'Silent migraines' - do you have them?

Had them or similar for years. Can come in phases with months in between.Have mentioned them to GPs and docs at the Eye clinic that I've been attending for years, but nobody seems bothered or tried to explain them.

Coincidentally I've had quite a patch of them recently and some of them did have a headache attached for the first time. Normally I just pretend they're not there and have no idea what triggers them.
And even more coincidentally, only a week or so ago I googled a description, likening them to black and white shimmering stripes, rather like a zebra crossing but of any shape, and found loads of articles , calling them ocular migraine, migraine with aura, etc - but nobody seems to be able to designate the cause or cure!

Coincidence times three - I found a thread on Gransnet - way back last year - I think - can't remember what it was called now!

I used to use Migril to stop my migraines ( it was the tablet that worked for me without side effects). This medication is no longer available in the U.K. so I’ve been told to use either co-codamol or paracetamol and have a coffee. Can anyone recommend anything else? Luckily I don’t get them as frequently as I used to when I was working

Yes I too suffer with aura which always proceeds a full blown migraine for me. Exactly the same symptoms described by many of you in this thread. For me the cause seems to be dehydration, caused by a nasty autoimmune condition that I have. My GB has put me on amitriptyline medication, I take one a day and it has a prophylactic effect, which basically means I don't get the migraines any more , well, I have not had one for nearly a year and I was getting migraine with aura every 2 weeks or so. Fantastic result for me.

I too have had them for several years. As soon as the tell tale zig zags start to appear in my vision I take a couple of paracetamol and close my eyes for a while. The symptoms always disappear in about 15-20 minutes. Most of the evidence points to them being nothing to worry about but disturbing nevertheless.

I had these for years until I went through the menopause when they stopped(hormones). A few years later went through a load of stress and they started again. But since my son had to see a consultant about similar symptoms which also included dizziness an menieres style symptoms and was told to include more salt in his diet , I decided to give it a try because i just wondered about myself.
Since then i have gone from a migraine a week to one every six weeks!!!

I have had them for some years now. A golden ziz-zag edged in b!ack and whatever I look at is half 'missing'; they last 30 mins each time and finish with a heavy head sensation, rather than an actual headache. My doctor told me they were ocular migraines and there was always a trigger. So I began monitoring them and a pattern emerged. It is when I need food and this makes sense with me as I frequently forget to eat!!!

I've had some of these, too, and been told they are ocular migraines. Not nice. I think that the last one was brought on by a very large, strong coffee after a CT scan where I had to lie with my unsupported arms above my head....

Unfortunately I do get these.

My first was at a stained glass class. I was about 52 at the time. I had no idea what was happening to me. My friend at the class explained and gave me two paracetamol. The silver wiggly circles kept going for about 20 minutes, then stopped.

I get them about 6 times a year and hate them. I have been told it's nothing to worry about.

Yes I get these too, always the same. It starts in the middle of my eye and zigzags around and outwards in a bright cobalt blue and acid yellow three quarter circle of light, it lasts until it reaches the outer limits of my vision. Nothing stops it once it starts and I have to wait it out, luckily usually no more than half an hour but it leaves me feeling exhausted and weak.

If I get a 'proper' migraine the only tablet that works is unobtainable in this country as it is based on ergotamine.

They start with a tiny out-of-focus patch in the centre of my sight, which gets bigger and more zigzaggy round the edges for twenty minutes or half an hour until it covers my view. There has no headache.

Mine start in exactly the same way. The out of focus patch resembles a raindrop on a written page. I either go for a lie down or close my eyes for about twenty minutes until it wears off.

It’s a relief to know so many others have the same symptoms.

