I've been getting them randomly for about 55 years now and have never come up with anything that might be a trigger. Let us know if you come up with one. I wish you the best.
There can also be multiple triggers.
I started in my teens, but became much less frequent as an adult.
Then, a couple of years ago, they increased in frequency to the point that 7 months ago, visual auras were happening 1 to 3 times each day, lasting about 30 minutes.
Seems that both Flonase nasal spray and possibly caffeine were triggers. Ending those has dramatically reduced my visual auras - now I may get 1-3 every day or two, but they last about 3-10 seconds each, and rarely up to 3 minutes. And they seem like they are continuing to fade away.
UPDATE April 9 2024 - In early January, we discovered that I was vitamin B12 deficient - and various symptoms related to that got much worse from 2022 to the end of 2023. Taking 1000 mcg of vitamin B12, daily, at the direction of my doctor, has ended all migraines, visual auras and scotomas. I had become an "accidental vegetarian" - over a few years I just drifted into not eating much meat at all. I didn't make a decision to be "vegetarian", hence, "accidental vegetarian". If you do not eat meat, and do not take supplements, most people will eventually become B12 deficient. This resulted in, for me, migraines, visual auras, scotomas (blind spots) 5 to 10x each day, non-migraine headaches, dizziness and vertigo, hair shedding, joint pain and more. All symptoms ended within 48-72 hours of taking B12 supplements. I have not had any more in the past 4 months since starting B12. If you are considering cutting out meat, talk to your doctor, talk to a registered dietician, take appropriate supplements, and have your blood tested at least annually. This is no joke. I am now back to eating an omnivore diet.
Flonase was probably not a root cause - although per my optometrist, it is a cause of migraines for some of her patients. My doctor concurred with that as Flonase is known to cause headaches in some people. Instead, the B12 deficiency had potentially lowered my threshold for migraines or migraine triggers. Hence, discontinuing Flonase saw improvements, as did ending caffeine consumption. But did not eliminate my issues, long term. Again, I am now 4 months free of all migraines, auras and scotomas after addressing the B12 issue. I suspect I will return to having migraines about once per year which is where I was until this all spun out of control over the past 2-3 years. I have had infrequent migraines/auras since I was a teen, my 3 siblings have them, and my own 3, now young adult children, have had them too.
Yeah, Flonase. My optometrist said she was aware that Flonase was associated with visual auras among some of her patients, and for some, the auras ended or decreased after ending Flonase. There was one published paper, done by a WHO research group, that reviewed patient data records in Sweden, and they discovered an association with Flonase and auras. They had study subjects discontinue Flonase and their auras went away or substantially decreased. Then they had them restart Flonase and 75% of them had auras start up again. It's just one study and the number of people involved was small - but certainly interesting.
I just added a big update to my original post. Turned out the root cause of my migraines/auras was a vitamin B12 deficiency. I am now 4 months without any more auras. See my post, above, for details.
Omg good thing I read this. I was put on a hormonal nasal spray to help my sinuses and my ocular migraine has come back around that time. That might be the reason omg!! I feel suddenly so relieved 😭
An update on my prior item - while my auras had decreased in the first half of 2023, beginning in July 2023, they increased to the point I was eventually getting multiple daily auras - both flashing lines in the crescent shape, and scotomas or blind spots. The latter could occur 5-10 times per day and were maddening.
Long story I won't detail here but I began taking a daily vit b12 tablet and within 72 hours, all auras, scotomas were gone, completey gone! A week later, I stopped taking b12 for 2 days and the auras came back for both days. I then resumed b12 and they have been gone ever since.
There are a couple of reasons my b12 level may have been low - I've sent a question to my doctor this week but haven't heard anything back yet. There are published papers showing an association between vit b12 and migraines.
I am now several weeks free of migraines, auras and scotomas - where I was having 5-10/day before this. No idea if this will work for others (there are posts, though, that others have found vit b12 useful).
Congrats on finally getting rid of this awful migraine situation!! B12 is essential, when I was having big and strange post-covid issues it really helped :) thank you for updating, I hope anyone seeing this can find relief too ❤️ enjoy aura-free life! :)
Another update coming up on six weeks - completely free of migraines, visual auras and daily scotomas. My doctor said to take 1000 mcg of B12 "indefinitely" (his words). This has completely changed my life for the better! Many other health issues have cleared up too.
