On December 6th, 2002 I woke up early to finish my gothic literature take home final. It was the fall semester of my junior year of college, and like many English classes, the final consisted of a take home essay. While looking at the laptop screen something seemed off. I noticed my vision was a little fuzzy, and words immediately to the right of the cursor were difficult to see. I had to tilt my head and look a little ahead of the word to properly read it. At first I thought it was the screen resolution, but then other things were fuzzy as well. I assumed I had just slept funny, maybe my eyes were just tired, and left my room to take a break, watch a little TV and make breakfast. I put an egg on to boil, and before reaching for another egg, noticed I couldn't see the first that I had dropped into the pot. It was as if the pot was empty. It wasn't until I sat down on the couch that I really noticed that I couldn't see anything on the right side of my vision. Everything was hazy and bright. I could see the same thing with each eye and was in no pain, but for some reason I had lost my right peripheral vision.
I picked up the phone and called Health services. Losing vision seemed like a very bad sign of something. When the woman answered I stifled my worries as best as possible, told her my symptoms and asked if I should be concerned. Rather than calm my fears, she sent a police escort. When I got to health services I told the receptionist that I had just called and been told to come down right away to which she promptly asked if I had an appointment, and when I said no, rolled her eyes and told me to take a seat. Thirty minutes later, when they were ready to see me, my vision had returned.
The experience was my first classic or ocular migraine.
The culprit was most likely Monosodium Glutamate, or more commonly MSG. It's a neurotransmitter that, in me at least, causes the blood vessels in my brain to spasm, preventing the flow of oxygen. In the ocular or classic migraine, the blood vessels in the eyes are affected, causing loss of vision and glowing blind spots. Other triggers for me are stress, fatigue and certain chemical orders.
This wasn't my first migraine. In the past they were always of the common variety where symptoms include nausea, painful headaches, and intolerability towards light, sound and movement. When I get them, the only way to cope is to find a dark quiet place and rest. In my ignorance I just assumed they were really bad headaches, and chalked them up to low blood sugar and hormones. Like many migraine suffers, I went on the elimination diet to discover my food trigger.
MSG is in most prepared foods like chips and canned or dried soups. MSG is in most types of chicken broth and other cooking things that have a touch of extra "flavor." Just about anything dry, flavored or labeled "spiced and seasoned" has MSG. Stuffing mixes, nacho chips, and rice meals all had to go. Generally people realize that Chinese food is likely to have MSG, but forget about common ingredients that can carry the additive. Unfortunately, restaurant food produces are not under the same label restrictions by law. Even the most well-intention food staffer can not help if the ingredient list is not available.
If you are having migraines, remember there are usually several causes with likely ones being fatigue and stress. There is also a variety of environmental triggers such as certain sounds, lights and smells. If you think something might be a trigger for you, avoid it and see if your symptoms improve. It is important not to self medicate, as this can cause rebound headaches. More is not always better, especially with migraine. After my first ocular migraine my doctor prescribed 600 milligrams of ibuprofen (3 Advil) every 4-6 hours. But the dosage turned out to be too much, and I was in a constant migraine like state for a couple of days until we figured it out. Some people don't know about rebound headaches, and continue to over medicate and feed their migraine. If over the counter doses are not enough, speak to your doctor before taking more and never mix medicines, aside from the risk, you could be canceling out the benefits of each.
Medicine labels are also a little misleading. Often if something says "migraine" it has the same exact dosage of active ingredients, but also contains a small amount of caffeine. For some migraine suffers, caffeine can be a trigger. The type of medicine can be important too. Some people respond much better to acetaminophen (Excedrin). With migraines it’s not always what medicine you take, but when you take it as well as well.
I like to think of migraines as the sulky teenager of ailments. A cold will usually go away with any cold medicine, flues you can tough out, but migraines are temperamental and defiant. If you don’t cater to them, good luck shutting them up. What works for some will worsen others. Once you know what works, stick to it.