Ocular migraine issue

[marek760]

I have the same problem as you Beau, the first time it happened about 5 years ago, sometimes these migraines happen twice a month or a week and sometimes once every few months, usually last about 15-20 minutes usually in the evening and from what I remember always in my left eye.
I do not use glasses and have good eyesight, I think the main problem is reading to much on the computer and focusing too much on the screen, which makes my eyes very tired.
When it starts I usually lie down I close my eyes and try to relax.
I hope you feel better soon.

 

[woneill1701]

If it happens again, one easy test for whether it is eye-related or a migraine is to close the eye on the side of the disturbance, or keep both eyes open and fixed on a spot, and then try to move your hand around until it Is behind the disturbance.

If it is a problem with your eye, your vision of your hand through the other eye will not be affected.

If it is a migraine, the disturbance will affect both eyes the same.

Plus, if you experience pain or throbbing, it will typically be on the other side from the disturbance because the left side of the brain processes and controls the right side of our senses, and vice versa.

 

[hiker]

Hi Beau. Sorry to hear you have been suffering from ocular migraines.

Ah yes, the website I found is called: Endmyopia - Improve Your Eyesight With Science & Habits

It's aimed at general vision improvement, some people claimed to have restored their vision doing it. I'm not sure if it works but I've been able to reduce my presciption over the year, so I think there is something to it.

One of the things they recommend, which I did find very helpful, is to get a pair of weaker glasses for doing computer work. They say that one of the causes of eyestrain (and worsening vision) is that we use our full strength (ie, long distance correction) for doing close up work. Most people tend to be overcorrected which in turn causes eyestrain when doing close up work because your eyes need to work harder to change focal planes while wearing glasses designed to give sharp vision at a long distance. The term they use is called "ciliary spasm".

So, in order to ease the eyestrain, one would wear a pair of glasses that allows you to see just up to where your screen is located clearly. Beyond that it will be blurry but less so. This typically tends to be about -1 to -1.5 diopters less than your full strength glasses.

I suggest at least getting a basic understanding of the theory before getting a pair of close-up glases, however. There is a lot of information available there but the site itself isn't as organized as it could be so I recommend visiting the wiki instead: EndMyopia Wiki

I agree with fabric, plus additions for monitor and other close work would be a good idea. Having simply a separate "normal" (cheaper) reading glasses of lower minus values, for example -1.75 (+2.00 addition in the plus direction from -3.75), would be able to reduce eye strain produced by the close work.

I have found opthalmologist Viikari's work fascinating: she was able to "restore" myopic eyes and improve people's migraines and other autonomic nervous system originated symptoms, that were caused by accomodative fatigue. Personally I received improvements quite soon once I switched to using both separate reading glasses and distance glasses with plus additions. My sight improved by about a dioptre (from -4.25 to -3.00 in the left eye and from -3.75 to -2,75 in the right, roughly)

I posted about the topic in a different thread:

It might sound somewhat strange, but one thing affecting migraines could be the "accommodation strain" of the eyes, especially in people over 40, when the "presbyopia" starts to affect. (Apologies for taking the thread off topic.)

From this age and increasingly onwards, the lens of the eye becomes less and less flexible. The ciliary muscle (controls the accommodation process of the eye) has to work harder to make the lens change its refraction to see objects up close (reading). As the ciliary muscle is linked directly to the ciliary ganglion and further to the autonomic nervous system, "overworking" the muscle (reading a lot, looking at computer screens, doing close work, etc) can cause migraines and headaches.

So, wearing appropriate reading glasses could alleviate migraine symptoms.


Most people have hyperopic eyes, meaning the eyeball is "too short". They say that the eyes have been designed by nature to be like this. Hyperopia enables the eye to see better in dark conditions: so called "night myopia" phenomenon.
In night myopia, the eye becomes somewhat nearsighted in dim light.

If the eye was perfectly "round" (emmetropic eye), when looking to the distance, the ciliary muscle would not have to constrict, it would be in a relaxed state. In daylight, the vision would be 20/20. But when the light dims, "night myopia" would start to affect, and objects in the distance would become blurry. Due to night myopia and the changes it causes in the lens, objects in the distance are focussed in front of the retina in the round/ emmetropic eye, hence the blurriness.

