety. Once someone has become familiar with the symptoms of a visual migraine, new episodes no longer cause the same level of anxiety.
It can be helpful to try to rest during the episode. Some patients benefit from other strategies, including eating something, having caffeine, or taking an over-the-counter medication such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen .
Patients in whom the visual symptoms are accompanied by a severe headache often benefit from additional therapies. The goal of these medications is to try to cut short the headache before it becomes too severe. Some patients find naproxen , which is a stronger anti-inflammatory medication, to be helpful. Other patients try a class of medications known as triptans.
Triptans are specially designed to work on receptors on blood vessels and brain cells in order to halt a migraine at an early stage. Although there are a number of different triptans, made by several different pharmaceutical companies, each of these is approximately equally effective. Triptans are often taken orally, but also come as injections and nasal sprays. These medicines are generally not considered safe in patients with a history of strokes, heart attacks, or other vascular diseases.
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Ocular Migraine Treatments And Prevention
Except for the auras, the development of migraines is quite unpredictable. However, environmental and other physical factors that trigger episodes of the disorder can be controlled to reduce the chances of migraine occurrence. First, you need to keep a clear record of your visual disturbance episodes in order to identify possible triggers specific to you.
If medications or contraceptives are the likely precipitants for your migraines, consider talking to your doctor about changing the dosage, or stopping the drug. You can also choose another method of contraception that is less likely to affect your health, with the help of a qualified health care provider.
Adequate nutrition with abstinence from caffeine and smoking can also be effective in preventing visual headaches. However, smoking withdrawal may cause severe side effects and requires the guidance of trained personnel.
Sleep disorders such as insomnia are significant triggers of migraines. Having enough rest is therefore key in ensuring youre free of the attacks.
Other therapies such as natural supplements can resolve or prevent the symptoms of migraines, but you need to discuss the possible side effects with your doctor.
Deterrence And Patient Education
It is critical to educate the patients about the red flags of vision loss. A visual loss that patients describe as darkness requires immediate medical attention and an emergency room visit. Patients must understand that this could be a sign of a stroke or an irreversible eye condition. Visual changes that are more consistent with migraine phenomenon are usually positive such as flashing light. Patients must also be taught that those could come without a headache or any pain. Preventive therapy is important to reduce the frequency of attacks and severity and must be taken on a daily basis.
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What Are Different Types Of Ocular Migraines
Migraine with aura
Migraine with aura causes symptoms such as flashes of light, blind spots, seeing stars or patterns, and other mild vision changes that resolve quickly. Although visual disturbances are the main symptoms, aura can affect other senses as well and interfere with speech, motor abilities, or smell.
Migraine aura can occur with or without a headache. While symptoms are usually brief, they continue for more than an hour in roughly 20% of cases. When aura symptoms emerge in conjunction with head pain, they usually occur in the:
- Premonitory phase: Phase between the symptoms that warn of an approaching attack
- Peak pain phase: When the head pain occurs
Migraine with aura affects 25%-30% of people with migraines, and less than 20% of people with migraine aura experience the aura phase with every migraine attack.
Retinal migraine
Retinal migraine is a type of migraine attack that causes vision changes in only one eye before or during the headache phase. Retinal migraine symptoms are more noticeable than aura symptoms and may include reduced vision, twinkling lights, and brief blindness.
Retinal migraine can result in irreversible vision loss. Because it can be difficult for people to distinguish between migraine with aura and retinal migraine, it is critical to visit a doctor if you suspect you have retinal migraine symptoms.
Painless ocular migraine
If these symptoms arise, you should avoid strenuous activity such as driving until they pass.
Recognizing An Ocular Migraine
A migraine aura can often begin before the actual headache or head pain sets in however, it can occur at the same time as well. An ocular migraine typically impacts both eyes simultaneously, though it can affect only one eye and not the other.
Symptoms of a migraine aura can be both positive or negative in nature. Positive symptoms include things that you can see, whereas negative symptoms involve missing portions of vision.
Positive symptoms include:
- Vision loss in one or both eye
Other signs of an ocular migraine, or migraine aura, can include changes or loss of color vision, blurred vision, a kaleidoscope-like fracturing of images, heat waves, distortion in objects , or an appearance of seeing things as if one were looking through water. Numbness or tingling in the hands or feet, nausea, dizziness, sensitivity to light and sound, weakness, and head pain are additional possible effects of an ocular migraine.
