My Experience with Scintillating Scotoma (Visual Migraine/Aura)

I recently experienced a Scintillating Scotoma. Here's what it was like, and what I did to mitigate the symptoms.
For more information:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scintil...
www.sciencedirect.com/topics/...
Related Objectivity video: • Scintillating Scotoma ...

[@Caulkhead]

I remember the first time I had one of those, I was in biology class and told my teacher I can't see properly in one eye. After describing my symptoms she told me I was about to have the worst headache of my life, she was not wrong!

[@tricky2917]

I'm very lucky that I've never had pain associated with them. They can still properly knock me out though.

[@alanguile8945]

@@tricky2917 Same here. First question I asked when I heard the word Migraine. Only had one episode but that was enough!

[@hattyburrow716]

Yes first time is terrifying. I was in school too and haven’t had one since the menopause…yay?

[@wheelchair1410]

Yeah, I hated getting those as I knew I'd have a migraine that no painkillers would stop.

[@homicidal_duck]

oh I had my first one in a biology class too! Unfortunately he thought I was taking the piss when I said there was a blind spot in the middle of my vision and I suddenly couldn't read what he'd asked me to off the board

[@BellaRainDrops]

I'm stunned by how accurately you've managed to recreate the Aura, it's spot on, First time it happened to me I thought I was having a stroke, it was so frightening.

[@homegirlroxie3521]

That's what I thought too when it happened to me. It was scary!

[@graemechapman41]

Yeah the image is so realistic! My first time was after looking at a reflection of the sun on a very bright day, thought I had damaged my eyes!

[@veevintage2619]

I had this today for the first time in my life in both eyes…but no headache.

[@richiepov1551]

@@veevintage2619 This morning after a huge bout of stress for me. First time. Freaked me out! It lasted just about 20 minutes. I was able to look up what I was going through on my phone while my vision was still really blurred in the center. Now I am here.

[@veevintage2619]

@@richiepov1551 I hear ya. I paced the living room and cried and begged my husband to take me to the er because I honestly thought “today is the day I’m going blind”, 😂 but yeah it passed and I was like ok wtf just happened to me????

[@2999michaeljackson]

My partner had a head injury when he was young and has had these almost daily ever since. I have tried to support him as much as I can over the past 7 years but seeing this really made me realise what he's actually going through. So thank you, for heightening my empathy. I wish there was more study on migraines. It seems to be a poorly understood and treated phenomenon.

[@jorichards5986]

Ouch! It is indeed a poorly understood condition, I don't know of any specific research on migraine due to brain injury. Your partner has probably tried every available treatment too... I've been there 😢

[@wynoglia]

Aye

[@advocate0426]

min looks more like the old color TVs that you couldn't "dial in" to focus.

[@mnnomad1870]

I never had one of these until I was required to have neck surgery and almost immediately falling I had a visual disturbance that progressed to these debilitating auras.

[@ZeroPlayerGame]

Not going through everyday migraines but as someone who used to get them weekly seasonally, I can attest to modern specialized medication, like triptanes, being a great help. Sorry if that was already on your radar, I thought I'd write in just in case

[@AUSJK]

I’ve suffered with this since my late teens, usually getting a couple a year. I’ve found that as soon as I notice the disturbance of vision, or lack of as I also get that initial strangeness followed by a missing section of vision, putting on sunglasses can really help lessen the extent and duration of the migraine. Not sure if that will help you or not but definitely worth trying. My usual approach is to get into the darkest room of my house whilst wearing the sunglasses and just sitting reminding myself that this is temporary and nothing I need to be worried about, and that getting anxious about it will only make me feel worse. That and some painkillers so far has been my best option, mine usually last 1-1.5 hours but with this approach I’ve managed to get them down as low as 40 minutes. Keeping calm and keeping your blood pressure down seem to make a huge difference. I hope this helps someone, I know it may sound like common sense but initially the fright of this happening sends rational thought out the window and it’s easy to forget that this is only temporary and not anything to get worried about.

[@AndreiTache]

Thank you! This happened only once to me and I didn't think about using sunglasses or going to a dark room, but that makes tons of sense. And I agree, it's pretty worrying the first time it happens

[@shanecook7830]

I got my first one in 2007 I work in a grocery store I looked up at a light and a weird spot appeared in front of my vision and trying to read a word part of it was missing. I freaked out then lots of shiny zig zag lines came in front of my vision and moved away eventually up and out of my vision. I don't get headaches just feel weird after and my vision is off for most of the day. Like you I get them 2 or3 times a year. Sometimes it's a few yrs. 1 time I got 2 back 2 back then a few days later another one. Then nothing for months. Seems to trigger with lights, not enough water, stress, seems to be long periods of screen time. I still get scared having one.

[@aminabasharat7351]

Hello are you experiencing scotoma issue??? If yes, plzzz have a discussion with me about your experience as I am working with my university project on scotomas. I am also a scotoma patient...

[@RG.......]

What are you doing to prevent them? What did your Doctor suggest?

[@RG.......]

​@@aminabasharat7351What are you doing to prevent them? What did your Doctor suggest?

[@etaoinshrdlu927]

You animated a great representation of the phenomenon; it's so hard to describe or show something that's only happening in your own personal head. This is similar to my experience, especially the part about how terrifying the first one was, except that I also get nausea with the headache. Same independently-arrived at treatment regimen, too, although I haven't tried changing focus during. Something to look forward to for the next one! My triggers are the combination of short-term sleep deprivation, stress and (tested) low blood glucose. I've given myself an ocular migraine from getting up early for something I was worried about, then going home and putting that nervous energy to use digging in the garden until whoops, there goes my vision. (I have executed this exact sequence *twice,* almost as if I were following a recipe, so I felt pretty dumb the second time.)

[@rattlesnakz9716]

yeah I'm going to use this to explain to people in the future that can't understand

[@MsHojat]

Agreed. Great job AS! My personal experience is that I _always_ get SS before a migraine, and it goes away once I get my proper migraine. The proper migraine is far far worse than the SS, because it involves extreme nausea and relatively high headache. I presume that's the case for most people. Anything I eat even _before_ the SS starts, and _during_ the migraine, will get vomited up so there's no point of eating or drinking almost anything except meds (like anti-nausea might prevent the vomiting). But since I generally never take meds (I'm not anti-med, I just don't take them when unnecessary) the vomiting can be a bit of a problem. To deal with it I consume antacid tablets. This both neutralizes the stomach acid so that it burns my throat/nose less, as well as helps mask the bile taste and reduce the throat burn when I consume some _after_ vomiting. It acts so fast and is so cheap it wouldn't matter if it was vomited.

[@pattheplanter]

@@MsHojat I found a weak ginger tea is brilliant for the vomiting. Any proper ginger sweets work and could be kept around until needed. I used a brand called Gin-Gins but any candied/crystallised/ ginger. Since I started avoiding all my triggers (air freshener, perfume, cardamoms) and got more sleep and ate better, more regular meals (more protein, hempseed oil, less fruit and sugar, salt in everything but not too much salt, lots of beans) - I get no pain or nausea, just a mild headache. I still get spectacular scintillating scotomae when I have been stressed but when they go, they hardly leave anything except a dull throb.

[@aname4931]

You've described my experience exactly! Poor sleep, messing with my diet, stress, all cause severe migraines for me, just as you've described them. I take amitriptyline daily which helps stave them off, and when one emerges, I take Sumatriptan, make sure I eat something, maybe have some caffeine, and get myself to the sofa with the lights off.

[@momkatmax]

Yes, it's a great representation of mine. In addition I have on the Left a shower of sparks as I call it. Not much headache. Now as I am 65 I have had vitreous retraction and many floaters. I'm considering a vitrectomy because of the bother in the right eye.

[@martinwyke]

I had a series of these several years ago during a period of high stress. I'd never experienced or even heard of it before and the first time was quite scary so I went to A&E. They were concerned it might be a minor stroke and I was sent to a neurologist. I was fortunate and don't get the migraine head ache and eventually came to sit back, relax and enjoy the 'show'.

[@Fluffgar]

Migraines are very weird. They can cauase all sorts of sensory glitches. There are even ones called "silent" migraines. Which don't cause pain or noticable glitches but give you the same fuzzy headed, slightly out of it sensation. Regardless, better to stop whatever your working on until it passes.

