Migraine Symptoms and Stages You Need to Know About

Table of Content

• What is Migraine?

• What does a Migraine feel like?

• What causes migraine attacks?

• Migraine stages and symptoms

• Understanding Migraine so you can manage it

• Migraine Treatment

• How to handle weakness after a migraine attack?

• Foods that help with Migraine

• Take-Home Points

• FAQ on Migraine Symptoms and Stages

Introduction

Do you suffer from frequent headaches? There is a chance you might be suffering from migraine. Migraine is a neurological condition that frequently results in excruciating headache attacks along with other symptoms such as sensitivity to light, sound, smell, or touch.

Migraine is a neurological disorder that can generate more symptoms than just "very awful headaches."While severe, incapacitating headaches are a common symptom, other signs and symptoms may also include:

• nausea

• vomiting

• difficulty speaking

• numbness or tingling

• sensitivity to light and sound

Read further in this article to understand this illness better and know more about the stages, symptoms and treatment options.

What is Migraine?

Migraine is a type of headache that often affects one side of the head and can be extremely painful or pulsating. Extreme sensitivity to light and sound are frequent side effects, along with nausea and vomiting. A migraine episode can persist for hours or even days, and the pain can be so bad that it makes it difficult to go about your everyday activities.

Some people experience an aura, a foreboding symptom, before or concurrently with a headache. Visual disturbances like blind spots or light flashes can be part of an aura, as well as other symptoms including difficulty speaking and tingling on one side of the face, arm, or leg.

The illness can affect people of various ages and frequently runs in families. Males are less prone to develop migraines than are persons who are born with a female gender assignment.

Based on clinical history, reported symptoms, and the exclusion of other possible causes, migraine is diagnosed. Episodic versus chronic migraine headaches (or attacks) are the most typical kind, followed by those with and without aura.

What does a Migraine feel like?

Migraine discomfort is commonly described as:

• pulsating

• throbbing

• perforating

• pounding

• debilitating

It can also be really painful and feel dull and constant. The pain could at first be minor. But if left untreated, it can worsen from mild to severe.

The forehead region is most frequently affected by migraine pain. It often affects one side of the head, although it can also move or affect the other side.

A typical migraine attack lasts four hours. They can linger for up to a week if untreated or if they don't improve with treatment. Pain may coincide with an aura in a migraine with aura or it may never happen.

What causes migraine attacks?

There is no known definite cause of migraines, according to researchers. However, they continue to hold the view that the illness results from "abnormal" brain activity that alters brain chemicals, blood vessels, and nerve communication.

Numerous other migraine triggers are also frequently mentioned, including:

• bright lights

• severe heat, or other extremes in weather

• dehydration

• changes in barometric pressure

• hormone changes in people assigned female at birth, like estrogen and progesterone fluctuations during menstruation, pregnancy, or menopause

• excess stress

• loud sounds

• intense physical activity

• skipping meals

• changes in sleep patterns

• use of certain medications, like oral contraceptives or nitroglycerin

• unusual smells

• certain foods

• smoking

• alcohol use

• traveling

Migraine stages and symptoms

A migraine can be difficult, with symptoms that alter over the course of hours or even days. They frequently go through numerous phases:

• Prodromal phase (before the migraine)

• Aura phase

• Attack phase

• Postdrome phase (after the migraine)

Prodromal Phase: Early Signs of Danger

Many people may experience the following symptoms hours or even days before their migraine starts:

• Either abnormally excited and energized or depressed

• Easily irritated and peckish Cravings for certain meals

• sleepy and yawning a lot

• a greater need to urinate

These signs and symptoms preceding the headache can occasionally aid doctors in identifying the condition as a migraine.

Aura Phase: Strange Feelings Start

One in three to one in four migraine sufferers also experience a "aura" that precedes or coincides with the headache. Though that might not occur with every headache.

An aura may consist of:

1. Vision changes, such as:

• A jerky, uneven arc of light. It could have an intricate shape. Usually, it enters your field of vision from the left or the right. It could grow bigger over a short period of time.

• A visual blind zone in your line of sight. The flashing lights and this issue make it difficult to drive or concentrate on little items.

• You could "see" past images or experience hallucinations.

2. Skin sensations

During an aura, you could experience "pins and needles" or tingling throughout your body. Numbness may also result from it. Although they can impact any part of the body, these emotions frequently manifest on the hands and face. Over the following few minutes, they might keep growing.

