Those sketches look precisely like the kaleidoscopic shimmery ringed puddle aura I got this afternoon! This fellow really nailed the curved shape and crystalline angles of it, narrowest at the top arc.
Add me to the large list of people who get this, at rather infrequent and quite unpredictable times, but without the headache that a lot of people do get. Started in my early 20s, and occurs perhaps 5 or 6 times a year, on average, but as I said, it's quite unpredictable when it happens. The descriptions and drawings in the RS documents are totally accurate!
I have had these starting in my mid 30s and get them infrequently enough that I have to revisit what they are and if I should be worried. No headache associated with them, they happen at random times and go away in about 20 minutes. Very strange.
Thanks Brady! This video saved me from a mild panic attack and a doctor's visit. I had this exact thing happen to me yesterday, started out with a tiny blind spot a bit away from the center of my vision, I noticed the words I was reading were disappearing when my eyes moved further along the sentences. Then it slowly grew out and I slightly panicked. When that big shape appeared I instantly recognized it cuz I've seen this video a month ago, and I could relax again.
You should still have it checked out, especially if it recurs. Such visual disturbances in some cases are a sign of a TIA (transient ischemic attack, often a precursor to stroke).
as somebody who gets this roughly every 3 months. I absolutely hate it. Because i know after its gone away. The Migraine starts and my day is ruined :')
I get these, like Keith without the headache. But I have a clear trigger: I only get them when the sun is shining onto the right side of my face and I can't shield myself properly.
I'm one of the lucky ones who get a migrainless aura. I've always described it as seeing a zigzag surrounded by a multicolored smudge reminescent of oil on water. My mil isn't as lucky as she suffers from Horton's. I always wish there was something I could do, it looks so horrible :/
I had a lot of these headaches as a teenager, about once a week. Also, my fingertips and tongue tingled and I had nausea. Then, with age, they became less frequent, and the headache almost disappeared. Since age 30 or so, I only have the visual aura about twice an year that lasts half an hour or less; but after that, often I feel an intense fatigue.
The late Oliver Sacks wrote his first book on this subject, Migraine: Evolution of a Common Disorder (1970). Well worth looking into and he does discuss Airy in the text. Great video, as always!
I get this fairly often, but, similar to Keith, without any migraine headaches. Usually quite a minor annoyance, but I did once get an attack where I could hardly see anything at all in my central vision for about half an hour. As this was in the centre of town and I driven myself there, I had to sit on a park bench until it passed and I could see again!
Damn. I just had my first today (with no headache) and it was scary. Luckily it wasn't as bad as that. Ugh I hope this isn't going to be a normal thing :(
I have been getting scotoma without headache once or twice a year for more than 50 years. There is no trigger that I have found and nothing helps except sit and wait for 30 minutes for it to go away. When I was working I would have to leave my desk and go on break because I could not see the right edge of my computer screen. The only thing that has changed is that the first 15 years or so they were in my left eye but after I started working about 1985 they changed to my right. Both my PCP and my eye doctor said try a baby aspirin a day and count yourself lucky you don't get the pain. Aspirin may have reduced the frequency but that also could be age or anything else, no one knows! Still no pain, tho, and right now I am having the first one I've had this year, I think! 😊
I have had two of these -- one 5-10 years ago in my 60s and one last night. I looked it up briefly last time and knew it was a migraine aura, and didn't worry. This time it was really beautiful -- a U-shaped (more oval than round like a C, but opening toward the middle of my eye like a C) string of iridescent triangles that shimmered and with colored lights on the edges. Actually mesmerizing like a beautiful light show. Only the prism shapes affected my vision in that spot -- I could see perfectly around the U and within the U. No after-effects -- no migraine no nausea etc. I did not notice a dark spot, it was a fairly large shape in the left half of my vision, that just continued to get bigger until it grew out of my vision, lasting less than 10 minutes. I do have a telescope but haven't looked at it in years!! LOL I am a Mensa member so I do ascribe to the higher intellect theory! LOL Did just eat chocolate ice cream before I went to bed, and I usually do eat chocolate but not a bedtime. Luckily I was just getting ready to sleep so I just relaxed and really enjoyed it. Had one or two migraines as a kid, but not since.
It's great to find people with a similar experience. I'm going to be 70 this year. they are more frequent with my computer work now, and I think with stress. Recently, was having them quite a lot, which disturbed me because I have to take a break, and worry that I won't be able to do my computer work! It is a relief to know it's a migraine only, but am a little worried that this neurological pathway is getting a little degenerated with age with this increased frequency.
Very much this, I was freaked out first time. I was very worried until I found out they were common. I don't get migraines but I feel very odd afterwards. Mentally sluggish and off balance
yep same here, panicked, called my physician wife in a real state, thought it was a stroke, went away in a few minutes, no headache. Wife called it a Visual Migraine. Doesn't seem to be anything to worry about.
I had my first one some months ago and was equally freaked out and intrigued. I did the same with closing one eye and then the other and that's how I determined it wasn't a damage to the eyes but something in the brain. It disappeared shortly after (20min?). Baffled I asked in a nerd/technical community if they knew what it was and many of them had had the same thing. So my totally unscientific statistics show that while the phenomenon is described as "somewhat rare" that only applies to the general population. It seems to occur more among nerds and technical people.
Just started happening to me a month ago. It's happened twice with no clear trigger. No significant headache for me either. Certainly unsettling to get for the first time as a 46 year old.
Used to have migraines as a kid, and then in my 20s I started getting these instead. I'm glad for the change, 20 minutes of partial blindness is much less taxing than hours of excruciating pain.
I get these at rare intervals (fortunately without accompanying migraines). I think part of their fascination is that they're on the rather short list of phenomena for which, desipite our ability to directly image everything from individual atoms to bogglingly distant galazies, "draw what you saw" is still about the best we can do (AFAIK).
star forts aren't as common in the Victorian era though, specially when compared to the medievalist motifs that were just _everywhere_ back then. not that this should be entirely discarded though.
Mine starts out with my vision being blurry in the center. I can’t read because some of it is blocked out. Then within minutes the scotoma starts… zigzags of flashing prisms that get more and vibrant. They eventually work themselves outward and off my field of vision within a half hour. I get migraines a lot but these scotomas come and go usually without the headache after.
It's surprising how many people have the scotoma that doesn't evolve into something else... headache, nausea for some, light sensitivity for most. The blurriness you describe is similar to the onset of mine: the ceter of my vision becomes indistinct and the overall surrounding area is "pulled in" to the disturbed zone and is the background color but dimmed/grayed out. Then things begin "swimming" and there are lots of purples and golds in the form of small smears. Overall 5 to 15 minutes and, thankfully, just a minor, annoying headache that lasts perhaps an hour. It's amazing how variable migraines are and it makes me wonder if there might not be multiple distinct conditions.
I get these when I'm in a stressful situation for longish periods. No headache though. I've always thought is was a visual migraine. Nice to see I'm not alone & that it is well documented.
It is a visual migraine or aura. Scintillating scotoma is not a diagnosis; it's a symptom of migraine. The term scintillating scotoma isn't very commonly used these days. Much easier to remember and spell visual aura or ocular migraine. The term scintillating scotoma is much more fun though.
Fun fact: I got my first migraine aura while watching the movie Predator. Since the movie involves a character with "active camouflage", it made the movie even weirder than it's meant to be - even aside from the "am I having a stroke!?" fears.
Hah, that's a good one. I was watching Black Mirror the first time I had a migraine aura. It was the episode with the robot dogs in black and white. Also tripped me out.
I got this regularly last year ,,I was explaining it as broken iridescent shards in the shape of the letter C . When I saw those sketches,,I said ,that's exactly it,,,also I realised that the shape didn't parralax when I blinked eyes so it wasn't on my eye,,definitely in my brain.
I had one of these for the first time like 2 years ago though a migraine did not follow thankfully. When it happened I had no idea what was going on and mine was really debilitating to my vision. Over half of my vision was kaleidoscope-like and was fuzzy with motion like TV static. I was scared it was some crazy retina detachment or something happening. But I calmed myself down when I realized it wasn't my retina by closing one eye at a time to determine both eyes were doing the same thing. When it died down I could finally google and found out what happened. It's weird because I suffer from frequent headaches, migraines, and occasionally cluster headaches, so I thought for sure I'd get one after that. Then I ended up getting my second one of these like 2 months ago and also no migraine. Wikipedia has a GIF on the scintillating scotoma page that is fairly accurate for what it looks like for anyone interested.
Good video--- I've experienced scintillating scotomas since I was a teenager in the 1980's, now in my 50's. In my youth, they were followed by migraines, but as adult, just vanish after 20 minutes or so, exactly the same as described by Airy and Herschel. I am not alone!
