Visualizing Migraines: The Attempts of Hubert Airy and Others | Hacker News Reader

Visualizing Migraines: The Attempts of Hubert Airy and Others

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20 pointsVigier9 comments

I’ve been having what I began recently suspecting to be aural migraines for a few years now. They happen once a month or less. I was surprised to see that these images are surprisingly similar to what I’ve been experiencing. At times, I can’t even read my screen. I’ve tested my own peripheral vision while it’s happening and have noticed blind spots. After 20 minutes to 2 hours, things go back to normal.

Same. Been happening to me since puberty. No doctor ever connected the visual distortions I described with migraines. Now I know I am not alone. Mine generally last 30-40 minutes start to finish, followed by an hour or two of wooziness. But no pain, thankfully. My wife gets three day killer migraines. I guess I am lucky.

I get the same flickering images. Vivid primary colours and triangular shapes with black borders. And likewise, no pain.

One thing I notice is that they are triggered by bright light. Briefly going outside into the the sun, will often trigger a bout.

On three occasions in my life I've had a migraine. I wasn't sure until reading this article today today, because they've never been accompanied by any kind of pain—just the bizarre disturbance of my field of vision being cut up into little scintillating triangles, gradually spreading over my field of vision until I could not read, then after 45 minutes or so fading away.

The first time it happened was more than two decades ago, after a long summertime bike ride, and I thought the effect was a more severe form of the sort of mild visual pulsation that can be caused by depleting one's electrolytes by sweating out a lot of salt and only drinking water.

Only much more recently did it happen again, and migraine was mooted as a potential cause—but until I saw these drawings I was pretty skeptical. Now I'm sure of it.

I don't know what the frequency is, but visual migraines are associated with extreme fatigue.

The only migraine I had was following high exertion, shortly after a long flight. It only lasted a couple minutes for me, and I can't say I remember the visual pattern well.

I frequently have these retinal migraines; so does my sister. I'd say their drawing is quite accurate. In my personal experience:

* their grayish color are way more yellow/white

* it often forms a fully closed circle/potatoid

* the inside is filled with void -no visual information, which the brain will fill with its own guess-

* I don't get a headache afterwards, but my sister does

* I often get them when playing sports

* I once got one while looking at a bright LED spot

* they can grow to the whole field of view

* the vision reappears gradually from the center, where it started

* it always affects both eyes at the same time, but with a different pattern in each

* I don't know if it's related: my sister and I both have the Photic sneeze reflex

I wanted to post so that I can share what works for me and my sister:

The loss of visual field may not seem like much, but it is very dangerous. Your brain auto-fills it, and you won't grasp how much you don't see. Do not ride a bike, or take the car! Triple check the trafic when crossing the street!

Do rehydrate yourself the earliest you can with something like a pop/soda/coke. I don't know wether if it's the water or the calories or the combination of both, but it has to be water with sugar. Usually the patterns will start to fade away 5-10mn in, and will be completely gone by the 25th minute.

This is not medical advice, but: if you know you will suffer from a headache afterwards, do take paracetamol/acetaminophen the earliest you can as well. At the first sign of the yellowish visual disturbance. It will usually prevent the headache. If you do not take it early, once the headache has set in it will not go away for a long time.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photic_sneeze_reflex

Thanks for confirming the sugar thing. I suspected it was helping for me, but there are so many variables with these auras that it's hard to isolate what helps.

The warning about vision auto-fill is important too. It can start before the colourful aura becomes obvious. I learned this the hard way when I stepped in front of a car one time, and have been extra careful since.

Seeing these patterns preceded by blind spots is horrifying, because you then know that pure hell awaits you.

I've had these. Very cool to see them depicted so thoughtfully and read other peoples experiences. I'm very intrigued by the triggers for people as I've never fully understood mine if any.

I had them first when I was around 14, and got very worried as I realised I wasn't just my usual ADHD-distracted but literally couldn't read words I had my vision centred on. That's when I left the classroom and noticed my brain was reporting my arms at the wrong angles, contrary to my vision.... But they didn't go numb that time... Next I remember getting an injection and being told that the pain would soon come while seated in the Doctors office after being whisked home. It came but wasn't too bad, just a headache.

The next time I was terrified, it started in my fingers, and spread like when Neo first dips his fingers in the mirror as he is extracted from The Matrix. Right down my throat and everything. A tingling (scintillating?) of my skin on my right side. Don't recall if I got the visuals that time. Then an unremarkable headache.

I'm sure I had another episode but it was much more visual and it is exactly like the illustrations, but very bright, blazing and warping. Its interesting seeing-but-not-seeing. An unwelcome glimpse at the visual system of the brain.

Then I had no more migraines/aura for nearly 10 years... Plenty of headaches but you get shit for calling them migraines if you don't get aura or have to spend 2 days in bed with the curtains drawn (RIP people who get them that bad, right?).

Next time I was having mystery abdominal pain (which I eventually linked to intestinal worms) and getting quite stressed out about it and sleeping badly and taking lots of time off work and looking st screens, when suddenly the numbness happened again. Called an ambulance as older me gets spooked easier... And got a mild but long-lasting headache. A few days later I wake up feeling really weird, and the visual aura is putting on a show. Get a piercing headache moments later. But I eventually sleep and wake up fine. Few days later same thing but this time at work staring at a monitor. Great excuse to take the rest of the day off, no headache. Def dodgey crossing roads when you're half blind.

Then they stop for 5 years again.

Then I'm taking a hiking trail to my house from the city at an overly brisk pace, and its inconceivably longer and harder than expected and its getting dark. Just as I finally reach the other side and civilization again the scintillating in just one corner of my vision starts, by the time I get home its taken over and is virtually all I can see. Time for a panic attack too, why not? Then a mild headache and it's off to bed. Migraines are weird, and kind of fun.

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