With the too short (hyperopic) eye, the ciliary muscle has to constrict when looking in the distance (and even more so when looking at objects up close). However, the too short eye would not be affected by night myopia: as the focussing point for objects in the distance moves forward within the eye, and as the eye is "too short", it manages keep the focus on the retina and see clearly far.

This type of eye was understandably at an advantage during paleolithic times. During modern times though, with all the reading and computer/ smartphone work, it is at a disadvantage, especially when the lens starts to become less flexible with age. The ciliary muscle becomes "strained" and in susceptible people headaches, migraines and other autonomic nervous system ailments can ensue. Simple reading glasses (in the "plus" direction) could help.

It is a complicated and simple concept at the same time!

Here is some further information (unfortunately the pictures don't seem to work at the moment):

kaisuviikari.com

(Ophthalmogist Kaisu Viikari had loads of migraine patients flocking to her practice, and she was able to "cure" their migraines and headaches by only prescribing them approriate glasses. She describes the process in her books.)

Accommodation spasm of the eye: major ramifications


On the other side of the coin, the accommodation strain can become a "cramp" and cause a "pseudomyopia" of the lens of the eye (aka school myopia). This cramp could be released and vision restored by using plus glasses for reading. If minus glasses are prescribed as is usually done, the person sees clearly in the distance, but the young malleable eye can grow in anatomical length, causing irreversible, true myopia.

Even in older years when the eye has become irreversibly myopic, the worsening of the myopia can be stopped by wearing glasses that have "plus additions". People can experience improvement of vision at that stage too, if there has been pseudomyopia involved in the "total" myopia (total myopia = pseudomyopia of the lens + anatomical true myopia).
And of course, headaches and migraines and other autonomic nervous system originated symptoms could improve.

https://youtu.be/YiuC7a1lkrk

Reading Viikari's books, it seems that particular person's eye refraction is always in motion, it is not set in stone. One day the refraction can be this, the next day it can be different! For example, my brother was prescribed minus glasses while in school (I don't remember the values, maybe -0.75), but he found them uncomfortable to wear so he ditched them. Later he visited an ophthalmologist, and he stated that my brother had perfect vision and does not need distance glasses at all!

Viikari was also highly critical of cylindrical values, as they too are never constant. Instead she favoured the spherical equivalent:

kaisuviikari.com/accommodative-astigmatism/

The formula for changing a combination lens into the spherical equivalent =
the dioptric value + cylindrical value divided by 2

One thing that can be done, when one feels a migraine attack is imminent, is to try the "fogging method".

Looking in the distance with considerable amount of plus additions, will start to release the strain in the ciliary muscle and maybe make the migraine more tolerable. There should be enough plus additions, so that you can not make out any details in the landscape (e.g. trees), maybe +3.00 or +4.00 would be enough. If I remember correctly, Viikari mentioned in one of her books that +6.00 addition in the plus direction, is the "maximum" when the fogging is done on your own. She mentioned also, that one should not do it for too long, maybe 10 minutes(?), as it can "backfire".

I highly recommend checking Viikari's website. She passed away last year, but the person who maintains the website said it will be upheld until the unforeseeable future. (The maintainer commented that the website was hacked and virus-infected. Moving the website to a different platform, the pictures disappeared, but eventually he is planning to get them back online.)

www.kaisuviikari.com

 

[Beau]

Having simply a separate "normal" (cheaper) reading glasses of lower minus values, for example -1.75 (+2.00 addition in the plus direction from -3.75), would be able to reduce eye strain produced by the close work.

Would that still be necessary even though I don't need glasses to read? I see just fine up close without corrective lenses, like reading a book. But with astigmatism in both eyes and nearsightedness, I can't see my computer screen without glasses.

 

[jhonny]

So sorry to hear about your ocular migraine issue, Beau.

I had been thinking the past few days about going to a carnivore diet for a spell, so might be time to go clean and let the system relax and heal.