So that's what it's called! Got my first one at 28 or 29, and have had them at wildly varying frequencies ever since. I mean, sometimes 2 or 3 in a month, and sometimes I'll go 18 or more months without. The scintillation starts first, then I know I have about 40 minutes of obscured vision, followed by a mild migraine experience (no pounding headache, but general bleh feeling that will last for hours). Usually nothing to do but take an Ibuprofen and sleep through it. Really annoying. Often they seem to be preceded by a prolonged period of low hydration or hunger, and bright light or reflections seems to trigger them directly sometimes. So I try to stay hydrated and keep my living area dimly lit in general (a plus since I work with color perception anyway). Anyway, thanks Brady - I at least know what to call it now :)
The frequency varies wildly. I had one a few weeks ago, but hadn't had one for more than six months before that. I've gone as long as two years between, but sometimes I'll have several within a few weeks. No treatment options, per se, but I try to stay hydrated, take electrolytes, and make sure I don't go too long between meals. Aside from that, ibuprofen and lying down for an hour or so when they do happen, followed by keeping the lighting low for the rest of the day.. ]:)@@RG.......
3:12 I think it would’ve been more helpful to show an illustration of an actual bastion, because it looks just like them! They’re the pointy protrusions you see on the outer walls of olds European forts - they lead these forts to be somewhat star-shaped. The crenellations on a castle wall aren’t nearly as apt a comparison, though maybe that’s more apt for other auras (not sure).
yes, yes, , That is exactly my experience! It is mostly off to the side, but with my eyes open, mostly central, but still off to the side. When I close my most affected eye, it is till there in the closed eye, but my other is still affected, but the scintillating part is mostly confined to the closed eye. As I've been getting older and with lots of screen time, they have become more frequent. So, it's just a reinforced break I guess,
This is fascinating. Great topic to cover. I've had migraines for most of my life. Only once did I get one of these, though. It was a pretty scary experience at first, but I had heard of them before and so I was fairly sure I knew what was happening despite it being the first and only time it happened to me. The illustrations are pretty spot on for what I saw. The only difference is that I also went partially blind at the same time. I was laying in bed reading a book and began to notice it was becoming hard to read the words, figured I was having a hard time focusing. After a few minutes it was pretty obvious that I now had a blind spot in the center of my vision, then over time the flashing zig-zagging rainbow began to appear in the top left of my field of view. For what it's worth at the time I did spend a fair amount of time looking through a telescope when this happened - for Brady's question. Most likely not relevant though.
The worst part about this phenomenon is when you close your 'affected' eye, it'll still block your vision in the other eye. It must be something past the optical nerve.
I've been getting these more frequently as I've gotten older, but no associated headache, glad to say. I think of it as a processing issue, not a physical issue.
I was just thinking about how weird that is. I've seen it in my left eye both times I've had it, yet when I close my left eye, it's suddenly on the left field of my right eye. But when I reopen my left eye, it's back on my left. Trippy haha. Makes sense though cause it's in your brain, not your eyes, but it's still weird. I don't get headaches from it, so it's not a big deal for me as long as I'm not driving. I do get fatigued and dazed for a while though. Only had it twice, started when I was 30. Never had it previously. I'm extremely curious as to why it's started all of the sudden.
The only migraines I've ever had have been aura migraines. It's so funny describing them to people that have never heard of them. Honestly, though, if I'm going to suffer from a migraine, I think aura migraines are the best to suffer from since (in my experience) the aura precedes the migraine by a good 20-30 minutes, giving you some time to prepare.
I get these a few times each year, often associated with low blood sugar, but other times with no obvious cause. Thankfully, I don't get the painful headaches afterwards, and the phenomenon usually only lasts about twenty minutes. The best 'treatment' for me seems to be closing my eyes and relaxing.
I've had a couple of episodes of very low blood sugar (below 50) when my vision turns black with bright yellow streaks. It is similar but different for me when I get the slow growing spot that grows over a period of about half an hour. The total blackness is scary. Both times, I was lucky enough to have ginger ale around and basically guzzled it to bring my blood sugar back up and then my vision came back.
@@RG....... Extremely rarely. I think the last one may have been in 2020. Long enough that I can't remember when. I stopped pursuing doc's advice because they really only last a short while. I just lie down and put cool, wet clothe over my eyes. If I started having headaches again, I might talk to doctor. I live with several autoimmune disorders, so things like this rank low on treatment needs.
I get one every few months. Starts at the edge of my vision and slowly moves across my field of view. Lasts around 10-15 minutes and sometimes returns again immediately. Never had it more than twice in a row thankfully. When it happens I literally just have to sit and wait for it to go as I can’t see properly or read anything. I only get the visual disturbance with a minor headache afterwards. First time it happened I freaked thinking I was having a stroke! Now I just live with it.
I've had it once- and eventually went blind in an eye for 15-20 minutes. Scary but researched symptoms and just waited it out. No migraine associated with it.
To describe the flashing and colors I always explain it as a "Holographic zig zag" it's like the shiny on a pokemon card except silver as a base with the rainbow Scintillating throughout like that foil. It's quite annoying.
Ive had this infrequently since age 31 whist shopping with my newborn! Struggling to find my way back to my car I was then unable to drive. It has happened since and is very scary whilst driving or doing public speaking. Now in my 70’s I seem to be getting a centralised vision version almost daily, but seem able to break through and continue my objectives. I do worry about long term damage.
I get these before a migraine, it starts with me being unable to read text, say on the computer, I can't seem to focus on the screen (or something - it's hard to describe). Then the flashing colored castellations start, usually in the lower right of my field of vison. Nothing to do then ,just have to close my eyes and wait for it to pass, sometime I get a headache, sometimes not. Interesting to finally find out what it is, thank you!
I had this in my vision, my first, recently. I found it fascinating to watch progress. I had no physical symptoms to speak of, though I did lay down to better examine the visual. Very psychedelic. These are lovely drawings of what I saw as well. But the movement of the colors and lines are what make it incredible to see. Thank you for sharing this.
Hmm, I actually had this for years, didn't know it had a name. Just a few times a year I get this, lasts about 15-20 minutes then goes away. I don't really get a pounding headache or migraine after that, but I do feel in my head that something happened. After a good rest everything's gone and just fine. In the very beginning it was smaller and less frequent, but that very first time was super scary, I thought I was going blind. It's good to read that quite a lot of people have this.
I've had this several times over the last few years, but it only lasted several minutes each time and wasn't accompanied by headaches. After the second or third time I realized this is not a fluke of my imagination or the result of staring at bright lights, but was frankly a bit scared to consult my doctor or even look it up. So happy to hear it's a known thing and not particulary harmful... kinda proud actually. So THANKS FOR CLEARING THAT UP!
I was 19 years old the first time I got this and a headache did come after. I was scared I was dying. I got them about once a month throughout my 20s, always a prelude to a migraine. Then they stopped. In my 40s, I started getting them again, but only once or twice a year, usually after the conclusion of something stressful or intense. So "phew, that's done," and then bam, next day, upon relaxing, the scintillating scotoma episode. But with no headache. I never knew what it was called. A doctor speculated that it was due to blood rushing into the brain after I relaxed, having tightened my neck muscles so much. I have no idea if that's true. Glad to have a name for it. I used to call it, "having an episode."
For years I had the scotoma with only a very mild headache; it was diagnosed as "variant migraine" and it sounds like you'd fit that rather broad definition as well. If they become annoying, ask your doctor about Topiramate as prophylaxis. If the scotoma is under 20 minutes and isn't followed by a headache, taking Sumatriptan at onset is a waste of time, it didn't even mitigate the annoying little headache... more annoying to take the damned pill.
I get these. I eventually worked out I tend to get them when I'm dehydrated, and drinking as soon as I get them short circuits them in ten minutes or so and I get only the very mildest headache barely perceptible afterwards. But if I fail to drink I often get a full-blown migraine headache.
I have this! I've had it for years. But, just recently found out what it is. The symptoms I have are identical! I was so relieved to find out I'm not alone and there is a name for it!!! Thank you!
@@RG....... I know the triggers pretty well by now. They started in my 40's. They happened very rarely, but freaked me out. I thought it was a detached retina, but no, and it happens kind of centrally, mostly. With age, they happen often, but the triggers are bright light, sun light, or, unfortunately lots of screen time. Since I work online, sometimes 10 hours a day, plus spend time online, they happen much more often, and with age more frequently. Used to be once ever 6 mos , now at least once a month, especially with those triggers. I have to stop working on the computer for about 20 minutes, because I cannot see mostly in the center part of the visual field. It begins with a small blank in the visual field and then a tiny white flashing, that then gets larger, as drawn above. It starts moving from central to peripheral getting worse , but then disappears into the periphery of my visual field. The optometrist told me there is no cure. I have no pain afterwards at all. So, it is just this visual expanding aura. Just recently, I had 2 like back to back in 2 days. Stress, reduced sleep, and this screen issue really does not help at all. I tired those yellow glasses, but they did not help. I cannot drive if I have it, and if on a walk, I try to look down, but it is difficult. The only relief is I know it just subsides in about 10 to 20 minutes depending on severity. Sometimes, if I catch it early, it is less intense, but lately, not so much, due to these triggers.
