anyone ever have a retinal migraine?

[kirstenb1]

OUr 12 yr old had one today. Her school called and asked me to pick her up. She said her left eye had sort of a straight line right in the path of her vision, along with intermittent flashes. She said everything was blurry in that eye. After we arrived home, about an hour later, she had an intense headache.

I love our school secretary! When I went to pick up Andi, she googled Opthamalogists right then and there, and found me a couple to call for an appointment. She really goes out of her way for all the kids and parents.

I described the symptoms, and the doctor's office fit us in this afternoon.

He did a full exam and said she'd had a retinal migraine. He said they're kind of unusual. There's no treatment, but we're supposed to return if they recur.

Her vision is fine now, but she still has the headache. When he told me what she had I said, "well, given that my imagination was going into overtime, this sounds like the best outcome we could want!"

 

[Alphabetsoup]

I've had migraines like that since I was 8. They were worse once I hit puberty (being a girl, hormones are HELL).

For me, when I start to get the visual symptoms, I take 2 tylenol and a bit of Coke, then shut my eyes for about 10-15 minutes (about how long it takes the visual auras to move on to the next phase for me, which is numbness that cruises around my limbs). If I catch them in the first phase with the tylenol and rest my eyes, I can usually short circuit the migraine and avoid the actual headache.

Good luck!

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

I've been getting them since college. It was very scary the first time it happened because I thought I was going blind!! I really had no idea why there were swirls in both my eyes. It starts off looking like I just looked at the sun or someone took a flash picture of me, like I just have to blink a few times and it'll go away...but it gets increasing worse and then slowly goes away. Mine last about 20 mins and I, luckily, don't get the really bad headache with it. (I do get regular migraines so maybe I just don't think these headaches are bad because I get worse!) Before I knew what it was, I also went to the eye doctor...he called it an "ocular migraine."

Just so your dd might know what her future holds...It's been about 8-10 years and I still get them occasionally. Sometimes I'll get them every couple of days for weeks and weeks. Then I can go months without getting them at all. I think stress definitely has something to do with it too...in my case anyway.

 

[CPT Tripss]

I have had visual migraine since I was about 50. DW recently had her 1st one at 60. I isn't just a kid thing. Absolutely no pains just the visual sensations . . . Mine come rarely, years in between.

A 1/2 hour nap and I'm good to go.

 

[LuLuO]

I've had migraines since I hit puberty, around 12. I get the aurora, and then tunnel vision. If I don't catch it in time and take two excedrine migraine tablets, then I will often completely lose my vision for a while. I often experience numbness in areas of my face and mouth as well as my arms, hands, legs and feet. What follows is a horrible headache and nausea that usually lasts a day or two. I also get what I call "brain scramble" for a day or two after the pain is gone. It is hard for me to articulate my thoughts and ideas. I think them just fine but I sometimes can't verbalize them. It can be awful.

Something I learned from Dr. Oz was that cashews can be a trigger. I love cashews and used to eat them to combat PMS. I stopped eating cashews and I don't get the migraines as often. Also, I noticed that I would get migraines about a day after eating Nutella so I've cut that out as well. I still get them once or twice a month, but that is an improvement.

I don't think your child can take Excedrine Migraine because it contains asprin. Maybe ask your doctor is there is a medication you can keep on hand if this isn't a one time deal.

 

[kirstenb1]

Thanks for all your advice and experiences! Andi only had this happen in her left eye, but the headache was overall.

DH often has headaches, poor guy. I used to have what I think are cluster headaches when I was younger. Just in one eye. It would tear up.

Anyway, I hope this was a one time deal. It sounds like retinal headaches can lead to vision problems if they are continuous.

 

[java]

Is this the same thing as an Optical Migrane? Sounds like it. My friend gets these and we were discussing it just this morning.
She had developed a scary side effect that acually is associated with the migranes- she gets Memory Loss that lasts about 30 minutes- she can't remember names. At all. Not her own, her family, friends- nobody. Then it slowly starts returning.

This doesn't happen often, but wanted to mention it since it freaked her out the first time it happened.
Hope your dd feels ok now.

Oh and my friend is 45 and her vision is fine except when these issues happen.

 

[Minnesota!]

I got them all the time in elementary school. As soon as the vision issues started, I would drink a coke, take a hot shower (making sure to get my hair wet), wrap my hair in a towel TIGHT, and then go lay down with a lot of blankets in front of a fan. The tightness of the towel and the blankets helped so much. And the fan helped soothe me to sleep/block out all other noise.

They are NASTY and intense. I would throw up all the time when I had them. Insane.

But caffeine works wonders for migraines!! Better than any medication ever has...

 

[WhateverLolaWants]

I started getting those in sixth grade. Grew out of them luckily, it's been years since my last one (knock on wood). The good thing about the vision problem is that it allows you to medicate before the pain starts, though the feeling you get beforehand is not fun. If your brain could get nauseated, that is what it would feel like.

 

[Myothername]

I started getting the optical migraines about 12 years ago. The first time I got one scared me to death. I thought I was having a stroke. I get them 2-3 timeIs a year and fortunately I don't get a headache. I have had 3 though this week. I cannot point to a trigger for mine. They are just irritating. I even had one in a dream and when I woke up had the vision disturbance. So they show up in dreams in your vision as well.

You might try keeping a food, cycle, weather diary to see if there is something that triggers hers if she has another.

 

[nancygirl1]

I get those kinds of migraines as do my 3 sons. They have all been to a Neurologist to get tested & diagnosed even though I knew what they were. I would recommend that if it happens again that you take her to a Neurologist for an exam and to talk about it with him/her. If they do continue, you will need a doctor to follow her.