Exhausted after Ocular Migraine?

Many patients report feeling exhausted after ocular migraine – but first we need to discuss what ocular migraine actually is, since it’s an outdated term.

Recently I wrote in particular about ocular migraine without headache, a term which may refer to retinal migraine, but perhaps more likely migraine aura without headache.

In other words, ocular migraine is a term that could be used to describe any kind of migraine with includes a visual aura.

These types of migraine are very common.  Most often they’re accompanied by the migraine headache we all love to hate, but sometimes there’s no headache at all – simply the visual aura.

If you’re feeling exhausted after a migraine attack, it might help to know that you’re not alone!  "Migraine hangover" (that is, the way you feel after migraine, even when no alcohol is involved) is a very common symptom.  Sometimes this is called a postdrome symptom – something that comes after the peak of the attack (the part that usually includes the headache).  This phase could last many hours, or even more than a day.

There are two key things you need to think about when it comes to the migraine hangover:

1. Don’t do anything crazy  It’s easy for people to try to suddenly get back into life, or take too much medication, or eat something they shouldn’t, during this phase of the migraine attack.  Be careful, and go slow – you don’t want the attack to come back.
2. Treat the whole disease.  The best way to deal with this feeling of exhaustion is to treat migraine disease as a whole, not just the way you feel at the moment.  Find a good doctor or specialist who knows your medical history, and discuss your options.  Be sure to talk about as many symptoms as you can – not just headache (if you have one).

Feeling exhausted after a migraine is only one of many symptoms.  Read more about migraine symptoms here.