Good description of your aura, Italybound.  I was 35 years old at the time of my first ocular migraine and had a new baby at the time.  I remember taking a walk with another mother, each pushing our baby carriages, everything sunshiny and glorious in our lives and then wham this ocular thing happened.  I didn't know what was happening and my legs became a little wobbly from fright but I kept on as if nothing was going on.  I really don't know how many years went by with other occurrences before I learned that these events were called ocular migraines.  

Will one of you moderators correct the spelling on this thread so it's easier to find in the search?

Glad you resurrected this thread TJ (I may never have found it myself )
Subject is very interesting, as my son & daughter used to occasionally get full blown migraines which would only dissipate once they had thrown up & my Mother & Mother in Law got migraines often...
I have never even had even many headaches myself, but this past year I have 2-3 times had that aura thing happen in just the left eye... No pain but slightly blurry vision on the very outside of the eye, as if there was "something" in my left field of vision & it would only go away if I rested with both eyes shut for 10-20 mins Haven't had it now for a while so wonder if it is the same thing?

Quoted from TJ

Will one of you moderators correct the spelling on this thread so it's easier to find in the search?

Done!

Like I said in my previous post, which keeps disappearing then reappearing:
When I first feel a migraine headache coming on, I immediately rub a little essential peppermint oil on my forhead and more on the bottom part of the back of my neck. Not too much, because the fumes will make the eyes water. And not the kind you can swallow. This is the pure essential peppermint oil in the little bottles with the dropper. Swallowing is toxic.  I  used to get migraines so bad that I would have to take to the bed in total darkness with no noise. Then, when I finally threw up and took a nap, I would be very weak. I can tell when one is starting because first I get colorful zig-zag lightening flashes in the corner of an eye, which progresses to full-fledge "stained glass window" effect, but flashing, over my entire eyes and I can't see. Closing my eyes doesn't get rid of it. But since I use the peppermint oil as described above, I shut it down immediately. I don't have them very often anymore, but I carry that little bottle in my purse everywhere I go. I know if I get away from home and that starts, I won't be able to drive.  My mother talked about the aura she got before a migraine turned into the headache stage. I never got the aura ... just the flashing zig-zag progressive lights. After reading this post, I wonder if the orange juice I used to drink every night before bed could have been one factor. I know if I am around cigarette smoke at all I get a full blown one. There are probably several factors involved. I have lots and lots of allergies. Mom said she thought the peppermint oil did something to the blood vessels.

Oh, and I, too, have been taking milk thistle for an inflamed liver (which is now ok), plus L-carnitine, fish oil, ubinquinol(Co-Q10) and other supplements for the past year.

TJ, thanks for resurrecting the thread.  My memory is fading, and I'd forgotten this had a name.  Migraine without the pain.  I think I need to treat myself as if I always have a migraine, because I think I do, whether or not I actually have the headache.  I have seen a neurologist since this thread was started, and he confirmed that that's what I've got.  

Possum, I never thought about throwing up making me feel better.  But if I start doing that......will it ever end?  I feel nauseated after every single meal as it is anyway.  

Don't add bulimia to the list!  I don't think a migraine has ever made me throw up.  Darkness, quiet, and sleep are usually enough for me.

Quoted from Ribbit

Possum, I never thought about throwing up making me feel better.  But if I start doing that......will it ever end?  I feel nauseated after every single meal as it is anyway.

Jeepers do you?? Must be something that is causing that??!! Wonder what it is? Have YOU ever looked into things like salicylates etc?

I started getting auras a few years ago... I, not so lovingly call them, "eye-graines".  Sometimes it feels like something is swirling at the outer edges of my vision & it will make me incredibly nauseous.  The first time it happened, I went to my eye doctor & she checked everything out & said it all looked fine.  I tend to get them when I've really over done things w/ my eyes... like reading an 800+ pg. Stephen King book in a day & a half.  (or spending too many hours on the computer)    I haven't noticed a food correlation, but will keep an eye out if I get one again.  Mine tend to last for about 20 mins - a half hour as well.  It's very unsettling.  These days, I tend to get more of the full blown migraines, mainly when my hormones shift or when I need to visit my chiropractor... those usually last 3 or 4 days!

For those of you who see "stars" in your eyes, be sure you get a full eye exam which includes getting your eyes dilated.  Many non eye related diseases are detected through your eyes.

Timing of this thread is cool, as I am working with someone who has a hard to figure headache. no obvious food causes. not BTD but super plain eater BT A, looking some stuff like msg as a cause, will check back if any success.

I must say though that if you use something like peppermint oil to ease the pain (which is cool)but why not look for the cause more and stop that. mean that in a nice way.

if super compliant then look at the sugars, artificial etc...

forgot to add Aspartame as a possible culprit E951

MSG is E 621 plus ones containing glutamate's = 620,622,623,624,625,627,631,635. but the sources are endless.

random's such as gelatin, oh and many in pet foods too. tetra sodium pyrophosphate.

both "possibly" linked to the following Chronic fatigue Syndrome, Alzheimer's, Post Polio Syndrome, Carpel Tunnel Syndrome, MS, Eosinophilia Myalgia Syndrome, Lyme disease, Manic depression, Epilepsy, Graves Disease, Heart disease.