I know going to a strictly carnivore may be hard. But unless you decide for a full carnivore, there is an approach with the less damaging/inflammatory plant food. This is a quote from the book The Carnivore Code by Paul Saladino:

If we do decide to include some plants while making animal foods the majority of our diet, which would be least toxic and less likely to trigger our immune system? In the following graphic, you'll find what I consider to be a spectrum of plant toxicity. I generally think of the least offensive plant foods as non-sweet fruits, including things like winter/summer squash, avocados, cucumbers (without skin or seeds), and olives, as well as seasonal berries. Squash, in particular, contains higher amounts of carbohydrates and will impede efforts toward ketosis if that's a goal. On the flip side, for those interested in incorporating carbohydrates into their diets prior to long, intense athletic efforts, squash might be a good option. Removal of skin and seeds from both squash and cucumbers decreases lectins significantly.

Also, as Séamas said, eating liver is crucial due to its retinol (active form of vitamin A) content.

I hope you get well soon.

 

[Laura]

I'll reiterate what Gaby mentioned: nicergolina which is called "Sermion." It's terrific stuff for eyes, ears, brain, etc. Another that may be more easily available is pycnogenol.

 

[hiker]

Would that still be necessary even though I don't need glasses to read? I see just fine up close without corrective lenses, like reading a book. But with astigmatism in both eyes and nearsightedness, I can't see my computer screen without glasses.

If you feel that it is more comfortable to read without the -3.75 glasses, it is probably a sign that you "instictively" know that those "distance" glasses strain the accommodation muscle of the eye "unnecessarily": as the lens of the eye becomes less flexible with age, the accommodation muscle has to do more work as it tries to change the refraction of the more "rigid" lens, when looking up close.

I guess if you can't see the monitor without glasses (the computer screen is usually a bit further away when compared to a book), maybe then you would need a pair of "computer" glasses, with a little bit of minus values and correction of the astigmatism. Some people "decipher" prescription for the computer glasses, by wearing their normal glasses (e.g. -3.75), and on top of those they put these cheap plus glasses (+1.00, +1.50, +2.00 etc.), that can be bought from the local pharmacy, supermarket, and so on.

If +2.00 worn on top of -3.75 glasses would feel comfortable and the "best", then a -1.75 prescription might be a good fit.

I have to say however, that I am not a real expert in these matters, just have been doing some "trial and error" experiments (like the one mentioned above), and had a slight improvement in eyesight, etc.

 

[Beau]

I have to say however, that I am not a real expert in these matters, just have been doing some "trial and error" experiments (like the one mentioned above), and had a slight improvement in eyesight, etc.

I'm gonna look into getting the anti-fatigue lenses that Arwenn recommended which have a small part of the lens a little less strong in the lower portion of the lens to reduce eyestrain. Hopefully my optometrist can get them.

I also have an appointment with my primary care physician who will have the file from the eye doctor on hand and will do a basic checkup, physical, and maybe some bloodwork. I think the nicergolina is prescription only so I'm going to ask her to write me a script for it. I could only find it on some questionable sites that shipped from Russia.

 

[lilies]

can correlate with a B vitamin deficiency or an electrolyte imbalance among other things. Here's a list of foods that were traditionally used to treat "blood deficiency":

I can corroborate the apricot-cure [yellow, small fruit]. I got significantly improved eyesight after gobbling apricots a minute or two after picking them from the tree. Stuffed both of my pockets full with them. (Twice a day) I immersed them in a small bucket of cold water for washing them off. !!** Freshly picked from the tree **!!
I also got a surprisingly enhanced, noticeably improved COLOR DEPTH PERCEPTION, I could see & differentiate a lot more colors than normally, which surprised me. I make money as an artist.
I think however, that plant life-force is important that lingers in a freshly picked fruit: maybe plant consciousness activates / helps to assimilate the nutrients in the fruit more? I can feel it clearly and I think plant life-force directly energizes the body, the brain & nerves.

