visual migraines

I have had migraines for most of my life; the first attack I remember occurred when I was 3 or 4 years old. I was playing in the garden when a brilliant, shimmering light appeared to my left — dazzlingly bright, almost as bright as the sun. It expanded, becoming an enormous shimmering semicircle stretching from the ground to the sky, with sharp zigzagging borders and brilliant blue and orange colors. Then, behind the brightness, came a blindness, an emptiness in my field of vision, and soon I could see almost nothing on my left side. I was terrified — what was happening? My sight returned to normal in a few minutes, but these were the longest minutes I had ever experienced.

Oliver Sacks on visual migraines. Oh, I know these well….

(via designobserver)

5 Comments leave a comment below

  1. OMG! THAT’S AMAZING! THAT EXACTLY DESCRIBES WHAT HAPPENS TO ME!

    the 1st time, i thought maybe i had a brain tumor or someone slipped acid in my drink.

    it happens when there is extremely bright light + usually something moving like a ceiling fan, or if i’m in a moving vehicle, or i’m in a darker room than the bright light coming through a window.

    it lasts about 20 minutes + then it’s gone

  2. I get thalmic migraines in which I slowly can’t see in my right eye and after that goes away I get the headache. :( My uncle gets them too and it kept him out of Vietnam. How nice…

  3. I was used to have the exact same thing, until I beginn to take magnesium tablet to prevent it. Since then it’s all ok.