I have been getting scotoma without headache once or twice a year for more than 50 years. There is no trigger that I have found and nothing helps except sit and wait for 30 minutes for it to go away. When I was working I would have to leave my desk and go on break because I could not see the right edge of my computer screen. The only thing that has changed is that the first 15 years or so they were in my left eye but after I started working about 1985 they changed to my right. Both my PCP and my eye doctor said try a baby aspirin a day and count yourself lucky you don't get the pain. Aspirin may have reduced the frequency but that also could be age or anything else, no one knows! Still no pain, tho, and right now I am having the first one I've had this year, I think! 😊
The first time I had a scintillating scotoma was in college and it freaked me out. Sometimes I get them with or without the ensuing migraine. I never knew I had something in common with William Herschel.
As someone who gets acephalgic migraines (formerlyt fully cepphalgic) the depictions at 4:07 are almost terrifyingly accurate. Add in the scintillation the modern term applies, and that is specifically what I experience.
I've had these occasionally myself. No pain associated with them, but I've been told they were something like a "visual migraine" or "ocular migraine" or some such.
I get these every now and then and so does my closest friend. Neither of us gets the migraine headaches which sometimes follow in other people. In my case when it gets big enough to fit someone's face into I don't recognise the face as someone I know and although I can see it IS a face it's just a generic face. Good to know my friend and I are in esteemed company 🙂
I get this, and it such a strange experience every time especially as it really messes with my depth perception. For some reason I hadn’t thought about people experiencing this same phenomenon throughout history for some reason, so this was fascinating as always!
the 2 experiences I have had with this phenomenon have both involved extended sessions on computers with the screens being the focus... one was with a crt, the other was an lcd... this was described to me by my ophthalmologist as a "visual migraine" it was a very art deco experience
I've had these auras twice in my life, both in the past years. The first happened around 2019, when I was just sitting in the library reading a book, as I had for many weeks. The second was last summer, during some extremely hot and sunny days, after I had walked around a whole lot, getting sunrays blasted onto my head. The first time was of course fairly spooky, as I had no idea what the heck was happening, other than there being a blurry dot in the middle of the eye, covering the words I was trying to read. No migraine headaches afterwards either time, though.
I had my first ocular migraine about a week ago and I have a high risk for loosing my vision due to retina detachment and I thought I was permanently loosing my eyesight. I hadn't seen this video but I remembered the thumbnail of this video and realized it was probably just a migraine!! Thanks for the video, it certainly brought me a lot of reassurance!!!
I get scotomas regularly about 1/month. No migraine and vision is not dissapearing as a 'hole' but as a forgotten area.....the zigzagging moving more perferocaly over 15-20 min.
I've had these before and I never had a migraine afterwards. I remember the first time was in middle school. I have had them a few times since then (I'm 41yo). I almost would say they're like a rainbow river, or iridescent river... it's hard to describe, but it always starts as a single spot and it's like someone has a marker and they're very slowly drawing a line and you can't see clearly if it's in the way of something you're reading or looking at. Today I had something strange happen where I was getting this small dot of blindness in my vision and it would blink off and on every few seconds. It lasted like 3 minutes I think. Sorta gave me feelings of panic.
I've had scintillating scotomas once, years ago, after several days of poor sleep and strain. They were quite worrisome at the time until I figured out what they were. I speculate (no pun intended) that astronomers might be prone to getting them because of lack of sleep and eye strain.
I find mine are triggered by intensely bright light, usually when it only hits one eye. Something like a flash of sun off a window to one side, or sometimes it might be a reflection off one of the lenses of my glasses. It usually starts with a blind spot in the vision and then slowly grows to spiky coloured flashes across the visual field. Quite interesting, really, but it's a bugger if you happen to be driving.
I had this happen to me once, last night. Age 42. Mild headache after. I was scared that I might be stroking out but realized what was going on then I wasn’t scared. It was beautiful. Vibrant holographic iridescent kalidescoping geometric shapes filling in a crescent. I did not have vision loss except what the crescent was blocking. 2 came and went in a span of about 40 minutes. Sometimes it also shimmered. The tail of the crescent was like looking through water.
I get these before a migraine! How fascinating that it was described so long ago. The drawings look like what I see, except mine are more black and white striped.
I have had extensive laser surgery on my retinas and experience this quite often. I did not experience it before the surgeries and my ophthalmologist called it an "ophthalmic migraine", and is caused by the scar tissue from the laser. When it starts I seek out a dark space and relax till it goes away. If I can't do this it usually progresses until my field of vision is covered and then the migraine begins.
Regarding Brady’s question if the writer eventually understood what was causing the scintillating scotomas, we actually still don’t know what really causes a migraine. We have a few hypotheses, it could be dilated blood vessels or impaired ion channels in the brain. Lovely video!
I've had these very infrequently (about 5 times in my life so far) and I hate it. I believe in roughly half of these cases I've had a little migraine involvement, but definitely not in some of them. The first time it happened (around age 23-25) I was extremely alarmed, but a little online search got me the result of "scintillating scotoma". Even though this search result provided some comfort, I was still worried, as this was a neurological symptom of something. I wasn't satisfied with the insufficient causal explanations for this phenomenon, so I still tend to think there's something wrong with my brain whenever this thing occurs. Nowadays, though, I just stop whatever it is I'm doing and I go lie down, because I can't read/watch movies etc. while it's happening... There's nothing else one can do about it, so you might as well just take a nap. Is there any reason to go visit a doctor for this?
same, had them 5 or so times... once hospitalized, lost the ability to speak, pretty much a stroke. I too immediately stop work and go and nap. thanks to quick nap action I've (probably) prevented 2 migraines.
I experience this sometimes when passing from a dark room into bright light or the opposite. In my case, my eye doc says it's because of scar tissue caused by laser surgery on my retinas and is nothing to worry about..
Per your comment on "migraine involvement", a migraine is not a headache; headache is a symptom of migraine. Not everyone has headache as a symptom. I haven't had scintillating scotoma very many times. Vertigo and aphasia are more frequent aura phase symptoms for me. I don't always get a headache after the aura, but most of the time I do.
I've also had this a couple of times. I think we don't really know how common they are, because people don't usually get a diagnosis. We know over half neurologists say they have seen it themselves. I also think I read somewhere that this kind of migraine without headache is much more common in males, wherease migraine overall and especially debilitating migraine is more frequent in women.
I believe I've had what is being described here, and I've read its called an "eye migraine". I also read about causes, and one was eating LOTS of hard cheeses, and that immediately clicked for me - I was eating a lot of hard cheese at the time I was having this problem. I think that was the cause, as I stopped eating hard cheese and haven't had even one in many years since.
I've seen that exact image and wondered what it was but it was, but it never followed by a headache. I just described this to my eye doctor and she had no idea what i was talking about.
I got this once. Curiously, I already had a headache when it started and nothing about the headache changed for a while. I'm somewhat surprised I never had them when during my childhood because I suffered chronic migraines then.
I've only ever had one of these, but I've known people who were plagued by them. They're a right pain -- one individual I know has to pull over and wait them out if one pops up while he's driving. Thankfully, neither of us have experienced pain from them but they are top-grade annoying AF.
First time I had this I had no idea what it was so I had a panic attack and then laid down to die. Then it faded away. Second time was a scare fest too but after figuring out what it was its just a little annoyance now. Usually don't get the headache part but it sure makes me feel miserable sometimes, but if I pop some Tylenol when I first notice the blind spot then that usually prevents the sickly feel.
I got it once, without a migraine, thought it was a retinal detachment (I'm in a risk group because I'm very short sighted). since it was local and went away I knew it wasn't retinal detachment. I went to the eye doctor who didn't know what it was and miss quoted my symptoms - that was very annoying. So I googled it and found what it was, including a very good clip on RUclips that shows the progression of the effect.
You can have a migraine with scotoma but no headache. It's called ocular migraine. My grandfather had that. My migraines on the other hand rarely have visual symptoms and almost always have vertigo and headache.
I watched this video when it first came out seven months ago, and I had my first scotoma attack a couple weeks ago. Woohoo! I'm part of the club now :3
I get these without headaches. V trippy, lasts around 20 mins. usually triggered by a high contrast object being viewed or something bright in the background. starts as a tiny spot and grows till it escapes the field of view. multicolored pulsating zig zags making up 3/4 of a circle formation, the pulsations keep changing like wave interference that keeps changing it's point of origin causing a wave like pulsation across the colored zig zags. Nice to look at, annoying when you are trying to focus on other things and a bit worrying in-case this is some sort of brain issue that may one day worsen. Close your eyes and it is still there usually just around your field of focus so it's hard to look directly at the shapes but you can observe them surrounding your focal point, move your eyes around and it moves with them.
