thank you for your posting, Phil-I drew comfort from it!
If you suffer from aura without headache, persistent aura, visual snow, sparklies, purple spinners, or other visual symptoms, then you don't need to worry. Relax, lay in bed a night, and fall asleep while examining the strange patterns as they morph into new patterns and objects.
The point is this: if you have these symptoms, you are not alone, and these things are not going to kill you, or harm you physically.
Also, I have noticed that if you don't pay attention to them, and focus your mind on something else, then soon you will be ignoring the visuals (except for typical migraine aura, the standard 'fortress aura' can't be ignored).
Here is a trick I discovered that helps me when the typical migraine aura is starting up (that is, when you notice you can't read because the aura is blocking your central vision). So, as soon as you notice this problem, close your eyes and start doing some mental math. This technique forces your brain to shift activity to another region, and many times, will stop the migraine immediately by lowering activity in the migraine specific region (usually the visual center in the rear of the brain). Exerting effort in another region of the brain is known, and proven, to reduce activity in areas not being utilized. Therefore, this technique functions quite well by focusing activity in a completely different region, and thereby reducing activity in other areas, such as the visual center. That's why it's important to also close your eyes, and eliminate visual inputs to the area being affected by the migraine. Try this technique the next time you experience the beginning of a typical migraine aura.
Note: This technique does not seem to work for persistent auras, sparklies, spinners, flashers, or visual snow. . But these usually don't include a bad headache, either. so it's ok.
Being fired for that cause should not be "accepted" and should be fought. It is 100% illegal if you can prove and document that it really is the reason. The Americans with Disabilities Act is on your side. Threaten to call in the federal Equal Opportunity Employment Commission and just see how fast your employer changes their tune. I've recently been an employment specialist for people with disabilities, and I know. Don't let them get away with that!!
Anyway. I've had a persistent migraine aura for almost a solid month now, and I've had every imaginable retinal test (including the one where they do a yellow dye angiogram in yoru arm) at the Casey Eye Institute, so I KNOW the symptoms aren't optical. I'm off to the migraine clinic next-- everything is 100% consistent with that-- but I had the same thing happen about 2 years ago, and it also lasted over a month and then went away. I have got to say that for me-- and I'm only speaking for myself-- I really think there's an excellent chance that this is actually a conversion disorder. That's almost certainly what the last one was.
But I'm almost afraid to even say anything about conversion disorders, because I think they're so misunderstood... I so wish that there was a better understanding of what these disorders really are. If you have a CD, it does not mean that you're nuts, making it all up, or could just "snap out of it any minute if you really tried." Nor is it "psychosomatic." A conversion disorder is a verifiable neurological disorder that has been proven over and over and over again in multiple studies, and researched extensively for over 100 years.These are in both the DSM-IV and the ICD-10. But if this is really what I have, I don't see how I can tell anyone, because they either won't have the slightest idea what it is, or if they do, they'll think it means I'm nuts.
I have also been struggling with this. I just lost my job last week because of absenteeism and poor concentration at work due to my persistent aura. First time being fired, it was tough to accept. This attack has lasted almost 3 months straight, longer than ever so far of having migraine with aura for 15 yrs now. So far from the research i have done on the subject, it seems like Dr Santos stated, there is not much known yet. You are not alone. I am sorry that you have to suffer this. hopefully the medical community will find something soon. The only advice i can give is to tell you to not give up on the search, keep getting tested. Talk to your doctor regularly, even when you feel you are bothering them. It is important to believe that there will be peace soon. You know. Good luck :-)
Hi,
How are you? Persistent migraine aura without infarction is a rare complication of migraine. It is defined by the persistence of a migraine aura for more than one week without radiographic evidence of infarction by the International Headache Society. The cause is unknown and may present with neurological symptoms such as those that you mentioned ( visual snow, tinnitus, etc). This article at Pub med and the links mentioned may be helpful: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2694469/
Take care and regards.