Aura

By funkychicken

1 min read

My doctor diagnosed me with migraines, although frankly I'm still unsure about the diagnosis because headaches are the last of my problems.

My "migraines" always start with a feeling that feels like it is washing over me where I feel like I'm in a dream-like state. I always get a sense of "deja vu", and could swear I have been in the exact same place when this feeling happened before (even though I haven't).

See AlsoMigraine Aura Overview Migraine types Migraine Phases Migraine Symptoms

While it happens, I can respond to people, but I can't really think straight. When I've written down things while it was happening and then look back afterward, my grammar is all messed up. It usually lasts about 20-30 seconds.

Afterward I get a headache about 50% of the time and just feel drained. It usually takes me about five minutes or so to fully recover such that I can really think clearly again. Appreciate hearing if anyone has similar symptoms or if maybe it might not be a migraine. Doctor has run some tests and thinks he has ruled out other possibilities.

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triciabond Member
Hi. My name is Tricia. I also have these symptoms. Although I was diagnosed with Hemiplegic Migraines. I have the symptoms you are describing to a "T", but I also have stroke like symptoms as well. Migraine's are a strange anomaly that has no real rime or reason for the strange aura's and symptoms. I hope you find the answers you are looking for.
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I have also experienced these weird outs as I call them and always afterwards get a really bad headache. But the more I started having the episodes I actually started having seizure like symptoms and would not remember anything, so I was diagnosed with Migraines with seizure disorder. Keppra helped with the seizures but They have tried everything to stop the auras and migraines but with no luck....I'm not even sure it's actually migraines and I'm ready to give up!
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What are the actual headaches like? Are they on one side of the head (usually behind the eye)? It sounds like it could be migraine...but also some sort of seizure. Is this your general Dr or a neurologist? I have had the "loss of speech" symptom before a migraine a few times and it is scary. This could be related to that type of symptom. I've also noticed that the night before a migraine I always have strange & vivid dreams! There is just so much they don't know about the brain!
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I had the same thing, but strange as it may seem since taking apple cider vinegar and honey morning and evening. They stopped from that moment on.Check it out its cheap and gives you a great complexion.They might be pressure on the optic nerve caused by a sinus infection..either way it works well.
1. not found
 Apple cider vinigar and honey have been a staple since i was a kid. Dad read a book by a Vermont doctor nd its a cure for loads of stuff. I take regular now.
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This sounds like me...I was diagnosed with temporal lobe epilepsy and surgery three years ago. The seizures..( feeling of deja vu and the aura) have gotten sooo much better..only 2 in three years - I have partials every now and then but not like they used to be. I still have the migraines however!
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I get the same thing but like some of the other commenters I have seizure issues that started as well. Mine are full blown on the floor twitching type seizures. I am on Keppra for now but found Topamax works better. However it is linked to birth defects & I am at the mid-point in an unexpected pregnancy. The Topamax helps with the headaches as well. I have only had the speech issue one time & that one was weird. I have a few min of lost time where I was just babbling then when I was back to being aware I was still having trouble forming certain words. My issues are blamed on multiple concussions starting at a fairly young age. With a more recent one that was caused by a seizure. I call that one lucky though. It alerted us to the pregnancy at an early point in time for a med change.
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My sister-in-law's mother wrote this book in dealing with the auras that she has felt throughout her life. And it's an amazing read! <a href='https://www.amazon.com/Lightning-Within-Sharon-SanAngelo/dp/1434344967' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer ugc'>http://www.amazon.com/Lightning-Within-Sharon-SanAngelo/dp/1434344967</a>
changosetch Member
I have been having this migraine with aura for the last 4 -5 years. I get a sudden blurring, twitching above my left eye ball, then I feel dizzy. I live in Singapore where the weather is hot all year round. When I go out in the sun after being in an air-con office I suddenly experience floaters, blurred vision and a throbbing pain in the left temple. I have taken panadol, topiramate, synflex I see my Neuro regularly. The trigger points are aged cheese, hot weather, lack of sleep, some kinds of alcohol (Gin)
ostendorfj Member