3. Language Problems

You could find it challenging to communicate with people. Some signs could be:

• Having trouble expressing yourself verbally or in writing

• difficulty interpreting written or spoken words

• Confusion

• difficulty concentrating

Attack Phase: The Headache Begins

A migraine attack can last anywhere from a few hours to many days. You'll likely wish to rest quietly during this time and find it challenging to carry out your usual activities.

Migraine headache pain:

• generally starts above the eyes

• Usually just affects one side of the head, although it can affect both sides or even the whole head. The neck and lower face may also be impacted.

• feels like it's throbbing.

• may throb more intensely as you move around or lean forward.

• If you move about, it could grow worse.

Other signs that could appear around this time include:

• heightened sensitivity to scents, noises, and light

• Headaches and dizziness

• nausea and diarrhea

Postdrome Phase: After it stops

You might experience post-most-severe phase malaise for as long as a day. These post-migraine symptoms could present as:

• extreme fatigue

• Sluggishness

• Confusion

• Headache that worsens when you slouch, move fast, or experience a blood rush to the head

Both the frequency and severity of your migraines may alter with time. All of these steps might not necessarily be present in an attack. Additionally, eventually you might only have the migraine aura. Seek immediate medical attention if you experience any new symptoms or ones that have never been assessed by a doctor because many of the symptoms reported in these stages of migraines can also occur in highly serious diseases like stroke or seizures.

Understanding Migraine so you can manage it

 Understanding the phases of a migraine episode might help patients manage their condition. The prodrome and aura stages of a migraine attack can cause symptoms including exhaustion and blurred vision, which can act as warning signs and indicate the need for preventative medicine. For some people, early diagnosis and treatment of a migraine may potentially help to prevent the symptoms. Additionally, knowing the risk variables that can contribute to postdrome "hangovers" may help people predict how long an attack will last and how it will affect them afterwards.

Migraine Treatment

Although there is no permanent treatment of the condition, you can control the condition by preventing it from getting more severe and frequent. You should consult a doctor I'd you are facing any of the above symptoms. There are many medications that can help prevent a migraine attack and even lessen the pain. 

Frequently, migraines go unidentified and untreated. If you consistently exhibit these symptoms, your therapy depends on:

• Your age

• How frequently do you suffer from migraines?

• The type of migraines you experience

• Their intensity (measured by how long they last, how painful they are, and how frequently they prevent you from attending classes or working)

• Whether they cause nausea or vomiting in addition to other symptoms

• Any underlying medical conditions you may have

• Any medications you may be taking.

Your treatment strategy can incorporate a mixture of:

• Lifestyle changes, such as stress reduction and avoiding migraine triggers 

• OTC painkillers or migraine medications, such as acetaminophen (Tylenol) or Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), that you take every day to help prevent migraine headaches and lessen how often you get headaches

• When a migraine attack begins, you should take a prescription medicine to prevent it from getting worse and to relieve the symptoms.

• Prescription anti-nausea or anti-vomiting drugs hormone therapy if your migraines seem to coincide with your menstrual cycle 

• Alternative to medicines, such as meditation, acupressure, or acupuncture

How to handle weakness after a migraine attack?

After your migraine attack wears off, you suffer from fatigue which may last something between 1-2 days. This phase can be really hectic after you have suffered a severe headache. Here are some measures you can take to help yourself during that phase.

• Drink plenty of fluids

• Rest

• Have healthy nutritious food

• Do simple yoga

• Do a little exercise

• Sleep

• Take steps to reduce stress 

• Avoid migraine triggers

• Avoid smoking 

Foods that help with Migraine

The greatest meals to try to see whether they reduce your migraines are listed below. Magnesium is a nutrient that appears to be involved in migraines, and these are all high in it.

• Spinach

• Almonds 

• Dark chocolates

• Flax seed

• Ginger

• Fatty fishes 

• Omega 3 supplements 

• Bananas 

• Watermelons

• Apples

Take-Home Points

The signs of a migraine can occasionally be mistaken for a stroke. If you or a loved one experiences a headache that includes any of the following, you should seek medical help right away:

• Slurred speech

• Drooping of face on one side

• Weaknesses of limbs

• Loss of consciousness 

It's crucial to consult your doctor if headaches are interfering with your everyday life and you are unsure whether they are a migraine symptom. While migraine can feel incapacitating at times, there are many treatments available. Headaches can be a sign of other problems.

Your doctor can put you on a treatment plan that may involve medication and lifestyle modifications the sooner you begin to discuss your symptoms.