[@DraciaNightcat]

I wanted to go to A&E with my first one, but I'd just moved to the states and didn't want a giant bill 🤣 so I googled my symptoms, then somehow through the zigzags I could read that it was a migraine aura and I'd be fine. Good thing that article was correct!

[@jorichards5986]

The effects of migraines are very like a stroke. It's due to the restriction and sudden dilation of blood vessels in the brain... The optic and trigeminal nerves are usually the most affected. My migraines have hospitalised me three times... I'm now on preventive meds and I can "sit back and enjoy the show"... The lights would be pretty if they weren't so painful!

[@sapir12351]

I think I've had the same symptoms, I'm still not sure it was zigzagged but I remember seeing like clear liquid In both of my eyes in some part of my eyes, and the best way I could've describe this was the I read a word and couldn't see whole of it, like 3 out of 4 characters and I knew the other character is there but somtin was in my way, and after I focused rlly hard on the position of the character I could see it and the clear liquid like moved a bit to the side

[@JagoHazzard]

Many thanks for this. I never get the bright pattern, but the "blind spot" in the centre of vision is very familiar. I've not found any treatment that works other than rest. Eating and drinking seems to make me feel a little better, but that might just be because I'm doing something other than feeling sorry for myself.

[@Marco_Onyxheart]

My sight mostly becomes misty during a migraine. My migraines have changed over time but it seems they've settled on making my vision blurred and misty. I've had a scintillating scotoma just once in my life, which is the only reason I can say with certainty that it is in fact a migraine.

[@minkademko2335]

Funny, i get the lights, not the blurred spot, and no headache.

[@Stettafire]

Blurred spot and kinda like tiny dark spots that dance outward from the middle, that's what I see. Thought I was going mad

[@ZeroPlayerGame]

I'll write in once more, maybe talk to your neurologist about modern treatment like triptane medication, for me personally I've found that it can completely halt a migraine that's already rolling full steam ahead while I'm out on the street. No replacement for proper rest of course, but goes great with it :)

[@shadewolfe1231]

Same. Just the blurry spot which obscures part of my vision. Never knew what that was about, just knew I needed to rest and generally stop reading.

[@escapetime161803]

That's an impressive depiction of the visual effect, which I occasionally get but without the headache. In my case it's not severe enough to stop me reading, and usually fades away in half an hour or so, but the twinkling crescent shape off to one side is pretty much exactly what it looks like. I'm not even sure what circumstances bring it on; maybe tiredness but I'm not always tired when it happens. It's reassuring to know that it's nothing to worry about.

[@joysouthard2083]

Twinkling crescent is it exactly

[@bernRA]

you've the same manifestation as I have. see if when it starts , to avoid blue light, i.e., stop looking at computer or iPad screen.

[@jovalleau]

@escapetime161803, same here. I get them occasionally, but never have the related headaches. We're lucky in that sense, I guess. I usually get them when I go through drastic light changes, like from bright outdoors to darker, soft-white indoor light, or even fluorescent.

[@nathancollins3095]

Thank you for making this. I have basically these exact symptoms and have struggled to describe them well. I've also through trial and error landed upon almost the same strategy of dealing with it. I got a prescription for sumatriptan but it seems to work about as well as ibuprofen. I also get nausea and dizziness with the headache which makes closing my eyes feel even worse, so I still tend to watch or read something on my phone, just in a dark and quiet room with the brightness and sound turned as far down as possible. It also means my work day is pretty much over.

[@Mel-mu8ox]

There is a medication called migraleve that can help a lot with this. but it is addictive, so never take it three days in a row. it works, but you do need to take it when the visuals start. after 15 mins in a dark place to let it work, it will be over

[@strayiggytv]

I have nausea and dizziness too! I found Dramamine or any over the counter motion sickness medicine helps but it makes me so sleepy that I often lose time to it.

[@notnth]

My mom’s been dealing with migraines as well - sumatriptan (and just that, apparently) works very well for her if she takes it as soon as the migraine starts. Doesn’t get the visual thing, though.

[@HotelPapa100]

When I first experienced that I was scared out of my wits. "Vision going from the center, what tf is going on!" I'd have given a lot for a video like yours informing about it. I experienced almost exactly like you. The zig-zag part is eerily in focus and high contrast, given that the rest of vision is so blurry. As for coping mechanisms: I usually just sit it out, avoiding doing anything visually demanding. Thankfully, the headache-type of migraine is not something I experience.

[@pretzelx]

Everytime this happened to me, I was so scared, especially if it'd take longer to stop than the last time. I'd take a nap and hope it would be gone after I woke up 😭 (and thankfully it did lol).

[@DraciaNightcat]

That's one thing I actually kind of admire about it. The zigzags are so... Zigzaggy. Perfect angles and lines, almost kind of visually appealing.

[@OhSoUnicornly]

The first few times I had one (even after figuring out what it was) I was still scared my vision wouldn't come back afterwards. One time it was a very very subtle blind spot - I was reading and I realised that just one letter in the middle of my vision was missing in each word. Not enough to realise it was a migraine or a blind spot. I thought I was just suddenly bad at reading and that it would be like that forever, now! (Eventually it turned into a full migraine and was, of course, fine after a little while).

[@RG.......]

​@@pretzelx What are you doing to prevent them? What did your Doctor suggest?

[@RG.......]

​@@DraciaNightcat What are you doing to prevent them? What did your Doctor suggest?

[@gailolson8255]

Yes, that is exactly what the experience is like, although I never have headaches afterwards.

[@Toebex]

I was always way too scared to look up what this was in case it was some form of early something-or-other, this video is not only a huge relief but came at a pretty perfect time.

[@haroldpruitt8207]

I was in the same boat 😁 too scared.

[@svarun577]

Thank you for sharing this experience. I never usually comment on KZbin but this is the one exception, I want to share my experiences with migraines with aura; When I was 14 years old, I hit my head really hard during summer vacation on an open window still, it bled and everything. For the next 3 days, I had 3 consecutive migraines with aura. I had never had them up until that point, so it was a really scary experience for me. Over the next few weeks, their intensity kept decreasing, until a few years later I would only get them about once a year. Nowadays, I only get them when I'm extremely exhausted, such as after a long flight (I travel long distances every summer), or after a grueling workout. My migraines are almost identical to the way you describe them in your video, and in fact I believe that the visual representations you provide in the video are excellent for conveying the visual aspect of how it looks. Apart from the visual symptoms, I usually experience a loss of ability to speak or understand for a brief period of time, moving numbness in my arm, leg and/or face, vomiting and very painful pounding headache. Interestingly, this only occurs on one side of my body/brain. Whenever the left side of my body is affected, the right side of my head hurts, and vice-versa. That is just a confirmation of the theory that one side of your brain controls the opposite side of your body. Interesting how the human body works... I believe the proper name for these types of migraines is "Ocular Migraine". As far as I understand them, the way these migraines work and the reason that all these strange effects occur is because of a hormonal imbalance, that causes a wave of increased neuron activity to travel across your brain, starting from the very back. In fact, the reason that the visual symtpoms are the first to be noticed by people who experience this type of migraine, is because the very back of your brain is the center for vision. As the neuron activity wave moves across your brain, you will start to sense unusual activities and/or effects on other parts of your body. As mentioned, for me it includes inability to speak or understand language very well, and numbness. It is extremely fascinating how I can personally feel the neuron activity wave, as the numbness always starts in a certain part of my arm (the thumb finger), and then proceeds to move up my arm, all the way to my face sometimes. I would almost describe it as a ring around my arm. In fact, historically, people with these migraines were used to study what parts of the brain perform which functions, it is an extremely interesting (and painful) subject of the human body. Thank you for this video, and keep up the good work on your channel!

[@tricky2917]

First time I remember having one was after a fall as well. For years thought it came from that, but then my mum told me she experienced them too. I guess there are genetic factors as well.

[@karenramnath9993]

This is so interesting...can you tell us more about the hormonal imbalance part? That is a piece of information I had not come across yet.

[@RG.......]

​@@svarun577 What are you doing to prevent them? What did your Doctor suggest? I've had the same scans and yet to figure out what's causing them

[@JustStayingGroovy]

This is how mine are precisely as you described them

[@randomlifeunit]

Wow! The visuals you put up, and progression of the scotoma, is exactly how it looks for me! I love being able to "see" it somewhere other than in my head. So great! Thank you!

[@zorgonak]

Thank you for this! I've had this happen a few times and it's always been very concerning. Knowing that it's more of a temporary malfunction is very reassuring. Also, as others have said, you got the visual representation spot-on! I was amazed.

