occular migraines

[distances]

Green eyes/female with occular headaches since Mitral Valve Repair surgery 3 years ago.

 

[SaraC]

Migraines- Me too

Migraines- Me too

Hi, I get migraines too and have green eyes; fuzzy lines, mild headache, light sensitivity. I read an article about the possibility of having a patent foramen ovale (PFO) as a possible cause in SOME people.

One test for this is an echo with a bubble study which is fairly simple if you are having an echo anyway. They tend to be hormonal and cyclical in women and come on when hormonal levels drop prior to menstruation.

Interesting that so many of us get these.

 

[PegB]

Dark brown eyes for me, and have had them sporadically for 30 years. I hadn't had any for a couple of years, but started up as of Day 1 in the hospital, and then at least once a day for my first three weeks post op. My internal med Dr. was so surprised when I told her of this p.o. phenom. I was complaining that the Drs. should really warn us of this ahead of time, so it doesn't scare you when it first happens, and she acted totally amazed and said "they don't know about it"!

 

[strawberry]

I have blue eyes with yellow specks that make them look green. I've had the zig zags for years and only found out in the last 5 years what they were. Only recently, and only occasionally have they been followed by a headache. For me it seems like a stress thing. They happen once the stress is over, from which I've read I've read is typical. For example, say I have a near miss while driving, and maybe five minutes later the zig zags will start.

 

[strawberry]

Betty, I just say you take nortriptyline for your migraines...I've never heard of that! I take it for another pain condition..maybe that's why I haven't had the zig zags in a while. I'm on a very low dose though...10 mg but I also take neurontin. I wonder if neurontin helps with migraines too.

 

[MelissaM]

I've posted this on other optical migraine threads, so forgive me for those of you for whom this is a repeat.

There is a distinct relationship between optical migraines and serotonin levels. For me, the correlation is pretty darn amazining. The minute my serotonin levels drop, BAM, there is an optical migraine! It may explain why you can go weeks without having one, and then have several in a row. Our bodies create serotonin from L-tryptophan - yep, the same stuff they talk about every Thanksgiving. Well, it is in a bunch of food - meat, eggs, cheese, milk, fish, sesame seeds and so on, and it is an essential amino acid that the body needs to create serotonin.

If you don't get enough of tryptophan, your serotonin levels go down. Different people can have different symptoms of low serotonin levels - Google "low serotonin" for the complete list - but, for me, the main symptoms are optical migraines and crankiness.

I got a reminder again last week, when I decided to go on an all-macrobiotic diet, and cut ut my normal sources of tryptophan. Within two days, I was getting several optical migraines a day. As soon as I took a tryptophan supplement - 5-HTP - they went away.

If you think you might be in a similar situation, you can try the supplement 5-HTP and see if it helps. 5-HTP simply stands for 5-Hydroxytryptophan. It augments the body's natural tryptophan supplies and helps to create more serotonin -which can decrease the number of optical migraines you have. Or, you could just eat more cheese.

Melissa

 

[CathyK.]

I may be wrong here but I still think that the valve condition may have something to do with these migraines. When I first started getting them in grade school, nobody could tell me why my vision was messing up. It was very scary! About 10 years ago I asked a personal friend, an eye doctor, and he told me they were occular migraines. Finally! I thought maybe I was loosing my eye sight. I get the zig-zag lines in both eyes and it starts in the middle and works it way to the outer part of my eyes. It lasts about 20 to 30 minutes and I will get a slight headache afterwards. But when I would tell this to other people, they have never heard of such a thing. It just makes me wonder if so many of us here have them but not the general public as much, could it be related??

 

[Marguerite53]

Cathy. It's hard to say about the general population, because the general population has not had an echocardiogram and therefore we really do not know the general extent of valve problems. I mean, maybe someone should do some research and have everyone who's experienced an occular migraine ehcoed. It might be very interesting.

I did not know what mine were until I was in college taking a psychology class called Perception. One textbook was a compilation of articles from Scientific American. I thumbed through it when I first bought it and low and behold, someone had drawn the zigzags (called fortifications as they resemble forts?? These have been around a LONG time!!) and there was a whole article about something I'd never heard of! It was very comforting and interesting.

Over the years, all of my physicians have known about them. Most especially, optometrists and opthalmologists know about them. I think the more you talk about it (as you will with your heart condition) the more you'll find that people everywhere experience these, or know someone who does.

