Migraine headaches

[Neto]

I'll try to make a list of the different symptoms I have experienced over the years, and would like to hear if anyone else gets these same ones, but especially if there are medicines that you can say have really helped you.

SYMPTOMS:
Simulating scotoma
Other sudden visual disturbances, such as blurred vision with the sensation of bulging eye balls, usually accompanied by dizziness, anywhere from mild to very severe
Headaches, anywhere from vague lingering pain to debilitating pain
Sensitivity to light
Dizziness; sudden on-set, lasting for a minute or so before it subsides. Anywhere from slight dizziness, to staggering dizziness accompanied by nausea, inability to function in any normal activities
Sudden & extreme thirst, usually persisting for hours

Comments:
I was first diagnosed with migraines when I was 17 or maybe 18. At that time my symptoms were mainly simulating scotoma (seeing flashing "neon" lights in jagged patterns much like a Navaho blanket) and extremely bad headaches, the kind that make a person just sit & cry.

Since then I generally no longer have the severe pain anymore, but still get the visual disturbances. These "light shows" usually last around 45 minutes. Before, as that time came to an end, the headache started. Now the visual problems usually just fade away (at about the same time length), and I just have a low grade headache, sometimes for several days, but not like before.

My wife was talking with another patient at her eye appointment last week, and the other woman told how her husband started acting irrationally, and that testing indicated that it was what they call a "silent migraine" - one that has no pain with it. Today when I suddenly got the "bulging eyeball" deal I realized that I also had the feeling of sudden thirst. Then in thinking about it more, I realized that that is the one symptom I always experience (as near to always as I can remember).

So I'm wondering if others here face this, and if so, what other symptoms do you see?

(Today, following the bulging eyeball sensation, I felt disoriented, and could not remember how to do very common tasks. This disorientation varies in intensity, sometimes it is just a vague sense of confusion, almost like deja vu, but other times more severe, like this afternoon.)

Back in HS, when I was first diagnosed, I was given a prescription for Cafergot, a caffeine product. But one episode required taking 10 pills, and you had to start within a half an hour of on-set. I didn't carry it with me all the time, so I seldom could take the first dosage within that time frame. (I don't think I ever refilled the prescription after they ran out.) During those early years with this issue, the only thing that seemed to help was to lie down in a completely dark room.)

I appreciate all comments or suggestions. This afternoon I felt really disoriented. It's not a fun feeling.