2 года назад
Ooooooooh, so _that_ is what I have! Not often, mind you, but it has happened repeatedly over the last few years. Especially in times of high stress and/or little sleep. I even had my eye scanned, but they didn't find anything and couldn't tell me what it could have been.
I just got this for the first time; no migraine though. Lasted for a quite a long time (maybe 10-15 mins?). Had a zig-zagging crescent on the left side if my visual field. The crescent was flashing, a bit like a TV static. Central part of my visual field, i couldn't see clearly. It slowly expanded to the left, until it disappeared. Just a feeling that my head is a bit "heavy" lingered. And that was it
I think it must be a sign of high intelligence as I’ve suffered these in the past 😜 The descriptions don’t really capture the constantly twinkling nature of the disturbance though. They really do scintillate.
I get those types of headaches. Each time its start I start by having problems seeing and trying to figure out where is that light reflection coming from, followed having a bright spot in my vision (its like if you look directly at a light, the spot you get in the vision) after that I know the worst headaches Is coming ( worst than a "normal" migraine ) I usually take some pills and something to help me sleep.. it is unbearable.
I get one every now and again. Fortunately, it doesn't presage a headache and it remains rather small. All in all, it's fairly interesting and kind of pretty. I mentioned it to my ophthalmologist and she ordered an MRI scan, which revealed evidence of an old bleed into my visual cortex. It also revealed a lacunar infarction on my pons, which explained some other phenomena not related to the scotomata. Getting old is a pain...
In 40+ years of migraines, the last 20 have had these events, very often preceding the crushing pain. Though mine are not normally jagged, more like 1970's oil-spot optical effects. At least the years of hearing the sound of my eye lashes rubbing together or the rubbery feeling of the ground moving or the burning pain of light and needing to lay still in a fully darkened and silent room have not come back. Man I woofed a lot of cookies as a teenager :(
As a teacher I find it quite annoying getting these whilst teaching. Last year I completed a lesson without seeing the pupils’ faces. I had to wait for the blind spot to move downwards before I could carefully(!) drive home.
get migraine auras as well. usually for me it is from caffeine withdrawal. maybe early astronomers were prone to it as well so they could stay awake all night.
I sometimes observe a similar phenomenon (or is it the same?). In a horizontally stretched ellipse near center of vision, small blurred balls of decreased and increased brightness quickly move away from the very center to the edge of that ellipse, it’s like a wavy boiling surface, with no sharp edges. As it only affects brightness and not colors, it’s overall not much of an interference with vision. I’m not prone to headaches; this thing seems to be linked with prolonged cardio and maybe with clean air (walking in the mountains in the winter is a reliable way to get this).
I was just speaking with a friend about this. I’d gone off on a tangent of researching it and this video is a very good description. If my friend sees this-THIS is what I mean haha.
I thought I had retina damage the first time I had this. I'd heard migraine effects called "auras", and since these didn't look like what I'd describe as "auras" and since my headaches were pretty mild (pop a few Excedrin and they'd go away) AND since this effect went away, I didn't think much of it. Then I got aphasia which is kind of stroke-like in how it affects language, but wears off in a few hours. I'm now on anti-migraine medication and it's great. Please, don't take this lightly if you see these patterns, aphasia will scare the shit out of you. Get to a doctor before that happens, even in the US, if you're insured, the medicine is inexpensive.
Jees ! aphasia? I have never had that with them! Because they are more frequent now, I am a little more worried. So, did you go to a neurologist? An ophthalmalogist?
@@lisaclausen8304Well, since aphasia seems stroke-like, I went to the hospital as an emergency patient. By the time I got there, I probably seemed normal again, maybe a little mentally sluggish compared to my usual self if you knew me well. They couldn't find telltales of stroke, so when a neurologist came in, he knew what it was and we went from there. If you're having migraines, and you want help, a neurologist is probably your best bet.
I have experienced this, also without pain, 3 or 4 times in my life. Thankfully, it hasn't happened in many years. The first time was really quite frightening. Fortunately, my stepfather had a lot of experience with what he called "visual migraines" and was able to calm me down and told me that it would go away in a few minutes. He was, of course, right. I was much calmer the next few times that it happened. Still, it's a little bit scary to imagine it happening while, say, driving.
i managed to have this once 2 times per day, the worst day of my life, but then it came back after year which is good considering i almost forgot on it, but the nausea was still extreme
When my employer used to provide us with over the counter pain and cold medications I would pop a couple of Midol tablets as soon as scotoma started to form. It worked better at toning down the headaches than aspirin and I never had cramping. 😁
I’d get these before migraines also accompanied by an olfactory aura of sickly sweet flowers. To this day, if I smell cheap perfume that is similar, I can start to get a headache.
Love your videos! Thank you this video gave me answer to a long haunting memory. One scary evening +10 year ago, i was watching a movie when it started as a small point of glimmer that expanded as wide crescent circle. After 1h i had problem navigating the house because of the glimmer, my parent drove me to the ER and when the doctor got in and started asking me question (it was a Friday night) they believed that i had been taking some drugs and was very angry at me, even when i told them to do a drug test if they didn't believe me, at that time in my life the only drug i had used was alcohol but not that evening, still to day i only tried/used alcohol and nicotine. The doctor didn't have any answer for me and told me to go home and don't do drugs and return next day if the glimmer won't go away. i did not have any migraine but the glimmer was visible and scary for several hours. when i woke up next day they were gone. i believed i had a stroke or some brain damage because at the same time in my life i also started getting sudden deafness that i still get at random times, my ordinary doctor had not heard about it before and didn't find the symptoms when searching for them at that time, but i found the symptoms by my self years later after googling so i have only self diagnosed me with sudden deafness.
Interesting to read about your deafness symptom. I get the scintillating scotoma occasionally as well. But separately from that, I also experience random, momentary episodes of deafness in one ear or the other, accompanied by tinnitus of varying tone, which lasts for just a few seconds, usually once or twice a week, and maybe 10-12 times a year. The scotoma we know is a brain-based phenomena, but I wonder if this momentary deafness is too?
I sometimes get these. Not sure what triggers them, but it sucks. First a sort of "blind spot", not a black spot, but a completely blurred out area (it's like the brain's just sending an average pixel value for the spot. Then the zig-zag patterns start, first small but grows larger. It kinda strobes between black and white at a high rate, and then there's the multicoloured pattern in there as well. Also strobing it's way through the entire spectrum. I usually go to bed with curtains closed, the room as dark as possible, plenty of water available for drinking, and just wait it out. This is the least bothersome way to get through it, for me anyway. If I don't do this, I start getting nauseous. It used to go on to a migrane attack, but I haven't had one those in years (luckily). Good video.
Those sketches look precisely like the kaleidoscopic shimmery ringed puddle aura I got this afternoon! This fellow really nailed the curved shape and crystalline angles of it, narrowest at the top arc.
Add me to the large list of people who get this, at rather infrequent and quite unpredictable times, but without the headache that a lot of people do get. Started in my early 20s, and occurs perhaps 5 or 6 times a year, on average, but as I said, it's quite unpredictable when it happens.
The descriptions and drawings in the RS documents are totally accurate!
I have had these starting in my mid 30s and get them infrequently enough that I have to revisit what they are and if I should be worried. No headache associated with them, they happen at random times and go away in about 20 minutes. Very strange.
Thanks Brady! This video saved me from a mild panic attack and a doctor's visit.
I had this exact thing happen to me yesterday, started out with a tiny blind spot a bit away from the center of my vision, I noticed the words I was reading were disappearing when my eyes moved further along the sentences. Then it slowly grew out and I slightly panicked. When that big shape appeared I instantly recognized it cuz I've seen this video a month ago, and I could relax again.
You should still have it checked out, especially if it recurs. Such visual disturbances in some cases are a sign of a TIA (transient ischemic attack, often a precursor to stroke).
@@disorganizedorg don't scare people -.-
@@Renekor How often do you get them now? What treatment options did your Doc suggest?
As a neurologist who primarily treats migraine, I love this! I’ve only ever personally experienced fortification spectra four times in my life.
as somebody who gets this roughly every 3 months. I absolutely hate it. Because i know after its gone away. The Migraine starts and my day is ruined :')
I get these, like Keith without the headache. But I have a clear trigger: I only get them when the sun is shining onto the right side of my face and I can't shield myself properly.
I'm one of the lucky ones who get a migrainless aura. I've always described it as seeing a zigzag surrounded by a multicolored smudge reminescent of oil on water.
