5 Signs You have Retinal Migraine

A diagnosis of retinal migraine may be more and more common, but there’s still confusion over what exactly it is. There are five signs that you can use to tell if you have retinal migraine, but don’t miss the important warning at the end…

One eye: First, the eye symptoms tend to be monocular, meaning they’re only in one eye.

Visual disturbances: So what’s going on in this one eye? There are a variety of disturbances which other migraine sufferers may be familiar with. This might include flashing lights, or patterns in your visual field. There may be an area where your vision is impaired (ie dark spots), or even loss. Even blindness in one eye is possible with retinal migraine.

Temporary: Permanent vision loss is another matter. With retinal migraine the symptoms are reversible.

Headache: A headache typically starts during the visual disturbances, or within an hour after they stop. The headache typically lasts between 4 hours and 3 days, is often one-sided and pulsating, and usually either includes sensitivity to light and/or sound, nausea, or both. There is an increasing body of evidence showing cases of retinal migraine withoutheadache as well. There is an argument that the "headache" not be necessary for a diagnosis of retinal migraine, but usually it’s still included.

Repeated: In order to actually be diagnosed with retinal migraine, you need to have had at least 2 attacks.

Now that you’ve got the 5 signs, it’s time for the warning. It’s very important that other causes have been ruled out. It’s easy to get a misdiagnoses here, so some things are very important:

It’s helpful to see your doctor duringan attack, so she can ask the appropriate questions to diagnose you.

You need to have a normal eye exam in between attacks. Remember, this is temporary. There are a number of things that can cause similar visual disturbances, such as brain damage, tumours, ischemic optic neuropathy (damage to the optic nerve) and other optic disorders. Even if the symptoms are coming and going, it’s very important to rule out other causes.

Make sure your doctor has your medical history, and family medical history as much as possible. This will help her narrow down the possibilities to the most likely.

If your symptoms don’t quite fit the above criteria, you may have another type of migraine. Migraine aura without headache is a typical suspect if you have no headache, especially if you’re having symptoms in both eyes. Migraine with aura is another possibility if you have the headache but your visual symptoms are more varied. If you’re not sure about what your doctor is telling you, get a second opinion.

Researchers suspect decreased blood flow to the eye or optic nerve may be to blame for the unique symptoms of retinal migraine. However, like other types of migraine, the overall cause is still a mystery.

The good news is that retinal migraine often decreases or disappears with typical migraine treatment. Be sure to see a specialist and discuss your options.

Ocular Migraine Causes, Diagnosing and Treatment

Ocular Migraine Causes

Experts aren't sure what causes ocular migraines. Some feel that the problem is related to:
Spasms in blood vessels in the retina. That's the delicate lining in the back of the eye.
Changes that spread across the nerve cells in the retina.

People who have these migraines may have a higher risk of developing permanent vision loss in one eye. Experts don't know if preventive treatments for migraines -- such as tricyclic antidepressants or anti-seizure medications -- can help prevent permanent vision loss. However, it's wise to talk to your doctor about your symptoms.

Diagnosing Ocular Migraine

To diagnose ocular migraine, your doctor will ask you about your symptoms and examine your eyes. The doctor will try to rule out other problems that could be causing similar effects. These include:

- Amaurosis fugax. This is temporary blindness due to lack of blood flow to the eye. The symptoms can be due to a blockage in an artery leading to the eye.

- Spasms in the artery that supplies the retina with blood.

- Giant cell arteritis. This causes inflammation in blood vessels. It can lead to vision problems and blindness.
- Other blood vessel problems related to autoimmune diseases.

- Drug abuse.

- Conditions that encourage abnormal blood clotting. These include sickle celldisease and polycythemia.

Ocular Migraine Treatment

There's been little research to determine the best course of medications to treat or prevent ocular migraines. However, your doctor may recommend one or more of the following drugs:

- Aspirin

- Drugs used to treat epilepsy, such as Depakote (divalproex sodium) or Topamax(topiramate).

- Tricyclic antidepressants, such as Elavil (amitriptyline) or Pamelor (nortriptyline).

- Beta-blockers

Ocular Migraine Symptoms

According to the International Headache Society's definition of this condition -- which it calls retinal migraine -- symptoms include:

Vision problems that affect one eye. These problems include:

flashing lights
blind spots in your field of vision
blindness in the eye

Vision loss can be a complication seen with retinal migraines.

Headache that lasts from four to 72 hours. The headache tends to:
affect one side of your head
feel moderately or very painful
pulsate in intensity
feel worse when you're physically active

Other symptoms include:
nausea
vomiting
unusual sensitivity to light or sound

An important symptom is that the vision loss only affects one eye. Many people have trouble identifying the difference between flashing lights or blindness in oneside of their vision -- but involving both eyes -- and these symptoms in only one eye.

A regular migraine with an aura, which can involve flashing lights and blind spots in the vision, is a more common problem. This type affects about 20% of people who have migraines. But in these cases, these symptoms usually appear in one side of your field of vision and in both eyes.

Covering one eye and then the other can help you tell if your problem is affecting one eye or both.

About Ocular Migraine ?

Ocular migraines cause vision loss or blindness lasting less than an hour, along with or following a migraine headache. Experts sometimes call these episodes "retinal," "ophthalmic," or "monocular" (one eye) migraines.

This problem is rare. It affects about one out of every 200 people who have migraines. Some research suggests that in many cases, symptoms of ocular migraine are actually due to other problems.

Diagnosing ocular migraine requires a health care professional to rule out other conditions that can cause similar symptoms. Being able to describe the symptoms properly is important for helping your doctor determine whether you actually have an ocular migraine.