I have the zigzaggy lines and blind spots, followed by inability to see, remember my own phone number, or put together a coherent sentence. I didn't get a migraine until I was about age 30 (I am now 57 and otherwise in excellent health) and the first time I experienced the aura it freaked me out and I thought maybe I had a detached retina. I made an emergency appointment with my optometrist and he found nothing. The second time I had one I thought maybe I was having a stroke! My daughter has had migraines since age 4, and that's what made me think maybe what I was experiencing was migraine. I took my daughter to doctors and even got an MRI for her before they diagnosed migraine. My daughter took imetrex throughout high school and then started on topomax. She has had 2 or 3 a month. I have them only every 2 or 3 months, and I have learned that if I take a fioricet when the aura first starts it will go away within about 15 minutes and the headache will be just a dull but bearable pain. I can also take a sudafed and an excedrin if I don't have a fioricet. My migraines are manageable and I have learned to just wait out the aura, even if I'm at work. If necessary I just tell people to understand I may seem a bit incoherent for a while.

Yes, I have an aura that lasts about 20 minutes before I get a migraine headache.

I have had migraines since early childhood. I know all my triggers; it has taken 60 years to figure them out. The only trigger I cannot control is rapid increases and decreases in barometric pressure. Chemical odors, chocolate, hard cheese, alcohol all trigger my migraines. I take Maxalt 20mg when desperate for relief.

I am 36 years old and have migraines all of my life and have auras with them for as long as I can remember. Various doctors tried various medicines and even a form of physical relaxation therapy, but nothing ever really seemed to help. The best preventative was to ensure that I got enough sleep and avoided the triggers like MSG the best I could. However, as I have gotten older, my auras have changed from just being "floating spots" to tunnel vision or hearing, stronger sense of small or these episodes where I get dizzy and I feel like I am going cross-side and my eyes feel like the roll into one. I have been told that because I do have this aura that it puts me at a higher risk to suffer a stroke.

I started having migraines with aura since childhood, about 10 years old. I am 49 now, and still have them. I think a fall I had at school started it all. I get the visual aura first. It starts at the center of one eye, then move to the outer edge of that eye. The migraine starts shortly after, and in the opposite side of my head. The auras are the zigzag lighted lines and prisms. They change in size and shape until gone. Sometimes I get the pins and needles in the pinky finger. I also get nauseous and have mild diarrhea at times. Taking pain meds and rest usually helps, but my main help is prayer to God. He keeps me from being so scared and panicked. I am currently looking at natural remedies like the butterbur extract, to help bring relief and hopefully cure. Drinking lots of water and exercise is a great start.

I have had migraines since I was 10. I usually experience blind spots and flashes about 30 minutes before the real pain of the headache sets in - just enough time to get home from work before the dizziness, loss of balance and vomiting sets in. I also experience light and noise sensitivity. From the time I experience an 'aura' to the time I manage to fall asleep is usually about 5 hours.