[@nannymouse2180]

This is fascinating! And very useful information for those who might experience this and don't know what it is. Thanks for sharing.

[@annwarner4040]

First time this happened to me I was sure I was having a stroke, scared the living daylights out of me , seems so many people have it ,I'm retired now so can just lay down,harder when you're working to cope though. THANKYOU for bringing this up ,it may help alot of first timers xx

[@kendrahurst541]

My sister recently got one of these for the first time, and she was terrified and really upset. Once she figured out what it was, she felt a lot better, but we were all really worried about her for a bit. I'll be sharing this video with her in case she gets anymore in the future, thank you for this video!

[@aaaarchy]

I've had this for years and years, and no one has ever given me this name. I've talked it through with two eye doctors, my primary care, and many other folks. It's mind blowing to me that none of these people had the name for it, or even associated it with my admittedly unusual migraines (they don't seem to follow the expected patterns). Now I have the words for it AND a video to go along! I usually just stop everything for an hour or three when it happens - there's not much else I can do, and the headache doesn't arrive until the next morning.

[@Paxmax]

Indeed! I heard the name for the first time today in another completely random coincidental video comment about interesting optical/brain phenomenons/quirks!

[@RG.......]

What are you doing to prevent them? What did your Doctor suggest?

[@77jamess]

I had one of these in 2017. I thought I was having a stroke. Haven’t had one since. Really scared the crap out of me.

[@AtomicShrimp]

Yeah, that was my fear the first time it happened

[@samuelclubb9529]

I get this for between 3/5days, I have tried a number of times in the past to explain it to people and this is a fantastic visual description of it. Cheers Mike.

[@RG.......]

What are you doing to prevent them? What did your Doctor suggest?

[@the-artful-goat]

I've been having these for years and this is the first time I've learned the name of it! You animated what it looks like and described the progression so perfectly, I'm for sure going to be using this video to show people what these are like. Going to have to give your remedies a try, too!

[@mediaicon8774]

Mike. I have to say. Thank you for sharing this. I do not have this, so I cannot share what I do. However, I can thank you for your honesty and frankness about how you deal with it. It takes a real talent to be able to describe the symptoms of a migraine into an interesting video. Keep up the magnificent work.

[@MrJaykoj]

Thanks for sharing. You've actually given me some context to problems that I've been having recently that I thought may have been after effects of a scratched cornea from late last year

[@MagnusMoerkoereJohannesen]

I don't hink I've ever seen or heard of a better description of this phenomenon; it's like you took a 1:1 recording of my experience, and uploaded it to KZbin. Seriously, GP's would do well to link to this video. As for treatment/symptom management, my routine is very similar, though more pared down. When it starts, I stop what I'm currently doing, drink a cup of coffee, and take a one hour nap, so that the disturbance in my vision has passed when I wake up again. This might not be practical for some/many; I've always had very understanding bosses, who've been able to recognise the worth of having an employee being out of commission for a short while, grossly outweighs having him go home for the rest of the day, and having to find a replacement on short notice. Your milage may definitely vary.

[@NoxiousAffection]

This is almost exactly what I go through every time I get an ocular migraine, and I'm going to use it a resource in the future to help explain to friends and coworkers what it's like. I've been considering making the same sorts of animations you did here for a long time, and you just saved me a lot of effort! I usually catch mine because suddenly faces look distorted and strange, like you would see a face in the periphery of your vision. Every time I get a vision burn, I google some celebrity's face to double and triple check I'm not getting a migraine; mine are getting more frequent as I get older and take on more stressful tasks. Unfortunately, I also get incredibly intense nausea, and my headache is completely crippling even for somebody who deals with daily 7-8/10 joint pain. My treatment regimen is as follows; -Turn off all screens in the vicinity -Turn phone on silent -Take an exorbitant amount of migraine medication(Excedrin or Goody's headache powder have a medium dose of caffeine directly in, and I find them to be very useful) -Drink a couple liters of water -Go sit in the bath for a few hours while opening and closing my eyes occasionally, to try and speed up the visual aura spreading outward; such that I can regain vision in my focal point -Put on sunglasses and do some light hobby work or exercise I've never actually thought about refilling my electrolytes ahead of time, and I'll be adding that to my routine from this point forward! I get these kinds of migraines every 45-120 days so it's good to have some new tips to incorporate. Thanks, Shrimp! Edit: Formatting, clarification

[@Mel-mu8ox]

first thing I did after watching this, was make my partner watch it XD its so visually accurate

[@strayiggytv]

Same. Mine have severe nausea and I frequently have people tell me "it's just a headache" and not understand that I'm essentially blind during the first phase of the migraine. The very first one I experienced terrified me because I was watching television and suddenly couldn't figure out anyone's faces. It was like the features were all scrambled and I honestly thought I was having a seizure or a stroke.

[@PoptartParasol]

Drinking some juice can probably help with your electrolytes! Or maybe eating a banana (I have heard bananas help with migraines but I have no clue if it has something to do with the banana itself)

[@RG.......]

What are you doing to prevent them? What did your Doctor suggest?

[@bsveenstra]

Blown away by this video. Been a fan of the channel for ages and somehow missed this(ironically?). I've had these for 15ish years and the way you described it was exactly what I've been struggling to explain. First time I ever had one was at a cashier job and they wouldn't let me leave my post despite explaining I couldn't see the total on the screen as I was suddenly half blind. Thanks you so so much for sharing your tips! Some I've found through trial and error, but others completely new. This is the video I will be sharing from now on if I want to explain it to someone!

[@OhSoUnicornly]

YES! I'm so glad someone has finally made something like this, I have seen pictures of it but it's so hard to describe to people what it's like. One of the most interesting representations I found was a set of drawings made quite some time ago (somewhere in the range of 100 to 200 years ago, I forget when) and a piece of writing about it. It's so odd seeing someone from so long ago describe my exact experience. They also wrote something along the lines of, "despite so many people suffering from this, it is very poorly researched, and I hope there will be more research soon". I think they would be disappointed by the lack of understanding the world has about visual migraines, even today. I still don't know the cause of mine and they affect me about 5-10 days out of the month, sometimes only mildly, sometimes up to a 7 or even touching an 8 on the pain scale. I'm on all the medication I can really be on for it. I honestly think people overestimate how good modern medicine is. We have cracked a lot of things, but there's also so much that we don't know (collectively as a species), and then there are so many things that are known by some but not paid enough attention by a majority of individual doctors.

[@jorichards5986]

Hi! Thank you so much for this video. It explains the migraine aura perfectly, although I never knew it had a name other than "aura"! Funny how none of my doctors or neurology consultants ever said "scintillating scotoma"! I've been a sufferer for 27 years now, am on preventive meds that I take daily. My aura lasts 20 minutes to half an hour, with the headache another hour, and "hangover" about 12 hours. Your coping methods are spot on... Paracetamol boosts the action of NSAIDs, and caffeine helps them work quicker. The blood sugar advice is critical, as is keeping hydrated. Ice packs on the back of my neck and forehead are very comforting, it takes down the muscle tension and pressure. Regular stretching and massage also helps keep muscles loose... I once had steroid injections in the base of my skull after a migraine lasting 8 days. Glad you don't suffer too regularly, it's a horrible chronic illness and a legitimate disability... I really related when you said yours had reduced since quitting the job to go full time on YT. Mine were horrendous when I tried to work 5 days a week. Now self employed doing 3-4 days, I'm down to one migraine every two months or so. Hope they stay manageable for you!

[@m2hmghb]

Migraines are horrible. I've had experience with aura. I've found that if I can loosen my neck muscles and take a decongestant before the pain fully kicks in it keeps it from becoming severe. Feel better shrimp.

[@woodyhaney]

I have had this about half a dozen times over the past twenty years. I have never had the headache associated with it but have felt somewhat exhausted during and afterwards. I seldom get headaches at other times. I have been a subscriber for several years and was excited to see this video. Great representation of the visual symptoms!

[@Hanna-kk4rk]

I'm so happy you made a video of this! I experienced this a bunch of times a couple of years back. My aura looked similar but more of a full circle that expanded. I usually tried to lie down and listened to an audio book or podcast and tried to doze off. The first few times was really scary but I googled and eventually went to the doctor and had a health check up and all was fine. The eye migraine seems to have self healed now and even if it stopped being scary I'm glad to not have them.