My mil isn't as lucky as she suffers from Horton's. I always wish there was something I could do, it looks so horrible :/
I get this sometimes. No headache though, it only goes away once I get some rest
I had a lot of these headaches as a teenager, about once a week. Also, my fingertips and tongue tingled and I had nausea. Then, with age, they became less frequent, and the headache almost disappeared. Since age 30 or so, I only have the visual aura about twice an year that lasts half an hour or less; but after that, often I feel an intense fatigue.
The late Oliver Sacks wrote his first book on this subject, Migraine: Evolution of a Common Disorder (1970). Well worth looking into and he does discuss Airy in the text. Great video, as always!
I get this fairly often, but, similar to Keith, without any migraine headaches. Usually quite a minor annoyance, but I did once get an attack where I could hardly see anything at all in my central vision for about half an hour. As this was in the centre of town and I driven myself there, I had to sit on a park bench until it passed and I could see again!
Damn. I just had my first today (with no headache) and it was scary. Luckily it wasn't as bad as that. Ugh I hope this isn't going to be a normal thing :(
@@meyeame8956 calm down, it doesn't usually get worse
I have been getting scotoma without headache once or twice a year for more than 50 years. There is no trigger that I have found and nothing helps except sit and wait for 30 minutes for it to go away. When I was working I would have to leave my desk and go on break because I could not see the right edge of my computer screen. The only thing that has changed is that the first 15 years or so they were in my left eye but after I started working about 1985 they changed to my right. Both my PCP and my eye doctor said try a baby aspirin a day and count yourself lucky you don't get the pain. Aspirin may have reduced the frequency but that also could be age or anything else, no one knows! Still no pain, tho, and right now I am having the first one I've had this year, I think! 😊
@@RenekorHow often do you get them and what treatment options are you doing
@RalphBellairs how often do you get them and what treatment options did your Doc suggest?
I have had two of these -- one 5-10 years ago in my 60s and one last night. I looked it up briefly last time and knew it was a migraine aura, and didn't worry. This time it was really beautiful -- a U-shaped (more oval than round like a C, but opening toward the middle of my eye like a C) string of iridescent triangles that shimmered and with colored lights on the edges. Actually mesmerizing like a beautiful light show. Only the prism shapes affected my vision in that spot -- I could see perfectly around the U and within the U. No after-effects -- no migraine no nausea etc. I did not notice a dark spot, it was a fairly large shape in the left half of my vision, that just continued to get bigger until it grew out of my vision, lasting less than 10 minutes. I do have a telescope but haven't looked at it in years!! LOL I am a Mensa member so I do ascribe to the higher intellect theory! LOL Did just eat chocolate ice cream before I went to bed, and I usually do eat chocolate but not a bedtime. Luckily I was just getting ready to sleep so I just relaxed and really enjoyed it. Had one or two migraines as a kid, but not since.
It's great to find people with a similar experience. I'm going to be 70 this year. they are more frequent with my computer work now, and I think with stress. Recently, was having them quite a lot, which disturbed me because I have to take a break, and worry that I won't be able to do my computer work! It is a relief to know it's a migraine only, but am a little worried that this neurological pathway is getting a little degenerated with age with this increased frequency.
I wish I'd seen this before I had one of these things for the first time. I thought I was having a stroke
Very much this, I was freaked out first time. I was very worried until I found out they were common. I don't get migraines but I feel very odd afterwards. Mentally sluggish and off balance
yep same here, panicked, called my physician wife in a real state, thought it was a stroke, went away in a few minutes, no headache. Wife called it a Visual Migraine. Doesn't seem to be anything to worry about.
I had my first one some months ago and was equally freaked out and intrigued. I did the same with closing one eye and then the other and that's how I determined it wasn't a damage to the eyes but something in the brain. It disappeared shortly after (20min?). Baffled I asked in a nerd/technical community if they knew what it was and many of them had had the same thing. So my totally unscientific statistics show that while the phenomenon is described as "somewhat rare" that only applies to the general population. It seems to occur more among nerds and technical people.
I was pretty freaked the one time I had it too, spent some time googling and apparantly correctly identified it. I also had no migraine.
Just started happening to me a month ago. It's happened twice with no clear trigger. No significant headache for me either. Certainly unsettling to get for the first time as a 46 year old.
Used to have migraines as a kid, and then in my 20s I started getting these instead. I'm glad for the change, 20 minutes of partial blindness is much less taxing than hours of excruciating pain.
I get these at rare intervals (fortunately without accompanying migraines). I think part of their fascination is that they're on the rather short list of phenomena for which, desipite our ability to directly image everything from individual atoms to bogglingly distant galazies, "draw what you saw" is still about the best we can do (AFAIK).
I wonder if when he described them as "bastions" he may have also been thinking about the protrusions of a star-fort. Thanks for the great video!
Thought the same exact thing!
Yes, as soon as I read that, I think that's exactly what he meant.
star forts aren't as common in the Victorian era though, specially when compared to the medievalist motifs that were just _everywhere_ back then. not that this should be entirely discarded though.
Mine starts out with my vision being blurry in the center. I can’t read because some of it is blocked out. Then within minutes the scotoma starts… zigzags of flashing prisms that get more and vibrant. They eventually work themselves outward and off my field of vision within a half hour. I get migraines a lot but these scotomas come and go usually without the headache after.
It's surprising how many people have the scotoma that doesn't evolve into something else... headache, nausea for some, light sensitivity for most. The blurriness you describe is similar to the onset of mine: the ceter of my vision becomes indistinct and the overall surrounding area is "pulled in" to the disturbed zone and is the background color but dimmed/grayed out. Then things begin "swimming" and there are lots of purples and golds in the form of small smears. Overall 5 to 15 minutes and, thankfully, just a minor, annoying headache that lasts perhaps an hour. It's amazing how variable migraines are and it makes me wonder if there might not be multiple distinct conditions.
How often do you get them now? What treatment options did your Doc suggest?
I get these when I'm in a stressful situation for longish periods. No headache though. I've always thought is was a visual migraine. Nice to see I'm not alone & that it is well documented.
It is a visual migraine or aura. Scintillating scotoma is not a diagnosis; it's a symptom of migraine. The term scintillating scotoma isn't very commonly used these days. Much easier to remember and spell visual aura or ocular migraine. The term scintillating scotoma is much more fun though.
Fun fact: I got my first migraine aura while watching the movie Predator. Since the movie involves a character with "active camouflage", it made the movie even weirder than it's meant to be - even aside from the "am I having a stroke!?" fears.
I'm sure that was terrifying, but also cool as hell for the experience, if you're into tension and fear in your movies!
Hah, that's a good one. I was watching Black Mirror the first time I had a migraine aura. It was the episode with the robot dogs in black and white. Also tripped me out.
I got this regularly last year ,,I was explaining it as broken iridescent shards in the shape of the letter C . When I saw those sketches,,I said ,that's exactly it,,,also I realised that the shape didn't parralax when I blinked eyes so it wasn't on my eye,,definitely in my brain.
I had one of these for the first time like 2 years ago though a migraine did not follow thankfully. When it happened I had no idea what was going on and mine was really debilitating to my vision. Over half of my vision was kaleidoscope-like and was fuzzy with motion like TV static. I was scared it was some crazy retina detachment or something happening. But I calmed myself down when I realized it wasn't my retina by closing one eye at a time to determine both eyes were doing the same thing. When it died down I could finally google and found out what happened. It's weird because I suffer from frequent headaches, migraines, and occasionally cluster headaches, so I thought for sure I'd get one after that. Then I ended up getting my second one of these like 2 months ago and also no migraine.
Wikipedia has a GIF on the scintillating scotoma page that is fairly accurate for what it looks like for anyone interested.
Good video--- I've experienced scintillating scotomas since I was a teenager in the 1980's, now in my 50's. In my youth, they were followed by migraines, but as adult, just vanish after 20 minutes or so, exactly the same as described by Airy and Herschel. I am not alone!
So that's what it's called! Got my first one at 28 or 29, and have had them at wildly varying frequencies ever since. I mean, sometimes 2 or 3 in a month, and sometimes I'll go 18 or more months without. The scintillation starts first, then I know I have about 40 minutes of obscured vision, followed by a mild migraine experience (no pounding headache, but general bleh feeling that will last for hours). Usually nothing to do but take an Ibuprofen and sleep through it. Really annoying. Often they seem to be preceded by a prolonged period of low hydration or hunger, and bright light or reflections seems to trigger them directly sometimes. So I try to stay hydrated and keep my living area dimly lit in general (a plus since I work with color perception anyway). Anyway, thanks Brady - I at least know what to call it now :)
@Scruffi how often do you get them and what treatment options are you doing
The frequency varies wildly. I had one a few weeks ago, but hadn't had one for more than six months before that. I've gone as long as two years between, but sometimes I'll have several within a few weeks. No treatment options, per se, but I try to stay hydrated, take electrolytes, and make sure I don't go too long between meals. Aside from that, ibuprofen and lying down for an hour or so when they do happen, followed by keeping the lighting low for the rest of the day.. ]:)@@RG.......
@@Scruffisounds very similar to me.
3:12 I think it would’ve been more helpful to show an illustration of an actual bastion, because it looks just like them! They’re the pointy protrusions you see on the outer walls of olds European forts - they lead these forts to be somewhat star-shaped.
The crenellations on a castle wall aren’t nearly as apt a comparison, though maybe that’s more apt for other auras (not sure).
yes, yes, , That is exactly my experience! It is mostly off to the side, but with my eyes open, mostly central, but still off to the side. When I close my most affected eye, it is till there in the closed eye, but my other is still affected, but the scintillating part is mostly confined to the closed eye. As I've been getting older and with lots of screen time, they have become more frequent. So, it's just a reinforced break I guess,
This is fascinating. Great topic to cover. I've had migraines for most of my life. Only once did I get one of these, though. It was a pretty scary experience at first, but I had heard of them before and so I was fairly sure I knew what was happening despite it being the first and only time it happened to me.
The illustrations are pretty spot on for what I saw. The only difference is that I also went partially blind at the same time. I was laying in bed reading a book and began to notice it was becoming hard to read the words, figured I was having a hard time focusing. After a few minutes it was pretty obvious that I now had a blind spot in the center of my vision, then over time the flashing zig-zagging rainbow began to appear in the top left of my field of view.
For what it's worth at the time I did spend a fair amount of time looking through a telescope when this happened - for Brady's question. Most likely not relevant though.
The worst part about this phenomenon is when you close your 'affected' eye, it'll still block your vision in the other eye. It must be something past the optical nerve.
I've been getting these more frequently as I've gotten older, but no associated headache, glad to say. I think of it as a processing issue, not a physical issue.
Yes, it's not caused in the eye itself. It is neurological and causes interruption in the nerve pathway to the brain.
I was just thinking about how weird that is. I've seen it in my left eye both times I've had it, yet when I close my left eye, it's suddenly on the left field of my right eye. But when I reopen my left eye, it's back on my left. Trippy haha. Makes sense though cause it's in your brain, not your eyes, but it's still weird. I don't get headaches from it, so it's not a big deal for me as long as I'm not driving. I do get fatigued and dazed for a while though. Only had it twice, started when I was 30. Never had it previously. I'm extremely curious as to why it's started all of the sudden.
@@joshgiesbrechti saw this two times in a two day...did you ever saw this after this ?
@@dcplunketthow often do you get them and what treatment options are you doing
The only migraines I've ever had have been aura migraines. It's so funny describing them to people that have never heard of them. Honestly, though, if I'm going to suffer from a migraine, I think aura migraines are the best to suffer from since (in my experience) the aura precedes the migraine by a good 20-30 minutes, giving you some time to prepare.
Exactly what I get. Appeared out of nowhere in midlife. Continued for about a year, very infrequently, and since (8 years) not again.
I get these a few times each year, often associated with low blood sugar, but other times with no obvious cause. Thankfully, I don't get the painful headaches afterwards, and the phenomenon usually only lasts about twenty minutes. The best 'treatment' for me seems to be closing my eyes and relaxing.
I've had a couple of episodes of very low blood sugar (below 50) when my vision turns black with bright yellow streaks. It is similar but different for me when I get the slow growing spot that grows over a period of about half an hour. The total blackness is scary. Both times, I was lucky enough to have ginger ale around and basically guzzled it to bring my blood sugar back up and then my vision came back.
Same here! A few times a year
How often do you get them now? What treatment options did your Doc suggest?
@@drpattiethomas How often do you get them now? What treatment options did your Doc suggest?
@@RG....... Extremely rarely. I think the last one may have been in 2020. Long enough that I can't remember when. I stopped pursuing doc's advice because they really only last a short while. I just lie down and put cool, wet clothe over my eyes. If I started having headaches again, I might talk to doctor. I live with several autoimmune disorders, so things like this rank low on treatment needs.
I get one every few months. Starts at the edge of my vision and slowly moves across my field of view. Lasts around 10-15 minutes and sometimes returns again immediately. Never had it more than twice in a row thankfully. When it happens I literally just have to sit and wait for it to go as I can’t see properly or read anything. I only get the visual disturbance with a minor headache afterwards. First time it happened I freaked thinking I was having a stroke! Now I just live with it.
Yeah I had one today. I also get them maybe twice a year or so.
I've had it once- and eventually went blind in an eye for 15-20 minutes. Scary but researched symptoms and just waited it out. No migraine associated with it.
To describe the flashing and colors I always explain it as a "Holographic zig zag" it's like the shiny on a pokemon card except silver as a base with the rainbow Scintillating throughout like that foil. It's quite annoying.
Ive had this infrequently since age 31 whist shopping with my newborn! Struggling to find my way back to my car I was then unable to drive. It has happened since and is very scary whilst driving or doing public speaking. Now in my 70’s I seem to be getting a centralised vision version almost daily, but seem able to break through and continue my objectives. I do worry about long term damage.
Quite impressive drawing!
I get these before a migraine, it starts with me being unable to read text, say on the computer, I can't seem to focus on the screen (or something - it's hard to describe).
Then the flashing colored castellations start, usually in the lower right of my field of vison.
Nothing to do then ,just have to close my eyes and wait for it to pass, sometime I get a headache, sometimes not.
Interesting to finally find out what it is, thank you!
I had this in my vision, my first, recently. I found it fascinating to watch progress. I had no physical symptoms to speak of, though I did lay down to better examine the visual. Very psychedelic.
These are lovely drawings of what I saw as well. But the movement of the colors and lines are what make it incredible to see. Thank you for sharing this.
Hmm, I actually had this for years, didn't know it had a name. Just a few times a year I get this, lasts about 15-20 minutes then goes away. I don't really get a pounding headache or migraine after that, but I do feel in my head that something happened. After a good rest everything's gone and just fine. In the very beginning it was smaller and less frequent, but that very first time was super scary, I thought I was going blind. It's good to read that quite a lot of people have this.
How often do you get them now? What treatment options did your Doc suggest?
I've had this several times over the last few years, but it only lasted several minutes each time and wasn't accompanied by headaches.
After the second or third time I realized this is not a fluke of my imagination or the result of staring at bright lights, but was frankly a bit scared to consult my doctor or even look it up.
So happy to hear it's a known thing and not particulary harmful... kinda proud actually. So THANKS FOR CLEARING THAT UP!
I was 19 years old the first time I got this and a headache did come after. I was scared I was dying. I got them about once a month throughout my 20s, always a prelude to a migraine. Then they stopped. In my 40s, I started getting them again, but only once or twice a year, usually after the conclusion of something stressful or intense. So "phew, that's done," and then bam, next day, upon relaxing, the scintillating scotoma episode. But with no headache. I never knew what it was called. A doctor speculated that it was due to blood rushing into the brain after I relaxed, having tightened my neck muscles so much. I have no idea if that's true. Glad to have a name for it. I used to call it, "having an episode."
For years I had the scotoma with only a very mild headache; it was diagnosed as "variant migraine" and it sounds like you'd fit that rather broad definition as well. If they become annoying, ask your doctor about Topiramate as prophylaxis. If the scotoma is under 20 minutes and isn't followed by a headache, taking Sumatriptan at onset is a waste of time, it didn't even mitigate the annoying little headache... more annoying to take the damned pill.
I get these. I eventually worked out I tend to get them when I'm dehydrated, and drinking as soon as I get them short circuits them in ten minutes or so and I get only the very mildest headache barely perceptible afterwards. But if I fail to drink I often get a full-blown migraine headache.
I get these sometimes a few per month but they rarely bring the headache
I have this! I've had it for years. But, just recently found out what it is. The symptoms I have are identical! I was so relieved to find out I'm not alone and there is a name for it!!! Thank you!
I found out today what it is.
How often do you get them now? What treatment options did your Doc suggest?
@@RG....... I know the triggers pretty well by now. They started in my 40's. They happened very rarely, but freaked me out. I thought it was a detached retina, but no, and it happens kind of centrally, mostly. With age, they happen often, but the triggers are bright light, sun light, or, unfortunately lots of screen time. Since I work online, sometimes 10 hours a day, plus spend time online, they happen much more often, and with age more frequently. Used to be once ever 6 mos , now at least once a month, especially with those triggers. I have to stop working on the computer for about 20 minutes, because I cannot see mostly in the center part of the visual field. It begins with a small blank in the visual field and then a tiny white flashing, that then gets larger, as drawn above. It starts moving from central to peripheral getting worse , but then disappears into the periphery of my visual field. The optometrist told me there is no cure. I have no pain afterwards at all. So, it is just this visual expanding aura. Just recently, I had 2 like back to back in 2 days. Stress, reduced sleep, and this screen issue really does not help at all. I tired those yellow glasses, but they did not help. I cannot drive if I have it, and if on a walk, I try to look down, but it is difficult. The only relief is I know it just subsides in about 10 to 20 minutes depending on severity. Sometimes, if I catch it early, it is less intense, but lately, not so much, due to these triggers.
