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Originally Posted by sandym
I do get occasional migraine with aura,maybe a couple of times a year. The aura is just as you describe and mine starts out with a blindish spot and then the zig zag psychedelic effect. Today though I was driving home for lunch when I had sudden a flash occur in my eye and more colorful and more intense psychedelic effect. I thought, oh migraine, but it went away within five minutes. The usual aura doesn't go away for 20-25 min and leaves me with a one sided headache. This was so sudden and so intense and then quickly over and while I feel a little muscle tension, no headache. Is this an ocular migraine as opposed to a migraine with aura? I felt kind of concerned. I am 55 and mine started after my first pregnancy at age 30.
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Sandy, what you experienced does sound like an ocular migraine. My MD told me that people who have had regular migraines are predisposed to ocular migraines. I haven't noticed a blindish spot, exactly, but it's sort of like a portion of my eyeball has folded over or wrinkled. Check out Kiddy's link--the information is quite thorough.
Kiddy, my first ocular migraine occurred in 2000. I was working in a university Dept. of Ophthalmology at the time! The visual disturbance was much greater than the one I experienced today--a full-fledged psychedelic butterfly rather than a caterpillar. None of the professors of ophthalmology knew what it was! My MD knew, though, because she herself had experienced ocular migraines.
Joni, the kaleidoscope is a good analogy. There is definitely a sense of little shards somehow sticking together.
I also have posterior vitreous detachment (PVD), which actually isn't as serious as it sounds. There's a tiny tear at the back of the eye, and "stuff" spills into the retina, so you see amoeba-like floaters. It's a fairly common condition but not vision-threatening. I do wonder, though, it it might be related to ocular migraine.
Today's ocular migraine occurred while I was peacefully journaling. Go figure! Once I had one in the dentist's chair. That I can understand!