[@helmuteckert6411]

Hi Shrimp, I also had these symptoms starting with my puberty until my early twenties with decreasing frequency. Unlike you, I had a very strong headache after the visual effects and often ending with feeling sick and even throwing up. I experienced that spending the rest of the day in a dark room helped me the most, but there seemed to be a fixed cycle that had to pass no matter my actions (vision, headache, feeling sick). I experienced that a good physical shape (I.e. regular sports), nutrition and limited stress decreased the frequency of these attacks in general. Maybe this helps you too. Greetings from Germany!

[@manishsharma2095]

Playing sport reduce it? Sir please answers me

[@reginaldhuckstable9797]

I have the exact same thing.

[@RG.......]

​@@reginaldhuckstable9797 What are you doing to prevent them? What did your Doctor suggest?

[@RG.......]

What are you doing to prevent them? What did your Doctor suggest?

[@travholt]

This is just about exactly how I've experienced scintillating scotomas, and how I've handled them, except for the snack and coffee. I usually just take some paracetamol, go to bed and close my eyes, and maybe try to sleep, knowing that looking at a computer screen or doing just about anything that requires a functioning vision is out the window for a good while. Thankfully, it's been a while since the last time it happened to me now. Your visual representations are pretty good, if you keep staring at the center of the video. The scintillating zigzag pattern is very hard to illustrate, but even harder is the blindness in the middle of your vision at the beginning. It's very strange to see _nothing_. Several times it started while I was out and about in the city streets and I noticed I couldn't see people's faces … Quite a bizarre experience.

[@RG.......]

What are you doing to prevent them? What did your Doctor suggest?

[@bexp748]

You my friend are a legend these are perfect instructions, my mother will love the fact that someone else knows these tools work. Thank you many people will benefit from this info.

[@chriswilliams-dm9tx]

I have had very mild cases of the scintillation lasting 30mins to a couple of days having no clue what it is, thank you so much for covering it and how you deal with it. I love all your content, keep up the great work!

[@thewuurm]

During my adolescence and teen years, I had migraine headaches without aura (I've been left sobbing in pitch black rooms at the slightest sound and been forced to go to the ER for an intramuscular pain killer shot because I could not stop vomiting). Then, a little over four years ago at the age of 29 I had my first ever experience with scintillating scotoma, exactly as you described it. Luckily I was aware that this was a precursor to migraine, I took ibuprofen and had a large cup of coffee, pulled my curtains and went to bed. Amazingly, whether it was thanks to my proactive actions or just luck, I didn't ultimately experience any headache at all, but I was very tense waiting for it. I'll have to remember the toilet tip for next time, I hadn't considered that at all at the time and I would have hated having to drag myself out of bed for it if the pain had come!

[@lucaalberti8355]

I am a blind person, so I have never experienced and will never experience any of this, but even so, I found this very interesting! You managed to describe the simptom so well that even someone who has never seen a thing in his life has been able to more or less comprehend. All that's just to say great job!

[@ladymunch0]

You took the words right out of my mouth. I'm also totally blind. I'm a chronic pain sufferer too. I'll add this information to my store of medical knowledge in case I can help someone in the future.

[@breazybear]

How do you find a video like this if your blind? And how did the second blind person find this comment? I had to scroll quite far down to read this, does a program just read every comment as you scroll?

[@FatZangief]

Wow, this is the best description of this I've ever heard. I've had a few of these episodes over the last few years, Certain lighting conditions seem to trigger mine, as well as tiredness and stress. The first time it happened it scared the hell out of me.

[@guitarplayingdrifter]

Thank you so much for sharing this video. This is now a valuable tool that has proven to be very helpful when I need to explain the symptoms to someone who has never experienced this.

[@Hagarack]

Your depiction of it is a really helpful way to explain it to others, thank you. I had these for a short period when I was using the combined contraceptive pill. Since that was the only period during which I ever experienced them it seems likely it had to do with my sex hormone balance (with a little google reserach I see that according to the research there is a correlation between them). Thankfully, since I'd been expecting to have some side effects I made the connection pretty quickly between the pills and the visual aura. I changed over to a different contraception method which doesn't contain oestrogen (Ethinylestradiol, technically) and it completely solved the issue. A bizarre experience but since I had a way to immediately and permanently solve it I found it really interesting and not disturbing (after the first instance!). It helped that I experienced no pain or discomfort at all, just the visual effects. I hadn't realised up til then that you could have a painless migraine.

[@jofowle3986]

Hi Maria, I had the same experience with the contraception pill and managed to have 11 years without any once I came off it. But they started again when I started menopausal symptoms and I have them fairly regularly now.

[@BenRK90]

That's what that is!? I get those visual effects occasionally, no idea what they were until this video. Glad to know I'm not going crazy. Coincidentally I stumbled into a treatment plan similar to yours on my own. Edit: Your video did indeed remove the fear of it for me. It's nice knowing this is actually a thing and others get it.

[@bittehiereinfugen7723]

There are many of us who experience these - or even more bizarre symptoms - from time to time.

[@shiko098]

Amazing description of something I've always struggled to describe to people. Usually when people say they have a migraine they don't understand what it entails and I just kind of roll my eyes. What happens to me is nearly exactly the same as your experience. The moment I get the visual auras, I neck some painkillers then basically hide in a dark room or try and sleep until it's over. If I fail to catch it I get a severe headache that usually results in me spending an hour or two over the toilet bowl vomiting. When it's subsided it can kill me off for at least 24hrs, the next day I tend to feel groggy too with it feeling like my brain is rattling inside my skull. Visual migraines are absolutely awful, but your information I'm sure will help a lot of people. It's something that more should be aware of so it's less of a terrifying experience if these symptoms catch anyone off guard.

[@threetythreepercent]

Thank you for making this video. I get these every six months or so, and I have never been able to properly describe to people what it looks/feels like.

[@ThisIsARubbishName]

thank you for showing us! i haven't had anything like this, but it's always good to know what others "see" when having Aura headaches. I always thought it was more like a "starburst of light / halo" and a pressing headache. I hope you're better now!

[@EggBastion]

oh, it varies from person to person and quite a bit too

[@karenramnath9993]

@@EggBastion It does vary...for me, the edges of objects look super sharp, I have to take off my glasses because the sharp edges of everything hurt my brain.

[@KatyLawson]

Thank you for giving me a name to the migraines I've had regularly every six months for the last few years! I had just called them ocular migraines, but this is exactly what I suffer! They always lead me to having to lay down in a dark room, vomit a few times, and try to nap. Really appreciated to discover others suffer these!

[@19822andy]

Yeah me too. Sometimes I can prevent the migraine if I can get to painkillers quick enough. If I can't it's 4 hours of wet cold towel to the forehead and every little sound or light making me sick my guts up. After about the 4th time of vomiting I fall asleep and a few hours later it's over. Head still tender but not like someone is drilling into my brain. I have made sure to ALWAYS have a stock of Ibuprofen and Paracetamol.

[@jonathanrichards593]

@@19822andy Ow, that sounds horrible. I hope that the symptoms become less for you as the years go by.

[@cheapknight1293]

Same for me... Do you also have numbness in arms and legs spreading after the eye symptom subsides?

[@19822andy]

@@cheapknight1293 I get part of a song or melody stuck in my head. It just repeats over and over and I cannot stop it. I don't think I have noticed numbness though. You sure you're not having a stroke? 🤣 Nah but seriously it can be signs of a stroke.

[@cheapknight1293]

@@19822andy Damn a melody sure sounds less frightening xD. It does seem related to the migraien though, so a stroke seems unlikely haha.

[@josephlongley9762]

This happened to me for the first time this week but I didn't rest straight away and the visual symptoms got really bad till I couldn't really see to walk around, I was terrified. So weird that you would post this so soon afterwards. Thanks for putting my mind even more at ease

[@cabelocab2008]

I'm sharing this with my friends and sisters who suffer from migraines. This is how I experience aura before migraines. And I feel like I am seeing things in the corner of my eye. This is an amazing visual representation

[@chuckpoore]

I'm just amazed at how many people suffer from this. The first time it happened to me I assumed I was the only one to experience anything like this, and like several other commenters have said, I thought I was having a stroke. Later I read something about it, I didn't know about the technical name, I just heard it called an Aura. For me, it is normally a preview of a coming migraine, so like you I nearly always take pain killer--not for the aura, but because I know it's a signal of oncoming pain. The way I always described it, is like looking though shimmering water, and it seems worse when looking at a computer monitor (which is what I was doing the first time I experienced it) or also watching TV. Focusing on something else does usually help me, and it normally goes away after about an hour. I don't usually get the "feeling bad" part unless I also get the headache. But if I can head off the migraine (no pun intended) I usually am okay in a couple of hours. So I guess yours is worse than mine. It's weird that I only started experiencing this in my 30's and had never even heard of this phenomenon before then. I think that's why it's so scary the first time we experience it, because for so many of us, it's an unknown. I think if it were one of those things people knew were common with migraines, maybe they wouldn't panic when it happens. Thanks for this video. I'm glad to know I'm not alone in this.