Taking a pause, away from the computer:
Its really important, I just mowed the grass - but to do that I had to assemble the freshly arrived lawn-mower. So that took time too. Now I'm sitting down before the computer and my blood sugar is super-low - I think - I feel unusually weak and to my surprise, after a week of blurry vision & significant worsening of sight, I can see clear again. So that must be definitely the going out and focusing on remote targets in the garden vs. close-focus on the monitor.
I can't wait to try out the excellent solutions proposed here!

Vision sharpening after exercise:
I do heavy athletic exercises (fasted sprinting too, essentially a Spetnaz-style "commando" training) with lots of sweating for 120+ minutes = increased breathing from the jogging and sprints + athletics. On those days - in the evenings - my vision gets the sharpest always, compared to the entire week.
The effect goes away after a day or two. I was pondering, WTH could improve my vision this much and what causes it to go bad again and now I have a new idea:
1. lengthy exercise stabilizes my blood pressure
2. which normalizes the fluids-pressure in the lymphatic system as well
3. As a result the pressure inside my eyeballs normalizes and it functions properly as a 'crystal-ball-lense' system.
4. Therefore my vision significantly improves
5. As I continue my sedentary lifestyle during the week (I only exercise once per week) - my blood pressure gets gradually messed up from lack of exercise and carbs ==> resulting in lymphatic system imbalaces and gradually worsening eyeball-pressure THUS this must be why my eyesight becomes Crappy Blurry Annoying AGAIN!

So this is my new hypothesis and its just an inspirational, intuitive idea. I never checked it out on the net, so far, but did it just now. Lo and behold, a white paper:
Lymphatics and Lymphangiogenesis in the Eye

 

[lilies]

Acupressure:

Someone must have brought it up on the Ocular Health thread. Basically your face - eyebrows, ridge, etc.. all around and just below your eye is full with nerve-pressure points. So I tried it out. Its painful. Pressuring nerve points with the fingers. Massage-wise anything painful refreshes the nerve paths in the body, probably improves energy flow and enhances signal-transmission in the nerves, thus improves vision.

I discovered that when I applied pressure right below the eye, It gave me crows feet or bags below my eyes: I guess at 47, my skin is getting old too.

Anyway, since I have a big, bony head that as a consequence has significantly more weight too, I developed a habit of bowing forward - while sitting before the computer - and resting just my forehead on the table. Then using the bigger than normal weight of my head, I gently roll my head left and right - letting only the eyebrow areas and the orbital bones support my head pressed onto to table: result is acupressure on some nerve-pressure-points around my eyes. Yay! :)

 

[fabric]

I'm gonna look into getting the anti-fatigue lenses that Arwenn recommended which have a small part of the lens a little less strong in the lower portion of the lens to reduce eyestrain. Hopefully my optometrist can get them.

Since you know your script, you could also try ordering from Zenni. That's where I get my glasses from and you can get a pair from as low as $10 - $20 and decent quality. I think they do bifocals as well but if you are just wanting to test, cheapest option is to get a separate pair for just computer work. In my case, I reduced my script from -3.25 to -2.00 and was able to see my screen okay (I sit about 60cm from my computer). I kept the cylinder portion as is and only reduced SPH.

I dunno if wearing bifocals is ideal for screen work because (depending on how big you screen is) you might find yourself having to adjust your neck a lot to keep the view within the lower portion of the glasses. At least, that would be the case for me. However, the glasses are cheap enough there that you could also get both and try out which works better for you.

One thing you will need that might not be on your script is "PD" (pupillary distance). Best is to get it from your opto but if they are unwilling to give it (they often don't want you buying glasses elsewhere) you can measure it yourself. This number is also important as I measured incorrectly the first time and it made the glasses uncomfortable to look at.

 

[Color]

I seem to be dealing with this problem and want to share on here in case anyone else is dealing with it and see if any of the resident eye people like @Lilou and @Arwenn have any tips or if @Gaby or @Keyhole can give me any other suggestions. So twice in the last few months I've had a distressing eye issue that lasts for about 30 minutes and then goes away. It doesn't arrive with any pain, but all of a sudden my eyesight gets blurry and what I can best describe as zig-zagging flashing lights, both in a central location. It happened a few months ago, and then this past Saturday when I was at work and couldn't do stop working because I was the only supervisor around it happened again and this time a headache followed it. Here's a few pics that I found googling which best show what I was seeing. It was like a combination of the two pics.

