What Causes Migraines? – Migraine Symptoms

A migraine is usually an intense pounding headache that can last for hours or even days. The pounding or pulsing pain usually begins in the forehead, the side of the head, or around the eyes. The headache gradually gets worse. Just about any movement, activity, bright light, or loud noise seems to make it hurt more. Nausea and vomiting are common during a migraine.

Migraines may happen only once or twice a year, or as often as daily. Women are more likely to have migraines than men.

There are different types of migraine headaches. The most common types of migraines are classic migraines and common migraines.

Classic migraines (also called complicated migraines) start with a warning sign called an aura. These types of migraines are sometimes also called “migraines with aura.” The aura involves changes in the way you see. You may see flashing lights, colors, a pattern of lines, or shadows. You may temporarily lose some of your vision, such as your side vision.

You may also feel a strange prickly or burning sensation or have muscle weakness on one side of your body. You may have trouble speaking/communicating. You may also feel depressed, irritable, and restless.

Auras last about 15 to 30 minutes. Auras may occur before or after your head pain. Sometimes the pain and aura overlap, or the pain never occurs. The head pain of classic migraines may occur on one side of your head or on both sides.

Common migraines don’t start with an aura. For this reason, these types of migraines are also called “migraines without aura.” Common migraines may start more slowly than classic migraines, last longer, and interfere more with daily activities. The pain of common migraines may be on only one side of your head. Most people who have migraines have common migraines (they don’t have an aura).

Migraines without head pain, sometimes called “silent migraines,” may cause you to feel other migraine symptoms, but not pain. This means you may not the usual migraine pain around your eyes and temples. This type of migraine may even include an aura phase. You may also feel the same sensitivity to light and sound as with a typical migraine.

Hemiplegic migraines cause one side of your body to become weak, similar to having a stroke. These symptoms are only temporary. They are a part of the migraine attack. Areas of the body affected by the weakness may include your face, arm, or leg. The weakness may last from an hour to even days. It most often goes away within 24 hours. For this type of migraine, the head pain can come before or after the weakness. This type of migraine is rare.

Retinal migraines (also called ocular migraines) cause changes in vision that are not related to aura vision changes. For retinal migraines, symptoms involve vision problems or even blindness in one eye. These symptoms do not last long. They can occur before or after head pain. If you experience this type of migraine, contact your doctor.

Icepick headaches are not migraine headaches. They produce a stabbing pain around your eyes and temples. These stabbing pains may occur repeatedly in the same place or jump around to different areas each time. This type of headache can occur at any time and without warning. If you are a person who has migraine headaches, you are more likely to get icepick headaches, too.

Cluster headaches are not migraine headaches. They are rare headaches that occur in patterns, known as cluster periods. These periods can mean having a headache at the same time every day for a week or even a month. Cluster headaches can be extremely painful. They usually cause pain on one side of your head. This pain can be so severe that it makes your eyelid droop and your nose get stuffy.

Cervicogenic headaches are not migraine headaches. They are headaches caused by another illness or physical condition, usually a problem in your neck. Many times, this type of headache can be brought on by a sudden movement of your neck. You might also get a cervicogenic headache after keeping your neck in the same position for too long. You might notice more tightness or tenderness of your neck muscles. The pain can last for hours or days. It may be limited to one side of your head or face.

What does a migraine feel like?

The pain of a migraine headache can be intense. It can interfere with your daily activities. Migraines aren’t the same for everyone. Possible symptoms of migraines are listed below. You may have a “premonition” several hours to a day before your headache starts. Premonitions are feelings you feel a migraine is coming. These feelings can include intense energy, fatigue, food cravings, thirst, and mood changes.

Symptoms of migraines

Possible symptoms of migraines include:

• Intense throbbing or dull aching pain on one side of your head or both sides
• Pain that worsens with physical activity
• Nausea or vomiting
• Changes in how you see, blurred vision or blind spots
• Being bothered by light, noise, or odors
• Feeling tired and/or confused
• Stuffy nose
• Feeling cold or sweaty
• Stiff or tender neck
• Lightheadedness
• Tender scalp

What causes migraines?

Researchers do not yet understand all the factors that cause migraines. It appears they may be caused in part by changes in the level of a body chemical called serotonin. Serotonin plays many roles in the body and effects blood vessels. When serotonin levels are high, blood vessels constrict (shrink). When serotonin levels fall, the blood vessels dilate (swell). This swelling can cause pain or other problems. Another cause being studied is that migraine headaches go along with a spreading pattern of electrical activity in the brain.