The National Headache Foundation publishes that visual auras typically precede an actual headache or migraine by about 20 minutes to an hour, although the symptoms can persist with the headache itself. Visual impairments that accompany an ocular migraine can make it difficult to function normally and do things like drive safely or read.
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How Can I Treat Migraines Without Using Medicines
It is very important to remember that many of the most effective preventive treatments for migraines do not require any medications. Frequent aerobic exercise is an excellent example of an effective way to improve headaches. Other strategies may include better sleep habits, stress reduction, massage, yoga, and acupuncture.
Is Retinal Migraine Dangerous
Most often, a retinal migraine attacks will subside after a short time with no lasting harm, though it can affect your ability to drive safely.
Still, its worth discussing with your doctor and potentially getting an eye examination to look into potential causes and rule out more serious concerns, such as a stroke in the eye.
Migraine with or without aura is a risk factor for stroke.
If its never happened before, losing vision in both eyes at the same time may also be a sign of a more serious problem.
Your head may start to hurt at the same time a retinal migraine affects your vision or up to 1 hour later, or you may not experience a headache at all.
The same is true for the more common migraine with aura.
Retinal migraine is considered relatively rare. Its more common for a different type of migraine to affect vision in both eyes, not just one.
Older research from 2005 puts the frequency at about
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Frequent Ocular Migraines: Should I Be Concerned
Home » Blog » Frequent Ocular Migraines: Should I Be Concerned?
Ocular migraines can interfere with your ability to perform routine tasks like reading, writing, or driving as they cause visual disturbances and even temporary vision loss. Seek help from pain doctors experienced in diagnosing and treating every type of headache if your symptoms are occurring too frequently and the episodes last longer than the previous ones. Pain management experts at Advanced Headache Center can diagnose the true causes of your pain and recommend the best line of treatment to provide relief.
Diagnosing And Treating Ocular Migraines
When you visit your doctor, they will ask about your symptoms, examine your eyes, and order additional tests to rule out other serious conditions such as:
- Amaurosis fugax
- Giant cell arteritis
- Spasms in the blood vessels that carry blood to the eye
- Autoimmune diseases
- Stroke or transient ischemic attack
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Diet Nutrition & Lifestyle Choices
Evidence is beginning to support the idea that migraine headaches are associated with mitochondria dysfunction. Supplements such as riboflavin , coenzyme Q10, magnesium3, niacin, carnitine, and lipoic acid, which support mitochondrial function, have been shown to help alleviate migraine headaches.2
- Be sure to also read our lifestyle recommendations for migraine headaches.
- See our essential visionwellness tips for this eye condition.
- Stress. Manage stress – meditate, take cool walks in the morning, do yoga … whatever works well for you.
- Computer. Avoid long hours on the computer and take frequent breaks.
- Exercise regularly, at least 3x weekly. Exercise reduces the amount of pain from migraines although it does not directlystop migraines by itself.
- Pay attention to what you eat in the event that the ocular migraines are tied to an allergy.
- Sleep routine. Wake up at the same time each morning, and get plenty of sleep at night
- Finally, acupuncture is worth considering.
Common Ocular Migraine Triggers
The cause of ocular migraine is not the same as its triggers. Causes are what prompt the condition in the first place, but triggers provoke the electrical disturbance and mark the beginning of each migraine episode.
Optical migraine triggers may include:
- Excessive screen use
- Loud or abrupt sounds
- Powerful odors, whether pleasant or unpleasant
- Relaxation after a stressful event
- Changes in barometric pressure
- Alcohol, especially red wine
- Caffeine or withdrawal from caffeine
- Nitrates and nitrites
- Monosodium glutamate , a flavor additive found in many prepared foods such as fast foods, seasonings, spices, broths, and chips
- Tyramine found in aged cheeses, hard sausages, smoked fish, soy products, and fava beans
- Artificial sweeteners
- Changes in hormones during or before a menstrual cycle
These triggers may not always cause ocular migraine symptoms. Often migraines occur as a result of many triggers occurring at once.
