My Favorite Migraine Aura -- A Must Read -- Petrifying and Pleasureable!

Hi:

I would like to experience a migraine aura as long as there is nothing
but the aura and the aura is only temporary [approximately 15 minutes
to 6 hours]. I've read about the aura and find it both enjoyable and
scary. I like the visual symptoms, the dizziness, the numbness, etc.

I certainly would *not* want to have the headache phase or the
post-headache* phase of the migraine. I just want the aura.

*After a migraine headache, many patients experience tension headaches.


NOTE: sensitivity to light/sound is *not* part of the aura. I only want
the aura and no other part of the migraine

AFAIK, the aura is due to the intense vasoconstriction. The headache
OTOH, is due to vasodilation. The the tension headache is an
after-effect of a migraine headache.

The vasoconstriction in "migraine with aura" is more intense and
longer-lasting then in the "migraine without aura." This is probably
why the former causes an aura while the latter does not.

In addition -- prior and during vasoconstriction -- the blood entering
the brain is hyperoxygenated. The excess oxygen may play a role in
causing the brain's blood vessels to go into spasm and narrow. In
patients with "migraine aura", the brain's blood contains significantly
more oxygen than patient who experience "migraine without aura"

Here are the affects of my favorite migraine aura caused by
vasoconstriction solely in the brain and nowhere else [not even the
eyes or the ears]:

1. Unilateral visual symptoms which affect only the left half of the
left eye in which the more left you go [in that left half of the left
eye] the more the vision is affected, while the right eye -- as well as
the right half of the left eye -- have their vision intact and totally
unaffected. The left half of the left eye experiences the following
symptoms [the extreme left of the left half of the left eye is ]:

A. Blurry vision

B. Image distortion [2-D images appear 3-D]

C. Dysmetropsia, i.e., macropsia, micropsia, pelopsia and teleopsia
(objects appearing larger, smaller, nearer and further away,
respectively)

D. Tilted vision, inverted vision and other forms of illusory rotation

E. Diplopia (double vision)

F. Polyopia (vision of multiple images)

G. Visual perseveration, i.e., prolonged afterimages, palinopsia (the
persistence or reappearance of an image of a previously viewed object),
illusory visual spread (the illusory extension of the visual perception
over an area greater than that which the stimulus-object would be
expected to excite)

H. Cinematographic vision (visual illusion whereby the normal
perception of moving objects is replaced by seeing a series of "stills"
as in a film run too slowly)

I. Corona phenomenon (extra-contour around objects)

J. Metamorphopsia (distorted vision)

K. Facial metamorphopsia (distorted vision of human faces),

L. Mosaic illusion (fracture of the visual image into pieces dovetailed
together as in a mosaic),

M. Autokinesis (illusion of apparent movement of stationary objects)

N. Hallucinations of blobs, amorphous shapes, blurry patterns, watery
patterns with no definite design

O. Hallucinations of herringbone patterns, zig-zags, polygons, all
angular figures without curves or rounded corners, crosses

P. Hallucinations of circles, ellipses, parabolas, hyperbolas, sine
wave patterns, fingerprint whorls, spheres, balls, scribbling

Q. Hallucinations of of spider webs, nets, unsymmetrical lattices and
filigrees, veins

R. Hallucinations of of lattices, gratings, grids, screens, fretwork,
checkerboard, honeycombs

S. Hallucinations of of tunnels, funnels, alleys, cones, vessels, pits,
corridors

T. Hallucinations of spirals, pinwheels, springs

U. Hallucinations of kaleidoscopes, mandalas, symmetrical snowflakes,
lacework, mosaics, symmetrical flowerlike patterns.

V. Hallucinations of any recognizable imagery such as faces, people,
landscapes, panoramic vistas, animals, inanimate objects, cartoons

W. Upside-down vision

X. Blindness [*without* any blackness, darkening or diming of vision]
[Now for those of you who think blindness is the same thing as seeing
blackness when you close your eyes - you are completely wrong.
Blindness is like trying to see and there is nothing registering with
the brain. You don't see blackness... you don't 'see' anything. The
sense to see is gone.]

