Ocular Migraine?

[emgscot51]

Has anyone ever heard of anxiety attacks being caused by ocular migraine?  And accompanied by the Alice in Wonderland syndrome?

  

I have suffered from anxiety attacks for more than 25 years.  I get at least one a day and they can last for hours.  When they first started I found a great psychiatrist and saw her four more than 4 years.  We found and dealt with many problems but the anxiety continued.  She thought there could be some physical cause and I had an EEG and glucose tolerance testing.  The results were inconclusive so we stuck to Valium.  



When I moved to the US 15 years ago, I saw a doctor and went through my usual spiel about why I wanted a script for Xanax.  He said that because my anxiety symptoms did not include heart palpitations, I did not have anxiety attacks.  He said I have ocular migraines.  He gave me a sheet of paper that listed all of my symptoms – including the ‘Alice in Wonderland’ syndrome.  I’d never told anyone about that one because I was sure they’d just lock me up.  The AIWS causes me to feel like I’m very small or very large compared to my surroundings.  This happens often when I go to bed.  Sometimes, when I’m walking, I feel like I’m 10 feet tall and there’s no way my feet can reach the ground, or I feel like I’m walking in a trench.

Since I moved from Los Angeles, I haven't been able to find a doctor who agrees with my old doctor.

All the antidepressants and anti-anxiety drugs I’ve tried have made my symptoms worse.  Caffeine makes them worse.  Nyquil is a nightmare. After surgery I preferred the pain to the painkiller.

I managed to stay employed through all of this until this year.  The attacks haven’t really increased in severity but I’ve just run out of the strength it takes to deal with them constantly.  

[Roger Gould, M.D.]

I have heard the term ocular migraine but have never encountered an alice and wonderland syndrome as you suggested.  I recommend you ask this same question to the neurology division of med help because this is something outside of my experience, and they are more likely to have some first hand information.



If I can find out anything more, I will post it next week.

[Giblett]

I suffer from them too. I get the lightning bolt lines in one eye, then my vision goes. Pretty scary.  I find that I get them when I am stressed or drink too much coffee.  Went to my eye doctor and he diagnosed them, so I wear my glasses alot more. I too use to have anxiety attacks, but haven't had one in 10 years.

I got and read the book, "Anxiety Disease" by Dr. David Sheehan. He is also the one who treated me. It is a wonderful book.  Good Luck!

[schip]

About two years ago I had several episodes of what I now know was ocular migraine. The first time I had it, it scared the living day lights out of me. Thought I was going blind forever. Had a heart attack. A stroke. So many things passed through my mind... The episodes lasted about three months, then never came back. They would come on slowly, reach a peak in about two minutes, then very slowly disappear, in about twenty minutes. About half of my field of view would be gone, covered with gray nothingness, except there would be not- too- bright lightning flashes superimposed on the gray background. Had my eyes checked, but we never found out what was the matter. During the first episode I was pretty anxious, but the anxiety had a sharp focus: I was going blind. During later episodes I had already prepared myself by reading up on ocular migraine on the Internet, and did not worry too much about the episode concluding without damage in less than an hour. I wish you good luck.

[kgray]

I just had my first ocular migraine and thought I was going to die. What causes them? Did I mention I have extreme disabling anxiety. Do these ocular attacks cause brain damage?

[rae48]

I am a 48 year old woman and can certainly empathize with what you're feeling.  I have been diagnosed with anxiety disorder which I've treated pretty successfully with Lexapro.  However, since I've started menopause, I've experienced these vision losses that are extremely troubling.  I can physiologically feel when they are about to occur.  It starts with a head rush that you feel after you stand up too quickly.  Then my vision blackens out in my left eye--much like looking through a really dark x-ray or something.  When my vision starts to return it's as if I've looked at a huge flashbulb--that kind of effect anyway is the best way I can describe it.  MRI's have shown nothing--opthomologists say my eye health is fine.  After these episodes--which are beginning to occur more frequently--I certainly knock the top off the old stress meter.