Silent Migraine:
An aura is an episodic and transient event that evolves over several minutes and generally lasts between five and 60 minutes. Talking with others who understand what you’re going through can also help you better identify and manage silent migraine. Our free app, Migraine Healthline, connects you with real people who experience migraine. Ask questions, seek advice, and make connections with others who get it. “[The device] can be used at the start of an aura to shorten its duration,” Dr. Natbony says.
Silent migraine does not cause pain, but it shares other symptoms that typically occur with migraine. As with other types of migraine, the symptoms will depend on the stage or phase of an episode. It’s possible for a person to be mistakenly diagnosed with epilepsy because the symptoms they get during a migraine attack and the results of their neurological exam can be similar. Acephalgic migraines are also misdiagnosed as transient ischemic attacks (TIAs) or strokes.
Certainly genetic and environmental factors play a role in the development of migraine disease. Meaning if a parent has migraine, there’s about a 50 percent chance that a child may develop migraine as well. If you have migraine, certain factors can trigger an attack. However, this does not mean that if you get a migraine attack, that it’s their fault, that you should feel any guilt or shame for your symptoms.
If a doctor has prescribed medication for your chronic migraine and you choose to move forward with that line of treatment, follow instructions carefully. It is crucial to take medications at the recommended times to ensure maximum effectiveness. Additionally, it is important to communicate with your doctor if you experience any adverse effects or if the medication does not seem to be working as expected. As you work with your doctor on next steps, it will be important to maintain access to reliable resources on migraine.
Also, keep tabs on your symptoms and the times they begin and end. Your diary and your medical history will help your doctor figure out what’s going on. If you experience migraine often, you may be advised to take preventive medications. These include cardiovascular drugs such as beta-blockers, including propranolol and metoprolol. Calcium channel blockers, such as verapamil and diltiazem, are other options. Your doctor may also prescribe tricyclic antidepressants, such as amitriptyline or nortriptyline.
Our Resource Library is another great place to find information on these treatments. If you’re a smoker and get migraine, you should try to quit. A study published in Neurology found an increased risk of stroke in older smokers who have migraine. After my ADHD diagnosis, I poured myself into research, as I quickly learned I would need to educate myself about ADHD’s unique presentation in women.
Even if you have a history of headaches, see your health care provider if the pattern changes or your headaches suddenly feel different. Over-the-counter migraine medications are effective if you have mild to moderate migraine symptoms. The main ingredients in pain-relieving medications are ibuprofen, aspirin, acetaminophen, naproxen and caffeine. Studies show that an estimated 12% of people in the United States experience migraines.
Almost 40% of people who’ve had migraine with aura in later life will get aura without headache. According to the American Migraine Foundation, around 25’30% of people with migraine experience aura. The symptoms usually last anywhere from 5’60 minutes and can precede a headache or occur on their own.
As this MyMigraineTeam member shared, these silent migraine attacks can be difficult to distinguish from a stroke ‘ especially a type of stroke called a transient ischemic attack (TIA). TIAs, or ministrokes, occur when the blood vessels to the brain, spinal cord, or parts of the eyes are blocked for a very short period of time. TIAs cause symptoms similar to those of a silent migraine, such as muscle weakness on one side of the body, dizziness, and vision difficulties. ‘Migraine aura without headache”previously known as ‘acephalgic migraine’ and sometimes called ‘silent migraine”is when someone has a migraine aura without any head pain. It is possible to develop migraine aura without a headache. People refer to this as ‘silent migraine.’ The symptoms can include sensory disturbances, difficulty with speech, sensitivity to light or sound, and nausea or vomiting.
The classic “half-moon” visual disturbance (where there is vision loss in half of both eyes), changes in color perception, and other vision problems are common. Symptoms of silent migraines typically involve three of four migraine phases. A silent migraine goes through the prodrome, aura, and post-dome phases but skips the headache phase.
Another one doctors may prescribe is calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) inhibitors ‘ a newer class of medications developed specifically for the prevention of migraine, per the Cleveland Clinic. This phase can last hours to days and is often characterized by fatigue, irritability, brain fog, mood changes and an overall feeling of “blah,” Dr. Natbony says. Medications can help prevent some migraines and make them less painful.
From this point, they usually fade away as the migraine headache begins. Some 80% of people with migraine say that stress can trigger an episode. Similar triggers are likely to cause a have a peek here episode. Specific treatment options for silent migraine are limited, and more research is needed to establish an approach. However, strategies for managing migraine with headache may help.
Your first step in preventing silent migraine is to identify your triggers. To do this, keep a migraine diary and write down when each migraine occurred, how long it lasted, and what you were doing before and when it struck. Be sure to note any foods or beverages you consumed, as well as any medications you took before the migraine began. This gadget, when placed on the back of your head for a few seconds, sends tiny magnetic pulses to the surrounding head and neck area.
‘But some people don’t get the headache; they just get the aura,’ says Dr. Digre. If CSD can occur on its own, independently of the processes that cause a migraine headache, then this may explain why some people can more info experience aura without pain. Aura refers to a group of sensory disturbances that occur at the start of a migraine episode. These disturbances develop slowly over several minutes and can last 5’60 minutes in total.
For some, a this content can be as short as a few hours, while for others it can last for days, according to the Brain Center. Like all migraines, the exact cause of a silent migraine is not completely understood. Since treatment can be tricky, non-medicated and preventative remedies are often key. Regular and consistent sleep (aim for seven to nine hours per night), exercise, proper hydration, a balanced diet, and stress reduction, are some of the best preventative measures, she adds. This electrical or chemical wave can occur in areas that process sensory signals, speech centers or centers that control movement. The most common type of aura is visual aura, which occurs when a wave of electrical activity spreads through the visual cortex and causes visual symptoms.