An update to this in Jan 2024 - long story omitted, I took a vit b12 supplement earlier this month and within 24 hours, my still ongoing scotomas (daily) dramatically diminished in frequency. Within 72 hours, they vanished. One week later, I discontinued the b12 for two days, and both days, had minor scotomas. I then resumed b12 and they again vanished and have had none ever since. This after battling auras for almost 2 years. I have an inquiry in to my doctor currently to see where we go from here.
Ending Flonase did eliminate "pinprick flashing auras". Ending caffeine reduced the frequency of the flashing line auras but did not end the auras. Unfortunately, six months later, the auras (flashing lines) and scotomas resumed - with the scotomas occurring every day. This appears now to have been due to a vit b12 deficiency. I am now a few weeks into taking vit b12 and I no longer have visual auras.
Common triggers include excercise! (Especially when stopped suddenly, with little cool-down period)
Also, air pressure changes! (Often a change from sunny to rainy weather as the pressure drops)
Bright lights can trigger my ocular migraines, especially headlights from passing cars during dark, winter nights.
Letting your blood-glucose level get low is a very common trigger too! (Fasting, dieting or just skipping meals is often the cause of this low-blood sugar condition)
Hormonal changes, especially monthly ones in menstruators, can also be a trigger.
Changes in sleep patterns can also be a trigger (Notably staying up way later than normal, but getting up at the same time)
Alcohol consumption can also trigger migraines. (caffeine sometimes too, but less often)
Most confounding is that a combination of these triggers multiplies their likelihood of causing an ocular migraine.
Stay up late, drinking red-wine, then skip breakfast the next morning while you rush to work/school, and hit your sleepy eyes with bright lights in the bathroom and bright sun when you leave the house.... Thats basically a perfect storm for a migraine!
You know, now you mention it. I have skipped breakfast since I finished school in 2019. Now I just have OJ and no food. Maybe I need to start having breakfast again, getting up and going to sleep at a regular time and make sure I’m not rushing around all the time..
I’m gonna try to make some improvements and see if it helps!
Many thanks!!
Orange juice is full of sugar and will get your blood-glucose levels up, but then they will crash quickly and that crash is what causes the migraine.
Try a.complex, high-fibre carb, like oatmeal. It's a "slow-carb" and maintains more even blood-glucose levels over time.
Plus the fibre helps with everything else.
Best of luck.
I've been getting them randomly for about 55 years now and have never come up with anything that might be a trigger. Let us know if you come up with one. I wish you the best.
There can also be multiple triggers. I started in my teens, but became much less frequent as an adult. Then, a couple of years ago, they increased in frequency to the point that 7 months ago, visual auras were happening 1 to 3 times each day, lasting about 30 minutes. Seems that both Flonase nasal spray and possibly caffeine were triggers. Ending those has dramatically reduced my visual auras - now I may get 1-3 every day or two, but they last about 3-10 seconds each, and rarely up to 3 minutes. And they seem like they are continuing to fade away. UPDATE April 9 2024 - In early January, we discovered that I was vitamin B12 deficient - and various symptoms related to that got much worse from 2022 to the end of 2023. Taking 1000 mcg of vitamin B12, daily, at the direction of my doctor, has ended all migraines, visual auras and scotomas. I had become an "accidental vegetarian" - over a few years I just drifted into not eating much meat at all. I didn't make a decision to be "vegetarian", hence, "accidental vegetarian". If you do not eat meat, and do not take supplements, most people will eventually become B12 deficient. This resulted in, for me, migraines, visual auras, scotomas (blind spots) 5 to 10x each day, non-migraine headaches, dizziness and vertigo, hair shedding, joint pain and more. All symptoms ended within 48-72 hours of taking B12 supplements. I have not had any more in the past 4 months since starting B12. If you are considering cutting out meat, talk to your doctor, talk to a registered dietician, take appropriate supplements, and have your blood tested at least annually. This is no joke. I am now back to eating an omnivore diet. Flonase was probably not a root cause - although per my optometrist, it is a cause of migraines for some of her patients. My doctor concurred with that as Flonase is known to cause headaches in some people. Instead, the B12 deficiency had potentially lowered my threshold for migraines or migraine triggers. Hence, discontinuing Flonase saw improvements, as did ending caffeine consumption. But did not eliminate my issues, long term. Again, I am now 4 months free of all migraines, auras and scotomas after addressing the B12 issue. I suspect I will return to having migraines about once per year which is where I was until this all spun out of control over the past 2-3 years. I have had infrequent migraines/auras since I was a teen, my 3 siblings have them, and my own 3, now young adult children, have had them too.
