Migraine, When The Lights Flash - There’s One Coming
January 29, 2008
A migraine may feel like one long pain but the attack falls into five distinct stages, including the interval between one migraine and the next.
Those stages are:
* Prodomal phase (may last 1-2 days)
* Aura phase (may last around 1 hour)
* Headache (may last from 4 hours to 3 days)
* Resolution of migraine and recovery period (1-2 days)
* Migraine interval (time between end of resolution and next prodomal phase)
Here, we are going to look at the aura phase.
What does migraine with aura mean?
About a 25% of sufferers get a warning that a migraine attack is coming. The aura symptoms usually develop over a 5-20 minute period and then can last for an hour or less.
What is an aura like?
The sufferer might start yawning or feel unusually hungry and thirsty. They may also start to smell a distinctive odor, in just the same way that epileptics do just prior to a seizure. The most frequent type of aura is a visual one. Other forms of aura can be to do with a distorted sense of touch, movement or difficulties in finding words.
But of those people who suffer from aura, most will have experienced visual distortion. This can be in the form of dazzling or flashing lights. Or objects and people may start to look as if their edges are jagged or they are splitting. Their vision can also become dotted with black spots, form into a herringbone shape or become blurred. People describe it as looking through snow, a distorting glass mosaic, or like seeing the static on a TV in their normal vision. Many people who experience auras, say that they see the same things each time, although some see different things too.
Is it scary?
Opinions differ depending on what the sufferer ‘sees’. Some find it very disturbing and disorientating, while other find it an intensely creative time.
Some migraine auras can be hallucinatory, with sufferers describing a range of ‘visions’. These have included:
* Animals
* Humans or human-type beings
* Psychic experiences
* Mystical experiences
* Magical experiences
Some very famous people have suffered from migraines. Some of them may well have been affected by migraine aura, intensifying their creativity. You may be surprised at the list:
* Elvis Presley – recently revealed as a sufferer. Puts a new slant on his problem with medications.
* Whoopi Goldberg
* Princess Margaret, late sister of Queen Elizabeth II
* Lewis Carroll – creator of the classic Alice in Wonderland
* Virginia Woolf
* Miguel de Cervantes
* Emily Dickinson
* Sigmund Freud
* Friedrich Nietzsche
Some say that Vincent Van Gogh, Georges Seurat and Pablo Picasso all suffered from migraines although this is a guess based on their styles of painting.
What treatment is there for the aura?
Treatment is aimed at minimizing or preventing the migraine itself. Rest in a dark, quiet room and take painkillers. Soluble ones work faster. Medications containing buclizine may help to calm down any sickness.
If over the counter drugs don’t help, quickly see your doctor.
More migraine headache information can be found at Headache.HealthHows.com, a resource rich site with ideas and tips, concerning the cause and treatment of headache, in all its many forms.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=David_Wilding
