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Ocular Migraines and Simple Partial Seizures
Mon, 05/12/2008 - 08:30Hi Everybody,
About three years ago I had my first ocular migraine. It started out as a small blank spot in the front of my vision and then spread out to my peripheral vision. I had a blind spot and sparkling lights for about 20 minutes. During this time I also had trouble reading, which scared me, so I went to the hospital. They told me I had experienced an ocular migraine so they sent me home.
After about 6 months I had another similar experience and then went another year before having another. Althogether, I have only had 3 of these migraines.
After my first migraine, however, I started noticing that almost daily I would see a single black dot in the center of my vision when I'd blink. It lasts about 10 seconds and then disappears. Eventually, I got nervous enough to go to the neuro about it and she tested me for epilepsy.
My EEGs (30 min and 24 hour ambulatory) came back slightly abnormal, but other tests (MRI, corotid artery) were totally fine. I am currently taking 500 mg of Keppra 2x day but am still seeing the black dots. They seemed to disappear when I wasn't stressed out during the summer, but have reappeared this year (I'm in a one year Master's program and am job hunting, etc. so I'm really stressed!!)
Does anyone have anything similar to this? I'm going to call my neuro today to see if it's strange that the dots haven't disappeared. She said that it could only be simple partial seizures or migraines. Any similar stories would be appreciated!
-April
Re: Ocular Migraines and Simple Partial Seizures
Submitted by catsamu on Mon, 2008-05-12 - 13:18
I've had several of these ocular migraines too. I never get a headache with them, but the first time I had one it scared me so much because I had no idea what it was and I thought I was having a stroke. I also see black dots in my vision, that are different from floaters which I see all the time. It never occurred to me that they could be a seizure.
I was diagnosed with TLE about a year ago, but I've probably had it most of my life. I suppose the ocular migraines might actually be seizures, but they could be just migraines, too. I actually had a small one the other morning, where my vision started breaking up into semi-circular areas that made it hard to read. They usually last about 20 minutes to a half hour.
I take 1000 mg of Keppra twice a day, and it helps with the seizure related stuff, but the fact that I still had an ocular migraine the other day makes me think that it's different from the seizures and doesn't respond to the Keppra. At least I hope that's what's happening and not that the Keppra isn't working any more!
Deb
I've had several of these ocular migraines too. I never get a headache with them, but the first time I had one it scared me so much because I had no idea what it was and I thought I was having a stroke. I also see black dots in my vision, that are different from floaters which I see all the time. It never occurred to me that they could be a seizure.
I was diagnosed with TLE about a year ago, but I've probably had it most of my life. I suppose the ocular migraines might actually be seizures, but they could be just migraines, too. I actually had a small one the other morning, where my vision started breaking up into semi-circular areas that made it hard to read. They usually last about 20 minutes to a half hour.
I take 1000 mg of Keppra twice a day, and it helps with the seizure related stuff, but the fact that I still had an ocular migraine the other day makes me think that it's different from the seizures and doesn't respond to the Keppra. At least I hope that's what's happening and not that the Keppra isn't working any more!
Deb