funkychicken - your post is old, so you may not even see this. But I have the EXACT same thing. My doctor calls them "atypical migraines." I can't tell dreams from reality and I feel like I am dreaming while awake. Often this seems like deja vu because I could swear I had the actual dream the night before. I can drive, check out at the grocery store, etc.. with effort because I feel like I am dreaming the whole time and have to go on autopilot. But when I finally get home I collapse - get nauseated and feel like I've been run over by a truck. And CANNOT clear my head. Don't know what day it is, what time it is, or even if the phone call I think I had received while having an attack actually happened. I rely on my cell phone at those times to figure out where I am in time and space. These attacks put me in the ER twice. I have had a few concussions in the past and thought maybe these episodes were damage from that. No one in the ER considered atypical migraines but a doctor who suffers from them herself, did. So now I take Imtrex when this occurs. It seems to take care of it in about an hour. I have no idea what the trigger is - I have no headache after. Just that weird disassociation. I DO also suffer from weather-triggerd migraines - no aura or disassociation but a headache centered in my eyes and base of skull, that used to put me out for 3 days. Now I take Imtrex when my eyes and base of skull hurt - not even at full blown headache stage - and that takes care of it. I suffered for YEARS before I found this doctor. I am concerned that there now is a study relating migraines to dementia in old age. My doctor is concerned for herself, too - but is hoping that things like Imtrex, by nipping the attack in the bud, may limit the possible brain damage caused by migraines. Imtrex is not without its own side effects and I suppose could cause its own harm, long-term. But the migraines are debilitating.
jrab Member
i have this...ive been so confused bc Ive found nobody with auras like these..Ive have gotten them to stop for 4 months now tho by drinking 4 leters of water a day...i know this is an old post but if you come back I am here..
Beaniecopter Member
I started having this exact symptom when I was 12, and I thought I was dying of a brain tumor, or losing my mind! I didn't know at the time that my severe headaches were migraines, and thought everyone's headaches were debilitatingly painful. When I got the courage to tell my mother about the "awake dreams" the disorietation that followed them, and how I thought something was very wrong with me, she dismissed it and said, you're fine! I had this symptom into my early 20s, when it virtually disappeared . At that time my migraines started to be accompanied by severe nausea and vomiting, and in my 40s I started to get visual auras. Now, I tend to get visual auras, but no headache, no nausea. I only found out what I had was migraine when my son was diagnosed in his early teens.
1. Holly Harding Moderator & Contributor
 <inline-mention username="Beaniecopter" user-id="8637133"/> what a long and winding journey you’ve had with migraine. Interesting you learned what you are living with through the diagnosis of your child. Migraine can be hereditary- I wonder if you have it higher up on your family tree? Regarding the experience of aura with no head pain, I wondered if you’ve heard of silent migraine: https://migraine.com/search?s=silent%20migraine. Perhaps it will resonate with you. We are so glad you’re with us. Please stay in touch. Warmly- Holly <a href='https://-migraine.com' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer ugc'>-migraine.com</a> team
CommunityMember524aa1 Member
Wow, it is just so good to hear all of these stories because I’ve always been scared to tell mine. When I first started having these, I was only 12 or 13. I would actually pass out and lose consciousness for a while. Everyone in my family thought I was having seizures because that’s what it looked like. My primary care physician saw me for this issue, he put together how my mom suffers from severe migraines, and believed that I was having the atypical migraines. He put me on amitriptyline at that age and I’ve been taking it ever since without any episodes. The only time I’ve had episodes since then, is when I’ve stopped, taking the medication when I became pregnant, thinking it would help, but guess what I passed out. I always have the aura before I pass out and even some days I’ll have an aura. . My primary care physician saw me for this issue, he put together how my mom suffers from severe migraines, and believed that I was having the atypical migraines. He put me on amitriptyline at that age and I’ve been taking it ever since without any episodes. The only time I’ve had episodes since then, is when I’ve stopped, taking the medication when I became pregnant, thinking it would help, but guess what I passed out. I always have the aura before I pass out and even some days I’ll have aura every now and again just randomly, but I don’t pass out. . I’m so glad to hear other stories, because I feel like sometimes I was misdiagnosed, and then I actually am having seizures. But the amitriptyline helps thank God.
1. Holly Harding Moderator & Contributor
 <inline-mention username="CommunityMember524aa1" user-id="8786924"/> Wow! That is a wild tale. I can only imagine how scary it was for you to experience this without knowing why it was happening. It's wonderful to hear how the Amitriptyline helped you so successfully avoid attacks on a regular basis. You are definitely not alone in experiencing aura- and no two people have the same exact experience with it. My aura looks like weird vapors (like you'd see coming up from while pumping gas. It's slight but when it happens it's my telltale that a major attack is coming. You are also not alone in experiencing migraine without severe head pain. This is something known as silent migraine: <a href='https://migraine.com/migraine-types/silent-migraine' target='_blank'>https://migraine.com/migraine-types/silent-migraine</a>. We are so glad you're with us and open to sharing some of your journey. Please stay in touch! Warmly - Holly - <a href='https://migraine.com' target='_blank'>migraine.com</a> team