Imagine this: You’re walking through your kitchen when suddenly your hand looks massive. The countertop stretches out like a funhouse mirror. Your voice echoes in a strange, slowed-down way.

For a few deeply confusing moments, your body, your surroundings—even time itself—feel warped and wrong.

If that sounds familiar, and you also live with migraines or chronic headaches, you might have experienced something called Alice in Wonderland syndrome (AIWS).

AIWS is a rare but real neurological phenomenon, often linked to migraine activity, especially migraine with aura. While it sounds whimsical, it can be jarring, isolating, and even frightening—especially when layered on top of an already exhausting migraine life.

What Does AIWS Feel Like?

AIWS causes temporary perceptual distortions, often just before, during, or after a migraine attack. For many people with migraines, it can be part of the aura phase—that window of strange, sensory symptoms that come before the pain even hits.

Common Alice in Wonderland Syndrome symptoms:

• Micropsia – objects appear smaller than they are

• Macropsia – objects seem unusually large

• Body distortions – your hands may feel giant, or your legs too short

• Sound changes – noises seem far away, slowed down, or echoing

• Time perception shifts – seconds feel like minutes or vice versa

These distortions are not imagined—they are well-documented. According to a review in the International Journal of General Medicine, AIWS includes visual, somesthetic, and temporal illusions and has been notably associated with migraine aura episodes.

Migraine: The Most Common Trigger

While AIWS can also be caused by infections, seizures, or brain injuries, migraine is one of the most frequent and well-documented triggers—especially in adults.

In fact, a 2020 case series published in The Journal of Pediatric Neurosciences noted that migraine was the most common cause of AIWS in their study group, even more than infections.

AIWS is more likely if you:

• Experience migraine with aura

• Had migraines beginning in childhood or adolescence

• Live with chronic migraine or headache disorders

• Notice symptoms during the aura or prodrome phases of your migraine cycle

For some people, the first sign that a migraine is on the horizon isn’t a throbbing pain—it’s a shifting room, warped perception, or a feeling that your limbs don’t belong to you.

Why Does This Happen with Migraine?

Migraine is a neurological event, not just a headache. It affects sensory processing in the brain—especially in areas that interpret vision, space, time, and body awareness.

In people with AIWS, the brain’s occipital, parietal, and temporal lobes appear to be disrupted—regions already known to be involved in migraine auras. A study in Cortex highlighted that these same brain regions are active during AIWS episodes.

Just as a migraine can cause flashing lights or tingling skin, it can also cause your visual and spatial perception to “glitch.” AIWS is essentially another kind of migraine aura—just one that doesn’t get talked about as often.

You Are Not Imagining This

Many people with migraines feel unsure whether they should mention these strange symptoms to a doctor or loved one. They fear sounding dramatic, or worse—delusional.

Here’s what you need to know: You are not imagining it. You are not alone.

AIWS is rare, but well-documented in migraine literature, especially among children and adolescents. According to research in Pediatric Neurology, AIWS is frequently underdiagnosed, especially when patients don’t have the words to describe what’s happening.

What Can You Do If You Experience AIWS?

Start by talking to a neurologist, especially if you already manage migraines. Describe what you’re seeing and feeling, and don’t shy away from the surreal details—they’re medically significant.

If your AIWS is tied to migraine, the treatment is usually focused on migraine prevention and management.

Migraine & AIWS Care Tips:

• Work with a specialist – Consider a headache neurologist or migraine clinic

• Track episodes – Note symptoms alongside your migraine diary

• Hydrate and nourish – Dehydration and low blood sugar can be triggers

• Reduce sensory input – Rest in a dark, quiet room

• Try grounding techniques – Gently name five things you can see, touch, smell

• Prioritize rest – Fatigue is a major trigger for both migraine and AIWS

• Join support communities – Especially ones focused on migraine auras

Many patients find that preventive migraine treatments, such as medications or neuromodulation, reduce both traditional migraines and AIWS episodes.

A Gentle Reminder

If you’re reading this and thinking, “That’s me. I’ve had this. I thought it was just me,” know how valid that feeling is.

AIWS can make you feel untethered from reality. And when you already live with chronic migraine or daily headache, that’s another layer of invisible weight to carry.

But you are not alone in this surreal experience. There’s a name for it. There’s science behind it. And there are others out there who know exactly what it feels like to look in the mirror and not be sure if your face is the right size.

Summary

Alice in Wonderland syndrome may sound like a strange fairytale condition—but for those of us with migraines, it’s just another form our symptoms can take. And like all things migraine, it deserves understanding, care, and community.

You’re not overreacting. You’re just a human with a highly sensitive brain doing its best to make sense of a loud, bright, unpredictable world.

And if no one else says it today: You are doing an amazing job living with something incredibly complex.