22 years
I had this terrible headache today and a blurr vision in my left eye. My head scan is good. I see rainbow in left eye when looking at light?
Jan 8, 2015
Migraine is a chronic illness that has been hypothesized to be caused by perturbation in the blood flow to the brain. It has a strong genetic component. It can be precipitated by stress, hunger, lack of sleep, menstrual cycle etc. It's usually preceded by an aura, which is a combination of signs and symptoms that tell the patient that a migraine attack is eminent. Typical symptoms: Throbbing or pulsatile (with the heart beat) headache, with moderate to severe pain that intensifies with movement or physical activity. One-sided and localized pain on the sides or in the back of the head, but the pain may be felt anywhere around the head or neck. Pain grows worse over 1-2 hours, progressing to the back of the head and then the entire head. Headache lasts 4-72 hours. Nausea and vomiting, and food intolerance, and light-headedness are experienced. Sensitivity to light and sound.
Features of migraine aura are as follows:
May precede or accompany the headache phase or may occur independent of it. Usually develops over 5-20 minutes and lasts <60 minutes. Most commonly visual in nature (seeing bands of light).
For the diagnosis of migraine to be made, patients must have had at least 5 headache attacks that lasted 4-72 hours and the headache must have had at least 2 of the following characteristics:
Unilateral (one sided) location. Pulsating quality. Moderate or severe pain intensity. Made worse by or causing avoidance of physical activity (eg, walking or climbing stairs). In addition, during the headache the patient must have had at least 1 of the following: Nausea and/or vomiting. Photophobia (irritation from light; patient usually seeks a dark place) and phonophobia (irritation from sounds; patient avoids noisy places).
Common triggers:
*Foods (Aged cheeses, salty foods and processed foods. Skipping meals or fasting. Food additives like sweetener aspartame and the preservative monosodium glutamate MSG)
*Drinks. Alcohol, especially wine, and highly caffeinated beverages
*Stress
*Sensory stimuli. Bright lights (in your case) and sun, also loud sounds. Strong smells
*Changes in wake-sleep pattern: Missing sleep or getting too much sleep, jet lag.
*Intense physical exertion, including sexual activity
*Weather changes or barometric pressure variation
Features of migraine aura are as follows:
May precede or accompany the headache phase or may occur independent of it. Usually develops over 5-20 minutes and lasts <60 minutes. Most commonly visual in nature (seeing bands of light).
For the diagnosis of migraine to be made, patients must have had at least 5 headache attacks that lasted 4-72 hours and the headache must have had at least 2 of the following characteristics:
Unilateral (one sided) location. Pulsating quality. Moderate or severe pain intensity. Made worse by or causing avoidance of physical activity (eg, walking or climbing stairs). In addition, during the headache the patient must have had at least 1 of the following: Nausea and/or vomiting. Photophobia (irritation from light; patient usually seeks a dark place) and phonophobia (irritation from sounds; patient avoids noisy places).
It's composed of 4 phases:
1-Prodrome: occurs a couple of days before the attack, you may notice minor changes like constipation, irritability;
2-Aura: not very common but may occur before or during migraine headaches. Auras are usually visual disturbances, such as flashes of light, sometimes auras can touching sensations (sensory), movement (motor) or speech (verbal) disturbances. Usually lasts for ~60 min;
3-Attack: may last up to 72 hrs, &you get pain on one side or both sides of your head, pulsating, throbbing, quality, u become averse to light, sounds and sometimes smells (u seek a dark quiet room), nausea &vomiting, blurred vision, light-headedness;
4-Postdrome: may feel drained out, though some people report feeling mildly euphoric.
Common triggers:
*Foods (Aged cheeses, salty foods and processed foods. Skipping meals or fasting. Food additives like sweetener aspartame and the preservative monosodium glutamate MSG)
*Drinks. Alcohol, especially wine, and highly caffeinated beverages
*Stress
*Sensory stimuli. Bright lights (in your case) and sun, also loud sounds. Strong smells
*Changes in wake-sleep pattern: Missing sleep or getting too much sleep, jet lag.
*Intense physical exertion, including sexual activity
*Weather changes or barometric pressure variation
Treatment has 2 components: prophylactic (maintenance) which aims to keep a level of symptom free period, and abortive, which aims to abort (stop) an acute attack of pain. In addition to avoidance of causative agents (daily diary helps identify those.
•
