How many of you used to have eye migraines prior to xPAP?

[Bonnie]

I had them before and have them now, frequently. I looked for all kinds of correlation with food, environment, etc. The only thing I came up with is stress at work. It seems I get them more often there, sometimes 2-4 a day. Can't change jobs but do a lot of stress reducing exercising. Now if I could only get rid of a few people there.......

[Slartybartfast]

I've had classic migraines since the age of 13. As I've aged, their frequency has become much reduced, and now Tylenol Migraine handles them just fine. I've had both the classic and the ocular type. CPAP use didn't have any noticeable effect on either their frequency or severity.

[meissen]

Yeah unfortunately it looks like I jinxed myself. I had an eye migraine last night and since then my sharp, less-than-a-second, random stabs of sharp pain in my temple is back. But I also feel pretty tired yesterday and today -- I've been fighting my damn mask through the night again so I'm frequently waking up through the night having to adjust the mask to stop the face farts.

[Slartybartfast]

The pain is usually on the side of the head opposite the aura. If you're having stabbing pains behind the eye, might it be time to consult a neurologist? It could be something else is involved. I'm thinking detached retina or something with the optic nerve.

[meissen]

I actually had an eye migraine while in the sleep doctor's office - they do neuro work there but I'm not 100% sure if she's a neurologist. In any case when I told her she didn't seem that concerned. I've told my eye doctors before and they likewise said it was just from staring at a computer screen too long. Oddly enough, yesterday I wasn't looking at a computer screen at all since I was in an all-day work training session.

[ems]

I actually had an eye migraine while in the sleep doctor's office - they do neuro work there but I'm not 100% sure if she's a neurologist. In any case when I told her she didn't seem that concerned. I've told my eye doctors before and they likewise said it was just from staring at a computer screen too long. Oddly enough, yesterday I wasn't looking at a computer screen at all since I was in an all-day work training session.

Something is not right. I would find another doctor... a neurologist who specializes in migraine headaches. Ask around. Don't just go to anyone. I would ask your family doctor if they could recommend someone. Migraines aren't life threatening, but they can be debilitating. The faster you get to the bottom of this the better. I haven't read this entire thread so sorry if I missed something along those lines.

[RogerSC]

I don't know if they've decreased due to cpap, that would be just a guess, but since I know from experience that stress causes them, I'd have to say that cpap hasn't had much effect on them.

For every event your body goes into stress mode, flooding your system with stress hormones. Added to that is that life events are harder to deal with and more stressful if you are already tired. So yes cpap therapy has a lot to do with it.

I understand your point, but tiredness was not one of my symptoms before CPAP. I had other symptoms, but tiredness during the day was not one of them. I'm sure of that, especially after reading all the postings in this forum from people who had problems focusing at work or on everyday functioning that the classic tiredness was not one of my problems. I did very well at work, doing a job that required focus on details, and ability to foresee potential problems (computer programming and software release engineering), hardly ever felt sleepy unless there was a reason for it. So this may apply to others, but I don't think that it applied to me.

[Kitatonic]

Just a few months prior to being diagnosed with severe OSA, I had my first "migraine-equivalent" a 15 minutes experience of wavy lines and flashing lights. Edging to age 60, this was alarming, even though I knew it was a migraine without the headache, and my doctor agreed, but we did not think of OSA. Started CPAP, and not another one. Adrian Peterson was diagnosed with OSA due to severe migraines.

Migraine sufferers are higher risk for strokes. I do think that the brain changes from apnea increase our risk for both migraines and strokes.