Suffering from migraine attacks is one of the worst experiences one could possibly endure. But did you know that migraines have different classifications and types? It is imperative to identify which type of migraine has afflicted you in order to know what type of treatment you should use.
About 13% of Americans suffers from migraine attacks. Migraine is a severe type of headache that is commonly accompanied by nausea, vomiting, dizziness and sometimes, extreme sensitivity to light and sound.
There are various kinds of migraine. Each of these types are named according to the part of the body that is affected. Your physician will be able to diagnose your symptoms and identify which type of migraine had hit you.
Hemiplegic Migraine
This type of migraine causes temporary weakness on one side of our body as part of migraine attack.
This involves face, arms and legs often accompanied by disturbances in speech, vision problems and other stroke like symptoms.
The symptoms may last for an hour to days, but usually disappears within 24 hours.
About 0.03% of Americans has hemiplegic migraine.
Two types of Hemiplegic migraine:
- Familial hemiplegic migraine: It is an inherited genetic disorder that causes hemiplegic migraine. If a parent has FHM there are 50% chance the child will develop this disorder.
- Sporadic hemiplegic migraine: It occurs in people without a known family history hemiplegic migraine.
Ophthalmic Migraine
Ophthalmic Migraine is an unusual variant characterized by a painless temporary visual disturbance such as blindness or blind spots.
These typically harmless symptoms lasts around 30 minutes to an hour.
Ophthalmic migraine sometimes occurs before a painful migraine attack.
Ophthalmoplegic/Ocular Migraine
Ocular Migraine, the hallmark symptom of this type is intense headache around one eye(s). It’s frequently accompanied by double vision or paralysis of the eye muscles; patients often experiences vomiting and seizure.
This type of migraine commonly affects children and young adults.
Menstrual Migraine
A headache related to woman’s menstrual cycle. The fluctuations of the sex hormones estrogen and progesterone precede it. 50% of females with migraine reported a flare-up of symptoms before having their menstrual period.
There are two kinds menstrual migraine:
- Pure menstrual migraine happens when migraine pains occurs only around period. About 1 in 7 women have this kind of menstrual migraine
- Menstrual-associated migraine occurs when migraine attacks happen during, before, and after menstrual period.
Basilar Migraine
This headache begins in the lower part of our brain known as the brainstem. The symptoms are:
- Dizziness
- Vertigo
- Double vision
- Slurred speech
- Lack of coordination
- Ringing in the ears (Tinnitus)
- Confusion
- Cold hands and feet
- Loss of consciousness
These symptoms are called aura, this occurs about 10 to 45 minutes before the onset of the pain.
The pain starts on one side then spreads throughout the head with increased intensity.
This type of migraine is prevalent among adolescent girls and young woman. Doctors believe the primary cause is likely hormonal changes that primarily affect these age groups.
Abdominal Migraine
Abdominal migraine is a rare variant of migraine headache that commonly occurs in children with a family history of migraine.
Abdominal migraine rarely affects adults. About 2% of all children get this disorder; females are more vulnerable to this type of migraine.
The pain occurs in the abdomen area. Usually near the navel or midline, when triggered abdominal migraine can cause severe stomach pain, nausea, cramping and sometimes vomiting, symptoms usually last 1 to 72 hours.
Chronic/Transformed Migraine
If you are experiencing migraine attacks for 15 days or more per month, it could be chronic migraine.
This type of headache typically lasts for 20s and the frequency will increase overtime.
Warning: Overmedication with over the counter drugs can actually make migraine pains worse.
A person with chronic migraine may also suffer from depression.
Status Migrainosus
This type of migraine is the worst of them all. Status migrainosus causes severe headaches that are prolonged that patients will require hospitalization.
The symptoms of status migrainosus are the following:
- Unremitting headache more than 72 hours
- Severe pain intensity
- Vomiting and nausea
Complications linked with this migraine variant may surface due to prolonged nausea and vomiting. Eventually, you will become dehydrated and you will need intravenous therapy in order to stay hydrated.
Do you have these symptoms? What’s next?
It is common for us to experience headaches occasionally, especially, if you are under pressure or stressed. However, if you have experienced any of the symptoms of the mentioned migraine types, it is better to seek medical advice on how to manage it.
Has this article been helpful? Please share with us your own experience with migraine on the comment section below.
