bright light - head pain - lost vision

I am not sure if this was a migraine. I was taking Chantix a med to stop smoking. I took a 1/2 mg for a week and lost some hearing. Actually I had hearing but was like I had cotton in my ears. When I started 1mg, I had bright flashes of light. One day at work I saw visions of colored swirls. A sharp pain kept stabbing the back of my head on the right side. When my right eye lost vision, I blinked and rubbed my eye and it came back. When I lost vision, it was like a grey shade covered my retina. I quit taking the meds. My head is still tender from all this. Rubbing my neck helps but it causes low ringing in my ears.

Boy do I sympathize with you.I have had a lot of strange things happening to me lately in my search for a med that works for my migraines. The type of migraines that I have,I get the visual disturbence or aura in the beginning,before the pain hits.I have to tell you though,I have never been able to rub it away.Or blink and its gone or anything like that.When I was younger ,12 to 22 ,the aura was in the peripheal"spelling?"vision of my eyes ,with no real shape to it.But for the last few years,i'm now 32,it has started as almost a perfect ring of flashing light,although sometimes it is kind of a zig-zag line.Anyway you slice,it's a freaky experience.IT has always lasted for about 20 min. or so.Then the pain starts.What you discribed sounds a bit different from any migrain that I've heard of.I hope this has helped you a little and I wish you luck.