[@gregh378]

At work we developed an Augmented Reality simulator for this very thing! (we make medication to prevent it) It was a Vive headset adapted with cameras, of which we adapted the video to simulate the symptoms. It was used to help non-sufferers empathise with people suffering from it.

[@joyciejd9673]

I had never heard of this condition and I thank you for this video. Had this happened to me, I would have been frozen with fear. Thank you for letting us know your solution as well. I'm glad you are on the mend.

[@doaajanakat1772]

Amazing description and visualisation! i had those since i was around 9 years old, still happening, sometimes i have them more than once aday, and sometimes i go 10 months without any. Noticed they are connected to stress indeed. What i hate that i cant control it, i am always afraid it happens in the wrong time, like when i am in an interview, conducting a training or so!, and mine lasts 40 mins, as you described, evolving and then decreasing.I actually just learned today what it's called! and that lead me to your video. It's been frustrating not being able to describe it, and constantly telling people / doctors, it has nothing to do with your eyes, and they keep telling you to check your eyes!. When it happens i tell my partner (my no-vision attack) started, lol, that was the best name i had. Thank you again!

[@nonononononono5426]

I have the same thing!! You described my symptoms nearly to a T. I have no idea what triggers them, as I had gone almost 2 years without expercing any and for some reason have now had 3 within the past month, which has made me kind of paranoid to the point where I mistake my brains reflex to disregarding my nose in my vision as an oncoming migrane. When I feel like I have one coming up, I'll initially go outside and stare at something far away (thinking it might be caused by some kind of eye stress) and then lay down in a dark place and hope for the best. For me, it only trasitions in to an actual headache like 70% of the time, but it's still annoying to have what's essentially random temporary partial blindness

[@mattx12345678]

I remember my first time this happened, it was rather scary! I was in a class at school, working on the computer and my vision felt a little off but I carried on as I couldn't put my finger on what exactly was wrong. About 10 minutes after that, I noticed I was starting to not see anything in my peripheral vision anymore, almost like anything below my nose in my vision didn't exist, as well as the middle of my vision being hard to focus on with some random shiny stuff around it. Then the headache appeared. I was sent home, and my grandfather picked me up. I explained to him what was happening and he immediately said I was having a migraine and that they run in the family. Turns out my grandfather, as well as my mother, are quite prone to them. In regards to your routine for treatment of the scintillating scotoma, I have a very similar one, but I don't tend to eat anything as I'd rather not give my stomach ammunition if I feel nauseous. I find that taking some paracetamol, drinking water and laying in the dark is the best way to deal with it. Keeping my eyes closed as well to stop the scotoma from looking so out of place in reality helps it "disappear" much faster. Love your videos Shrimp, keep up the cracking work!

[@daisymayhem24]

Your description of the symptoms (and the visual examples) are absolutely spot on to what I’ve experienced with this. I never knew it had a name though. My mum suffers from very bad migraines that make her very sick, so I’ve always thought myself quite lucky to only have visual disturbances and just a bad headache - compared to what it could be. Often with the blank spot in my vision I’ll lose peripheral sight too, another indicator that a monster headache is on the way. Like you, I recognise when the pain cycle is coming and usually head it off with painkillers before it starts, but I’ll definitely keep the electrolytes option to mind in future. Great video and I hope it’s a while before you experience another of these strange little episodes ☺️

[@deadwrongrick1165]

It's good to hear someone else describe this so exactly and the animation you used is a perfect visualization of the experience. It's such a hard and bizarre thing to describe to people that it sounds like you're making it up or have gone a bit mad when talking about it. The first time it happened I thought I might have been having some sort of stroke or aneurysm or something. I've had these pop up every now and again over the last few years, pretty much exactly as you described. Usually brought on with stress, poor sleep, dehydration and excessive time spent focusing on work or a project on the computer. Except in my case I don't tend to experience the migraine (or headaches in general) that follow afterwards for some people. It usually lasts about 20-30 mins and when I see one coming on I just drink lots of water, take a couple of headache tablets and go have a lie down since you can't do much else. It's nice that you've put this video out so that when people experience this for the first time, when they search for information on it, they can be reassured that their brain isn't going to explode or they're losing their mind. Love your work.

[@Ghost_Of_SAS]

This has happened to me a couple times in the past few years, usually lasts a few minutes and goes away. No headachae for me but it's always very distressing.

[@atherrien95]

Same here. I thought I was dying the first time

[@rocklover7437]

I use Feverfew leaves in a cup of coffee .

[@KantenKant]

@@atherrien95 First time when it happened to me I was 13 or 14 and it was incredibly disturbing. I didn't think I'd die but I thought I was going to be blind forever, that was pretty scary.

[@backuppixiedust1115]

Same! I made the mistake of looking it up on the internet, and was scared I was having an aneurism. I know better now.

[@rocklover7437]

Veg oil or margarine triggers my silent migraines .It's hard eliminating them . I also use Feverfew in butter with lemon zest .There is a recipe for it on KZbin.

[@sandrakeogh1362]

This is exactly what I've been suffering for the last 45 years. Like you, I have to take painkillers before the point of no return, or I'm down for at least the rest of the day. I also get the groggy feeling afterwords, we refer to it as a migraine hangover.

[@rosep5672]

Thank you Mr. Shrimp. Though I've not (yet?) experienced this, I know that if it ever does happen, I'll feel less panicked. Hope you're getting plenty of rest, we love your videos but not at the expense of your health! Thanks again and if you ever come to South-West France we'd love to show you around!

[@elahem6940]

This is great to have a reference to explain this symptom! Great content as usual!

[@Dahnyulll]

great video for the visualization alone. trying to describe what it looks like to people that have never had one is pretty tough. i used to get these pretty frequently(almost once a month), but lately theyre much rarer(1-2 a year) and usually peak at a small point. i do still sometimes get the ones that cover half my vision though. interesting that apparently people have aftereffects from them. ive never felt a "hangover" from one or had a headache afterwards. i also almost never have headaches normally though, so maybe theres a correlation. and ive never really felt the need to prepare when an ocular is coming on because they never last more than 30 minutes and im only really impaired for about 15 of them.

[@bigboibranby7070]

I get these, I find they tend to be caused by dehydration or excessive concentration when working on screens. The last time I had one it affected my memory, I couldn't remember my partners name, was incredibly scary, but after an hour or so it passed and I came back to normal. Migraines can actually scar your brain, but there's a large debate as to whether it increases your risk of stroke or not, as the evidence seems hard to correlate. For me, treatment is prevention, I make sure to drink 3 litres of water every day, get a good amount of exercise, aim to get at least 7 hours sleep every night. If I do get a migraine then the first thing I do is take something called Sumatriptan, its the absolute BEST for getting rid of the headaches from migraines. But you can't buy it off the shelf, you'll have to request it from the pharmacy, it's also VERY strong, so you can only take 1 every 48 hours. Sometimes I'll pair it with migralieve. Rest, but not sleep, no screens and drink water, if the headache is bad then cooling pads for your head are a lifesaver. Feel your pain man!

[@blacktailE]

I get you. I usually have all the symptoms of the aura (the first phase before the actual migraine) and that includes aphasia. It's really scary every time because you feel confused and you can't remember words, so when you try to communicate it's frustrating and incoherent. If it ever happens again, don't worry!! It lasts for a bit but you'll feel much better eventually!!

[@nyanbinary1717]

Sumatriptan is a lifesaver about 75% of the time for me, and the other 25% it does nothing but make me nauseous. It’s funny how migraines manifest so differently in people and how the treatments affect them.

