How many BAVs have migraine aura?

[Kristen]

I have migraine headaches and they started when I was in elementary school. I would get the aura and then a headache and nausea and it would last for one to three days. Now I don't get them as much, I'm 45, but I still get them and sometimes just the aura with no headache. I have tried different medications and none of them helped, so I just suffer through. Hopefully after surgery they will disappear!!

 

[BicuspidBuddy]

My husband has a BAV with moderate/severe aortic stenosis. He is 53 now, and around age 30, he started to get migraines (mostly ocular), where the ocular symptoms last only less than 1 minute, sometimes followed by headache and sometimes not. The frequency is variable: sometimes not for months, and sometimes a few times per week. They have not changed in frequency over the years, but the intensity of symptoms is much, much less at present.

 

[JeffM]

Update from my last post before my AVR in Aug '08. OK, as long as this thread is still alive, since my surgery a little over 3.5 years ago, I virtually never get migraines with pain, but what I do get is very frequent migraine related symptoms that include aura, double vision, dizziness, numbness in a part of my mouth (very rarely and for no more than 30 - 60 sec). I saw a neurologist a year ago about these symptoms and because I get them often several times a day, the medications typically prescribed to treat the symptoms were out of the question. You just can't take that stuff that frequently and expect your body to function. So he put me an anti seizure medication Zonisamide (Zonagran) and it has cut down on the frequency and length of the symptoms. Since I have not been happy with that neurologist (another story for another day), I just saw a new one, who pointed out to me that a possible trigger for my migraines might be the Nexium (40Mg) I've been taking since, oh, around the time of my Aortic Valve Replacement surgery and the timing of which seems to at least coincide with the increase in the increase in my migraine frequency. I'm not totally convinced this is the trigger, especially since so many of us BAV'ers seem to have suffer from migraines; however, if it helps me reduce the frequency, I'm all for it. So, what I learned, for any of you who may also have a GERD problem, is that Nexium is the worst offender, among the Proton Pump Inhibitor (PPI) group of acid reducer drugs in triggering migraines. Who knew?? Would have been nice if my first neurologist had looked at the bigger picture and at least considered this possibility. So, I just today switched to a less potent PPI Lonasopril(sp?) 15mg to see if my migraine symptoms reduce. We shall see. If that doesn't work. The next step will be to try Topomax, which has proven more effective as a migraine preventer among the anti-seizure drugs used off-label.

 

[drc98]

I had my first migraine aura 6 years ago, which shocked me initially, then it becomes a annoying routine, roughly once a month, more frequently during Spring and less likely in winter.
I have av stenosis, currently at 1.2

 

[Carol]

I also have optical migraies. I do not remember when they started...maybe 50 years ago when I was having 3 children.At that time they were followed by a very painful headache. Some times I have them 4 or 5 a week, usually in the afternoon.They last about 30 minutes.I have AV stenosis, currenly at 1.1.

 

[SheldonGrunwald]

I have BAV and started getting migraine auras sometimes with headaches sometimes without at around age 20. After my surgery in January I started getting the auras daily, sometimes more than once a day. They have tapered off since then but still happen once a week or so. Exercise seems to be a trigger for me, but I also get them without exercise