Y. Body image disturbance -- Alice in Wonderland syndrome -- macro- and
microsomatognosia, out-of-body experiences or felt presences

Z. Achromatopsia (loss of colour vision), chromatopsia (distortion of
colour vision), and prosopagnosia (agnosia for faces). In addition to
visual distortions, visual hallucinations, and visual illusions that
alter the sense of balance even if the organs of balance and their
associated brain-regions aren't directly affected by any ailment.

2. Non-visual symptoms affecting only the left side of the body [and
getting more extreme at the extremities (e.g. finger and toes) and
milder at the center]. (To make the symptoms more easy to describe,
lets draw a line two divide the body into left and right -- the further
you go to left, the more extreme the symptoms will be. If you are on
the left, then the closer you go the the line [i.e. the center] the
milder the symptoms will be). Here are the symptoms:

A. Paralysis
B. Numbness
C. Painless sensation [tactile hallucination] of coldness resembling
that caused by TRPM8-receptor stimulation [caused by vasoconstriction
in the part(s) of the brain the interpret signal from TRPM8-receptors.
D. Tactile hallucinations of movement
E. Impaired coordination
F. Involuntary movements
G. Body image disturbance -- Alice in Wonderland syndrome -- macro- and
microsomatognosia, out-of-body experiences or felt presences

http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/P/Pain.html

"One, designated TRPM8, is a channel that admits Ca2+ and Na+ in
response to moderate cold (<28°C) or menthol (the ingredient that
gives mint its "cool" touch and taste)."

3. Other symptoms:

A. Disturbance in the sense of balance in terms of the left inner ear
-- i.e. the brain's reception of balance signals from the left inner
ear is altered due to vasoconstriction in the part of the brain
concerned with balance from the left inner ear. Symptoms are dizziness,
impaired balance, loss of balance, vertigo, as well as random
hallucinations involving the sense of balance. Hearing and digestive
functions are totally unaffected. No nausea or vomiting.

B. Body image disturbance -- Alice in Wonderland syndrome -- macro- and
microsomatognosia, out-of-body experiences or felt presences.

C. Speeding up of time perception -- "time flys abnormally fast" --
opposite of marijuana's affect on sense of time.

D. Depersonalization

E. Derealization

F. Aphasia -- motor and sensory

G. Dysarthria

H. Stuttering

I. Involuntary vocalizations

J. Paralysis of speech muscles

K. Global aphasia

L. Broca's aphasia

M. Wernicke's aphasia

N. Anomic aphasia

O. Reading disturbances

P. Writing disturbances

Q. Paramnesias [such as Déjà vu and Jamais vu]

R. Forced Reminiscence -- dream-like states

S. Synaesthesia involving senses of vision, balance, time, space, and
movement

T. Recurring dreams as migraine aura experiences

U. Migraine aura symptoms experienced whilst dreaming

V. Alteration of dreams as a direct result from cerebral
vasoconstriction

W. Alterations in level of consciousness

X. Decrease in -- or loss of -- awarness [resembling absence or partial
seizure in which consciouness is retained but awarness is impaired]

Y. False memories; distortion of real memories; impaired short-term
memory; increased focus on long-term memories.

Z. Near-death experience due to severe and prolonged cerebral vasospasm


Regards,

Radium

P.S. the symptoms described above are definitely terrifying but at the
same time, they can be SO enjoyable!

 

Sorry that sentence in the brackets should be "the extreme left of the
left half of the left eye is affected the most severely"

 

I have had the 'honour' of experiencing a 'migraine aura' without any
headache.

I had it at intervals of 1-2 years, from March 1996 until September 2004
without knowing what it was and regularly ending up either into
Emergency Ward or Stroke Unit for fear of having a stroke, since at the
same moment (very probably because of the following panic) my blood
pressure reached 270 systolic and 140 diastolic.

It was only when in September 2004 a friend neurologist told me it was a
case of 'fortification spectrum' that I searched internet and found the
site www.migraine-aura.de of Prof. Markus Dahlem in Magdeburg, Germany,
who is a specialist in this area and does research on it.