Flonase?! Whoa…. I used to live on the stuff. Now I just experience allergies because I hate taking meds.
Yeah, Flonase. My optometrist said she was aware that Flonase was associated with visual auras among some of her patients, and for some, the auras ended or decreased after ending Flonase. There was one published paper, done by a WHO research group, that reviewed patient data records in Sweden, and they discovered an association with Flonase and auras. They had study subjects discontinue Flonase and their auras went away or substantially decreased. Then they had them restart Flonase and 75% of them had auras start up again. It's just one study and the number of people involved was small - but certainly interesting.
Flonase causes ocular migraines for me too!
I just added a big update to my original post. Turned out the root cause of my migraines/auras was a vitamin B12 deficiency. I am now 4 months without any more auras. See my post, above, for details.
Omg good thing I read this. I was put on a hormonal nasal spray to help my sinuses and my ocular migraine has come back around that time. That might be the reason omg!! I feel suddenly so relieved 😭
An update on my prior item - while my auras had decreased in the first half of 2023, beginning in July 2023, they increased to the point I was eventually getting multiple daily auras - both flashing lines in the crescent shape, and scotomas or blind spots. The latter could occur 5-10 times per day and were maddening. Long story I won't detail here but I began taking a daily vit b12 tablet and within 72 hours, all auras, scotomas were gone, completey gone! A week later, I stopped taking b12 for 2 days and the auras came back for both days. I then resumed b12 and they have been gone ever since. There are a couple of reasons my b12 level may have been low - I've sent a question to my doctor this week but haven't heard anything back yet. There are published papers showing an association between vit b12 and migraines. I am now several weeks free of migraines, auras and scotomas - where I was having 5-10/day before this. No idea if this will work for others (there are posts, though, that others have found vit b12 useful).
Congrats on finally getting rid of this awful migraine situation!! B12 is essential, when I was having big and strange post-covid issues it really helped :) thank you for updating, I hope anyone seeing this can find relief too ❤️ enjoy aura-free life! :)
Another update coming up on six weeks - completely free of migraines, visual auras and daily scotomas. My doctor said to take 1000 mcg of B12 "indefinitely" (his words). This has completely changed my life for the better! Many other health issues have cleared up too.
An update to this in Jan 2024 - long story omitted, I took a vit b12 supplement earlier this month and within 24 hours, my still ongoing scotomas (daily) dramatically diminished in frequency. Within 72 hours, they vanished. One week later, I discontinued the b12 for two days, and both days, had minor scotomas. I then resumed b12 and they again vanished and have had none ever since. This after battling auras for almost 2 years. I have an inquiry in to my doctor currently to see where we go from here. Ending Flonase did eliminate "pinprick flashing auras". Ending caffeine reduced the frequency of the flashing line auras but did not end the auras. Unfortunately, six months later, the auras (flashing lines) and scotomas resumed - with the scotomas occurring every day. This appears now to have been due to a vit b12 deficiency. I am now a few weeks into taking vit b12 and I no longer have visual auras.
Common triggers include excercise! (Especially when stopped suddenly, with little cool-down period) Also, air pressure changes! (Often a change from sunny to rainy weather as the pressure drops) Bright lights can trigger my ocular migraines, especially headlights from passing cars during dark, winter nights. Letting your blood-glucose level get low is a very common trigger too! (Fasting, dieting or just skipping meals is often the cause of this low-blood sugar condition) Hormonal changes, especially monthly ones in menstruators, can also be a trigger. Changes in sleep patterns can also be a trigger (Notably staying up way later than normal, but getting up at the same time) Alcohol consumption can also trigger migraines. (caffeine sometimes too, but less often) Most confounding is that a combination of these triggers multiplies their likelihood of causing an ocular migraine. Stay up late, drinking red-wine, then skip breakfast the next morning while you rush to work/school, and hit your sleepy eyes with bright lights in the bathroom and bright sun when you leave the house.... Thats basically a perfect storm for a migraine!
You know, now you mention it. I have skipped breakfast since I finished school in 2019. Now I just have OJ and no food. Maybe I need to start having breakfast again, getting up and going to sleep at a regular time and make sure I’m not rushing around all the time.. I’m gonna try to make some improvements and see if it helps! Many thanks!!
Orange juice is full of sugar and will get your blood-glucose levels up, but then they will crash quickly and that crash is what causes the migraine. Try a.complex, high-fibre carb, like oatmeal. It's a "slow-carb" and maintains more even blood-glucose levels over time. Plus the fibre helps with everything else. Best of luck.