Hi All,?
I have had right sided migraines with and without aura's since I started BCP in my 20's.? My NAION is in my right eye.?The headaches (HA's) have lessened after menopause (I am now 61) but still persist.? Aura's usually not present anymore.? Anecdotally, while hiking on vacation 9 days before my NAION episode, I experienced a bad altitude HA.? The HA resolved but did persist intermittently for the next several days but not at the same intensity.
?
?
2 days before my NAION episode I did note some blurring/rippling in my visual field that resolved.? It is this area that is now affected permanently so in hindsight something was already going on within my eye.? On the day of my NAION episode I had a massage.? While prone with my head was resting in the cradle, I suffered eye pain/pressure in my right eye which resolved with repositioning.? (I've had massages for over 30 years due to a back issue and never experienced eye pain with a massage prior to that day).? That evening, several hours later, I noted the visual defect in my right inner eye that persists to this day.? My ophthalmologist told me there may be a connection between crowded optic disc and venous congestion leading to compartment syndrome and NAION but most of the time the cause of our NAION is unknown (as we all know).? He?advised me to avoid laying my head in a massage cradle and to try and avoid exercises when I work out that would have the blood pooling in my head.? I think that is a reasonable suggestion.? He did suggest that I may want to pursue better control of my HA¡¯s.??
?
Something upset the eye¡¯s autoregulation, I will never know for sure.? I suspect it was a combination of many factors that led to my NAION episode, a "perfect storm" so to speak.? I too suspect there is a relationship between have migraine HA and NAION, perhaps it sets us up for developing NAION (along with our crowded eye structure).? Hopefully there will be more research in this area.???