I have been getting scotoma without headache once or twice a year for more than 50 years. There is no trigger that I have found and nothing helps except sit and wait for 30 minutes for it to go away. When I was working I would have to leave my desk and go on break because I could not see the right edge of my computer screen. The only thing that has changed is that the first 15 years or so they were in my left eye but after I started working about 1985 they changed to my right. Both my PCP and my eye doctor said try a baby aspirin a day and count yourself lucky you don't get the pain. Aspirin may have reduced the frequency but that also could be age or anything else, no one knows! Still no pain, tho, and right now I am having the first one I've had this year, I think! 😊
The first time I had a scintillating scotoma was in college and it freaked me out. Sometimes I get them with or without the ensuing migraine. I never knew I had something in common with William Herschel.
How often do you get them now? What treatment options did your Doc suggest?
As someone who gets acephalgic migraines (formerlyt fully cepphalgic) the depictions at 4:07 are almost terrifyingly accurate. Add in the scintillation the modern term applies, and that is specifically what I experience.
I've had these occasionally myself. No pain associated with them, but I've been told they were something like a "visual migraine" or "ocular migraine" or some such.
I get these every now and then and so does my closest friend. Neither of us gets the migraine headaches which sometimes follow in other people. In my case when it gets big enough to fit someone's face into I don't recognise the face as someone I know and although I can see it IS a face it's just a generic face. Good to know my friend and I are in esteemed company 🙂
I get this, and it such a strange experience every time especially as it really messes with my depth perception. For some reason I hadn’t thought about people experiencing this same phenomenon throughout history for some reason, so this was fascinating as always!
I've had one once in my life and boy was it a trip! I was pretty freaked out for my vision for about 20-30 minutes!
the 2 experiences I have had with this phenomenon
have both involved extended sessions on computers with
the screens being the focus...
one was with a crt, the other was an lcd...
this was described to me by my ophthalmologist as a "visual migraine"
it was a very art deco experience
Just went through this. Good video
Yeah. I get that on bright colored things that are contrasted against something dark right before i get a headache.
I've had these auras twice in my life, both in the past years. The first happened around 2019, when I was just sitting in the library reading a book, as I had for many weeks. The second was last summer, during some extremely hot and sunny days, after I had walked around a whole lot, getting sunrays blasted onto my head. The first time was of course fairly spooky, as I had no idea what the heck was happening, other than there being a blurry dot in the middle of the eye, covering the words I was trying to read. No migraine headaches afterwards either time, though.
"No unfortunately I can see you just fine" -- that is some classic British shade, right there 😂
I call it kaleidoscope vision. This is a very good portrayal of it.
I had my first ocular migraine about a week ago and I have a high risk for loosing my vision due to retina detachment and I thought I was permanently loosing my eyesight. I hadn't seen this video but I remembered the thumbnail of this video and realized it was probably just a migraine!! Thanks for the video, it certainly brought me a lot of reassurance!!!
I get scotomas regularly about 1/month.
No migraine and vision is not dissapearing as a 'hole' but as a forgotten area.....the zigzagging moving more perferocaly over 15-20 min.
Wow, Kieth looks incredible! Great episode!
I've had these before and I never had a migraine afterwards. I remember the first time was in middle school. I have had them a few times since then (I'm 41yo). I almost would say they're like a rainbow river, or iridescent river... it's hard to describe, but it always starts as a single spot and it's like someone has a marker and they're very slowly drawing a line and you can't see clearly if it's in the way of something you're reading or looking at. Today I had something strange happen where I was getting this small dot of blindness in my vision and it would blink off and on every few seconds. It lasted like 3 minutes I think. Sorta gave me feelings of panic.
I've had scintillating scotomas once, years ago, after several days of poor sleep and strain. They were quite worrisome at the time until I figured out what they were.
I speculate (no pun intended) that astronomers might be prone to getting them because of lack of sleep and eye strain.
I find mine are triggered by intensely bright light, usually when it only hits one eye. Something like a flash of sun off a window to one side, or sometimes it might be a reflection off one of the lenses of my glasses. It usually starts with a blind spot in the vision and then slowly grows to spiky coloured flashes across the visual field. Quite interesting, really, but it's a bugger if you happen to be driving.
I had this happen to me once, last night. Age 42. Mild headache after. I was scared that I might be stroking out but realized what was going on then I wasn’t scared. It was beautiful. Vibrant holographic iridescent kalidescoping geometric shapes filling in a crescent. I did not have vision loss except what the crescent was blocking. 2 came and went in a span of about 40 minutes. Sometimes it also shimmered. The tail of the crescent was like looking through water.
I get these before a migraine! How fascinating that it was described so long ago. The drawings look like what I see, except mine are more black and white striped.
I have had extensive laser surgery on my retinas and experience this quite often. I did not experience it before the surgeries and my ophthalmologist called it an "ophthalmic migraine", and is caused by the scar tissue from the laser. When it starts I seek out a dark space and relax till it goes away. If I can't do this it usually progresses until my field of vision is covered and then the migraine begins.
Regarding Brady’s question if the writer eventually understood what was causing the scintillating scotomas, we actually still don’t know what really causes a migraine. We have a few hypotheses, it could be dilated blood vessels or impaired ion channels in the brain. Lovely video!
Now I can put a name to what I see fairly often. Never had any pain, though.
The color is amazing--mostly green and yellow-green.
I've had these very infrequently (about 5 times in my life so far) and I hate it. I believe in roughly half of these cases I've had a little migraine involvement, but definitely not in some of them.
The first time it happened (around age 23-25) I was extremely alarmed, but a little online search got me the result of "scintillating scotoma". Even though this search result provided some comfort, I was still worried, as this was a neurological symptom of something. I wasn't satisfied with the insufficient causal explanations for this phenomenon, so I still tend to think there's something wrong with my brain whenever this thing occurs.
Nowadays, though, I just stop whatever it is I'm doing and I go lie down, because I can't read/watch movies etc. while it's happening... There's nothing else one can do about it, so you might as well just take a nap.
Is there any reason to go visit a doctor for this?
same, had them 5 or so times... once hospitalized, lost the ability to speak, pretty much a stroke. I too immediately stop work and go and nap. thanks to quick nap action I've (probably) prevented 2 migraines.
I experience this sometimes when passing from a dark room into bright light or the opposite. In my case, my eye doc says it's because of scar tissue caused by laser surgery on my retinas and is nothing to worry about..
Per your comment on "migraine involvement", a migraine is not a headache; headache is a symptom of migraine. Not everyone has headache as a symptom. I haven't had scintillating scotoma very many times. Vertigo and aphasia are more frequent aura phase symptoms for me. I don't always get a headache after the aura, but most of the time I do.
I've also had this a couple of times. I think we don't really know how common they are, because people don't usually get a diagnosis. We know over half neurologists say they have seen it themselves. I also think I read somewhere that this kind of migraine without headache is much more common in males, wherease migraine overall and especially debilitating migraine is more frequent in women.
I believe I've had what is being described here, and I've read its called an "eye migraine". I also read about causes, and one was eating LOTS of hard cheeses, and that immediately clicked for me - I was eating a lot of hard cheese at the time I was having this problem. I think that was the cause, as I stopped eating hard cheese and haven't had even one in many years since.
I've seen that exact image and wondered what it was but it was, but it never followed by a headache. I just described this to my eye doctor and she had no idea what i was talking about.
I got this once. Curiously, I already had a headache when it started and nothing about the headache changed for a while. I'm somewhat surprised I never had them when during my childhood because I suffered chronic migraines then.
I totally approve those bants at 0:33 and 8:05 !
This is. such a good video, not.. way I would know this without you
I've only ever had one of these, but I've known people who were plagued by them. They're a right pain -- one individual I know has to pull over and wait them out if one pops up while he's driving. Thankfully, neither of us have experienced pain from them but they are top-grade annoying AF.
First time I had this I had no idea what it was so I had a panic attack and then laid down to die. Then it faded away. Second time was a scare fest too but after figuring out what it was its just a little annoyance now. Usually don't get the headache part but it sure makes me feel miserable sometimes, but if I pop some Tylenol when I first notice the blind spot then that usually prevents the sickly feel.