I have had migraines since I was 14, some with pre cursor's such as blurry vision and tunnel vision. The worst was when I would get the numb face and arms, and the slurred speech and inability to put together a coherant sentence. I thought that I was having a stroke, and it turned out to be sever migraines. I wasn't able to find what the trigger's were, but I am hopeful, because since I changed to the BTD, I haven't had a migraine. 3 weeks without a migraine is like heaven for me, I was getting them at least once a week.

those will be a thing of the past

make sure you keep hydrated and follow your guidelines, tweaking as you see fit.....
finding out your secretor status and GT are great moves toward a personalized approach

Trigger for me is citric acid and/or not enough [supplemental] magnesium.
Aura starts with unreadable letters and then zigzags working outwards over my field of vision, occasionally blank bits in field also.
I've just had a full eye exam, field of vision etc.... as one of my routine glaucoma check ups....nothing extra appears wrong there.
Rarely a headache, though used to get them once a month at peri menopause, but I can feel unwell for a few hours/half a day.

Quoted from D.L.

When I first feel a migraine headache coming on, I immediately rub a little essential peppermint oil on my forhead and more on the bottom part of the back of my neck. . . But since I use the peppermint oil as described above, I shut it down immediately. I don't have them very often anymore, but I carry that little bottle in my purse everywhere I go.

Thank you so much for posting this, D.L. I have since tried the peppermint oil, and it works for me too! I am still working out my triggers, so prevention is not entirely possible yet. The little bottle of peppermint oil in my purse has become my constant companion, just in case.

Thanks again!

Quoted from Possum

...this past year I have 2-3 times had that aura thing happen in just the left eye... No pain but slightly blurry vision on the very outside of the eye, as if there was "something" in my left field of vision & it would only go away if I rested with both eyes shut for 10-20 mins Haven't had it now for a while so wonder if it is the same thing?

Strange as this morning I had it again for the first time in ages & am now wondering if exposure to fumes precedes them for me? Spent all day in town on Monday (including waiting for 3/4hr for relatives on wharf, while stinky trucks stopped & backed up nearby) filled car with petrol on Tuesday, washed clothes, including bed linen, (with enviro friendly detergent but with essential oils in it ) & was also exposed to neighbour's washing as I went out to line myself (stinky regular smelly stuff) Then to top it off, used an old crock pot that has a part plastic outer & noticed it smells when heated...Slept really heavily last night, then when came back from city drop off this morning, I had an instant sun glare induced "headache" Ok later when crockpot turned off...

I probably posted this before, but the less metal I have in my mouth, the fewer migraines I have.  I got another metal bridge taken out and I haven't had one since.  I still have one filling to be removed, and then I'm metal-free!

Quoted from Ribbit

I probably posted this before, but the less metal I have in my mouth, the fewer migraines I have.  I got another metal bridge taken out and I haven't had one since.  I still have one filling to be removed, and then I'm metal-free!

I do wonder if the rigidity of metal [besides toxic effects] could cause or aggravate head problems. I always thought of teeth as rigid structures until a dentist explained to me that they are supposed to move slightly.

glad this thread was resurrected!

i have dealt with silent migraines for YEARS...it went undiagnosed for almost 20 years, at which point i was so sick i could not work.

A new doctor in my home town figured it out.  Went to a neurologist, had an MRI etc. What i learned is that a migraine is a neurological issue... regardless of whether or not one gets a headache. In fact the most common sympton of a migraine episode is nausea. The "headache" is only one symptom of a list of many that defines a migraine and less than 60% of migraineurs experience the headache.

Those who do not get the headache part are not "free and easy"... left untreated it causes a lot of chronic problems as the frequency of the episodes (basically the brain goes off on it's own little trip) will increase, causing a myriad of physical symptoms and fatigue. When it is not dealt with correctly, the cycle of "brain attack" and recovery becomes chronic, with no breaks or appropriate recovery time and can result in other problems like depression or bipolar problems, seasonal affective disorder, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyaligia, chronic pain syndrome, etc.

I know for me... a migraine is very traumatic, even without the headache. My senses literally assault me - i experience not just the visual auras and other visual hallucination, but also allodynia, olfactory hallucinations, auditory hallucinations, severe nausea, balance issues, all over body pain, sensitivity to light, emotional instability, the inability to think, inability to speak coherently... i would imagine that my sense of taste would be wonky too, but i can't eat when that happens. One episode usually lasts for 4-8 hours.... i have had it last as long as 3 days and it leaves me absolutely drained for days after.

My neurologist actually said that in some ways it's too bad that i don't get the headaches more often (i've had only a handful of classic migraines, the rest are as described above) as those are easier to treat and i would have been diagnosed earlier.

I have found that managing through diet has been the most successful. BTD/SWAMI have been great for that. Now if i could only manage the weather...

