silent but annoying

I think I had a migraine today. And yes, I’m aware that being able to say “I think” in that sentence makes me luckier than many. I was dizzy on and off for most of the morning, but it wasn’t like the vertigo I’ve had before; it seemed to come in random waves, instead of predictably when I tilted my head. We had a full day of work today (almost) so that made the whole morning lots of fun. Around the time the lunch bell rang (really) I noticed the dizziness had faded, but then a lot of my vision went away, quite suddenly. It’s like tunnel vision, except instead of darkness around the edges it’s more like an afterimage from looking at the sun, and it was around my left eye a bit and obscuring at least half of my right one. I would have really liked to go home right then, but Rudder couldn’t leave early and I didn’t feel quite bad enough to go get a cab. It made going to lunch extremely interesting, because we go a confusing way through the underground garage. It also made it a bit tricky choosing food (which I didn’t recognize anyway) and making sure I didn’t lose sight of my coworkers, because it’s even harder to recognize what table they’re at when everyone in the cafeteria as the same general coloring. Also I didn’t want to eat too much for fear I’d be queasy later.

Eventually the tunnel vision faded and the whole thing receded into a minor but nagging headache. I think it was a ‘silent migraine’ (at least, a very quiet one) because the dizziness and the afterimages do sound a lot like a migraine aura. It was quite unpleasant all told, but it’s hard to complain much when it’s so clearly obvious how much worse it could be. (Having to deal with utterly strange food on one’s second actual day in the office in a foreign country doesn’t help, though.) I might have had another tiny quiet migraine when we drove to Oregon last summer – slightly upset gut, stiff neck, having to pee every half hour, moderate headache. I haven’t had the visual effects for a few years, though; I hope there doesn’t seem to be some food or odor or climate factor here that triggers it for me.

Before anyone worries, the first time it ever happened I did go see a doctor, who referred me to a neurologist. He suggested low blood volume as a possible cause; I was hiking when it happened, but I think I was fairly well hydrated. The silent migraines are my own guess, but anyway, the doctor did rule out anything serious.