Migraines Health Center

Migraine headaches often begin in childhood, adolescence or early adulthood. Migraines may progress through four stages — prodrome, aura, attack and postdrome — though you may not experience all the stages.

Prodrome

One or two days before a migraine, you may notice subtle changes that may signify an oncoming migraine, including:

• constipation
• depression
• diarrhea
• food cravings
• hyperactivity
• irritability
• neck stiffness

Aura

Most people experience migraine headaches without aura. Auras are usually visual but can also be sensory, motor or verbal disturbances. Each of these symptoms typically begins gradually, builds up over several minutes, then commonly lasts for 10 to 30 minutes. Examples of aura include:

• visual phenomena, such as seeing various shapes, bright spots or flashes of light Vision loss
• pins and needles sensations in an arm or leg
• speech or language problems

Less commonly, an aura may be associated with aphasia or limb weakness (hemiplegic migraine).

Attack

When untreated, a migraine typically lasts from 4 to 72 hours, but the frequency with which headaches occur varies from person to person. You may have migraines several times a month or much less frequently. During a migraine, you may experience some of the following symptoms:

• pain on one side of your head
• pain that has a pulsating, throbbing quality
• sensitivity to light, sounds and sometimes smells
• nausea and vomiting
• blurred vision
• diarrhea
• lightheadedness, sometimes followed by fainting

Postdrome

The final phase — known as postdrome — occurs after a migraine attack, when you may feel drained and washed out, though some people report feeling mildly euphoric.