Experiencing a sudden increase in migraines with aura? Discover potential causes like hormonal shifts, environmental triggers, and medical conditions. Learn how to manage symptoms and when to seek medical advice for relief.
If you’ve ever experienced amigraineattack, youknowit’s no ordinaryheadache. Oh, and the kind with sensory disturbances likekaleidoscope vision,ear ringing, and hand tingling? They’re called migraine with aura.
If you’re wondering why you’re experiencing a sudden increase in migraine with aura — and how to find sweet, sweet relief — you’ve come to the right place.
Understanding a sudden increase in migraine with aura
The exact cause of an uptick in migraine attacks with aura is not fully understood. However, auras have been linked to environmentaltriggers,hormonal changes, and neurological conditions such as stroke or traumatic brain injury.
If you experience a sudden increase in migraine attacks with aura, talk with your doctor. They can check for potential neurological issues and prescribe medications to help you manage migraine.
What exactly is migraine with aura?
Anywhere froma quarter to a thirdof folks who experience migraine attacks also experience auras. The aura is usually the first sign of an impending attack.Expertssay an aura can last anywhere from 5 to 60 minutes.
Sciencedivides migraine aura symptoms into four types. You might experience any or all types during a migraine attack with aura.
Visual aura
When most folks talk about a migraine aura, they’re referring to these visual symptoms.
Auditory aura
Sensory aura
This typically involves sudden tingling or prickly feeling in the hands, face, or body.
Motor aura
Some people experience an aura that causes sudden weakness on just one side of the body or face. This super rare aura indicates ahemiplegic migraine.
🚨Heads up: Never assume that weakness or numbness on one side of your body is “just” a migraine. These symptoms can also indicate a stroke, so call a doc ASAP.🚨
Speech aura
Some migraine attacks are preceded by slurred or garbled speech, or trouble finding and articulating words.
But why? Migraine with aura causes
Amigrainewith aura doesn’t just feel worse. They even concern the experts.Researchshows that experiencing aura during your migraine episodes doubles your risk for problems like ischemic stroke.
The tricky part is that researchers are still unclear on why some folks experience auras before their migraine attacks. Most theorize that an aura is precipitated by vascular changes orcortical spreading depression— basically, a wave of disrupted brain activity —that occursin some neurological disorders.
Expertsdo know that visual auras stem from the brain’s occipital lobe. The cortical spreading depression might then travel to other parts of the brain, triggering intense head pain.
More research is needed to fully understand the link between auras and cortical spreading depression. While we don’t know exactly why someone might experience a sudden increase in migraine with aura, we do know these are common links:
It could be hormonal
If you’re a woman who gets migraine attacks with aura, hormonal shifts could be part of the problem.Researchfrom 2012 revealed that women tend to have more or more severe migraine episodes during times of hormonal change:
It could be environmental triggers
Anyone who gets regularmigraine attacksknows that stress,lack of sleep, and even some foods can trigger the dreaded pain.
These samemigraine-inducing factorscould invite an increase in auras:
It could be a medical condition
Remember how cortical spreading depression might trigger auras? Well, they’re also associated with other neurological conditions.
One of these conditions or experiences could explain a sudden increase in migraine with aura.
Make it stop! Here’s how to find relief
A head-splitting migraine ismorethan enough, thank you very much. Add in an aura and you’re left wondering what you ever did to deserve this (hint: nothing — no one deserves these).
There’s stillso muchwe don’t know about how migraine with aura happens, butresearchersdo offer a few treatment techniques for migraine attacks in general.
Prevention meds
Docs often recommendongoing medicationsfor folks who experiencefrequent or severe migraine episodes— with or without auras. There are a few differenttypes of preventative medications. Note that they’re prescribed off-label (for uses other than their OG purpose).
Pain relief meds
Already in the middle of an aura-meets-headache meet-cute? Here are some common migraine relief methods.
Can you prevent migraine with aura?
Not really. Remember, researchers are still working to pinpoint the exact cause of migraine with aura. That makes it impossible to recommend a sure-fire prevention method.
But there are worthwhilemigraine remediesfor general prevention.
When to call the doc
There’s nothing like a migraine to suck the life and fun out of your day. In most cases, it’s best to rest easy, avoid bright lights, and wait for sweet relief. But these red flags warrant an urgent call to your doctor:
