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Please Help. Strange Medical Condition.

muffinman

muffinman

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 1, 2005
394
0
San Diego, California
Okay. 2 days ago, in my left eye, i saw this flashing/blinking little thing. It was dot shaped, and very small. Whenever I looked at something, it followed. It BLINKED AND FLASHED! I have no idea what it was. I freaked out and then took a walk to cool things off. When I check again, it was A LOT bigger. The left side of my left side of vision was blurry/fuzzy/blinking/flashing/blackish. It was really scary. I went to a next door neighbor, who is a doctor, and she checked my eyes. She said there was no broken blood vessels or anything. After that check up, where she used a thing that looks in your eyes with a light on it, it disappeared.

Right after that, I started to have a mild migraine, which progressevily got worse. I had a hard time sleeping. The next day, the migraine was faint, and yet it was still there. I started to develop a cough. Then today morning, I was sitting on the loo, and I coughed. When I coughed, it felt like my lower mouth got flung up and it felt like my glands were pushing into my upper mouth. This cough was not a normal cough. It was one of those burning coughs that hurt when you cough.

Now whenever I swallow my saliva or food, it feels wierd when the substance goes down my food tube. (BTW, i still have a minor head ache)

I has a couple of questions about anybody knowledgeable on this.

1. What happened to me with the blinking thing? I wear glasses, and I have pretty bad vision. Some suggested that it was a warning sign for diabetes. (i sorta have had a large sugar intake for the past week or so). what is this condition called?
2. Will this happen again?
3. Is it possible, like after i coughed, the same uncomfortable feeling when food or substance goes down my food tube will stay? Will this cough cause me to be short of breath? Will it divert food to the lungs or something?? Will this "change" be permanent?

Please help! Thank you
 
Sounds like you were experiencing an Aura


An aura is the perceptual disturbance experienced by some migraine sufferers before a migraine headache, and the telltale sensation experienced by some epileptics before a seizure. It often manifests as a strange light or an unpleasant smell.
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Do a search on Migraines and you should find many similar stories about this. See a doctor. You shouldn't have to suffer as badly if you get the right meds. Good Luck.
 
njmac said:
Sounds like you were experiencing an Aura




Do a search on Migraines and you should find many similar stories about this. See a doctor. You shouldn't have to suffer as badly if you get the right meds. Good Luck.
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Thank you. I just need information about this cough thing. Also, I am going to a doctor this Friday... Hope all is well.
 
It's also possible that what you saw was a floater - a small detached bit of your retina floating around inside your eye. If so, sometimes it's a bad thing, but almost always it's just a minor annoyance that comes and goes as it drifts into your visual pathway. The flashing/blinking thing could have been light reflecting off of it.

Probably not what you saw, but a possibility. They're fairly common.
 
The cough I have no idea about... but you should see a doctor. As for the aura, I get something similar when I am about to get a migraine. When I feel this I know I need to get to my migraine medication immediately. If I don't get to it soon enough, I know in several hours I will be vomitting. Sucks. :mad:
 
jsw said:
It's also possible that what you saw was a floater - a small detached bit of your retina floating around inside your eye. If so, sometimes it's a bad thing, but almost always it's just a minor annoyance that comes and goes as it drifts into your visual pathway. The flashing/blinking thing could have been light reflecting off of it.

Probably not what you saw, but a possibility. They're fairly common.
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nope not a floater. i already have thoese.

http://www.clevelandclinic.org/health/health-info/docs/3200/3266.asp?index=11253 said:
The aura of migraines
The two main types of migraines are those that occur without aura or those that occur with aura. Aura refers to an array of psychologic or neurologic disturbances that occur shortly before migraine onset. Compared to migraine without aura, migraine with aura is the less common type, but it is perhaps more medically intriguing, and for patients who get them, more unsettling. (Aura also can occur without a subsequent migraine, a factor that can result in mischaracterization of the migraine type. More on this below.)

Auras typically last 5 to 20 minutes and involve symptoms such as vertigo (motion sickness or dizziness), imbalance, confusion or numbness; but most auras consist of visual disturbances such as partial vision loss, the appearance of "special effects" and distortion of objects. Sometimes the visual effects can be dramatic, says Dr. Mays—flashing lights, complex color patterns and shapes (e.g., triangles and dots), and floaters (the perception that some tiny foreign object is floating across the eye). An individual might also see shimmering or zig zag lines in the peripheral vision and blurriness in central vision.

