So, this is pretty confusing for most to understand so I will try my best to explain this strange phenomenon to you all. I have migraines. When I get migraines, I lose a large portion of my vision almost every time. Yup, vision…gone. It’s really annoying and hard to explain to people.
Have you ever gotten “floaters” or “seen stars?” If you have, multiply that experience by 25,000 and that’s my vision during my migraine. It’s like a giant burst of colorful squiggly moving worms crowding my visual space and impeding my vision. Sounds fun, right?
So what are these amazingly wonderful migraines called? They are called ocular migraines. These cause vision loss or blindness lasting less than an hour, along with or following a migraine headache according to WebMD. Generally, these happen with only one eye being affected. For me, I am lucky enough to have it affect both of my eyes (sometimes simultaneously).
Ocular migraines are rare. They actually only occur in one out of every 200 people diagnosed with migraines. Many doctors suggest these ocular migraines are caused by other conditions. My doctors and I have not confirmed any other possible reason for my migraines besides my syringomyelia and/or my Chiari type 0.
Here are some of the symptoms of the ocular migraines:
· flashing lights
· blind spots in your field of vision
· blindness in the eye
· vision loss
· headache (lasting from four to 72 hours)
o affects one side of your head
o feels moderately or very painful
o feels worse when you are physically active
· nausea
· vomiting
· unusual sensitivity to light or sound
As with any migraines, mine has a tell-tell aura. So what’s an aura? These early symptoms, also called a prodrome, are early indicators that a migraine will be visiting you shortly. Many people have auras with their migraines.
Here are some of the symptoms of an aura:
· blind spots or scotomas
· blindness in half of your visual field in one or both eyes (hemianopsia)
· seeing zigzag patterns (fortification)
· seeing flashing lights (scintilla)
· feeling prickling skin (paresthesia)
· weakness
· seeing things that aren't really there (hallucinations)
My aura? Well, it’s not one of those listed above. My aura is when I look at my hand and discover it feels foreign to me. It appears I lose a little bit of my proprioception. Proprioception is the unconscious perception of movement and spatial orientation arising from stimuli within the body itself.
I can’t explain this feeling very well. All I can say is that I just don’t feel like my hand is mine. I feel it, I can touch it and my senses are there, but my mind does not register it as being mine. This is something my doctor first informed me I would lose if I were to have a shunt placed to drain my syrinx (cyst in my spinal cord – syringomyelia).
The shunt would not remedy the symptoms I have already developed from the spinal cord damage associated with the syringomyelia, but rather would HOPEFULLY prevent further symptoms from developing. So…not really a guarantee things would be better. I guess that’s why I opted to forgo the surgery to place the shunt. If I were to have the shunt placed, I would completely lose my proprioception. So what does that mean for me?
Some symptoms of Proprioceptive processing deficits include:
· Clumsiness
· A tendency to fall
· Minimal crawling when young or difficulty crawling
· Difficulty manipulating small objects (buttons, snaps),
· Eating in a sloppy manner
· Resistance to new motor movement activities
· Constantly jumping, crashing, and stomping
· Loves to be squished and get “bear hugs”
· Prefers tight clothing, loves rough-housing, may be aggressive with other children
· Bumps into things often
· Moves in a stiff and/or uncoordinated way
· Doesn’t know how hard to push on an object
· Misjudges the weight of an object
· Breaks objects often
· Rips paper when erasing pencil marks
· May tire easily
Obviously, these are not things a 31 year old mother of (soon to be) 5 children would want to lose. I want to be able to dress my babies and I have enough trouble with onesie snaps without a proprioceptive processing deficit!
For me, I’ve learned to live with my migraines and, although they are NOT fun, I know they are just part of life for me. This is just something I have lived with since I was in seventh grade. Thirteen years old with vision loss…that was scary! Luckily, my mother got me into the doctor and they let me know it was ocular migraines. Now I can even work through them for the most part.
If you, or a loved one, have been diagnosed with migraines, please feel free to leave me a comment. Although this blog is dedicated to my life with Syringomyelia, I realize I am not defined by that disorder. I have other issues, sometimes linked to syringomyelia, I hope to share with you all, as well.
Thanks for reading. Go forth and be well.
Sources for blog entry:
http://www.webmd.com/migraines-headaches/guide/ocular-migraine-basics
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/proprioception
http://sensoryprocessingmadesimple.com/the-proprioceptive-system-and-sensory-processing-disorder/
