My First Aura Experience

I have had pounding headaches when I wanted to rip out my eyeballs. I always thought those were migraines. Maybe those weren’t migraines and were terrible headaches. As you know, I am not a doctor and cannot give medical advice. I did not sleep at a Holiday Inn last night, nor have I played a doctor on TV. However, according to Dr. Google, I experienced a migraine with aura for the first time on Sunday. I share my experience with those unfamiliar with this phenomenon. I had heard of the term aura but did not know what it meant.

All of a sudden, during dinner preparation, although I hadn’t, it felt like I stared at a bright light like someone had taken a flash photo of me. I saw it in both eyes. Soon after that, parts of my vision field started to get blurry. I still had the bright spot, too. It wasn't enjoyable, but I kept pushing forward, preparing dinner. A little zig-zag pattern was floating across my field of vision. I decided to take out my contact lens. Immediately, I felt like I had tunnel vision; three minutes later, I was back to normal. I wear toric contact lenses and thought my contact rotated in my eye and was throwing off my vision. At the time, I did not know I just experienced a migraine aura.

During dinner, a headache started. By this time, I had taken a glance at the internet and self-diagnosed myself with a migraine with aura. I hurriedly finished dinner, took some Excedrin, showered quickly, hopped into bed, and braced for the worst. With prior knowledge of those who have had migraines, I was prepared for nausea, vomiting, headache, and sensitivity to light. Fortunately, I only had a headache, and it wasn’t the pounding, rip-out-your-eyeballs version.

On Monday, when looking at a bright screen did not hurt, I learned more about migraines. I had a textbook case. My aura phase was about 30 minutes, followed by a headache 30 minutes later. The headache phase lasted about 4 hours.

Again, this is not medical advice, but I share it with those of you who have never experienced a migraine aura. Have you had an experience with a migraine aura? Please let me know in the comments below.

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