[@cheapknight1293]

I do tend to try to sleep in the hope it passed when I wake up. Why do you specifically avoid it? (To know if I should try not to haha)

[@onelasttry]

You have just blown my mind! I have experienced this same thing before and have never been able to explain what I was seeing to anybody. But your visuals are exactly what I see, to the point that I feel kind of like you were in my head a little. The only difference is I usually only experience a dull headache afterwards, usually lasting for a few hours. I find painkillers don’t seem to do much to alleviate it. I’ll be bookmarking this video for the next time this happens so I can just ‘show’ rather than (attempt to) ‘tell’.

[@nicholelynnedwards5]

Best descriptive video I have seen yet. Explains what happens exactly. I try to show family so they understand and don't think I am crazy!

[@TheDJValen]

Edit: If you experience migraines with aura, go to a neurologist and he will do a complete check, as it can be a sign of a minor stroke! I experience two to three migraines with aura each month. I also recently found out that I have a condition (apparently common in migraine with aura people) called Visual Snow. During my aura episodes prior to the migraine, my hands will get numb, as well as losing hand-eye coordination. Very intense light and coffeine can be triggers for me, which is why I lay in a completely dark room. Taking the painkillers asap is something I do as well, and right after I try to fall asleep. I have been able to reduce my amounts of migraines by going once a month to a physiotherapist which helps my bloodlow around my neck. I had tried many different things prior to that, like accupuncture. Nothing else has worked so far (although I cannot prove there is a direct correlation between both).

[@petarjovanovic2466]

Could be anxiety & panic attacks causing the auras!

[@petarjovanovic2466]

It happens to me!

[@carolann811]

I usually have aura without migraine but once in a while, these precede mild migraines. The migraines I have without aura are the industrial-sized versions, large enough I'm certain to be visible from space. The looking away, closing eyes, and changing views do seem to help. I think it has something to do with changing not only what's being looked at but the distance you're looking at something. If I look at the coffee mug here, the wall over there and then out the window, it seems to decrease both the intensity and length of the aura. What I find amusing in my case is I can never realize what is happening until it's to the jagged edge state and takes up quite a big portion of my field of vision. I persist in thinking I've looked at the sun, glanced at a bright light - anything and everything comes to mind besides 'aura.' You'd think after having them one and off over decades I'd know what they are. I had one the other night and spent a few minutes blinking stupidly in a rather dim room. When asked by my son what was wrong, explaining that somehow I must have glanced at the sun or bright lights, neither of which was possible. Finally, I said, "Oh, this is an aura."

[@WePlayedWith]

Thanks for this. Exactly the same symptoms, you've done the graphics very well. Very useful to explain to others.

[@naco8611]

Thanks so much for making this video! I get these occasionally after intense exercise, especially if I don't eat or drink enough afterwards. Stress is probably also a factor too. So many comments - I had no idea that so many people were affected by this! Great visuals, spot on!!

[@cpmaxi294]

Thanks for sharing, I've had migraines since I was 12 and I always noticed that this happens on my left eye preceding it. There's a medicine here which contains metamizole and caffeine, it works wonders. Also being in a pitch black toilet helps relieve the strain on my eyes, I just take a yoga mat and lay down on the tiles until the medicine takes effect.

[@dianne5238]

Interesting mine started at 12 and always come from the left too. I noticed a few in the comments started at school, I wonder if it's associated with puberty for some people.

[@Laralinda]

Have you ever heard of the Cortical Humunculus? When I get a migraine aura, it starts at my vision with scotomas like you described and then this wave of tingling and numbness goes all through one half of my body. Vision, eye, nose, lips, tongue. Then my hand, arm and then the leg. After this, which usually lasts half an hour or so, headache starts on the opposite site. I don't feel like myself during aura and to be honest I rather have the headaches and tiredness than not being in control of my senses. The hardest part though was to tell my collegues at work. Because I had to tell them that sometimes I can't see anymore and have to stop working for some time and that they don't have to call the ambulance (in fact, it is quite similar to a stroke, but stroke symptoms usually don't "wander" through your body and just leave)

[@susannearmenta4758]

Oh, goodness! I have this too. It’s so strange how the numbness moves through the body in an exact order. I had this really bad when I was in my 20s but as I’ve gotten older, fortunately the numbness has gone away and I just get the visual disturbances. Thanks for sharing!! I have a name for it now

[@aname4931]

This is a great video! Thank you for making it, I'll share it with people who don't quite understand that it's not "just a bit of a headache', but debilitating agony and a full-body issue

[@dawnmagee3354]

I had my first migraine at age six. It was it's worst during my thirties but has calmed down in frequency now that I'm closer to sixty. People who know know, but people who have never experienced any of these symptoms will benefit from this video. Thanks for sharing your experience!

[@RG.......]

What are you doing to prevent them? What did your Doctor suggest?

[@danielfingerberlin]

I had this symptom twice in my life - in situations involving a lot of emotional stress, but I did not get a headache afterwards. It is called „migraine sans migraine“ apparently, french for „migraine without migraine“ and as such it was very interesting and also hampering, but not too bad for me.

[@Ice_Karma]

I was fortunate when I got my first migraine with aura, in that my mother is also a migraineur, and she'd described to me what the aura was like, so I knew what it was. Before I developed _chronic_ migraine back in 2005, I, too, used to be able to prevent the migraine headache from starting if I took painkillers as soon as I noticed the migraine aura. Now that I have chronic migraine, though, _nothing_ will stop an oncoming migraine headache -- none of the medications that prevent or abort _acute_ migraine work on _chronic_ migraine. 😿

[@IvanSKMK]

"none of the medications that prevent or abort acute migraine work on chronic migraine" I have to disagree. 22 years of, an average, one migraine every 14 days. Some periods more frequently, others less so. It took 10 years before i found out that taking something as soon as i perceive the aura can, in some cases, totally abort the pain. Not the migraine neurological symptoms of tiredness, fuzziness etc. But when i take Caffetin (half with water, the other half sublingually just as i see even the tiniest speck of the aura) it doesn't get any worse than a 2 on the pain scale. P.S. Caffeine and nicotine act like a prophylactic for the severity or the pain in my experience.

[@xBaRLoGx]

Have you ever tried Imigran or Marijuana, especially strains high in CBD, like Charlotte's Web strain?

[@Ice_Karma]

@@xBaRLoGx Yes. Imigran -- and the whole family of drugs it's part of -- has never worked for me, nor has marijuana, whether indica, sativa, or high-CBD. =/

[@xBaRLoGx]

@@Ice_Karma Damn... I've also heard about cluster headaches and how microdosing LSD helps with those. Apparently they're MUCH worse than migraines and almost nothing works for them, except LSD (But then again, that's borderline anecdotal evidence)

[@Henri-email-archive]

I've had this happen to me once, about a month ago I think. Never knew what it was until now. Videos like this, just general information that's actually useful explained simply are a godsend

[@RG.......]

What are you doing to prevent them? What did your Doctor suggest?

[@xxPenjoxx]

I really understood this thanks to your animations. Really well explained. I am glad you are able to manage these headaches, I hope they don't happen often

[@nogosnoqt]

I've been having similar problems as long as I remember, and it took me a long time to connect them to migraines. For me, the first thing I notice is my visual focus starting to get unreliable. Over time it gets to the point that it becomes very difficult to even read a full sentence. The second stage appears a lot like the "floaters" you can sometimes see in your eye. It covers the entire visual range with the distortions seeming to multiply over time, but none of the distortions are unignorably distracting. Then the light show starts. Portions of the "floaters" have their "edges" spark up like lightning. There's no true defined shape to them, so it's very much like tiny lightning bolts, either black or white, are going on across the entire visual scope. Then, finally, my vision starts swimming. This can sometimes be very frightening as those vague lightning bolts can also seem to connect and move, almost as if there *could* be something, maybe spider-like, moving. At this point, though, I've typically called it a day, anyway, because my auras always promise pain. And if I get a spike of arachnophobia with all this going on, my day is just over. I'll need to try avoiding focusing on a single area, like you mentioned. Sometimes, though, I feel something similar to morbid curiosity and can't help but stare. An unmoving gaze just feels less tiresome when I already don't feel like existing for a time. Then you're stuck. Also, caffeine can be both a trigger and an treatment for some. It's like that for me, but there needs to be time for the trigger caffeine to "fade (?)" for the new dose of caffeine to work. That and it's not terribly effective and makes attempts to sleep off the migraine much harder.

