Migraine is a common neurological illness with a variety of symptoms. It is much more than a bad headache. Because migraine can leave you in bed for days due to severe throbbing pain. In this article we are going to discuss about the common symptoms of migraine headache.
Headache is an almost universal experience. It is one of the most common symptoms in medical practice. Headache symptoms are unpleasant, disabling and common worldwide. But when it comes to migraine it is far more than a simple headache. Migraine is a combination of several symptoms. Therefore proper diagnosis of migraine is paramount.
There is a popular phrase called ‘ Prevention is better than cure ‘ by a Dutch philosopher Desiderius Erasmus in around 1500. It is now a fundamental principle in modern health care system. It is well applied when it comes to migraine. Because still there is no cure for migraine. All are symptomatic treatment options for migraine. If you have some idea about it you can prevent migraine triggers. So having a good knowledge in migraine is very important nowadays.
Symptoms of Migraine
Headache
Most common symptom is unilateral headache lasting from hours to days. Usually migraine headache lasts for about 4 hours to 4 days if untreated. So it is not just a simple headache. It appears as a unilateral headache usually involving the eye. Later it may extend to your entire head. And also migraine headache is a throbbing type pain with moderate to severe intensity. It is also sensitive to motion. Headache may worse with head movements or physical activity.
Activation of trigeminal pain neurones is the basis of migraine headache. Trigeminal nerve is the main sensory nerve in face and head. It has three divisions. First division innervates upper part of face and head together with large intracranial vessels and dura in the brain. Releasing of Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), substance P and other vasoactive peptides cause stimulation of this system. Peripheral and central sensitization of trigeminal neurones and brain stem pain pathways makes otherwise innocuous sensory stimuli. It is the reason for unilateral, severe throbbing headache.
Photophobia and Phonophobia
Photophobia is also a common symptom of migraine. It is eye discomfort in bright lights. In another words difficult to tolerate bright lights. But migraine is not the only illness which having photophobia. For some people it is not due to any disease. Severe photophobia may occur due to eye problems like acute iritis or uveitis, corneal abrasion or ulcer, glaucoma and burns to eye. Some drugs such as amphetamine, atropine, phenylephrine, trifluridine, tropicamide and cocaine also cause photophobia. Central nervous system infections such as meningitis and encephalitis are the other serious diseases which cause photophobia. So it is very important to differentiate correct disease before the proper treatment.
Phonophobia is also seen in migraine. Phonophobia is fear or discomfort for the sounds. Everyone is usually uncomfortable with loud sounds. It is normal. But in phonophobia the tolerance for sounds is significantly reduced. This means sounds that generally not uncomfortable will be very discomfort in phonophobia.
There are people having low threshold for sounds by nature. It is not an illness. But it is not like that in migraine. Migrainers with phonophobia usually found very difficult to tolerate their environment. They usually prefer a quiet, darkened places.
It is important to know that there are some other causes for phonophobia such as anxiety and meningitis.
Nausea and Vomiting
Nausea and Vomiting are very common symptoms of migraine. Patients often feel loss of appetite with nausea and vomiting during and after migraine episodes.
So, what is the reason for this nausea and vomiting. This may be due to the connection between brain and the gut. We call it gut-brain axis. Usually there are signals conducting from brain to gut and also from gut to brain. This connects the central nervous system to enteric nervous system in gut via Vagus nerve. There is some involvement in this signal conducting system.
Some times vomiting does seems to alleviate or completely stop migraine headache. But exact mechanism for this is not known.
Aura – Symptoms of Migraine
Aura is an energy field around human, any other animals or object according to spiritual beliefs. Some describes it as the subtle body. However migraine aura includes temporary visual or other disturbances that usually occurs before other symptoms of migraine. Most of the time it is visual disturbance.
But about one third of people may have warning signs before a migraine attack. This is called prodrome or pre headache phase. Symptoms in prodrome phase include;
- Feel tired and more yawning
- Need to pee frequently
- Craving for certain food
- Constipation or diarrhea
- Mood changes
Migraine aura usually occurs half to one hour before the migraine symptoms. And it lasts around one hour. But it is not always associated with migraine. There is a migraine type called ‘migraine with aura’.
Most people develop temporary visual disturbances. Those disturbances usually develop in the centre of the visual field and spread outward. Following are some examples;
- Blind spots (also called scotomas)
- Flashing lights
- Zig-zag lines that gradually float across the visual field
- Vision loss in part of one or both eyes
- Rarely visual hallucinations – seen things that aren’t really there
Other than sensory disturbances there may be other types of disturbances.
- Numbness or tingling sensation over the face or hand
- Muscle weakness
- Difficult to speak
- Stuffy or runny nose
- Sensitivity to sound, touch, smell or motion
- Dizziness
Other symptoms of migraine
Apart from above common symptoms there are some non specific migraine symptoms. Those symptoms are not frequently reported.
Some people experience neck pain or body aches during migraine episodes. Also after an acute attack you may feel confused and washed out. Sometimes sudden head movement will bring the pain back.
Finally, as a summary, there are several migraine symptoms you have to know. Most common symptom is unilateral severe throbbing like headache. Apart from that you may have photophobia, phonophobia, nausea and vomiting and aura. And there are some non specific symptoms as well. As there is no permanent cure for migraine, prevention of migraine is better than the cure.