Not the best way to tickle your fancy, but do you know that 12 in 100 Americans suffer migraines? Yes, but there is something even more unfortunate than that. It is the tendency in us to mistake a debilitating migraine for a regular come-and-go headache.
What if I told you migraine was the 6th most disabling illness in the world? Wouldn’t you be keener in identifying it from a headache so that you can treat it with the urgency (and amount of care) that it requires?
There is a sharp distinction between headache and migraine. Let me tell you five things that indicate that innocuous headache you think you have may actually be a devastating migraine.
Do you have auras?
Auras are highly suggestive of migraines. 1 in 4 people having migraines experience auras. These auras are distortions in visual perception. There are cases where aura precedes migraines.
People with auras tend to see flashing lights or wavy lines. Auras are temporal, and their intensity could reduce within 40-60 minutes. But auras – associated with migraines – could extend visual distortions.
You could be feeling numbness in one of your limbs. If you are not necessarily numb, you could have the feeling of needles and pins being pierced into one of your limbs.
Auras indicative of migraine are also demonstrated in jerky movements that could appear like the patient limping.
These conditions don’t instantaneously jump on you. No, there is usually a progressive accumulation of these symptoms.
Are your moods changing sporadically?
6 in 10 migraine patients experience mood swings. These swings can either come after the onset of the migraine headache or before it.