My first "real" visual aura

Wow - after 25 years of migraine I had a visual aura like many of you describe.

Extremely freaky and scary.

I've had visual stuff before with migraines. Mostly little sparks on the edge of my visual field and some blurriness.
This was totally different.

I was at work trying to read a paper and having a harder and harder time. At first, it was like I had looked at a tiny bright light and was seeing the after-image right in the center of my field of view. Then it got bigger and took the shape of the outline of a jagged crown, with the edges all zig-zaggy colored lines and the center of the crown completely blurry. This was in both eyes.

I was really oblivious, still trying to read through all of this.

It gradually got bigger until I could see nothing out of my eyes except with my peripheral vision. That's when I got weirded out.

If I closed my eyes I would see the same pattern.

I recognized that it might be an aura from other people's descriptions. But at this point I was pretty completely blind and wondering if it could possibly be a stroke. I was getting a little numb on one side of my face and nauseated.

I popped a couple of Advil and ate some ginger candies in the hope these would help.

I had someone call my wife to pick me up and people at work helped me to the lobby to wait for her - I had to be led around because I couldn't see.

But gradually the crown pattern moved to one side of my eyes and I could start seeing again. By 45 minutes things were just a little blurry and I was starting to get a headache.

I decided not to go to the ER.

Boy - I just had to get that off my chest. To go blind for the first time at 55 is not a fun experience. My sympathy and empathy to all you guys out there who have experienced this.

I've never had one like that and hope never too. My auras are squigglies in the peripheral vision and black floaters.

A friend of mine went completely blind once from one and it scared her to death! She had her hubby drive her into the ER and it went away in a bout an hour.

Once I did have a freaky thing where I was trying to type and when I would get the paper out nothing would be on it. I couldn't get it lined up right up. Scary.

Glad you're better.

Charlotte

Yep, this is what happens to me.Even though I`ve been having them for a long time, they still are scary.

Yeah very scary stuff. I really hate it! I get the blindness when I get bad migraines.
I go completely blind occasionally. It's really scary and very annoying to be that debilatated.
I think the worst for me is when I look at an object and I can see everything else but
my brain REFUSES to register anything else. All I can see is what I'm looking at. Nothing is
black, nothing is fuzzy, it just doesn't actually register in my brain. That really scares me worse
than the blindness. I welcome the zigzags, dots, and peripheral loss after that!

I hope this was a one time thing for ya. Good news is for me, they usually only happen
once in a while. Thank goodness!

Since you did get numb on one side, when you see your neurologist or doctor it may be
a good idea to get a check up for the stroke idea just in case. I'm not trying to freak you out
because it probably is nothing but hey, its good to know just in case!

Charmed Quark,

I've only had full-flown aura two times (in 35 years of migraines), and it was the same experience as you--going blind for 20-30 minutes. These instances were about 2 weeks apart from each other in 2003. None since then.

Typically I get blurry vision before and during a migraine, but not much else visually.

You're right it IS SCARY!

Becky

That's exactly what happens to me, Charmed Quark! I hate the feeling when it starts and you slowly realize that no, you haven't just been staring into the sun, or seen a camera flash go off, it's an aura. Then you just have to wait it out - nothing else you can do. So sorry you had that.

http://observantbystander.files.wordpress.com/2007/07/aura.jpg

This looked very much like mine, except the pattern was all sorts of pastel colors that were shimmering. Interesting but scary.

I get those zig zags but mine are usually black and white. If I am looking at an object, I see only half of it, but if I look to the side of it, I can see more of it. I hate those! I've had them happen at work and you find yourself talking to people and only seeing half of their face. Mainly, I'm just trying to figure out how I'm going to get home at that point! Interesting picture.

I'd never had anything like this before, but had my first aura a week ago. C-shape with sparkeling squiggly lines on the left side of my vision that made it just about impossible to read. Followed by another with a nasty headache the following day. I'm a late 50's male, so the first time really threw me for a loop. I saw my eye doc and family doc on the following 2 days, and they pretty much confirmed migraine. I cut out coffee and fortunately had none of the withdrawal problems some folks have. This morning I had a soda with caffiene, which I'd had in the last week without problem, and I got another aura - this time in reverse and on the RIGHT side of my visual field. So THREE auras in one week. That's more than I'd like, thanks.

1) is it common for the aura to be differently located and mirror-imaged like that?
2) I have some athritis in my neck and lower back. Could that have anything to do with the onset of the aura/headaches?

I have never had an aura that I know. These sound awful for you all.
I am a bit concerned, as our MAA has done an article on the amount of older people who lose the pain and start to get aura.
Apparently it is very scary when it first happens, but the are less frequent than the migrianes and painless.
~What a time we have....

That is exactly what my auras are like. I get very upset when I get one as I know the headache is going to be horrrrible! Thank god, I don't get many auras anymore but when I used to get them often, it gave me the worst sinking feeling in my stomach.

Every time I get a sun dazzle I have a scary few moments while I figure out if it is an aura or just the sun. I get them in a c shape with most of them with the opening on the right and a few with the opening on the left. The pain is always concentrated on the side with the opening. Why? Who knows. I had auras with every migraine from age 12 till about my mid 30's. Then I started getting migraines without auras. I get very few auras now.

Alli