That’s the reason I can no longer get migril in this country unfortunately

I get this occasionally and had no idea what it was. So glad to know it’s not just me. I had full blown migraines during menopause, headache, vomiting, the lot but that stopped.

boheminan - what you're describing is something called 'acephalgic migraine'. I suffered with full blown migraine with aura (scotoma) from being 11 (puberty) up to the end of the menopause and then realised that I had gone through six months without one. Unfortunately, after a stressful few days I had an attack as you describe - all the aura and nausea but no headache. My GP sent me to a neurologist who called this acephalgic migraine and now ten years later I still experience these attacks but much less frequently than I ever had migraine attacks. I always take it that I've overdone things or been subjected to additional stress when it happens and try to listen to my body.

I get these pretty regularly. The trigger for me seems to be chocolate ! They go in about. 1/2 hr and haven’t stopped me eating chocolate 😂

I have had several episodes of visual disturbance over the years and, like many of you, I close my eyes and lie down if possible for about half an hour. I agree that these 'silent migraines' are brought on by bright lights and/or stress.

I have not had them for a few years but used to have them often. I also got a blurred circle in the middle of which I kept trying to look around the edges to see properly. which I could not. Agree very frightening in the beginning but got used to them. Once reason I never learnt to drive as they came on very suddenly

I have had these but only since the menopause. I seem to get two or three within a couple of weeks and then none for months. Fluorescent lights and flashing light seem to trigger me sometimes.

I get the zig zags and sometimes blind spots. I also get tingling in my fingers and my lips. Sometimes I feel like I can't get my words out properly. It last for 20-30 minutes.

I usually take a couple of ibuprofen as soon as the zig zags start and don't get much of a headache.

It really worried me at first as I thought it was a precursor to a stroke. My mum had a mild stroke at about my age.

Knowing this is quite common has made me less worried.

I do get them or at least something very similar. I get distorted/fuzzy sight in one eye followed by a zig zag arc in the same eye which lasts maybe 15/20 mins and then always end up with headache over the other eye which takes lots of getting rid of.

I don't but have a friend who does. Triggered recently by the scent from some potted hyacinths. Apparently quite common.

Yes,I get optic migraines too. They are a flaming nuisance when I’m driving as I have to stop for around 20/30 minutes.
They are usually followed by a mild headache. I’ve had them for around 60 years.
I’d sooner have these than the fierce migraines my niece suffers from.

Fascinating thread, I too get 'sparkles' as does my S IL, and cousin, mine triggered eg by coming frim brightvsunlight into a darker room, flickering lights especially strip lighging, TV, tiredness, and stress. I have the same warnings as upthread, was checked and told not dangerous but they are very frightening when speech is affected. I keep a jar of Tigerbalm handyvand rub some over my temples, and whether it is palliative or not it works! rest and hydration for 30 mins, I have a stressful lifecas a carer, and if tired they will happen.

I have them occasionally, usually when looking at a bright screen, this has been happening for years. Recently the bright flashing lights started when I was reading a book and after they finished (usually 15/20 minutes), I looked at my phone and nothing made sense, I found this extremely frightening, it only lasted about 5 minutes but the doctor sent me to the TIA clinic. I had an MRI and was told that I hadn't had a stroke but that it was a complex migraine aura. The MRI however found an incidental cavernoma, something that I'd rather not have known about.

I think I probably got my first one during menopause, I was driving at the time, I thought it looked really pretty. My Optician called them visual migraines. I have them very infrequently since then probably less then 6 or so. Other than the dancing zig zag I don't get any other symptoms.

bohiminan. Yes I get them occasionally. They started when I stopped getting full blown migraines when I reached the menopause. Horrible loss of vision on one side and flashing lights.
What I do is immediately take 2 paracetamol and it is gone within an hour. I hope this helps.

I used to get full blown migraines, including awful sickness, in my teens and twenties. They eventually stopped, but started again recently as ‘silent migraines’ (never heard that name before!). My GP dent me for a CT scan, followed by an MRI scan, but they apparently showed nothing, apart from damage from an old MS flare-up. I describe the visual disturbance as like looking through a child’s kaleidoscope. Scary at times.