"Children who develop auras prior to migraines may experience visual distortions," says Dr. Mays. "Certain objects may appear larger or smaller than they really are."
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that perfectly sorta fits it. it seems like i have this

http://www.clevelandclinic.org/health/health-info/docs/3200/3266.asp?index=11253 said:
The "one-eye" migraine
In a related condition called ocular migraine, which is even less common than migraine with aura, individuals experience the same visual disturbances that occur during an aura, but the symptoms only occur in one eye. The aura that occurs before an ocular migraine is commonly followed by a migraine headache. And the same triggers that can bring on migraine with or without aura also can cause ocular migraine.

Ocular migraine can produce various degrees of vision loss or obstruction. Some patients, says Dr. Mays, report blind spots or "holes," referring to missing sections in the normal visual field, or they may experience a shade of black or gray over the visual field. Some people compare the visual phenomena of ocular migraine to the patterns produced by an old television with faulty reception, says Dr. Mays. "Others say it’s like looking through watery glass."

Ocular migraine symptoms are temporary and do not harm the eye; but they can interfere with daily activities, such as reading and driving and can interrupt the work day.

Fear about vision loss caused by ocular migraine often leads an individual to seek medical care, says Dr. Mays. In some cases, the first stop is the ophthalmologist’s office. That’s fine, says Dr. Mays, but people diagnosed with ocular migraine should also see a neurologist so that conditions such as stroke, which can cause similar visual symptoms, can be ruled out and so that the migraine itself can be effectively managed. Other conditions that produce ocular-migraine like symptoms include retinal artery thrombosis (blood clot in a vein inside the eye) and, as noted, migraine with aura.
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more specifically, it seems like i had had an ocular migraine.

Does anyone know about this coughing thing?
 
muffinman said:
Does anyone know about this coughing thing?
Click to expand...
Well, I might be batting 0 for 2 here, esp. because I don't know about the whole "glands into your upper mouth" deal, but is it possible the cough occurred as you were having a bit of acid reflux, and the weird sensation is due to the affect of the acid on your upper throat? It's happened to me, it's not even remotely comfortable, and it's a bit scary.

Of course, given my complete inability to diagnose the eye issue, you should probably just ignore anything I write here....
 
Even though I am one of these people that like to do the self-diagnosis thing, I agree with most everyone in the thread---your condition sounds really weird and you need to consult an excellent doctor! :confused:

Now if it was just some twitching of the eye -- well I get that all the time when I am stressed -- which is quite often. :)

Hope you start feeling better soon and get to the bottom of what is causing the symptoms! :)
 
Migraines.

God I hate them. Had one yesterday, the effects of them can last on me for days - I've had a full blown migraine last three days in the past. Go to the doctor, get him/her to check it out, tell him/her everything you've experienced and see what they have to say.

I suffer the occasional aura, often a band of coloured light crossing my vision from upper right to lower left. It's good and it's bad, seeing one means I can take my Imigran tablet and go to bed, problem is it also means I'm about to get a migraine.

Mine manifest themselves differently to yours, my speech slurs, I see light as though it were coming through the windows of an old building or cathedral (you know what I mean, like beams) and I get very disoriented. The worst ones affect my personality. They are a horrible, horrible thing to have to deal with and I hope you can get it figured out.
 
muffinman said:
more specifically, it seems like i had had an ocular migraine.

Does anyone know about this coughing thing?
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that was going to be my answer. i've had them myself... it sucks. no wait, in fact, it would have to get a lot better just to SUCK. :p

the coughing thing i will blame on the most likely culprit, your throat being raw, irritated and over-worked from vomiting. (i know i always puke with a migraine) it could also be unrelated, acid-reflux perhaps. take some antacid and see if it helps a bit.

just my $.02

disclaimer: always consult your doctor
 
I hate migraines but i am a migrain sponge...i get them ALL the time....when the sun is too hot, tv/computer too bright, too much cheese ANYthing give me migraines and pills dont even work anymore. What i do to relax my pain is to turn off all the lights and put a pillow on my head and think about nothing...that is the only thing that works for me.


Bless
 
Dude-- Emergency room.

I have a very small cyst on my retina that I've had since childhood. I've been lucky, and nothing has happened, but they tell me over and over: if you EVER see ANYTHING that isn't there, flashes of light, strange color, blackness, tunnel vision, etc, you need to see a specialist immediately. If you get a tear in your retina, emergency surgery can repair it. If you ignore it, you go blind.

