Dr. Newman explains the four stages of a migraine attack and common symptoms. The classic symptom of the migraine headache is that it is a one-sided headache.
Dr. Newman: In general, there are four stages to a migraine attack, the prodrome, the aura, the headache itself, and then the postdrome. About 60% of patients experience the prodrome although in fact many of them do not realize it.
Prodromal symptoms includes such things as hyperactivity, decreased ability to sleep. In some people sluggishness or yawning, some people notice they become crabby, they urinate more frequently, they crave certain foods, and often they start to have a heightened awareness of their senses.
So, light seem brighter, sound seem stronger, and they start complaining that their family is too louder, or the workplace is too loud when in fact nothing has changed. They are just more sensitive to it.
The second face the aura, and interestingly many doctors and many patients also think you need to have an aura to have migraine headache, but in fact aura is fairly rare.
Only about 20% of migraine suffers experience the aura, and by definition the aura is a transient or a short lived disturbance in some function in the neurologic ability.
Usually, it is a visual disturbance so people will see sparkling lights, or shooting stars, or zig zag lines that blot out their vision. Some people may notice they become numb on their face, or on their hand, on the side around the opposite side of their headache, and still other people may notice they have trouble speaking.
The next stage of migraine not surprisingly is the headache, and the classic symptom of the migraine headache is that it is a one-sided headache. It tends to be throbbing or pounding, moderate to severe in intensity, but it is not just the head pain that makes the headache of migraine a migraine.
It is what associated with the headache. People during migraine experience nausea. They may vomit, they may have sensitivity to light, or to sound, or to smell, and in fact all they really want to do during a migraine headache is to shut the door, and close the lights, pull the blankets over their head and try to sleep.
In fact hibernation is one of the features of migraine that is not appropriately treated. The last stage of migraine is called the postdrome and it is this vague sensation almost like a hangover where your body aches. You have a limited ability to think, to eat, to act normally, and you are still just not yourself.
Taken in total, the entire complex of migraine can last as short as four hours which is pretty long to as long as three to four days. So, it is an overwhelming sensation. If you suffer from migraine, you are not alone.
Migraine affects about 11% of the country, or more than 30 million Americans. If you think you are one of those migraine sufferers, you should call your doctor, and if necessary you refer to a neurologist or other headache specialist.
Learn more about Dr. Newman: http://www.einstein.yu.edu/faculty/profile.asp?id=5174
Vertigo. It feels like the room is spinning around you. Many bouts of vertigo are caused by crystals in your inner ear that come loose. But for some vertigo sufferers, the dizziness happens thanks to migraine, the same condition that can cause severe headaches.
To learn more, visit http://mayocl.in/2hmsCmC.
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