ok this time it scared me

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magsandmattsmom
magsandmattsmom Member Posts: 424
edited June 2014 in Life After Breast Cancer

Some of you may remember my eye flahers (hee hee that sounds naughty)Tongue out Well I was out at the store with Samuel today and the flashers came on.  They were really bad in one eye - so bad I couldn't see out of the eye.  They scared me for 2 reasons - one I was with Samuel and couldn't see very well!  Two how strong they were!  Thankfully they didn't last very long and if I closed that eye I could see better.  I stayed in the store til they pretty much cleared up. 

I really don't like them!  No one seems concerned.  The eye dr checked my eyes really really well and nothing - thinks they are ocular migraines.  I'll talk with my onc about them when i see him on the 7th, but he was concerned when I called about them so I'm sure that won't change.  I just hope it isn't something I have to learn to live with because they aren't fun.Frown

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  • AnnNYC
    AnnNYC Member Posts: 4,484
    edited July 2008

    Jill, someone mentioned a while ago to make sure your heart doctors know about this, and that has stuck in my mind.

    I know that some congenital heart issues can also increase the likelihood/frequency of having migraines.

    So I'm thinking -- you had some kind of surgery to repair aortic aneurysm/bicuspid valve -- and after that, apparently for the first time in your life, you're having ocular migraines?  And not rarely, but frequently? 

    To me, the timing of these things could be more than just a coincidence.  Migraines can have something to do with any kind of leak between chambers of the heart.  I don't think this is at all a critical problem -- you got that taken care of when you got the aneurysm repaired.  But I do think your cardiologists should be told about this (can't remember if you did already?).

    I don't know if you are already taking coumadin.  If you aren't, possibly a baby aspirin a day could help prevent migraine?  Check this with a doctor -- my son was told this to prevent migraines.  I've read that sumitritpan or other triptan drugs used to abort migraine headaches should NOT be used with ocular migraine, "because the constricting affect they have on blood vessels could cause problems in the retinal vessels."

    Anyway -- I hope this doesn't sound alarming -- because, like I said, it sounds like your doctors fixed the really serious aortic condition -- and I think whatever is causing the ocular migraines is far less serious -- but I still think it is logical to explore any link between the heart valve issues and the recent-onset migraines -- at least give the cardiologists a chance to explain that there IS no connection, if that's what they think!

    Not being able to see out of one eye -- that was my ocular migraine experience too -- and it's classic ocular migraine that it helps to close that eye.  Everything you've described in the past and today sounds completely like ocular migraine -- now somebody has to help you STOP them!

    (((hugs)))

    EDIT:  P.S.  I just checked your original post about this, and I see you did call your cardiologist first, and they didn't see any connection.  I would still call them again -- but maybe a migraine clinic would be more up on the possible causes (including heart issues) than your other doctors...

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  • magsandmattsmom
    magsandmattsmom Member Posts: 424
    edited July 2008

    Ann!  Thank you thank you thank you!!!!!!!  I will look into what you've said.  Yes I did talk to my cardio about them and he wasn't concerned.   My surgeon did suggest the baby asprin but not because of my eyes - just because of my heart stuff.  And yes - the big stuff was repaired!  I'm not worried about this being serious it just scared me that I couldn't see while I was with Sammy!  I worry about what happens if I'm driving or something.

    Right now I'm looking for a new general dr.  Mine is OK but I'd like someone different.  I'll look for a migraine clinic in my area.

    Thank you again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  • anneshirley
    anneshirley Member Posts: 1,110
    edited July 2008

    I get eye flashes since I got a floater in my left eye.  They look like flashes of lightening and are on the side of the eye.  They're generally more noticeable when the lights are out.  Did your doctor check to see if you have a detached retina?  They can see if some of the gel in your eye has detached, which causes floaters, and flashews, and also if the retina has detached, which is very serious and can lead to blindness.  I see you've been to an eye doctor but it wouldn't hurt to see another doctor if this one can't find anything.

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  • SoCalLisa
    SoCalLisa Member Posts: 13,961
    edited July 2008

    I got opthamolic migranes...it started with flashes of lightning like in a ring and it would get black in the middle and gradually get bigger..they would last maybe five or ten minutes..I never got a real migraine..just those...and they only happened for maybe six months and went away..