Don't wait until Friday.

I'm not trying to scare you, I just hope you'll be ok.
 
gammamonk said:
I have a very small cyst on my retina that I've had since childhood. I've been lucky, and nothing has happened, but they tell me over and over: if you EVER see ANYTHING that isn't there, flashes of light, strange color, blackness, tunnel vision, etc, you need to see a specialist immediately. If you get a tear in your retina, emergency surgery can repair it. If you ignore it, you go blind.

Don't wait until Friday.

I'm not trying to scare you, I just hope you'll be ok.
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symptoms don't fit. plus a doctor looked at his eyes, surely they'd have seen that.

just don't want to totally freak someone out and wind them a hefty ER bill if not necessary.

again, just my $.02 - that's $.04 now i guess :p
 
Add me to the list of I get exactly the same symptoms. The visions are usually worse than the headache though - the headache is unpleasant but not as bad as I know some people suffer when they get a migraine.

I don't think the two are directly related though - as you say you'd been eating a lot of sugar it's possibly that your body didn't like that very much giving you a) a headache and b) some sort of acidy thing.

If it doesn't get better, definitely see a doctor. And eat an apple or something. ;)
 
muffinman said:
Okay. 2 days ago, in my left eye, i saw this flashing/blinking little thing. It was dot shaped, and very small. Whenever I looked at something, it followed. It BLINKED AND FLASHED! I have no idea what it was. I freaked out and then took a walk to cool things off. When I check again, it was A LOT bigger. The left side of my left side of vision was blurry/fuzzy/blinking/flashing/blackish. It was really scary.
Click to expand...

Classic aura. I used to get them frequently when I was young. I just had one the other day at work. They're an annoyance and since I thankfully don't ever get the migraine afterwards, it stops at annoying.
 
njmac said:
Sounds like you were experiencing an Aura
Do a search on Migraines and you should find many similar stories about this. See a doctor. You shouldn't have to suffer as badly if you get the right meds. Good Luck.
Click to expand...

jsw said:
It's also possible that what you saw was a floater - a small detached bit of your retina floating around inside your eye. If so, sometimes it's a bad thing, but almost always it's just a minor annoyance that comes and goes as it drifts into your visual pathway. The flashing/blinking thing could have been light reflecting off of it.
Probably not what you saw, but a possibility. They're fairly common.
Click to expand...

Both of these are possible. I am a migraine sufferer so I know....unfortunately. I would say it was most likely an aura. Especially if your eye doctor didn't notice the floater. For me, auras tend to be followed by a migraine (usually within the hour). More often I'll get a blind sport in my right eye followed by a migraine on the right side of my head. But after seeing floaters it could be a week before I get a migraine....and then the floater will stay there for a long time (have had one for a year now).
I would suggest going to a doctor and finding out what they have to say. Though be cautious about preventative migraine medications. I was put on some (which lowered my blood pressure) and did not work. After visiting a neurologist they were shocked that I was put on this med by my primary care physician. I now take Midrin whenever I start getting a migraine (to combat it) and it works wonders. But usually after getting a full-blown migraine I would fill sick in other areas (sore throat, upset stomach, weakness, etc.). Keep track of your diet as certain foods can be triggers for migraines in people. Pasta is for me.
Good luck!
 
A betting man would say this is a classic migraine aura. Those who've had one before would tell you this sounds very familiar. You can actually have stroke-like symptoms (one-sided weakness, slurred speech, etc) with a migraine aura - very scary when it happens. That said, it's always good to see your doctor about this, as he or she will have your whole health history and be able to examine you.

Good luck.
 
mpw said:
My friend had those exact syptoms, he was dead in a week!:eek:
THAT’S A JOKE™
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well that is comforting. :(

well, i somehow caught the flu or the cold or something. My legs feel all cold. Going to the doctor this Friday.

Does anyone know if this whole migraine/aura thing is progressive? Restated, will the migraine/aura keep on coming back to me regardless of what I do to prevent it?

Thanks for all the feedback. Thank you all so much in helping me through this whole thing.
 
muffinman said:
Does anyone know if this whole migraine/aura thing is progressive? Restated, will the migraine/aura keep on coming back to me regardless of what I do to prevent it?
Click to expand...

Since I got the first one I have them maybe twice a year. I think they might be coming slightly more often these days, but nothing noticeable. So you may well find you never have another one, or that they're very infrequent.
 
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