Positive emotional and cognitive reactions

Jayne d'Arcy, And She's Buying a Stairway to Heaven, 2005. "This is what I created after suffering a migraine." © 2005 Jayne d'Arcy (see here)

"To me, the weird effects of migraine are the most interesting part of this whole horrible thing. I don't get the light show others have been enthusing about, but it's amazing what your body can come up with."

(Melissa Schneider, Newsgroups: alt.support.headaches.migraine, Subject: weird migraine effects, September 19, 1998)

"I call prodromal symptom HAs 'classics,' which include auras. I am rather fond of them. Interestingly, I NEVER have them when I'm on any sort of antidepressant for prophylaxis. Then I only get 'common' migraines, that is, the ones without the free entertainment. See, I view my migraines as life just f***ing with me. And I like to get dinner and a show before I'm f***ed. Therefore, I prefer auras to no auras. However, unlike you chocoholics, I still haven't gotten a dinner..."

(Shisha, Newsgroups: alt.support.headaches.migraine, Subject: auras, January 27, 1999)

"My life is one big aura -- everything else happens in between the moments. Carol -- the sheer joy of being"

(Carol, Newsgroups: alt.support.headaches.migraine, Subject: auras, February 7, 1999)

"won.
wow, migraine is fun.
penny
one green flash, and then the headache and the aura."

(Penny Smith, Newsgroups: mensa.talk.misc, Subject: orf and his post from bryan reed cornell (what reed really said!), June 12, 1999)

"Sometimes just before a headache I see bulbous shapes in different colors, moving in lava-lamp fashion, actually rather gorgeous. Once I had an aura so strong I thought it was a spiritual experience."

(Julianne, Newsgroups: alt.support.headaches.migraine, Subject: Visual Disturbances, December 15, 1999)

"I LOVE this aspect of migraine -- the 'classic aura' complete with 'scintillating scotoma'... It's truly Nature's Wonderland of Visual Effects. Until the pain hits, of course."

(Catherine Yronwode, Newsgroups: alt.support.headaches.migraine, Subject: Visual Disturbances, December 15, 1999)

"the most interesting and complete descriptions of mystical experiences I've read so far (outside of Buddhist literature) concern migraine auras and other altered states that contain symbolic imagery. this imagery is far more profound than a typical non-discursive state and has a lasting impact on people, regardless of their beliefs prior to the aura. Even people who were and remained agnostic after such auras, still reported profound emotional impact from these experiences."

(Deborah, Yahoo groups INTJopen, message 1292, January 8, 2000)

Ginger Royal, Beautiful Migraine, oil on canvas (36" x 36"), 1999. © 2005 Ginger Royal [more]

"Just thought I'd share this, I've got a killer migraine aura that's just about to go critical, I can barely see the keyboard and I'll be a fetal ball in about two minutes, but if it wasn't making me nauseous and wasn't the harbinger of intense pain, this migraine aura would be rather pretty.

It's become a giant 'c' shape all around my left field of vision. All interlaced multicoloured swirling pinwheels, doing a sort of slow, tidal square dance. Like sea anemones mating in the waves... Quite beautiful.

Wish it wasn't going to be followed by hours of agony.

To beauty without pain. *sigh*

*crash*

Elaine"

(Elaine M. Brown, Newsgroups: alt.callahans, Subject: Migraine Aura, February 16, 2000)

"'Scintillating scotomatas' even the name is pretty."

(Randome, Newsgroups: alt.callahans, Subject: Migraine Aura, February 16, 2000)

"If it's any consolation, it is possible to have the beauty without pain. I also get what I've been told are classic migraine auras, usually when I'm under unusual stress, but I don't get migraine headaches. No one knows why."

(The Polymath (Jerry Holombe), Newsgroups: alt.callahans, Subject: Migraine Aura, February 16, 2000)

"Had my first migraine in thirty-five years three weeks ago. The spot of light, the bars then the shape like a < less-than symbol floating in midair... I took a benadryl and some pain reliever and managed to shortcut through the really bad pain to the exhausted sleep in only 15 minutes or so. I lay there in the dark before I fell asleep and watched the colors corruscate on the floating mark. Kind of pretty really when the pain is dull enought to admire it."

(Joyce Melton, Newsgroup: alt.callahans, Subject: Migraine Aura, February 17, 2000)

"Ya know, with all the 'fun' we have with the migraines, we could almost outdo 'Alice in Wonderland'. And we wouldn't even need the morphine."

(Mel, Newsgroups: alt.callahans, Subject: Migraine Aura, February 17, 2000)

"The best thing I have done is develope a coping mechanism. I just accept them as being a part of everyday life. *shrug* Oh, and try to enjoy the aura and assorted visual distortions."

(Solomon Fernblatt, Newsgroups: alt.callahans, Subject: Migraine Aura, February 23, 2000)

"Wow! This evening i had the wildest, BIGGEST, brightest scintillating scotoma i have EVER had -- it started out with little black box-like lines surrounded by glaring white edges, and it just grew into this AMAZING interlocking bunch of boxes and zig-zags. A real Class-A Hildegard von Bingen Masterpiece."

(Catherine Yronwode, Newsgroups: alt.support.headaches.migraine, Subject: The Big Aura!!!, April 17, 2000)

"Philip O'Carroll was 9 and out playing with friends when the vision first appeared: bright filaments floating before his eyes in a shimmering sea of light. 'I thought that either I was mad or touched by God,' says O'Carroll, a neurologist in Newport Beach, Calif."