Marguerite

 

[MarkU]

I suffered from occular migraines with increasing frequency and intensity up until I had my AVR. For whatever reason, I frequently seemed to get them in airports when I was traveling on business. Stress induced maybe? A few times the double vision was so bad that I had to sit down to avoid falling down until it passed. On a couple of occasions I actually thought I was having a stroke. Pretty scary.
Not so bad since my surgery, but still get them occasionally (just had a mild one last weekend). BTW, I have hazel eyes.
Mark

 

[Adrienne]

I started having occular migrains at the age of 25. They used to come especially when my hormone level was at its highest or at its lowest (ovulation / beginning of period). Now I still get them from time to time. Since I am past menepause, I'm not sure what triggers them.

 

[francie12]

I thought occular migraines were rare, but it looks like quite a few people here have them...and you all have a valve issue of one kind or the other. Our blue-eyed BAV son, Matt, has them. How I would love to see more detailed studies! So much yet to understand...

 

[Susan BAV]

Marguerite - I can feel the double vision thing coming on too, and like you described, a "pulling." It doesn't last long for me either but I hate the experience. I've only had one post-op, and that was on a very hot and humid day when I was very tired and did a tiny bit of hiking while suffering a rough cold (so my body was pretty stressed), but pre-op they were happening much more frequently. It's different from the classid migraine with the zigzags. Do you get those too?

 

[Marguerite53]

Marguerite - I can feel the double vision thing coming on too, and like you described, a "pulling." It doesn't last long for me either but I hate the experience. I've only had one post-op, and that was on a very hot and humid day when I was very tired and did a tiny bit of hiking while suffering a rough cold (so my body was pretty stressed), but pre-op they were happening much more frequently. It's different from the classid migraine with the zigzags. Do you get those too?

Wow, Susan, that is amazing. I'm so glad to hear that someone else feels that pulling sensation. Hm. I haven't had those episodes as often as I have the zig zags. Those zig zags are no different to me than getting thirsty or sneezing or something..they just occur regularly and I don't pay them much mind. But the double vision thing is worse for me now. Definitely, if I lean way over to pick something up or clean up something or pet the dog, when I come back up I can feel things start to pull. Don't always go double vision, but sometimes I can't keep it in check.

Well, maybe we need to find an opthalmologist with a BAV or MVP and see if we can get him interested in conducting some research! We definitely have some kind of statistics forming here.

Marguerite

 

[tobagotwo]

Deep, haunting, soul-stirring pools of liquid, bedroom blue.

Oops!...Lost my Game Face...

I only developed atypical (occular) migraines when my valve started to frost over.

Best wishes,

 

[CathyK.]

Marguerite - When I get the zig-zags I have to stop what I am doing till it is gone because it interupts my vision. Is your vision fine throught these?

 

[EireCara]

Me too....

Me too....

Cathy, My zig zags disrupt my vision too....have to sit down til it passes..20 minutes.

 

[catwoman]

I sometimes have to stop what I'm doing because the "Andy Warhol pop art" is too distracting.
I was judging a cat show once and developed an optical migraine just as I started judging. I told my clerk not to call any more cats up for judging and managed to judge the cats already in the judging ring. Then I took a 10-minute break to let my vision clear. My clerk was quite concerned; I wasn't, other than not being able to see really well for the job at hand.

Hmmmmmmmmmmm. Good thing I'm not a surgeon!

 

[CathyK.]

That brings up a good question to ask our surgeons before surgery. Do you get occular migraines?

 

[Marguerite53]

OMG! Cathy! You're right!!! That would be a very important question to ask the surgeon!!

If I am driving and it is safe to pull over I usually do. Oftentimes, though, I can see right through them (well, they do hover in a certain area each time, right?) or actually around them, I guess. I can read, sometimes. Obviously if I'm doing fine work like needlework I have to put it down. But I've just had them too long to let them frustrate me anymore. My husband used to get really annoyed when I'd just stop something (like reading a map when we were "not really lost, honey") but hey, it is what it is!!

When I get the double vision thing, I have to stop and close my eyes. I feel like it could make me sick.

Okay. Yech. I'm done talking about these. I swear (although it's probably the chocolate leftover Halloween candy) I keep getting them when I start talking about them!!!!

I'm seeing my opthalmologist next week. I'm going to mention it to him, that there are so many of us here. I'll let you know if he says anything interesting. "See" you then!!

Marguerite

 

[PJmomrunner]

Deep, haunting, soul-stirring pools of liquid, bedroom blue.

If Ross was a woman he'd be begging for a picture! (I'm a little more subtle. )

Blue/Green--and I can't drive or do much when I get the 15-minute zigzags--my field of vision is blocked by flashing glittery light where they are. I have a spacey after-effect and mild nausea.