View attachment 37673

View attachment 37674

I had problems for few months during my highschool years with the blur in my left eye, exactly as the one in the first photo. Went to doctors, all checked fine and it eventually passed. Then few years ago I started to have episodes with the 'electric' one, as in the second photo, the first time it happened it completely freaked me out, it was like having a firework in my eye, but it didn't last long, max 30 minutes. It happened once again, after a year or so, for the same duration. Then, about year later I had it in my eye for almost 24 hours, that one really scared me. I thought it will become a permanent state or lead into some kind of seizure! I have no idea how I managed to go to sleep, but when I woke up it was gone.

I looked it up online back then, but had no idea how to properly describe it so didn't find anything similar. I didn't go to the doctor then cause I was living in a remote coastal town with no hospital near.

I do have very low blood preassure all of my life, something I learned to controle with my diet, enough salt, sodium, c vitamin and drinking only distilled water, especially during summer months, taking chlorella and being physically active keeps it under control so I don't faint, as I used to until 10ya. I concluded it's connected with that somehow, low blood pressure and stress at the time. I haven't had zigzags in my eye for 2 years now.

I am pretty used having strange medical occurrences since childhood, which doctors never managed to properly explain or help with (as a child I had sudden strong pain in my chest that would leave me breathless, sometimes it would last for days) and I learned to accept them and figure out on my own what helps. All of them eventually disappeared.

Chen Tai Chi helped me tremendously to connect with my body on some deeper level I couldn't before. And although I don't practice it for some time now I do the 'standing still' position whenever I feel my body's been overwhelmed. It initiates the shaking of the muscles relieving the stress, both physical, emotional and mental. Like EE it's very powerful.

As further we go on this journey of self discovery, our bodies are changing as well, it's good to check with doctors and get as much info as possible but also, don't fall into a trap of fearing or focusing too much on changes that might be just that- temporarily changes, adjusting of the body to our inner journey or to some outside influence. Do what you can but also trust your body's ability to fix itself. We often forget about that part, just a friendly reminder.

Keep us updated!

 

[Beau]

Since you know your script, you could also try ordering from Zenni. That's where I get my glasses from and you can get a pair from as low as $10 - $20 and decent quality. I think they do bifocals as well but if you are just wanting to test, cheapest option is to get a separate pair for just computer work. In my case, I reduced my script from -3.25 to -2.00 and was able to see my screen okay (I sit about 60cm from my computer). I kept the cylinder portion as is and only reduced SPH.

Not a bad idea. I have ordered before from Zenni, it's so much cheaper than ordering from pharmacies. But now I'm worried about the quality. The eye doctor said I should get lenses that are polycarbonate. Not sure if that is necessary or not, but I don't think there's a way to know what the lenses at Zenni are made of.

 

[Beau]

I do have very low blood preassure all of my life, something I learned to controle with my diet, enough salt, sodium, c vitamin and drinking only distilled water, especially during summer months, taking chlorella and being physically active keeps it under control so I don't faint, as I used to until 10ya. I concluded it's connected with that somehow, low blood pressure and stress at the time.

I do have a problem of forgetting to drink water. I practically need a reminder because if I'm not thirsty, I won't think to drink any. But then I'll go all day without drinking anything. I need to make a point of drinking plenty of salted water throughout the day to help my body.

 

[TheSpoon]

Hi Beau, yes I've had these - totally randomly as far as I could tell, it doesn't happen often enough for me to find a pattern. Lighting behind your monitor might be worth considering, so you're avoiding a narrow field of bright light in a wider field of darkness. I also keep my screen brightness as low as I can to still see it comfortably.

How are your stress levels?

My son experiences migraines, triggered by a number of things but MSG and artificial sweetener are definite no-no's for him and he's been almost migraine free for a year since we got him on daily magnesium citrate ...except for the time he got through two tins of pringles and he lived to regret that.