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What To Do In The Event Of An Ocular Migraine
The American Heart Association publishes that migraine aura and visual disturbances occur about 20 percent of the time in the event of a migraine and can be a possible risk factor for ischemic stroke. Research findings show that if you suffer from migraine with aura, you are more than two times more likely to suffer from a blood clot or mass that clogs the blood vessel and leads to an ischemic stroke.
An ocular migraine can interfere with blood vessels in the brain, which in turn may raise the odds for clots and strokes. For this reason, if you suffer from ocular migraines, you should contact your health care provider to get it checked out and ensure that your risk factors are identified and addressed.
When suffering from an ocular migraine, it is important to take care of yourself. Try to manage the pain and symptoms as best you can. This may include:
- Moving to a quiet and dark room.
- Laying down and resting your eyes.
- Drinking a lot of water.
- Placing a cool compress on your head.
- Taking over-the-counter anti-inflammatory or anti-nausea medications.
Try to stay still in a safe place while the visual headache passes. Do not attempt to read, drive, or do anything else that requires extreme focus, concentration, or visual attention.
What Is An Ocular Migraine
An ocular migraine is an eye problem characterized by short episodes of vision loss or visual disturbances.
For example, you may see flashing lights in one eye accompanied by a headache.
Your doctor may also refer to this type of migraine as ophthalmic or monocular migraines.
These episodes may be scary. But in most cases, they are harmless and short-lived. However, ocular migraines can be a sign of a more serious condition.
Some people experience retinal migraines every few months, but the frequency varies from person to person.
Retinal migraine is a unique condition that should not be confused with headache-type migraine or migraine with aura, which often affect both eyes.1
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What Are The Preventive Treatments For Migraine
Many patients with isolated visual migraines, without severe headaches, have relatively infrequent episodes that do not require specific preventive treatments. If a patient is aware of the particular triggers that seem to bring on an episode, then those triggers can be avoided.
In patients where the pattern of migraines includes frequent, severe headaches, it is very reasonable to consider additional preventive treatments. The main goal for any of these strategies is to reduce the overall frequency and severity of the headaches. None of the preventive treatments is a magic bullet that is 100% effective. For example, it would be considered successful if a preventive treatment helped reduce the number of severe headaches from 8 per month to 2-4 per month.
There are numerous medications that can be used as a preventive treatment for migraine. One medication that is used commonly, particularly because it has no side effects, is vitamin B2 . Approximately 100mg of riboflavin daily is thought to improve migraine headaches . One common side effect of riboflavin is that the urine turns bright yellow. Other herbal medications used to reduce migraine headaches include petasites and feverfew.
What Causes Ocular Migraines
Theyre thought to originate in a similar way as migraine headaches, by irregular electrical activity in the brain. Genetics play a role in who experiences migraines, and theyre also more common in women. Potential triggers include certain MSG-containing foods, harsh light, stress and changes in weather.
Although the root cause is the same, it is not known why some people experience migraine pain after visual disturbances and others dont or why the same person might experience both on different occasions.
It is quite common that as women get older, they might have fewer headaches and less pain but more of these auras, Dr. Estemalik says.
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Tips For Managing And Preventing Visual Migraines
If your visual migraine occurs frequently, here are some tips to help you prevent or manage the condition.
- Acupressure. This is an evidence-based practice of applying pressure with hands to specific points on the body to relieve pain and other symptoms. It can be an effective alternative therapy for migraine headaches.
- Lavender oil. Lavender oil can be inhaled or applied diluted to the temples to ease your migraine pain.
- Peppermint oil. According to a 2010 study, the menthol in peppermint oil can minimize migraines.6 The research showed that applying menthol to the forehead and temples relieved migraine-related pain, nausea, and light sensitivity.
- Yoga. Yoga uses breathing, meditation, and body postures to promote health and well-being, relieving the frequency, duration, and intensity of migraines.
- Massage therapy. Massage reduces stress and enhances coping skills. It also lowers heart rate, anxiety, and cortisol levels.
- Herbal supplements. Butterbur and feverfew are common herbal remedies that may aid with migraine pain and frequency reduction.
- Avoid Triggers. Ocular migraine triggers such as caffeinated foods, alcohol, dehydration, smoking, or stress
- Unwind at the end of the day. Basic things like listening to soothing music or taking a warm bath after a long day can help your body relax and prevent migraines.