I got it once, without a migraine, thought it was a retinal detachment (I'm in a risk group because I'm very short sighted). since it was local and went away I knew it wasn't retinal detachment. I went to the eye doctor who didn't know what it was and miss quoted my symptoms - that was very annoying.
So I googled it and found what it was, including a very good clip on RUclips that shows the progression of the effect.
btw there is a good explanation on wikipedia
You can have a migraine with scotoma but no headache. It's called ocular migraine. My grandfather had that. My migraines on the other hand rarely have visual symptoms and almost always have vertigo and headache.
Can’t wait to use this term next time I go see my optometrist. I found when I was dehydrated I would have more episodes.
I watched this video when it first came out seven months ago, and I had my first scotoma attack a couple weeks ago. Woohoo! I'm part of the club now :3
I get these without headaches. V trippy, lasts around 20 mins. usually triggered by a high contrast object being viewed or something bright in the background. starts as a tiny spot and grows till it escapes the field of view. multicolored pulsating zig zags making up 3/4 of a circle formation, the pulsations keep changing like wave interference that keeps changing it's point of origin causing a wave like pulsation across the colored zig zags. Nice to look at, annoying when you are trying to focus on other things and a bit worrying in-case this is some sort of brain issue that may one day worsen. Close your eyes and it is still there usually just around your field of focus so it's hard to look directly at the shapes but you can observe them surrounding your focal point, move your eyes around and it moves with them.
Ooooooooh, so _that_ is what I have! Not often, mind you, but it has happened repeatedly over the last few years. Especially in times of high stress and/or little sleep. I even had my eye scanned, but they didn't find anything and couldn't tell me what it could have been.
I just got this for the first time; no migraine though. Lasted for a quite a long time (maybe 10-15 mins?). Had a zig-zagging crescent on the left side if my visual field. The crescent was flashing, a bit like a TV static. Central part of my visual field, i couldn't see clearly. It slowly expanded to the left, until it disappeared. Just a feeling that my head is a bit "heavy" lingered. And that was it
Amazing!
Thank you very much!
I think it must be a sign of high intelligence as I’ve suffered these in the past 😜 The descriptions don’t really capture the constantly twinkling nature of the disturbance though. They really do scintillate.
I get those types of headaches. Each time its start I start by having problems seeing and trying to figure out where is that light reflection coming from, followed having a bright spot in my vision (its like if you look directly at a light, the spot you get in the vision) after that I know the worst headaches Is coming ( worst than a "normal" migraine ) I usually take some pills and something to help me sleep.. it is unbearable.
I get one every now and again. Fortunately, it doesn't presage a headache and it remains rather small. All in all, it's fairly interesting and kind of pretty.
I mentioned it to my ophthalmologist and she ordered an MRI scan, which revealed evidence of an old bleed into my visual cortex. It also revealed a lacunar infarction on my pons, which explained some other phenomena not related to the scotomata. Getting old is a pain...
@johnopalko5223 what treatment options are you doing now
@@RG....... Nothing, really, besides keeping my diabetes under control and taking a statin to reduce the probability of another infarct.
Excellent description and diagrams, very much the progression I have experienced (unfortunately usually with migraine)
In 40+ years of migraines, the last 20 have had these events, very often preceding the crushing pain. Though mine are not normally jagged, more like 1970's oil-spot optical effects. At least the years of hearing the sound of my eye lashes rubbing together or the rubbery feeling of the ground moving or the burning pain of light and needing to lay still in a fully darkened and silent room have not come back. Man I woofed a lot of cookies as a teenager :(
As a teacher I find it quite annoying getting these whilst teaching. Last year I completed a lesson without seeing the pupils’ faces. I had to wait for the blind spot to move downwards before I could carefully(!) drive home.
get migraine auras as well. usually for me it is from caffeine withdrawal. maybe early astronomers were prone to it as well so they could stay awake all night.
I sometimes observe a similar phenomenon (or is it the same?). In a horizontally stretched ellipse near center of vision, small blurred balls of decreased and increased brightness quickly move away from the very center to the edge of that ellipse, it’s like a wavy boiling surface, with no sharp edges. As it only affects brightness and not colors, it’s overall not much of an interference with vision. I’m not prone to headaches; this thing seems to be linked with prolonged cardio and maybe with clean air (walking in the mountains in the winter is a reliable way to get this).
I was just speaking with a friend about this. I’d gone off on a tangent of researching it and this video is a very good description. If my friend sees this-THIS is what I mean haha.
I thought I had retina damage the first time I had this. I'd heard migraine effects called "auras", and since these didn't look like what I'd describe as "auras" and since my headaches were pretty mild (pop a few Excedrin and they'd go away) AND since this effect went away, I didn't think much of it. Then I got aphasia which is kind of stroke-like in how it affects language, but wears off in a few hours. I'm now on anti-migraine medication and it's great. Please, don't take this lightly if you see these patterns, aphasia will scare the shit out of you. Get to a doctor before that happens, even in the US, if you're insured, the medicine is inexpensive.
I've only had these scotomas a few times before the headache. More frequently I get vertigo and aphasia as my aura.
Jees ! aphasia? I have never had that with them! Because they are more frequent now, I am a little more worried. So, did you go to a neurologist? An ophthalmalogist?
@@lisaclausen8304Well, since aphasia seems stroke-like, I went to the hospital as an emergency patient. By the time I got there, I probably seemed normal again, maybe a little mentally sluggish compared to my usual self if you knew me well. They couldn't find telltales of stroke, so when a neurologist came in, he knew what it was and we went from there. If you're having migraines, and you want help, a neurologist is probably your best bet.
I got an ad for LASIK surgery after this video played!
Keith becoming more and more sassy
I have experienced this, also without pain, 3 or 4 times in my life. Thankfully, it hasn't happened in many years. The first time was really quite frightening. Fortunately, my stepfather had a lot of experience with what he called "visual migraines" and was able to calm me down and told me that it would go away in a few minutes. He was, of course, right. I was much calmer the next few times that it happened. Still, it's a little bit scary to imagine it happening while, say, driving.
i managed to have this once 2 times per day, the worst day of my life, but then it came back after year which is good considering i almost forgot on it, but the nausea was still extreme
drawing is accurate af
When my employer used to provide us with over the counter pain and cold medications I would pop a couple of Midol tablets as soon as scotoma started to form. It worked better at toning down the headaches than aspirin and I never had cramping. 😁
I’d get these before migraines also accompanied by an olfactory aura of sickly sweet flowers. To this day, if I smell cheap perfume that is similar, I can start to get a headache.
Love your videos! Thank you this video gave me answer to a long haunting memory.
One scary evening +10 year ago, i was watching a movie when it started as a small point of glimmer that expanded as wide crescent circle. After 1h i had problem navigating the house because of the glimmer, my parent drove me to the ER and when the doctor got in and started asking me question (it was a Friday night) they believed that i had been taking some drugs and was very angry at me, even when i told them to do a drug test if they didn't believe me, at that time in my life the only drug i had used was alcohol but not that evening, still to day i only tried/used alcohol and nicotine. The doctor didn't have any answer for me and told me to go home and don't do drugs and return next day if the glimmer won't go away. i did not have any migraine but the glimmer was visible and scary for several hours. when i woke up next day they were gone. i believed i had a stroke or some brain damage because at the same time in my life i also started getting sudden deafness that i still get at random times, my ordinary doctor had not heard about it before and didn't find the symptoms when searching for them at that time, but i found the symptoms by my self years later after googling so i have only self diagnosed me with sudden deafness.
Interesting to read about your deafness symptom. I get the scintillating scotoma occasionally as well. But separately from that, I also experience random, momentary episodes of deafness in one ear or the other, accompanied by tinnitus of varying tone, which lasts for just a few seconds, usually once or twice a week, and maybe 10-12 times a year. The scotoma we know is a brain-based phenomena, but I wonder if this momentary deafness is too?
I sometimes get these. Not sure what triggers them, but it sucks. First a sort of "blind spot", not a black spot, but a completely blurred out area (it's like the brain's just sending an average pixel value for the spot. Then the zig-zag patterns start, first small but grows larger. It kinda strobes between black and white at a high rate, and then there's the multicoloured pattern in there as well. Also strobing it's way through the entire spectrum.
I usually go to bed with curtains closed, the room as dark as possible, plenty of water available for drinking, and just wait it out.
This is the least bothersome way to get through it, for me anyway. If I don't do this, I start getting nauseous.
It used to go on to a migrane attack, but I haven't had one those in years (luckily).
Good video.
it's a symptom of magnesium deficiency.
I wonder if there is a sizable overlap between people that get these without pain and people that believe they can see auras around others.
This was great! Would love to see more medical videos
Sometimes I get the “zig-zag migraine snakes”, but luckily I don’t often get the splitting headache 👍