(Benedict Carey, Migraines & M.D.'s - Doctors can offer sufferers (including themselves) lots of advice, no magic bullet, Los Angeles Times, cited by Stephanie, Newsgroups: alt.support.headaches.migraine, November 5, 2001)

"I, too, am a classic migraine sufferer... For me, zig zag patterns in blue and yellow; a horizontal line that cuts my field-of-vision in half and makes the top part out of register with the bottom; a sense that there is smoke in the air and the crescent shaped thingy that looks like it's composed of little cascading bars are all part of the visual phenomenon. If it weren't for the nausea and oh-my-gawd pain, it might be kind of fun."

(bristolz, halfbakery Visual Migraine Aura Simulation, May 27, 2003)

"My neurologist, who is also a migraineur, said that if it didn't hurt, people would pay for it."

(grecosartre, halfbakery Visual Migraine Aura Simulation, May 27, 2003)

"I enjoy my ocular migraines. They are pretty! I feel like Hildegard von Bingen! I want to show everyone the cool weird patterns."

(Catherine Yronwode, Newsgroups: alt.support.headaches.migraine, Subject: Optical Migraines, March 14, 2004)

"As a boy I grew up knowing my dad always had migraine headaches... I didn't think there was a connection though when he told me he saw ball lightning out the window, or that sometimes far away things seemed very close. It is just now that I have discovered many doctors feel there is a connection between experiences like these and the headache. I don't put much faith in the doctors though, when it gets right down to it. I'm sure they can help though of course. What is very strange though, growing up, is that all the adults around me would have aura like experiences as well. Not just my father. Now I even have experiences like this. Stranger still, none of us have migraines! I've read though that sometimes people have auras without migraines. My family though, and those I grew up around believed in these auras. To us the ball lightning were spirits, friendly spirits. I have experiences that might be described as auras many times, that always have positive effects in my life. For me it feels like, when an aura happens it is connected to moments of prayer that are followed by intense experiences that I cherish and will never forget, and many I have talked to feel the same. I do occasionally get headaches or other pain, but none such as intense as my father. I have found though that prayer always releases that pain... and have developed many other positive benefits from my aura. I don't know if any of you feel the same as I do about these auras, but I wouldn't ever want to discard them as neurological disorders of some kind... for me they are a blessing."

(Gr3mlin, Newsgroups: alt.support.headaches.migraine, Subject: Miracles..., May 27, 2004)

"You know... I used to get pre-migraine scotomas and some of the effects were quite spectacular... Strangely enough, I sort of miss them. The scotomas were a real adventure, and quite readily dissipated once I took medication."

(Franzine, Newsgroups: sci.med.vision, Subject: Light Flickers, August 4, 2004)

"Bless you, Edith, for this website. I am a new member of the 'S/S club', having only experienced them three times... twice in the past 13 hours. How nice to learn so much about S/S... and so very appreciative of dietary advice, etc. After reading these comments I am quite relieved about my new condition. Instead of worrying, I'm guess I'm just gonna sit back & enjoy the show! It is absolutley beautiful... such vibrant color and intricate patterns. Mine are backwards C shaped zig-zags. I guess I'm lucky... they are beautiful!"

(Anna, Edith Frost's webpage, March 23, 2005)

"I will probably draw fire for writing this, but it was Tom (who loves us) who first opened my eyes to the possability that some of us may actually (and subconsciously) welcome our migraines (except for the worst ones) because at the onset of a migraine there is, at least for me, a total loss of anxiety of any kind; a certain relief in the knowlege that we will be excused from the game for a moment. I differ from Tom, however. He believed that what I've just described is our central motivation ... I think it's only an artifact of the migraine."

(RKB, Newsgroups: alt.support.headaches.migraine, Subjects: What form do auras take?, June 26, 2005)

"Bob... that was one brave statement! I, too, admit to that small, tiny moment when I realize that I won't be accessible to the masses when 'it' comes a-bangin'. I have to add to this that I only began with that line of thinking after I found medications that put some control back in my hands. BUT... for the really BAD ones I ALWAYS end up with 'What the hell was I thinking!!' Thanks for being honest... it helped me be honest as well."

(Liz Spindola, Newsgroups: alt.support.headaches.migraine, Subjects: What form do auras take?, June 27, 2005)

"Welcome to Aura World! It can last for days with or without pain. I'm one of those ghastly people who actually like the aura because it gives me a clarity of thought and presence that is almost like an altered state. It's just a shame about the skull-splitting pain."

(Annec, Rondas Migraine Page, Migrainepage Discussion Forum, Subject: "My first aura?", December 19, 2005)

Masonic Boom, Heaven's Head, 2008. © 2008 Masocic Boom (larger image see here)

"A GK Chesterton quote I came across in John Barrow's "Impossibility" (The Science of Limits and the Limits of Science.)

This describes so accurately how I have always felt... (and why I'm a scientist and not a poet.)"

(Masonic Boom, Artist's webpage at Flickr, February 8, 2008)

References

Elliott RH. Migraine and mysticism. Postgrad Med J 1932; 8: 449-459.
Podoll K, Robinson D. Migräne und spirituelle Erfahrung. Ariadne, Aachen 2001.
West P. The lightning-rod man. The migraine headache as heuristic tool. J Gen Educ 1975; 26: 291-300. (Reprinted in: West P, A Stroke of Genius: Illness and Self-Discovery. Viking, New York 1995)

top