Can you 'develop' a visual aura?

I have been having chronic migraines for almost 10 years. But I never have had a visual aura before. Last night I got these weird flashes of a glowy c-shaped amoeba various places in my peripheral vision. Each flash would last maybe less than half a second. This lasted for about 5 minutes or so.

I was in the early stage when I was trying to decide if I was getting a migraine, and that sort of confirmed it. I immediately took a Maxalt. But if course I still woke up with a migraine this morning. (Nothing I take ever seems to prevent them).

My question is can people go from migraine without aura to getting migraines with aura? I had always thought you were in either one category in the other.

Sometimes I have aura and sometimes not so both are possible at least for me.

I've been having migraine since age 8. The only time I ever recall having aura was once in middle school. But this year I had 3 (one in September, one in February, and one in March). My neuro doesn't seem concerned about it but the short answer is YES migraine can change over the course of life. Each of these auras preceded an incredibly debilitating and intense migraine. By the third one I learned to take a triptan as soon as the visual symptoms began.

They classify a Migraine with Aura as different than other Migraines, I get both. My mother has had them for 65+ years and now she can get the Aura and not develop the Pain. It would be nice to inherit that trait!
=BillH

I'm 73 & have had migraines many years. I have always had an aura with migraine until last few months. I still have a lot of migraines & auras but now occasionally I will have aura without the pain so things can change.

I have always had migraine with aura from the young age of 5 and now at the age of 60 they still continue...with no medicine that has ever worked and probably little hope My classic migraine with aura nearly always starts on the left hand side bottom of my vision and moves gradually in a north easterly direction...before floating off....and then wait for it....here it comes one almighty headache which last 72 hours. I last had one on Wednesday this week and just now beginning to feel it has finally gone...until the next one....

Interesting. I have never had an aura in 24 years of migraine but once in a while my vision gets blurry before migraine hits.

I didn't know you could develop one though.

Cindy

Yes, definitely, like any other strange  M symptom it is quite possible to develop aura at some stage when living with chronic M.

I have had M since my childhood and I've only developed aura in my 30's, then after few years it was gone again (whilst some other M symptoms kept appearing, and disappearing) only after many, many years break the aura came back again.

Now I am free from aura, my M is also generally much better due to the preventatives, lifestyle changes and getting older. I have now stopped HRT and I think this helped me the most.