Now, after reading a lot about it, I know that my aura is caused very
probably by 'contractions' of small vessels in the visual area of the
back cortex.
There is a theory about it, the CSD-Theory ('Cortex Spreading
Depression') which thinks the onset of such visual 'hallucinations'
follow a very precise pattern, starting with a 'black spot' in the
middle of the visual field, and then 'enlarges' towards the periphery,
showing 'zig-zag' segments, similar to a 'defending military fortress'.
That is why it was named 'fortification spectrum' from the first doctor,
in the 18th century, who described it for the first time.

I had exactly this type of hallucinations.

Once you know what it is, then it becomes less 'fearful'.

But I guarantee that it is no joke to have it for 8 years not knowing
what it is and landing in a stroke unit with suspicion of stroke.

For the record : since I have started taking anti-hypertensive
medications the attacks have ceased.

Greetings to all.

John.

 

They call it ocular migraine here. I've had it for years.

Ann

 

What if the aura includes non-visual symptoms?

 

It's not an aura if it doesn't precede something. That's what aura
means.

Ann

 

It's not an aura if it doesn't precede a headache. That's what aura
means.

Ann

 

How nice that you all here seem to take this phenomena as something very
thrilling.

To me, I admit, it scared the sh**t out of me, thinking everytime that
I was having something like a stroke and ran immediately to the stroke unit.

To me it's still no fun at all. So nice they can be, these 'scotomas'
and 'fortification spectra', I cannot ignore the fact that they do
represent vascular constriction and are the sign of 'cortex spreading
depression'. Which means that there is a sort of blood supply to some
vessels, which cause abnormal action potentials in cells, probably
producing electrical spikes which cause these phenomena.

Okay, perhaps I am a born worrier. However, I prefer to 'hear' about it,
rather then 'experience' it....


John.

 

Yup. Thats why I just love to experience these visual auras. Add a
terryfing sense of derealizations to it. Derealization is a acute
dissociative state of mental confusion in which things start to feel
unreal. It can be totally-painless, yet extremely frightening and
really enjoyable.

I find the non-visual symptoms of the aura just as interesting and
enjoyable as the visual ones.

Everyone experience some level of derealization one the process from a
wake-state to a sleep-state and visa versa, yet we don't notice it. Its
when you are fully-aware of the derealization that things can get
really enjoyable and terrifying.

Well, I'd try to enjoy those temporary visual aberrations. Usually,
there isn't much to worry about unless you and/or a member of your
immediate family has suffered a stroke or a TIA.

 

Well, I agree with you about the driving part. You don't want visual --
or any other sensory disturbances -- while driving.

Nah. Just enjoy the adrenaline-pumping hallucinations and
mental-dissociation caused by the migraine's vasoconstriction.

I'd think they are enjoying once or twice. But with a monotonous spot,
I'd call it boring.

 

How interesting. I never saw a connection between derealisation sinptoms
and visual aura. Also because derealization phenomena I experenced
occasionally since the age of 17, while aura came for the first time
when I was 49 (now I am 59).

But *if* there is a connection, that would explain a lot of things which
might be neurologically connected.

For instance a 'paroxysmal positional vertigo'.

At the beginnig I thought the aura itself was like a TIA.

In my case I explain this phenomena with a severe hypertension which I
had for many years (10 years) with daily peaks of 240/130, without any
medication.
After I started taking medications and BP values were dramatically
reduced, I never had any aura since.

Well, unfortunally I had a TIA.....it was a minor 'prickle' in the right
arm, due to a very small hemorrage (4,5mm).

Since then I take medications for hypertension.


John.

 

....I start to see it that way myself. )

Two days ago I again ad aura, after a day of extreme anger. And after
almost two years.

'Oh Shit ! Not again', I thought at first.

But I wasn't going to let THAT ruin my plans any more.
So I laid down until it stopped, ca. 20 minutes. Then I took a shower
and went to the only nice thing on the program that day : a night with a
beautiful lady !!

Yes. Its a fair bargain all right. ))



John.

 

I don't know about "you all". One nutcase says he likes them. One
doesn't constitute us all. I don't like them particularly but I try
just to sit them out.

Ann

 

Ocular migraine is the usual term.

Ann

 

I like them because they are so exciting. Lots of things that are scary
can also be enjoyable.