Some research suggests there could be a heredity factor for migraines, meaning they may run in families. Researchers have identified some genes associated with migraines. They are unsure why these genes impact some people more than others. The American Migraine Foundation reports that if one of your parents has migraines, there is a 50% chance that you will, too. If both of your parents have migraines, your chances jump up to 75%. Ultimately, migraines seem to be caused by a combination of factors: genetic, environmental, and lifestyle.

Women are more likely to have chronic migraines (migraines that occur 15 days a month or more). This is likely linked to hormones. Hormones fluctuate each month around the time of your period. They can also fluctuate if you are pregnant or going through menopause.

What are some migraine risk factors and triggers?

Some risk factors make you more likely to get migraine headaches. Other things may trigger a migraine.

Common migraine risk factors include the following:

Family history: You are much more likely to have migraines if one or both of your parents had migraines.

Sex: Women are more likely than men to have migraines.

Age: Most people have their first migraine during adolescence, but migraines can start at any age, usually before age 40.

Common migraine triggers include the following:

• Food and drink: Certain food and drink (see list below) may cause migraines. Dehydration and dieting or skipping meals may also trigger migraines.
• Hormone changes: Women may experience migraines related to their menstrual cycles, to menopause, or to using hormonal birth control or hormone replacement therapy.
• Stress: Stress may trigger migraines. Stress includes feeling overwhelmed at home or work. But you can also become stressed by exercising too much or not getting enough sleep.
• Senses: Loud sounds, bright lights (such as flashing lights or sunlight), or strong smells (such as paint fumes or some perfumes) may trigger migraines.
• Medicines: Certain medicines may trigger migraines. If you think your migraines might be related to your medicine, talk to your doctor. Your doctor may be able to prescribe a different medicine.
• Illness: Infections, such as the cold or the flu, may trigger migraines, especially in children.

Foods that may trigger migraines:

• Aged, canned, cured, or processed meat (including bologna, game, ham, herring, hot dogs, pepperoni, and sausage)
• Aged cheese
• Alcoholic beverages (especially red wine)
• Aspartame
• Avocados
• Beans (including pole, broad, lima, Italian, navy, pinto, and garbanzo)
• Brewer’s yeast (including fresh yeast coffee cake, donuts, and sourdough bread)
• Caffeine (in excess)
• Canned soup or bouillon cubes
• Chocolate, cocoa, and carob
• Cultured dairy products (such as buttermilk and sour cream)
• Figs
• Lentils
• Meat tenderizer
• Monosodium glutamate (MSG)
• Nuts and peanut butter
• Onions (except small amounts for flavoring)
• Papaya
• Passion fruit
• Pea pods
• Pickled, preserved or marinated foods (such as olives and pickles, and some snack foods)
• Raisins
• Red plums
• Sauerkraut
• Seasoned salt
• Snow peas
• Soy sauce

How are migraines diagnosed?

Your doctor can diagnose migraines by the symptoms you describe. In addition, your doctor will perform a physical exam. Your doctor might want to do blood tests or imaging tests, such as an MRI or CAT scan of the brain. These tests can ensure there are no other causes for the headache. You may also be asked to keep a migraine journal. This can help your doctor identify the things that might cause your migraines.

Can migraines be prevented or avoided?

Medicine to prevent migraines may be helpful if your headaches happen more than 2 times a month. You may want to consider this medicine if your headaches make it hard for you to work and function. These medicines are taken every day, whether you have a headache or not.

Preventive medications for migraines can include prescription drugs often used to treat other ailments. Anti-seizure medicines, antidepressants, medicines to lower blood pressure, and even Botox injections are some of the preventive medications your doctor may prescribe. Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) inhibitors can also help prevent migraines. They do so by blocking a gene-related peptide in your sensory nerves. This peptide is known to increase during a migraine attack, so blocking it can help prevent migraines.

There are also a number of non-medical treatments designed to help minimize migraine pain and frequency. One is an electrical stimulation device, which has been approved by the FDA. It is a headband that you wear once a day for 20 minutes to stimulate the nerve linked to migraines. Another non-medical treatment is counseling aimed at helping you feel in more control of your migraines. This counseling works best when paired with medical prevention of migraines as well.

What else can I do to prevent migraines?

While there are no sure ways to keep from having migraine headaches, here are some things that may help:

• Eat regularly and do not skip meals.
• Keep a regular sleep schedule.
• Exercise regularly. Aerobic exercise can reduce tension and keep your weight in check. Obesity can contribute to migraines.
• Keep a migraine journal to track what triggers your migraines and what treatments are most helpful.

