What to do about severe aura symptoms

October 17, 2009

Some migraine patients are more disturbed and disabled by migraine aura symptoms than by the headache itself. Some people do not even have pain but only auras. In the majority the aura is visual and consists of squiggly lines, flashing lights, distorted vision, or partial loss of vision on one side of each eye. Less often people experience numbness of one side of the body, dizziness, or vertigo. These symptoms are sometimes more difficult to treat than the pain. Anecdotal reports suggest that a blood pressure drug belonging to the family of calcium channel blockers can help. Another medication that has been reported to be effective (also only in case series and not double-blind trials) is an epilepsy drug, lamotrigine (Lamictal). The effective dose of lamotrigine varies from 100 to 500 mg day, while verapamil is usually effective at 12-240 mg, although in some patients only much higher doses are effective.

Written by
Alexander Mauskop, MD
Continue reading
March 26, 2026
Alternative Therapies
Lidocaine-Based Treatments Offer Another Option for Severe Migraines
This post explains how lidocaine, beyond its traditional use as a local anesthetic, can be given by IV or directly into the middle meningeal artery to help break severe, treatment-resistant migraines, with early studies showing promising relief and generally mild, manageable side effects.
Read article
February 16, 2026
News
Potential big news for the 40 million Americans with migraine.
It is long overue to make triptans available without a prescription, like in the rest of the world.
Read article