Migraine - part 1

Anyone who has ever suffered from migraine episodes will be fully aware of the effects this condition has on daily life. In my case an entire migraine incident, from start to finish, takes about two days, including recovery time. Luckily I only experience migraines about once a year or so, annoyingly though, in my case, is that they usually come in clusters.

During this past week I had an all time low of two in a row, on succeeding days. This translates to four days of pain, bewilderment and anger.

During one of these events the anger I feel comes from the sense that time has been arbitrarily stolen from my life since I cannot function in any useful way. The bewilderment comes from the attack itself which robs me of clarity of thought. The anger also comes from a lack of knowledge as to why it occurred, and what triggered a particular incident of migraine.

There are many slightly differing definitions of migraine, but the most concise I’ve found is:

“Migraine is a type of recurring headache that involves blood vessels, nerves, and brain chemicals. Sensations such as visual changes, called auras, may precede a migraine. A migraine occurring with an aura is called classic and without aura is called common. Patients may experience a migraine several times a week or once every couple of years. Migraines may be so severe that they interfere with a patient's ability to work and carry on normal activities. “

In my case I have a cruel forewarning that a migraine is on the way by means of distorted vision or as mentioned in the preceding paragraph, an aura. The reason I use the words “cruel forewarning ” is because included with the highly recognizable growing symptoms that foretell an oncoming migraine is the knowledge that I will soon experience significant pain.

This is how a migraine works in my world: It begins with a slight greyish speckling in my field of vision. Normally its located slightly down and to the left but grows toward the centre and causes a nearly uncontrollable blinking response. This speckling effect gradually becomes intense enough to create a sense of double vision.

Its much harder to decide on the location of this doubled vision than the speckling effect though and seems, after a few more minutes have passed, to cover my entire range of vision. The true “aura” then starts its slow growth across my eyes.

It begins as a slight flashing of colour far down and to the left in the peripheral field of vision, which is a quite typical location for most who suffer migraines. The aura takes on the shape of a pulsating wriggling snake which flickers and sparkles with colours similar to a churning kaleidoscope.

It moves as sidewinder snake would move up and to the right, toward the centre of the field of vision. This colourful flashing snake does not so much repeat itself in simple succession, as if it had a beginning and an end. It is simply there and actively moving about.

The snake gradually grows in width and frequency after a few minutes have past until my vision is so distorted that recognizing distinct shapes becomes nearly impossible. At its worst the distortion alters my entire range of vision. My full scale of colour perception changes into colours previously and normally unseen. In some cases most common colours are replaced with lighter or darker shades of their true selves, as is the contrast between them. During severe attacks, colours seem to shift toward the negative as seen in photographic film.

This is also about the time that my mind begins an inevitable shift into an altered sense of perception. Sounds, tastes, and smells become different. Simple analysis of common events and sights become alien and harder to grasp. Some people experience speech difficulties and other unsettling physical discomforts.