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by yr1337 705 days ago
It's cool to see some progress on aural migraines.

In the past I tried zolmitriptans for it but they don't do much, same with milder pain killers.

My migraines started at 20, two decades ago. I remember the first one like it was yesterday. I was studying CS and was coding on a dark-mode CRT monitor with a big fat window reflection on the screen.

It always happen the same way, with the characteristic jiggles, some kind of colorful, moving patterns of light that start in the center of my vision, slowly expanding to my entire field of view, making me temporarily blind. Then 30 mns after the onset of that, gone. 30 more minutes and the headache + strong nausea start, and immense fatigue. At that point I'm out of commission for a good 12h. Meaning I better be close to my bed, in total darkness.

It really sucks. I used to have them every 3 months on the dot, like on a timer. As I'm getting older I'm having less and less of them, going about a year without one. And they are a lot milder now. I have a lot less of the jiggles, no nausea and the headache is not so bad. I'm still fatigued but usually recover the same day. I consider myself lucky.

It seems to run in my family.

I've tried finding a trigger for the migraines but I have no clue. I used to associate them with bright lights as there is usually a bright light present when they happen, but it needs some other element. Stress and fatigue appear to be factors, as are tanins contained in red wine and beer. But sometimes none of these elements were present.

I have a personal non-scientific theory that serotonin levels play a role. High levels like I think I had when I was younger tend to trigger migraines. As I'm getting older and grumpier, I probably have low serotonin and less migraines...

2 comments

Same, with aura, but without bad headache symptoms beyond a 3/10 on the pain scale. I use to have them monthly, almost on the dot. Unrelated to them, I started taking Magnesium supplements and now rarely ever have aura migraines. Kinda crazy how well it worked for me. Also could never really figure out the “precipitating factors” but bright light was almost always the direct trigger.
Thanks for sharing. I have the same “bright lights” hypothesis. If I see something bright I close my eyes until it feels like it’s passed. Seems to work, but who knows until I get my next one.

I’m also realizing in my late-30s that I have at least some form of dyslexia - I used to think Ambien made me hallucinate letters dancing on the page, but it’s my eye muscles and happens most when I’m tired.