[@mariek.474]

Hey Shrimp, I've had migraines as well lately but they affect first my vision (like yours), then language (it's quite embarrassing to be unable to speak or write properly in the middle of the day without warning.. I can speak but very incoherently lol) and my right hand go numb. This all lasts about 30 to 45 minutes. It screamed "stroke" to me so I went to get checked, the brain scan was all normal and the neurologist told me this can happen when bloodflow to a specific part of the brain is not ideal (they call it migraine with aura also with these 3 weird symptoms). It's strange and causes a lot of worry the first time it happens, adding to the anxiety which causes my worst migraines, oh joy... but now that I know what it is I see it as an order from my body to rest and make more time for myself and pleasant, unstressful activities in the following days. While it passes I have a snack and relax in a dark room when possible. (And for ladies : the neurologist and my family doctor told me birth control pills might make these worse in relation to blood pressure, so if you take some or switched brands lately... another type of contraception might help stop the migraines)

[@pattheplanter]

Have you thought of carrying a laminated card that says "MIGRAINE - Language centre affected - NOT DRUNK OR DRUGGED - I just need to curl up in a darkened room"? Showing that could help with the embarassment and potential misunderstandings. I should make one that says "MIGRAINE - normally lovely person but I might snarl at you if you get between me and my home at the moment".

[@StarchedPie]

I had my first one just as you described, plus vomiting, during high school. Pretty terrifying, since my school was far from home and I couldnt talk properly. The ones since then have been less intense, luckily, and now i can talk just fine during them, and no longer feel nauseous - just the vision and numbness/pins and needles feeling. I normally get them a couple times a year, but I actually haven't had any for the ~9 months I've been on birth control, which is interesting.

[@ashrafhussain2877]

This was a great video !!! Thanks for sharing and showing very well this phenomena , I have suffered from this for over 35 yrs intermittently,also suffering from scintilations on a daily basis for same amount of time!!! The only good thing about it is that I rarely have associated pain with it!! Plain black and white backgrounds show up the scintillations more intensely! Really good of you to show this to a wider audience tho so thanks for that! Ash

[@NickGascoyne]

The only way for me to relieve the symptoms of a migraine is to fall sleep. Your visual warning symptoms are similar to mine but I then get dizziness which makes me throw up 3-10x. As soon as I throw up all the migraine symptoms leave for a few minutes, and it’s in this window where I try to fall sleep, then after that time has elapsed the migraine creeps back and the cycle continues.

[@ShellyS2060]

agreed! I often think " please let me throw up, or please let me die" light hurts, sound hurts

[@egpx]

I get these from time to time. The effect on me is purely optical, there's no associated headache and it passes after ten to fifteen minutes. There is a similar condition called retinal (or ocular) migraine which only affects one eye, Scintillating Scotoma affects overall vision rather than the eyes themselves. I've no idea what triggers mine, I suspect fatigue might have something to do with it but they can come without warning on at any time of the day. I used to be worried about them but not any more.

[@JudyReadsCards]

Yes, the one (so far) I've had was purely optical with no headache, and only lasted about 20 minutes. Definitely scary while it was happening but when it went, with no apparent sinister after effects, I Googled the experience and discovered it was an ocular migraine. Mine also came without warning - no stress, no excessive tiredness. At the time I put it down to eye strain as I spend far too much time on the computer most days.

[@estefaniac.1011]

Wow, Shrimp, the way you explained it is literally what I see, thank you! I'll show this video to my boyfriend next time I get this so he can see what it's like. I usually just escape to a dark room and put a blanket over my head until my vision clears; sometimes take a nap if I can. I've only ever gotten these without the migraine (the head-shattering headaches happen at a different time) so the first time, it was really, really scary.

[@JoseSantos-oz1ww]

Man U are a true life saver because bro I thought I was going blind…I literally had it happened a few mins before I found your video. That’s what lead me to find this. Thank you!

[@tricky2917]

Thanks for the tips. Good visualization also, how did you reproduce that so well? I've had them all my life too and my partner had it once while she was pregnant. It's usually stress, fatigue and dehydration in combination with certain food triggers (googleable). Interestingly I can also rarely get them without the visual disturbance. That general fatigue, irritableness and oversensitivity you get but minus the occular disturbance. These a little more difficult to spot because they affect my mood more than anything else (overlooked aspect of the condition), but usually my partner or my kid notice that 'I'm a bit off'. As for my own approach to treating them, I've only come across one that really works. Hydration and rest are key, but never fully fix me up. The biggest issue with me is that the after effects you spoke of linger for a long time, rendering me practically useless for the remainder of the day. The only thing that helps me is sleep. I think it resets my brain somewhat. A siesta can do the trick, but only after the visual disturbance wears off (in a dark room I get nauseous from the motion of the ocular disturbance because I cannot have a fixed point of reference, kind of like motion sickness). Oh, as an extra measure I did decide to permanently part with red wine, the red pigment in there was just too often triggering ocular migraines for me. Losing red wine stung a little though.

[@EggBastion]

curious here also what tools were used to reproduce the effect

[@tricky2917]

@@EggBastion Mostly my body.

[@ryriclan3425]

I have had chronic migraines since I was around 12 years old, and in my teens used to get them everyday, which obviously made working and school very difficult. I can deal with the pain, but the brainfog really is the worst. I like to take ibuprofen, magnesium, salt, and get some protein in my system. The only thing that I've found that helps the mental fatigue, extreme pain and photophobia is taking some oral CBD (sometimes THC as well) somewhere in the 5mg range, which is such a low dose it is not psychoactice at all (if this isn't legal where you are, please don't take this as advice). I've had medical access to cannabis since my teens for the chronic pain, and it really is life-changing. My migraines are triggered by excessive consumption of carbs (especially grains), sugars, ethanol, and stress. I've found going on a restrictive 'KETO' diet to be helpful in reducing the severity of my migraines. When I get them, I get similar auras, but I also sometimes have my vision go entirely black for a few seconds, and afterwards my vision is blurry and I have a very hard time recognising objects or processing information. Additionally, I've experienced migraines in which my sense of touch is so elevated that the feeling of my shirt on my skin made me want to scream, it hurt so bad. I've experienced similar oversensitivity in regards to taste and smell, and the smell of cooking anything can make me gag sometimes. I chalk it up to my brain being unable to dampen stimuli anymore, and being exposed to the world as it "really" is can feel extremely overwhelming, disorientating, and painful.

[@pattheplanter]

Have you tried hempseed oil? Just one of many things I changed and now I get very little aftereffects from the scintillations.

[@Mel-mu8ox]

worst thing about these kinds of pain, you just cant tell people whats happening, its like your drunk slurring your worlds. I feel your pain :(

[@Mel-mu8ox]

I find forcing myself to vomit, helps when they get that bad. migraleve also works for me. but is addictive so cant be taken if they carry on over three days.

[@ryriclan3425]

@@MODElAIRPLANE100 Interesting that you say 5mg is psychoactive, my personal reaction to THC is that I don't experience any kind of noticeable intoxication until I take ~15-20 mg. It's been like this since the beginning for me, so I don't think it's just due to tolerance. I don't really enjoy bring cognitively impaired on any substance, I experience enough cognitive impairment from my migraines as-is, so I don't go out of my way to take such a high dose.

[@ronniemaccuish1154]

Yes. I get this almost exactly as you described. And the animation is amazing. I’ve tried to explain this to my wife for years but I couldn’t describe it like you did. One eye doctor said it was posterior vitreous detachment but the other drs who checked it out didn’t agree. Bright light causes it for me. Eg. sunshine reflecting off of snow or water. I don’t get the headache you mentioned, but the other symptoms like tiredness etc all go along with it. To help stop it, I try to get to a dark place, and I never go out without really dark sunglasses on. Letting my eyes relax and un-focus usually helps. This was an amazing video. One of your best IMO. Thanks, keep ‘‘em coming.

[@UrsulaBooth]

Thank you for posting this. I have never had anything like this before and you can image my alarm, when for the first time ever in my 59 years, this happened to me yesterday, along with a climbing BP. I feel like myself today, but yesterday I thought I had a brain tumor, or was about to have a stroke, or surely was dying! Your post helped ease my anxiety and negative thinking, so thanks again for sharing.

