Blind spots then Migraine?!
Question: What might this be? -- For the past few years, I have been getting a "starry" pattern in my eyes. First, Its like a blackish blind spot, where I cant see certain parts of things I am looking at.. Then after a few minutes, Ill get the starry pattern in my eyes, and its really hard to see.. Of course, after it fades (about 20-30 mins), I get migraines to the point where I am nauseous... This happens VERY rarely.. (maybe a few times a year, but when it does happen - its terrible!) .....I did some research, and did see that if its very bright, that could do it! When I woke up this morning, it was extremely bright in my room, and I think that did me in. It does always happen when I am in a bright room (i.e., when i first wake up, when i was in school and it was bright outside, and the lights were on indoors, etc.) .... Ive been laying down all day since I first woke up, because I felt terrible and sick! I took an advil, and now Im feeling slighty better..
Answers: What might this be? -- For the past few years, I have been getting a "starry" pattern in my eyes. First, Its like a blackish blind spot, where I cant see certain parts of things I am looking at.. Then after a few minutes, Ill get the starry pattern in my eyes, and its really hard to see.. Of course, after it fades (about 20-30 mins), I get migraines to the point where I am nauseous... This happens VERY rarely.. (maybe a few times a year, but when it does happen - its terrible!) .....I did some research, and did see that if its very bright, that could do it! When I woke up this morning, it was extremely bright in my room, and I think that did me in. It does always happen when I am in a bright room (i.e., when i first wake up, when i was in school and it was bright outside, and the lights were on indoors, etc.) .... Ive been laying down all day since I first woke up, because I felt terrible and sick! I took an advil, and now Im feeling slighty better..
You are having classical migraines. The ophthalmic part is the 'aura' for your 'regular', painful migraine. So you KNOW this is coming when the optical part begins. You can talk to your primary physician or family physician and get medication that will either stop, or slow down, or reduce the intensity of the migraine pain.
The ophthalmic part occurs in the occipital cortex of your brain and is apparently induced by a stimulus, in your case bright light, or ?...
These occur on one side of the vision, both eyes the same, never cross the midline, though you can have two, one on each side, at the same time. They won't match up as far as the zig-zag arcs go, but they'll do the same thing...slowly move to the side or towards the center and then go away.
You might just go ahead and take 800 mg of advil when you first get it. The therapeutic dose of ibuprofen is 800mg three times a day, so taking one set of 4, 200mg pills shouldn't hurt. You might take these with some food, as you can really get a stomach problem on an empty stomach. Then you'd have both the wonderful regular migraine and stomach pain... (just eat something).
Do talk to your mother or father or ? about getting an Rx for migraine medication. It can make a lot of difference for you.
The visual effect you're talking about is called a migraine halo or aura. I get them but I'm one of the fortunate ones who don't get the headache with it. It lasts about 30 minutes then it's gone. You're right, bright lights can trigger it. That's usually when it happens to me too. All you can do is take something for the pain. You might also want to get a check up with your doctor. Sometimes they will prescribe something for you to stop the headaches.
You should see a doctor to see what is causing this.
Because you have had more than one migraine, you need to see a physician to determine what is causing them. It can be something like a food allergy or eye problems or illness or stress or the change in the weather/barameter.
Nausea is the body's way of yelling at you to take it easy. Next time put an ice pack on the back of your neck, close the blinds, and turn off any music or loud sounds. Start a daily log of when you have the symptoms on a scale of 1 to 5. What you had to eat or drink within 12 hours. The weather. The time of day, etc. Take that to a doctor, particularly a pain specialist who specializes in headaches.
Advil has an anti-inflamatory much like a cold pill and helps with pain but you need to get to the root of the cause. Headaches can be very dibilitating!