Migraine treatment

There are 2 types of medicines for migraine treatments (abortive and preventive). One type, called “abortive,” focuses on stopping the headache from becoming severe and relieving the headache pain. You should start this type of treatment as soon as you think you’re getting a migraine. The other type, called “prophylactic or preventive” includes medicines that are taken every day to reduce how often headaches occur (outlined in the section above).

Talk to your doctor about which of these two types of medicine is best for you. Some people use both types. Nonprescription and prescription medicines that are used often or in large doses may cause other problems.

What medicines help relieve migraine pain?

For mild to moderate migraines, over-the-counter medicines that may help relieve migraine pain include:

• Aspirin
• Acetaminophen (one brand name: Tylenol)
• An acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine combination (one brand name: Excedrin Migraine)
• Ibuprofen (one brand name: Motrin)
• Naproxen (brand name: Aleve)
• Ketoprofen (brand name: Orudis KT)

People who have more severe migraines may need to try “abortive” prescription medicines. A medicine called ergotamine can be effective alone or combined with other medicines. Dihydroergotamine is related to ergotamine and can be helpful. Other prescription medicines for migraines include sumatriptan, zolmitriptan, naratriptan, rizatriptan, almotriptan, eletriptan, and frovatriptan.

If the pain won’t go away, stronger pain medicine may be needed, such as a narcotic, or medicines that contain a barbiturate (sleep-inducing medicine). These medicines can be habit-forming and should be used cautiously. Your doctor may prescribe these only if they are needed and only for a short period of time.

What else can I do?

To help manage your migraine pain, try the following:

• Lie down in a dark, quiet room.
• Put a cold compress or cloth over your forehead or behind your neck.
• Massage your scalp using a lot of pressure.
• Put pressure on your temples.
• Have some caffeine.

Living with migraines

Migraines can come on quickly, many times without warning. They can ruin your day—or even several days at a time. They can make you miss work, miss important events, miss out on fun. If you have recurring migraines, you probably feel like you don’t have total control of your life.

Work with your doctor to take back control. Keep a migraine journal. Document when you get migraines and what you were doing and eating. Keep a record of what the weather was like and if you were exposed to unusual smells or environments. Knowing your triggers can help you prevent migraines. You doctor also may prescribe different medicines or combinations of medicines. Doing this helps sort out which will be most effective for preventing migraines or stopping them when they start.

Discussion on migraines with Dr. Duren Michael Ready and Nick Haines

Talking about migraine symptoms, prevention strategies, and treatment options.

Questions to ask your doctor

• How can I prevent a migraine? Are there lifestyle habits I can change?
• What about medicine? Can migraines be cured?
• What are some possible side effects of migraine medicine?
• What should I be writing in my migraine journal?
• Will my child grow out of having migraines?

Resources

American Migraine Foundation 

National Headache Foundation

National Institutes of Health, MedlinePlus: Migraine

Funding and support for this material have been provided by The Allergan Foundation.

What You Need to Know

Written by Stephanie Booth

Medically Reviewed by Murtaza Cassoobhoy, MD on February 13, 2023

• What’s the Difference?
• What Are the Causes?
• How Are They Treated?
• Can I Prevent Chronic Migraines?

Most people who are prone to migraines get a painful attack once or twice a month. But if you have the condition known as chronic migraine, you get headaches much more often — 15 or more days a month for at least 3 months. These frequent and severe attacks can make living a normal life a challenge.

If you have migraines, you don’t need to be told how painful they are. They aren’t just a “bad” headache. Symptoms can include:

• Severe throbbing pain on one or both sides of your head
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Feeling dizzy
• Tingling in your face, hands, or feet
• Auras (seeing flashing lights, colors, lines, or shadows)

During a migraine, you might also find bright lights, sounds, touch, and smells painful.

Chronic migraine shares these symptoms. The difference is in the timing. To be diagnosed with this condition, you’ll have headaches at least 15 days a month.

Doctors are learning more about what brings on these headaches, which often run in families. Some are the result of changes in your brain chemicals. Abnormal brain activity is also involved.

Every person who has migraines has different triggers, but common ones include a lack of sleep, caffeine, and being under stress.

Most people who get chronic migraines are women. This may be because hormone changes are another well-known cause. These shifts happen around your monthly period, as well as during pregnancy and through menopause. Birth control can also play a role.

Both migraine and chronic migraine can be treated with the same drugs. These include medications that treat the pain and symptoms (like vomiting or nausea) as well as drugs that treat the underlying cause of migraine. In some cases, there are medical devices you can use to interrupt the headache. Still, no treatment is perfect.

Because of that, chronic migraines can take a toll on your personal life. If you get painful headaches for half of each month, you lose days of work or school and precious time with friends and family. It’s common for people with chronic migraines to also have depression.

