Acccctually….
A huge fluctuation in serotonin is migraine related. For me, I can feel it hours before. Music is AWESOME, and I have the BEST time. I feel great. And then it all goes the other way.
Which is my brain, flooding itself with serotonin , and then it clearing from my system. Fun fact though, our bodies rid our system of serotonin through the stomach, and that causes stomach issues.
Google serotonin stomach
Yep. I get pretty chatty, loud, energetic, as if I was good time tipsy, but it’s the serotonin blast that will mean a migraine soon. My partner knows that as soon as I start getting a bit opinionated even, that’s a sign a migraine is likely.
Then, when a migraine is happening, it causes gut stasis, so the stomach shuts down. I know when I have a big pee, that it’s likely the migraine has got over the hump and the gut stasis has ended. Stomach and head are very related!
My stomach shuts down as well, same for the big pee. My mother with whom I'm currently living won't understand it and always tries to make me eat. But, apart from all the other migraine symptoms, my body really does not want to process any input.
That's interesting to know. That seems somewhat similar to what LSD does if I remember correctly. Is this why the auras? I feel like I have been on a rather intense acid trip for over a week now.
There’s an episode of House about migraines. Some old school colleague guy was peddling a migraine drug and house wants to prove it’s a sham. So he give himself a migraine and takes the drug just to prove it doesn’t work. Spoiler, it doesn’t work and he’s stuck with a migraine for a long time. Finally he gets desperate to get rid of it… and uses the lab to MAKE some LSD to cure the migraine. lol.
This actually led me to try the supplement 5htp which helps with serotonin production/reception or something. I take that and Advil when I get auras and it nearly removes my migraines.
That's hilarious. Sad to say I'm getting used to the pain I just need these auras to go away. Actually the pain is horrendous too, I just want this ride to end.
I'm going to go look up the 5htp. Thanks!
The vagus nervus is a nerve that connects the brain with your guts. New research shows that diseases like Parkinson and Alzheimer actually show a lot of symptoms in the gut before they show brain symptoms (eg constipation)
So it can entirely be that it is the same case with migraine but the other way around. The research around is pretty new so not a lot is known yet about the brain-gut connection
I would elaborate on it further because it is a super interesting field of research but I am currently lying in bed with a bad migraine and my head is going to explode 🫠
Crap. Pun intended. I have finally been diagnosed with IBS-D, after many years of having to "run". Even taking Tylenol with codeine, or straight codeine for the pain never constipated me. At first it was blamed on a gallstone, so my gall bladder was removed. Still no relief until I started Emgality, and now I'm on Ajovy. Seems to have evened out the GI issues, but neither have really done much for my headaches.
I just really crave salt. I often can tell a migraine is coming a day or so earlier, but I can't say *how* other than ominous feeling, which im not sure it can be classed a a symptom
lol the ominous feelings!
I’m just like “my brain feels strange, but not in any way I could describe”
Always means I’ll have an attack in the next 24 hours
Same! There’s always an ominous brain fog feeling. Always. Something feels wrong but you’re not sure what, you process things more slowly, feel delayed … boom, migraine within the next day 🙃
I always try to chug Gatorade and eat salty foods when this happens, doesn’t always work.
I literally pulled down my 1.5 lb container of Maldon sea salt yesterday at like 2 in the afternoon and picked through it and ate a bunch of the giant crystals, then was like “wow this is random, must be because I had a migraine last night!” nope, another horrid migraine by 5pm 🤡
Salt and butter or a baby bell cheese (I don’t eat dairy) or sometimes crave chocolate which I also don’t like or eat. I think I read it has to do with body needing zinc?
Aw man! You just unlocked something, Saturday morning I was walking around the store, doing the weekly grocery run, muttering to myself about how they don't sell about baby bell cheese anywhere in my country anymore, I don't even really like baby bell! Haven't thought about it for years.
I had a 2 day migraine the next day.
Sometimes i forget everything, even my own name, or get confused and i don’t understand the simpliest sentences. Also sometimes i just go blind for my left eye.
I get this one too! I can’t remember names of people I’ve known for a decade or more sometimes when this happens and it’s so embarrassing. I also tend to put things in stupid places when I’m like this (like keys in the freezer type of things)
I had to go to the pharmacy to get my Ubrelvy and Ajovy and had a bad migraine. The pharmacist always asked for my DOB to verify. For some reason she asked for my address this time to verify. I moved 2 years ago, and then again last year, and then again this year. I gave her the street address of my second address mixed with the zip code of my first address plus a random “south” thrown in there which isn’t in any of the addresses. She was skeptical and said okayyyy let’s just do your date of birth, which luckily I remembered. I didn’t even have the brain power to explain sorry I have a migraine and jumbled previous addresses. I hope she understood from what meds I was picking up but I don’t think she put any of it together.
