has anyone managed to reduce the aura phase with meds?

I am beginning to think that I am not going to find meds that deal with the aura phase of my migraine, especially as most things seem to focus on aborting the pain. Has anyone had any sucess with this real nuisance? I get up every day to it and it is driving me mad!!

Aura for me involves waking with visual interferance of potentially all types possible, fortunately rarely visual loss, sensitivity to noise, which makes more lights and makes me dizzy, sensitivity to smell, which makes me feel sick, makes more lights, then makes me dizzy.

If I get too much of the above I fall over or start bumping into stuff, or shoving my hands into things and knocking bits out of my thumbs. eg. trying to pick up the phone and shoving thumb hard onto sharp bit of morrocan lamp instead which I did twice in one day because sound of phone activated temporary dizziness.

I can't stand the kitchen in the morning because of last night's dinner smell. It starts to ease to a manageable level around 11 then eases of gradually in the afternoon. If I don't go anywhere it will stay like that till bedtime.

When I go somewhere it will definately come back around 4 and could hit with dizziness in shops or anywhere.

I also have trouble with confusion and can't find words, the latest word was on the alotment and I couldn't remember a vegetable name which might of well have been potato and my sentences got jumbled, it was that embarrasing.

Di

Hi Di
I often wonder the exact same thing - my aura/prodrome phase is by far the most terrifying and debilitating part of my migraines and I've never found anything that reduces it's length or severity. I was told that a big whack of aspirin can help (more than recommended on the label) but then if you have stomach/nausea issues with migraine, that's not going to be good. As every migraine is different with me it's hard to judge if it's been successful.

I would say, however, that my aphasia (language difficulties) during prodrome haven't been as pronounced since following the aspirin recommendation, so a small success. I still struggle to understand written word and find my own speech but it's not as crippling as it used to be.

Just to clarify, aura refers only to the visual symptoms of migraine, everything else is part of the prodrome but can't really be called aura, I think?

LHx

Oh man, I wish I could help you out. I haven't found anything to help either but I wish you luck in your search. I can say that even on topamax when my migraines decrease in severity and frequency I STILL get aura and prodrome unfortunately. It's a bummer, it's a constant reminder that if I stop my meds I'll still get these darned things.

I wanted to chime in and just add that aspirin may contribute to MOH. I don't know yet if I believe in MOH for myself. A lot of people on this board have had troubles with rebound though. To be honest, I don't think I get them however I take one of the deadliest medications that cause it and I take it more than enough to get them. It is just something to be aware of. The recommendation for aspirin is 15 times a month to avoid rebound headaches.

Best wishes to you. If you find something that works, please keep me updated. I too am tired of having smell, light and sound sensitivity. Seeing things doesn't bother me too much, usually I go blind or see stuff for only a few minutes and it goes back to normal and that happens a couple times a day so I think I can live with that.

Di,

The abortives are supposed to stop the Migrainous process in the brain, not just pain.

I know of nothing that can be done about prodrome, BUT if I take an Axert at the first sign of aura, it settles my aura down and sometimes will abort the Migraine before it hits the headache phase. This really makes me wish all of my Migraines were Migraine with aura, but only about half of them are.

For a long time, we were told to wait for the pain to take abortives, but the newer research is showing that they can be taken during aura, and that they work better when taken early in the Migraine.

Of course, that may not work for everyone, and it can vary from one Migraine to the next. Amerge and Frova are less likely to abort during the aura phase because they work more slowly than the other triptans.

Hope this helps!
Teri

Thanks for the ideas. I have looked at the Axert website. They rekon we can take the meds earlier than others, so it might be of help.

Aparently Axert is Almogran in England and I havn't had anything in this family of meds yet so you might have given me some new hope.

many thanks

Di

Hope it helps you, Di!

Teri

dizzyflower wrote:Thanks for the ideas. I have looked at the Axert website. They rekon we can take the meds earlier than others, so it might be of help.

Aparently Axert is Almogran in England and I havn't had anything in this family of meds yet so you might have given me some new hope.

many thanks

Di

My aura symptoms include numbness, confusion, unresponsiveness, dizziness etc..... Docs say I have basilar migraine or complex migraine.............does anyone know if I can take triptans? Somewhere in the back of my brain I recall being told they were contraindicated for basilar migraines......anyone have any info on that? Would be interested in trying axert if it helps cut down on the aura symptoms!