Question???

I am new to this forum and have a question. I feel modestly guilty in that my migraines have been mild (compared to true sufferers) and in the last few years almost nonexistent.
I am a retired male in my sixties and have gotten stress related migraines for most of my life. I would get an aura/visual disruption which I guess is best described as floaters although I used to claim that a paisley shaped flash of light would move across my field of vision. The onset of pain would come in about half an hour. I would suffer much less if I could take a medicine, although that was aspirin in the 60s, later excedrin, before ibuprofen/naproxen were widely available. I would always be pain-free the next morning, although I would describer myself a "washed-out". If I would happen to sneeze the next day, I could feel where the pain was. I never went to a doctor or had serious medicine prescribed. I know I am lucky.
I must admit that these would be rare, with me only getting two or three a year. I realize I am way on the mild side of those who get migraines.
My question revolves around the fact that I still get my aura, and actually lots more often, two or three a month, but I never get any pain. This started with me in my late fifties and coincides, perhaps coincidentally, with significant reduction in my stress. It seems to me that many of these start at a computer screen, so the light may play a part.
So my question is two parts: Why so much more often, and why no pain? I am not complaining, but it seems curious to me.
Thanks in advance for any input.

Hi Gully,

Glad you aren't afflicted like most of us. That's always a good thing.

As for the no pain issue - well there are those that get the silent migraine. You get a warning it's coming (aura) and it runs it's course just not pain. You might notice that you are more sensitive to light or sound or have some other weird sensation. My pain levels have dropped but I get other indicators (my vision is affected, I will get numbness on one side of my face, one eye registers light differently). It might not be anything uncomfortable, just a heightened sense.

As for frequency...no idea there. I've given up trying to understand why patterns might change - there seems to be no rhyme or reason that I can figure.

As I have gotten older I have had more migraines without pain, also. The annoying thing about them for me is that I still get the mental confusion, clumsiness and just generally not feeling well, but at least I can muddle through the day and no pain means I can still do things, though not anything that requires a great deal of mental effort. I don't know what it all means, the frequency is about the same for me, but I'm on a preventative.

I was in your shoes when I was younger--just aura but no pain. When I turned 50 I had a stroke that deleted auras and I started getting the pain instead. I haven't had an aura since---just pain. Stroke is more common in people who have auras vs. just the pain. I assume my stroke risk is back to what is normal to the general population since I no longer get the auras. Rather have the auras any day though.

Never had a migraine in my life until I hit peri menopause.
They started with my cycle, and as I got further into menopause they came at every rise or fall of hormones.
Now I am past all that and I still have the migraines with no idea at all now what triggers them.

gully, I think I get the stress triggered ones to. When did you figure it out that stress was triggering them and how long did yours last?

I guess I've gotten them for longer than I can remember, but I realized in my first teaching job, when producing/directing class plays, that the stress was the trigger. Later on it was apparent that as the stress level went up, the migraine was likely to follow. I was very lucky in that I was always pain-free the next morning, meaning my pain never lasted more than 16 hours or so. I could tell that I had had one, like feeling a bit of pain if I coughed or sneezed, but was always fine the next day. I feel guilty posting here but essentially was wondering if anyone else was in a similar situation, with having the same symptoms, except no pain. So far, it is the only good thing about growing old.

members of my family on both sides get silent migraines - and I think they have increased some with age. Of course, I don't get an aura, just the pain - lucky me !

gully - lucky you. I haven't found anything good yet about getting old. My "painful" migraines didn't start until I was old. (meaning peri-menopause). Don't feel guilty about posting. We love and need to hear success stories