Migraine symptoms vary widely among individuals but it is possible to highlight the most common symptoms. Before describing these it might be worth mentioning that, as well as there being a wide range of symptoms, there can be some disparity in the frequency of migraine attacks.
For some a migraine will occur regularly, maybe once a week, whilst for others it can be a matter of months between attacks. This infrequency might cause people to think that their headaches are simply headaches and not associate them with migraine symptoms.
The Common Migraine Symptoms
For the majority of migraine sufferers the main migraine symptom is an extremely intense pain, most often at the temples or over the eyes. These headaches can vary in intensity and duration, commonly extending over a period of up to 72 hours. Apart from the severity of the pain, migraine headaches can be distinguished from “normal “ headaches by being accompanied by other symptoms. These include nausea, sensitivity to light and sound, a craving for sweets, lack of concentration and abdominal pain. Very occasionally the abdominal migraine can be experienced without any of the other migraine symptoms. Not all of these additional migraine symptoms will be experienced by every sufferer.
Aural Migraine Symptoms
Aural migraines are experienced by about a quarter of the folks who get migraines. The common aural migraine symptoms are the appearance of an aura, typically about 15 to 30 minutes before the onset of an attack. The aura can take the form of flashing lights or other visual disturbances, a tingling sensation, like pins and needles, in the limbs and slurred speech. These sensations are typical aural migraine symptoms and are usually the precursors of a full-blown migraine attack.
Migraine Symptoms in Children
Whilst children can suffer from the various migraine symptoms that are outlined above, they are more prone to abdominal migraines than adults. In some cases the abdominal migraine is unaccompanied by any of the other migraine symptoms.
Other Migraine Symptoms
Unfortunately the aftermath of a migraine attack can have migraine symptoms that can be as unwelcome as the migraine itself. Common symptoms at the end of a migraine are feelings of weakness in the limbs and tenderness in the head and neck areas.
Of course many of the migraine symptoms such as those described above could be caused by other complaints. It is therefore important that anyone experiencing any of these should see their doctor for a proper diagnosis.
Having some idea of the most common migraine symptoms can help in migraine prevention. For example there are common migraine triggers which are identified as being the cause of migraines for some people. This subject will be tackled in another article.