Migraine: symptoms, signs and diagnosis

A migraine attack can progress in three to four stages but usually begins directly with a headache ("migraine without aura").

Migraine - Symptoms

Migraine phases

Harbinger Phase: An onset of seizure has symptoms such as appetite and mood swings, cravings, over / underactivity, increased irritability, difficulty concentrating, severe yawning, fatigue, or hypersensitivity to light and taste.

Auraphase: This occurs in about 10 to 15 percent of those affected ("migraine with aura", formerly "classic migraine"). Symptoms of this are temporary neurological disorders, such as eye flares, visual field defects or visual impressions such as flashes of light in the field of vision, hemiplegic sensory disturbances (tingling sensation, numbness), and less frequently speech disorders.

Headache phase: With the disappearance of the aura after one hour at the most, throbbing, hammering headaches begin. These pains start in the neck of some people, tend to be localized to the head, often around the forehead, eyes, and temples, and tend to increase in physical activity. For most people, these migraine headaches are accompanied by severe nausea (vomiting) and shivering, as well as hypersensitivity to sensory stimuli such as light, sound, and smell. Therefore, those affected usually withdraw into dark, quiet rooms.

Recovery phase: After 4 to 72 hours, the symptoms gradually subside - the first sign is often a strong urge to urinate. Tiredness, fatigue, and weakness remain, but also neck tension, irritability and loss of appetite.

Special forms of the symptoms

In addition, there are numerous special forms. For example, there are courses in which the aura lasts particularly long, neurological disorders (for example, vision: eye migraine) are in the foreground, or those affected have no headaches, only neurological deficits (migraine equivalent).

Predominantly in children, abdominal migraine (abdominal migraine) occurs, in which strong, diffuse abdominal pain is localized; These are accompanied by paleness, loss of appetite and nausea. This form is difficult to recognize and later often turns into a common migraine. We should know about Migraine Symptoms.

The frequency with which migraine attacks occur varies greatly from person to person: in many cases regularly once or six times a month; but also very irregular and large distances occur.

Diagnosis is almost always possible based on the typical symptoms. Imaging procedures such as X-rays, CT and MRI or methods for testing brain function are only necessary in exceptional cases, for example, if there is a suspicion of another underlying disease.