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  • AnnNYC
    AnnNYC Member Posts: 4,484
    edited July 2008

    Here's a depiction of ocular migraine...  I like the conceptual nature of it, using the announcement of a "migraine art contest" (don't know if that was real or not):

    Mine would start as a tiny flickering, and then grow and grow into this giant zig-zaggy thing (as in the picture) over the course of 20 to 40 minutes, covering up to 75% of my field of vision in my right eye... and then go away. No headache followed.  Only happened a couple of times.

    I've also had retinal flashes, but they're just flashes.  They don't have the same unrelenting takeover of my field of vision (somebody on the other thread called it "marching") or the zig-zagging stripes of different colors, or the psychedelic pulsating quality...

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  • deborye
    deborye Member Posts: 7,002
    edited July 2008
    Powerful Women's Motto:

    Live your life in such a way that
    when your feet hit the floor
    in the morning, Satan shudders & says...
    'Oh shit....she's awake!!!'
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  • magsandmattsmom
    magsandmattsmom Member Posts: 424
    edited July 2008

    that's exactly what they look like.  I've checked out info on the internet and seen several images of them and I agree that they are more than likely ocular migraines.  I just didn't like that I couldn't see and I was out with Sammy.  Now to figure out if there is anything I can do about them or if they'll just go away.  I pray I don't get the headache!

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  • Member_of_the_Club
    Member_of_the_Club Member Posts: 3,646
    edited July 2008

    I don't know if you saw my last post in the other thread about this, but when it happened to me I was told to run it by my onc on the off chance I had some kind of clotting thing going on.  This is a vascular phenomenon and the fact that it started after your heart surgery tells me its likely related to that.  Are you on any meds?  You need to insist on answers because they are happening awfully frequently.  The thing about how it blocked your vision is typical, I think.  Thats what happened with me.

    My experience was exactly like Ann described.  I also have retinal flashes, which are very, very different.  You probably shouldn't call what you are experiencing flashes.

     My ocular migraine was caused by dehydration, which is apparently a common trigger.  You might try drinking more water. 

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  • magsandmattsmom
    magsandmattsmom Member Posts: 424
    edited July 2008

    I will be talking to my onc right well!  I see him on the 7th.  I'm only on meds for my thyroid.  I get headaches quit a big - they run in my family, so I try to drink water to fight them.  this last one I was well hydrated.  I'm trying to keep track of them to see if there is a trigger.  I was on a website for ocular migraines and they suggested that.  So far I see nothing that is common before hand.

    I'm worried that no one will take this seriously enough to help me figure out what to do.  And I'm really not relishing the more medical stuff.   Oh I only call them flashers because when I called them floaters no on got that that they weren't just some blob floating around in my eye.  I might print out a pic (like the one in this thread) to show my drs what I mean.  that might help.

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  • Erica3681
    Erica3681 Member Posts: 1,916
    edited July 2008

    I get this type of migraine occasionally. They're also known as pseudo-migraines because you get the visual aura that precedes a classic migraine but (thankfully) not the massive headache. When I get them (with exactly the kind of jagged light pattern shown above), as the aura passes I usually wind up with a mild headache. If I take an Advil as soon as I notice the aura, I can avoid even that small headache.

    I normally get these very rarely, say once in five years, but a few years ago I decided to start jogging instead of my usual walking and I had four of them in a month, mostly during or just after jogging. At that point, a family friend, a neurologist, said I should be worked up. Apparently, I was slightly hyperventilating while jogging without realizing it and this was probably bringing on the pseudo-migraines. So, I'm just wondering if you've taken up any new activity since your surgery. Although, even without that, I can imagine that, as Ann suggested, something about the heart surgery itself may have triggered them. If that's the case, hopefully as you get further away from the surgery, the "migraines" will disappear.

    Barbara

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  • abbadoodles
    abbadoodles Member Posts: 2,618
    edited July 2008

    Well, isn't this fascinating!  I have had these eye incidents over the years but never thought much about them.  Maybe a total of four or five times within the past 10 years.  Ocular migraines?  I've never heard of them.  I almost never get a headache and have never had a bad one or a migraine.

    You learn something new every day.

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