Has anyone found healing for ‘silent migraines’? I suspect I have been suffering from these for eight years.   Dizzy; lightheadness, feeling like going to pass out, weakness in arms /hands and legs; constant 'cloudy head', pressure in eyes, unable to focus, tunnel vision, black and white "kaleidoscope" like figures in the corners of both eyes, have on occasions had numbness of entire left side of body, feeling of being pulled down and severe fatigue.  

I have had EKG, MRI, CAT SCAN, and BOOLD WORK with everything normal.  I have been told it is vertigo, but I don't think that is what it is.  

Most recently, I have had very debilitating non stop episodes (every day), causing me to miss work and severely limiting my life.  I am struggling with the MD to take me seriously and look into this. I was actually told to see a psychiatrist by one doctor.  I finally saw an ENT, based on my symptoms he suggests I may be experiencing 'silent migraines'.  

I started BTD just a week ago and I am hoping for some relief.  

What I would love to know is of those who have been diagnosed with this...how did you go about it?  Was your GP hip to it or did you have to battle to get to the correct doctor? In additon to feeling horrible daily, battling for someone to help me is becoming overwhelming.  

Also what is the treatment for healing? I would like to not just mask the symptoms with more pills but to heal completely.  

Any input would be life changing.  

Quoted from 18090

Has anyone found healing for ‘silent migraines’? I suspect I have been suffering from these for eight years.   Dizzy; lightheadness, feeling like going to pass out, weakness in arms /hands and legs; constant 'cloudy head', pressure in eyes, unable to focus, tunnel vision, black and white "kaleidoscope" like figures in the corners of both eyes, have on occasions had numbness of entire left side of body, feeling of being pulled down and severe fatigue.

What I would love to know is of those who have been diagnosed with this...how did you go about it?  Was your GP hip to it or did you have to battle to get to the correct doctor? In additon to feeling horrible daily, battling for someone to help me is becoming overwhelming.  

Also what is the treatment for healing?

I have had many of these symptoms.  I have had these based on other people's description, but could also never get a diagnosis.  Every Dr. I have seen about them, basically brushed it off as "all in my head" because I didn't look sick or have any other symptom.  I even had a Dr. tell me that I was faking having no energy...
  
What has helped me the most is following Dr. D.'s diet recommendations.  I started with the Blood Type diet, moved to the Genotype diet, and now have my personalized SWAMI diet.  My recommendation is to:
1. make sure you eat little to no avoids and replace them with as many beneficial foods as possible.
2. do as much as possible to heal the gut.  Deflect and Polyflora for your type and ghee or Intrinsa are great assistants.
3. liver cleansing would probably help.  I would do the gentle cleanse from The Genotype book rather than a harsher program.

I still can't exercise to the extent I should be able to, but I am also healing far deeper than I knew I was going to need.

rya - as i mentioned in my post above yours, i went undiagnosed for around 20 years. In that time i saw about 20 different doctors and specialists (i lost count somewhere around 1. I've had every diagnosis under the sun... depression, bi-polar, chronic fatigue, SAD, MS, hypoglycemia, glaucoma, vertigo, fibromyalgia (although this one turned out to be true, just not as severe as diagnosed), whiplash, thyroid condition, high blood pressure (which is hilarious, i have very low bp!), anemia (pick one) etc...

Here is how i got my diagnosis...

Suspecting that i had migraines of some sort...

1. i first listed every symptom / ill feeling that i had.

2. talked to all the people i knew who had migraines to understand what their symptoms were. I paid attention to when my friends were getting migraines to see if there was a correlation to me (ie, one friend had a lot of problems with weather induced migraines... the days she was sick, so was i).

3. I tracked my episodes and what may have brought it one (ie the weather, stress, lack of sleep etc)

4. i called all of my family and quizzed them on whether or not they have ever had a migraine... i described the symptoms of auras, etc. Turns out that neither of my parents had a migraine condition, but paternal grandfather had rather severe migraines, as did a great aunt on my birth mother's side.

5. Tried to recount in writing my medical history / dr's visits and diagnosis

6. I took all of this in to the new doctor in my town and talked, showed him everything and asked him what this could possibly be. He took one look at everything i had written down and said... you have migraines, rather severe ones in fact.


I found out that in cases of "silent" migraine, they do use family history as a means of verification, so it is important to question everyone. My grandfather and great aunt's history was enough to show that there was family history.


The best treatment for me... at first, i willingly took the meds because i was so sick i had been unable to work for several months and i needed to get back on my feet so to speak. However, i actively started researching food and supplements, etc. I managed to figure out some of my triggers quite quickly, some took longer. But even then i was still getting more than 8 a month.

After i started following BTD they got somewhat better, but since i switched to SWAMI last august and did a liver cleanse (also august), i have had only 1.

l-arginine is really good for Bs... you need it! it helped me a lot. So did Vitamin D. Find out about your blood pressure... low bp can be a migraine problem, you may need to add sea salt to your diet. And visulization... Bs a re super good at visualizing and it works.

Quoted Text

I even had a Dr. tell me that I was faking having no energy...

This sort of thing makes me want to whack somebody with a few choice words! The nerve of the old goat!!