[@StubbyPhillips]

What fascinates me is the black and white zig-zags and checkerboard patterns I see. That just seems so "inorganic" to be caused by such a thing. I suspect if we knew why that happens, we'd know something important or at least really interesting about how our squishy lumps function. I get them several times a year. They last about 30-45 minutes and go away with no headache or other symptoms. I also get migraines, but they don't tend to correlate with these weird glitches.

[@AtomicShrimp]

I agree - it's almost like you're seeing the pixel grid that your brain works on or something. I suspect this is something to do with how our visual system normally perceives and processes edges or contrast between colours

[@kerryfirehorse]

The colourful zigzags are fascinating- reminds me of fabric designs popular in the 90s. Geometric visual patterns also happen during a DMT trip where they produce the image of form rather than obscure it. The human body/ experience is awesome.

[@littleshubunkin7926]

Great video, man. That’s bound to help a lot of people.

[@ataraxia_yt]

Thank you for making this! These are the same steps I follow as well. And as others have said, the way you animated the visual disturbances was great, very accurate to my experience of it as well. There’s a lot of evidence suggesting a link between oestrogen and these kinds of migraines - so to anyone out there getting these kinds of ocular migraines very regularly, who also takes a contraceptive pill, please check with your doctor! For me personally, changing from combined pill to a progesterone only pill, I went from having aura migraines daily to only getting them a few times a year.

[@Viigan]

I've been suffering from migraines with auras for over forty years. I've never been able to find any common triggers, but the attacks always follow the same pattern: First a blind spot, from my focus point and to the right, but not as you describe it, a blur, more like an area that's been removed from my field of view and the rest then stretched in to cover the missing part. Then temporary aphasia, where I can't seem to find the correct word or sound; I can hear that it's wrong when I say "shirt" in stead of "trousers" or "f" in stead of "s", but when I try to correct myself, the wrong one comes out again. Rather frustrating. Then some of my fingers go numb or feel like they're being squeezed in a vice. Then I (sometimes, not always) throw up - and finally I have a headache for a couple of hours. The next day or two it seems like all my senses are slightly off. As if the world's been cut apart and stitched back up slightly crooked in the seams. This started when I was fourteen or fifteen, and for the first couple of years happened up to six or seven times a month. Once I learned it was migraine (a couple of years later), that changed to maybe once a month, and as I got older to once a year or less on average. The only thing that helps is lying down in a quiet, dark room for a couple of hours while the attack passes. I tried Maxalt some fifteen years ago, and it worked amazingly the first time and then seemed to have the opposite effect - intensifying and prolonging the attack - the next couple of times, so I swore to never touch that again. The upside of these attacks? Well, inbetween them, particularly in the first couple of weeks, I feel incredibly grateful to be able to see, speak and feel normally. "Yay, everything works like it's supposed to!"

[@pkriszti01]

your symptoms were the same as mine, with the cognition difficulties and numbness in fingers etc. except throwing up, i didn't have that but wow it's kinda great to see that other ppl experienced the same (as bad as it sounds), it's a scary experience

[@Viigan]

​@@pkriszti01 Especially when you don't know what it is. It was particularly scary for me at the time, as I had just decided to study to be an interpreter, so intermittently not being able to read or speak was... not optimal. My doctor at the time subjected me to an array of tests: scans, eye exams, lying on a bed looking through inch-thick glasses up at a cross taped on the ceiling while water was poured into my ears (which triggers a nystagmus-like reflex - the thick glasses serve as magnifiers to let the doctor see the reaction), standing with my tongue out and having drops of water dripped on it and then pointing to a board marked "sweet", "sour", "salt", "bitter" and "water", and various other neurological tests - all of which found nothing. And then while working a summer job in another town I had an attack, which scared my girlfriend, she called the town's on-call doctor for me, who asked me "What kind of an idiot do you have for a doctor? He should know that all these are obvious symptoms of migraine." And after that, it seemed that just knowing what it was lessened the frequency of the attacks, even though the progression of them has remained more or less the same to this day. But it is absolutely not a problem to live with them now - I've almost come to appreciate them. 😐

[@ChrisLloyd21]

I had never heard of aphasia but it sounds like what I experience before the headache starts. Initially, the whole right half of my body goes numb, then the aphasia starts followed by vomiting and severe headaches for several hours. I usually lie in bed and tie a scarf around my head as it seems pressure helps. Fortunately, I've not had one in a long time.

[@paulbenson8859]

I get these frequently. The moment I get the vision issue when reading text I take 2 capsules of Palmitoylethanolamide, known as PEA. I rest for about 30 minutes. After that the symptoms have gone and I can carry on as normal, no headaches, no tiredness. PEA is the only thing I take now. Don't even need paracetamol.

[@jbenno7021]

YES! I can vouch for this PEA definitely works! 🙂

[@AtomicShrimp]

Really interesting - never heard of this before, but on searching, it turns out that this is a substance that occurs naturally in peanuts, which is maybe why the peanut butter helped a bit!

[@paulbenson8859]

@@AtomicShrimp OH, didn't know it was from peanuts, interesting. I always carry some with me and if I feel tired before leaving work, will take 1 before to ensure I don't get a migrane while driving (which I've had several times and is not great).

[@tobiashoffmann78]

The animation is spot on! I think I've only ever experienced this two or three times in my life. The two times I can remember, the common factors were exercise, a hot environment and a lack of water. Both times ended in headache, but the second time I drank more water, which seemed to help, although the blurred field was also smaller to begin with. I was also skinny, in poor physical shape and spent a lot of time in front of a computer or a book in that time of my life, around when I was 13-14 years old

[@VickiBowers]

You have done an excellent job of describing a scintillating scotoma, and that visual effect you created in the video is perfect! I have occasionally experienced scintillating scotomas since I was an adolescent (I’m a grandmother’s age now). For me, they’re sometimes, but not always, followed by about a three-day headache. I recognize that those headaches are probably migraines, but fortunately, so far, I have not found them incapacitating, as some migraine sufferers do. I know my grandmother would occasionally have migraines that would put her seriously out of commission for days at a time. Now that I know what it is, I observe the phenomenon as a curiosity, take a couple of ibuprofen, make sure I’m sufficiently coffee’d up, and take a break from whatever I’m doing until it passes. Fortunately, I’m “retired” now, so I can do that fairly easily. Thanks again for this video. You have, as I said, done an excellent job of describing the scintillating scotoma.

[@jffste6149]

glad to find this. ive had these irregularly for the last 30 years, since childhood. just finishing with one now actually, which is why i was looking up things on the internet about them again. i get a very mild headache and feel like i didnt get enough sleep afterward. but your description of the onset is nearly identical.

[@SEEvans1236]

I get this, I've been calling it kaleidoscope vision for years and nobody knew what I was talking about, this video is absolutely spot on, never seen a better representation. Thanks again Shrimp I can now use this video as a reference :D

[@MushmouthJoe]

This happened to me just over a year ago. I didn't have a migraine. Just the visual glitch. The graphic you created is very close to what I saw & the way it slowly left my vision is spot on. It happened at work as I was staring into the screen. Since then I've lost 70 pounds, started eating better & exercising more. I feel a lot better. I suppose the experience scared me straight.

[@schoolofrockcary6625]

Thank you for sharing. I get these as well and this was a fairly accurate representation. Knowledge is truly power in this case, as once you learn to recognize the warning signs you can start taking your meds immediately when they appear. As any migraineuer will know, the sooner you take your meds, the lesser the severity of the symptoms

[@WineyEmber]

This visual representation was so good my head started to hurt, so well done. In addition to painkillers what seems to help sometimes is rubbing the tips of my fingers together so they get really wam and touching my (closed) eyes for a moment. Great vid!

[@ryanklosak7902]

As strange as it is to say, the fact that ive watched you for years, only to learn that you have almost exactly the same kind of migraine (and migraine regiment) as i do is really calming. Almost noone i know other than my grandma has this, and youve created such a perfect visual guide for me to show my friends exactly what i deal with, at least visually when i say im getting a migraine, which i get about once a week. That being said, my migraines have a strange quirk to where i will have a slight chance to get nauseous and vomit during the migraine, but thats what i welcome because if i do in feel better instantly, without the groggy migraine hangover. This has unfortunately caused my friends to think i just have a kink for vomit, but its a small price to pay. Im certainly not going to thank you for having migraines and thus giving me an outlet to explain to others what i deal with, because i wouldnt wish these on anybody, but you certainly are cooler for it (in my eyes) as we are all part of the same club - a club where loud music and bright lights are swapped for darkness and cozy beds and couches.