Taking care of yourself every day may prevent your migraines from turning into a long-term problem. For instance:

Catch some ZZZs. Not getting enough sleep can trigger a migraine. Aim for 7 to 8 hours of rest each night.

Watch your diet. While caffeine can soothe your pain, stopping it suddenly is a common cause of migraine. Other common food triggers include MSG (monosodium glutamate), nitrates in cured meats like hot dogs, artificial sweeteners, and alcohol.

Manage your stress. Tension and worry are common triggers. Try to carve out a few minutes each day to do something you love, or learn to breathe deeply when you’re in the midst of a crisis. You might join a support group or talk to a counselor.

Have a meal plan. Fasting and skipping meals can trigger headaches. Try to eat around the same times each day.

Get moving. Exercise is a good way to ease your anxiety and stress. It can also help you get to, and stay at, a healthy weight. Since obesity raises your risk of chronic migraines, getting in shape is crucial.

Know your triggers. Not all migraines result from triggers. But if yours do, that set of triggers is unique to you. To learn what yours are, keep a headache diary. Each time you have an attack, write down details about what you were doing, how long the headache lasted, and how you felt before it started. This will help you begin to notice patterns — and avoid your triggers.

Be careful with your medicine. If you have chronic migraine, you’ll probably take preventive medications. If you get a headache anyway, you might be tempted to use what your doctor will call acute medicine. It’s designed to treat sudden attacks. But too much can lead to a problem called medication-overuse headache (MOH). The drug that’s supposed to stop headaches starts to cause them. You could wind up with a dull, constant pain every day.

To prevent this, try not to take any pain-relief drug more than two to three times a week or 10 times in the same month. If you think you’re having MOHs, talk to your doctor.

Don’t wait to seek help. If you can’t stop throwing up or have a change in vision, get emergency medical care. You should also get checked out if a headache lasts more than 72 hours, is severe, or if you have any new symptoms that are frightening to you.

Top Picks

Do you get migraines? – State Budgetary Health Institution of the Stavropol Territory Regional Center for Specialized Types of Medical Care No.

1

“Mens sana in corpore sana” –

We must strive to

so that there is a healthy mind in a healthy body.

Roman poet Juvenal

Do you get migraines?

Headache ranks third among neurological diseases in terms of material costs, after dementia and strokes. About a third of patients suffering from headache experience it for more than 15 days a month (chronic headache) and are forced to take analgesics, says Ekaterina Sakharova, Associate Professor of SSMU, neurologist-cephalologist .

Migraine has been known since ancient times, many famous people suffered from migraine. So, Isaac Newton, Anton Chekhov, Lewis Carroll, Richard Wagner, Frederic Chopin suffered from excruciating headaches. Tell us more about her, please.

There are two types of migraine: migraine with aura and migraine without aura. In about half of patients, the precursor phase (prodrome) first occurs, manifested by irritability, depression, fatigue, and sometimes an increase in appetite. One third of patients with migraine have an aura. Before a headache attack, various symptoms appear, lasting no more than an hour, then a phase of excruciating headache begins. Aura symptoms can be different, the most common visual aura is the appearance of various blind spots, flashes of light, zigzags before the eyes. There may be sensations of crawling, numbness of half of the body. In rare cases, migraine occurs in which transient weakness in the limbs develops. Migraine is characterized by headaches in half of the head, throbbing in nature, with nausea, vomiting, accompanied by light and sound phobia. A change in the side of the headache is typical, when one side of the head hurts more often, but sometimes the other. In the absence of a change in the side of pain, additional examination is required to exclude other causes of the disease.

An analysis of the factors that provoke migraine is of great importance in the prevention of migraine attacks. The patient needs to keep a headache diary, where it is important to note the frequency of attacks, drugs taken to stop an attack, factors that provoke an attack. For example, weather conditions, overwork, motion sickness, fasting, excessive physical activity, taking certain foods, taking oral contraceptives, dates of the menstrual cycle in women. A subsequent visit to the doctor with such a diary will greatly facilitate the work of a specialist and allow you to analyze the risk factors that provoke migraine.

By visiting a specialist, you can choose the most appropriate therapy for each patient. In the case of chronic migraine, when attacks are more than 15 days a month, or with more rare attacks, but significantly disrupting the patient’s life, preventive treatment is indicated as prescribed by a doctor.

What danger signals should the patient be alerted to when a headache occurs?

