Symptoms of Migraine

Lots of people suffer from Migraines. This is a typical throbbing form of headache and is more common in women than men. Severe migraine is accompanied by nausea and vomiting. The affected person usually prefers lying down in a dark and silent room. The slightest of sound or a small speck of light seems unbearable. Migraine cannot be categorized with an ordinary headache; it is more of a nervous system disorder.

Symptoms- The symptoms of migraine vary from person to person. They  can broadly be divided into four phases. But the patient does not necessarily go through all the phases all the time.

Phase One- This phase occurs before the actual headache. The patient may be irritable, sleepy or suffer from constipation and diarrhea. All these symptoms can help to alert the patient of the impending migraine attack.

Phase Two- The second phase occurs immediately before the attack. White flashes or black lines are seen accompanied by a tingling sensation or numbness of the limbs or face. Hallucinations are also experienced by some people.

Phase Three- This phase marks the onset of the throbbing, pulsating headache. This ache is normally confined to one side of the head. The pain may not be continuous. In rare cases, it may be bilateral. Blurred vision along with nausea and vomiting may occur. Sometimes the patient may feel lightheaded with the limbs becoming cold and clammy.

Phase Four- After the pain subsides; the patient may feel weak and depressed. Loss of appetite is normal in such cases and a lingering low intensity headache persists which completely disappears only after a prolonged nap.

Diagnosis- Migraines cannot be diagnosed easily specially if they are not typical in nature. Care must be taken to differentiate migraine from ordinary headaches for successful treatment of this exceedingly painful condition.