Ocular Migraine

Ocular Migraine:

Al Ritter

About 4 years ago I got my first ocular migraine, and not knowing what it was kinda freaked me out. After a trip to the eye doctor he assured me that there was nothing wrong with my eyes and that it was a fairly common occurrence.

It’s nothing really like its name would lead you to believe. It’s not a migraine in the sense of having a headache, I have never had a headache with it.

As shown in my drawing it appears as a “C” to me, very small at first then widening as time progresses shown in the arrows. The zigzag lines are flashing lights of yellow, red, and blue. Eventually the “C” gets so large it disappears out of my line of vision and the ocular migraine is gone restoring me to full vision. In some people it presents itself differently in shape and size.

The eye doctor told me they don’t really know what causes it and there is no known treatment for it other than to just wait for it to pass…..normally about 20 mins or so. I haven’t had one in a few months, and I normally have one now about 3 to 4 times a year.

Just thought I’d give you all a heads up in case you have your first one and get freaked out by it.