Primary forms of headache significantly reduce the quality of life, but, in most cases, do not threaten the patient’s life. It must be borne in mind that, in addition to the primary forms, the patient may have secondary forms of headache, which are symptoms of serious diseases. Such diseases include strokes, meningitis, encephalitis, head injuries, diseases of the ENT organs, eyes, and others. Therefore, when a headache appears for the first time in your life, you should immediately contact a specialist. Especially if there are changes in the nature of the headache, its increase during physical exertion, sexual activity. And also at elevated temperature, the appearance of weakness or numbness of the limbs, impaired speech, vision, confusion or memory loss, a history of oncological pathology.

What is the prevention of headaches?

“Foods containing substances that can provoke headaches should be limited in the diet. These include (monosodium glutamate) sausages, chips, fast food, aged cheeses (tyramine) tea, coffee, chocolate, red wine (tannins), smoked meats, some vegetables (nitrates), dried fruits (sulfites). To determine which foods cause headaches in a particular patient, it is necessary to keep a headache diary, where the relationship of the foods taken and the headache should be noted. Given that tension headaches and migraines provoke stress, learn to relax. If tension and stress are not relieved in time, headaches become more frequent and become chronic. Yoga, music, massage, gymnastics contribute to relaxation (relaxation). For people suffering from tension headache, these techniques effectively help. It is necessary to observe the sleep and wakefulness regimen, as well as nutrition. Low blood glucose (hypoglycemia) is known to trigger migraines. Therefore, people with migraine need to eat regularly. It is also necessary to have a sufficient amount of sleep, but at the same time, not to sleep until lunchtime. The so-called weekend migraine is described. Tension headache and headache with cervical osteochondrosis are provoked by prolonged muscle tension while in an uncomfortable position, often when working at a computer, therefore, to prevent headaches, it is necessary to take breaks from work and do therapeutic exercises. Avoid the abuse of analgesics, this can contribute to the transition of a headache into a chronic one.

05/25/17. Igor Dolgosheev,

communication specialist

Not Just a Headache: 8 Signs You’re Having a Migraine

• Health

These excruciating attacks have little to do with ordinary headaches. However, often people continue to simply endure these terrible sensations, not even knowing how dangerous their condition is.

October 18, 2022

Source:

iStockphoto

An excruciating, severe, poorly controlled headache that can last from several hours to several days is a migraine. Unlike an ordinary headache, this one frankly interferes with life – in this state, a person can rarely think and think sensibly.

Some lucky people get migraines a couple of times in their lives. Others face attacks almost every month. Migraines are devastating and cannot be treated with regular paracetamol or ibuprofen. WHO contributed migraine in the TOP-20 diseases that cause significant disability . And for women, it is in the TOP-10 – they suffer from migraine 3 times more often than men. According to doctors, this is due to hormonal changes in estrogen. The most “dangerous” periods from this point of view: pregnancy, menopause, as well as periods before and after menstruation.

“Those who experience migraine only sporadically usually drop out of life for 4-8 days a month,” says Dr. Cathy Munro of the UK’s National Migraine Centre. – If a person has chronic migraine, then he experiences at least 8 days of the attacks themselves and more than 15 days of headache per month.

Often an attack begins with the so-called migraine aura – a complex of symptoms-harbingers of a worsening condition. Dr. Munro named other signs that a migraine is on the way. At the same time, she emphasizes that symptoms can either follow a consistent pattern or change from attack to attack throughout a person’s life.

Throbbing pain

This is the beginning of a migraine attack in most people. At first it is a dull aching sensation, but gradually the pain increases, turning into a debilitating pulsation in the head. It becomes stronger with movements and can greatly interfere with normal life.

Stiffness and pain

As the migraine progresses, the cervicotrigeminal nerve system is activated. It is a collection of neurons outside the central nervous system. Because of this, pain signals move to the brain, as well as to the neck and shoulders, causing additional discomfort. This area can become sensitive, and the neck muscles will be tense.

– The reverse scheme also works – neck pain can provoke an attack, – the doctor warns.

Fatigue

“Fatigue is a common symptom of migraine onset,” says Dr. Munro. – The person becomes lethargic, often yawns. After an attack, there may be the same condition.

By the way, poor sleep, spikes in blood glucose and dehydration can cause fatigue, followed by a migraine attack.

Read also

Nausea and vomiting

According to doctors, these symptoms appear due to the slowing down of the intestines during a migraine. This, by the way, is another reason that painkillers do not help well – the process of their absorption is slowed down.

By the way, some people (usually children) may have abdominal pain as part of an attack. This is called abdominal migraine.

Disorder of the sense organs

This is exactly the same migraine aura. It begins no more than an hour before the onset of the headache phase. An aura is experienced by about 25% of migraine sufferers.

– The aura usually consists of visual disturbances such as zigzags, flashes of different colors and lights, blind spots, says Cathy Munro.