frequent bad migranes(migraines)

my girlfriend is 18 she has been having really bad migranes (migraines) about twice a month, it starts by her seeing orange dots everwhere wich grow and grow untill she can barly see much only through the gaps between them, then a few minutes later she gets a really bad headach and neck pain and gets really sensitive to light and sound. is this normal i guess? were just worried about what it is caused by, brain tumer or just a normal sort of thing or what, and also if it can be treated... anyone got any answers?

[dame_wilbur]

it sounds to me like a variation on an aura, which is perfectly natural in a migraine. I myself see green starts that get bigger, so it's similar.
I'd say that going to see a doctor would be well advised, just to CYA. It's possible that the doctor would be able to give your girlfriend an abortive medication to take at the first sign of the migraine to try and stop it from getting bad.

Good luck, and keep us posted.

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi
Welcome to the forum!
What your girlfriend has is probably a visual aura of the actual migraines. The ocular symptoms can precede or accompany a migraine.
The other possibility is a retinal migraine. This can cause repeated episodes diminished vision or blindness. This may precede or accompany a headache.
There are many medications available, both to decrease the visual symptoms and to decrease the intensity and frequency of pain. These headaches should be treated by an experienced neurologist. Your friend may also need to consult an eye specialist.
This does not look like a tumor in the brain. The neurologist will be able to confirm this for you.
Please let me know if there is any thing else and do keep me posted. Take care!

[marileew]

Hi!

Like dame_wilbur and doctornee medical said... if your girlfriend is having migraines she should see a neurologist to get diagnosed and to get proper migraine medication like triptans which can completely stop the migraine for most people!

Migraine is a neurological disease that is NOT caused by anything like a brain tumor!!!! Migraine is the NAME of a neurological disease. It is caused by over-excited neuron activity in the brain, that is called cortical spreading depression... or for people who experience migraine without aura sub-cortical spreading depression. Cortical spreading depression just means that the area of the brain, specifically where vision is controlled, gets really excited and over-active for a brief period and then it gets tired for a brief period... and that is what a migraine physically is, and that activity of the neurons is what causes the symptoms such as "seeing spots" and also what causes the pain and inflammation. There is also temporary dysfunction of some cells in the brain stem as well during a migraine and that is why your girlfriend might experience some other symptoms... such as sensitivity to light or sound. But it is all temporary and everything returns to normal AFTER a migraine. Having migraine attacks is kind of like having epilepsy or something... it's just something that a person has to live with, and when the person is not having an attack, everything is normal, but when they have an attack, things are obviously not so normal... but those attacks can be controlled with medication and also by avoiding triggers.

People are born with migraine, usually because someone in their family had it too. It is a neurological disease that is genetic. You can't "catch" it from someone and you can't cure it either... but you can control it and some people can control it so well that they never get migraine attacks at all. But, yes, lots of people have migraine and I'd go so far to say that for most people with migraine it's pretty "normal".. when migraine becomes chronic it can be a very disabling disease that can affect a person's life greatly... but for most people it is a very manageable condition that can be managed by trigger avoidance and using triptan medication when an attack comes on.

It would be good if she kept a migraine journal so that she tracked how many migraines she got and what she thought might trigger them (example: chocolate, coffee, cheese, bright lights, stress, seasonal allergies, MSG, etc.) that way should could avoid some of the triggers. And it would also be good if she made an appointment with a neurologist so that she could get a neurological exam to confirm the diagnosis of migraine and so that she could get acute migraine medication called triptans to use during a migraine attack.