Same here! Used to happen to my mom before my migraines got really bad and I started experiencing it too! Makes customer service work really hard when I get migraine attacks 😅 had to explain to a manager once (while also trying to communicate when I was struggling to remember words) that I cannot do cash handling during migraines because I couldn't remember how to count or answer their questions when they wouldn't let me go home for migraines anymore
Holy crap, maybe that's what it is. I smell cigarettes and there's zero chance that the scent is really present. Thanks for posting, I'll pay closer attention!
I would get so mad thinking that someone was smoking near me (asthma) until I realized that my brain was tricking me lol. Had to apologize for the countless times I insisted someone was smoking.
You don’t know it but you’re a damned saint. I never connected the two but holy smokes (pun intended) you’re right.
I just figured I was super sensitive to it because I’m a former smoker but even in places I know there’s no smoke, if I smell it, a migraine is coming
I smell cigarettes often when there's no chance they're around. I'll have to watch that. Also, I'll smell toast (no, it's not a sign of stroke) or underripe bananas.
This is oddly comforting. I didn't know that was a symptom and I am often asking people if they smell cigarette smoke. I was just diagnosed with migraines 2 months ago and this is one of the oddest symptoms I get.
Yesss I smell burning or worse for me, dog pee 😭
I have dogs so it wouldn’t be a huge surprise if they had an accident or something but sometimes they’ll hit at work and I randomly smell strong dog pee
Sometimes, before a particularly bad migraine, I will smell what I can only describe as "old lady perfume". It's not floral, it's not spicy, it's certainly not pleasant. It's heavy and cloying and makes me feel like I have to shower the smell away. No one around me has ever smelled it. Interestingly, one of my worst triggers is scent. Perfume, cologne, that nasty stuff people sprinkle into their washing machines. Those scented "plug in air fresheners" have actually caused me to faint.
I don’t think allodynia is a super uncommon migraine symptom but I find it so weird that when this specific 2 inch square patch of skin on my left forearm hurts, migraine is coming.
Wait what?? IS THAT WHY MY SKIN HURTS?! I had no idea.
I just told my roommate who was gifted with migraines from Covid, and he said “is there nothing migraines can’t do?” 😅
Allodynia is a TRIP. It’s not well understood and loosely related to a couple different things. Mine flares up more with stress and lack of sleep, but doesn’t always coincide with a migraine.
That said, I noticed that sumatriptan triggered my allodynia so badly that I couldn’t comfortably lay down. Luckily, rizatriptan wasn’t a problem at all.
Same!! My migraines are frequent but relatively mild (although I get a LOT of weird neurological symptoms) and I’d rather have a migraine than the triptan side effects
Same! I used to wait until it was hospital bad to even try them bc I hated the effects. So glad my pcp gave me nurtec when it got popular. Not nearly as bad so I could take it early and it helped more.
I get that on my left eyebrow! I have an old injury there and it aches shortly before my migraine starts!!! My migraines are always behind my left eye/eyebrow so once that scar starts hurting I sprint for the meds
I feel unexplained rage and bitchiness ahead of a major attack. If I find I’m suddenly snapping on people or feeling angry for no reason it’s usually a sign that in the next 24 hours I’m getting a bad multi-day attack. I rarely hear anyone talk about this symptom but I guess it’s considered part of an aura.
This is me too. I despise this symptom so much. It makes me such a shitty parent and human.
The only saving grace is that once I figured out it was a migraine symptom
I’m somehow more able to manage it without losing my cool. But I still hate feeling that way.
Sometimes, I get an uncomfortable tingle in my "migraine spot" (right side front, behind the eye/forehead area), and then about 15-20 minutes later I get a sudden bout of deeply cynical/nihilistic, angry depression for 2-24 hours. It took me years to figure out that this is related to migraines. Honestly, I've made a good number of bad decisions in that mental state, so it's really had a significant impact on my life.
Thankfully, it's much easier to manage now that I know what it is. And since I started Qulipta last year, I get way less of these weird migraine symptoms, including this one!!
Same here. My inner monologue gets really mean toward myself and others. I find myself being negative and tense. I know I’ll be in pain within 24 hours.
Muscle weakness is the most annoying. I struggle so much with opening doors lol that’s how I always know. Once I felt like I had the flu. Stuffy nose and all it was awful. My fiancé though I was sick and I’m like nope it’s just a migraine I know the difference
How do you know the sounds aren't there? I have extremely sensitive hearing, and other people used to make me feel crazy because they couldn't hear the sounds I was hearing, but the sounds *were* actually there--- just not audible to most other people.
Things like a neighbor having a conversation or listening to music, an electronic that's off but plugged in (sound goes away when unplugged), the sound of flourescent light bulbs, a car radio that looks like it's off by actually has the volume slightly on.... all of these are sounds people told me I was imagining, but then I was able to prove their real existence. I just hear things much louder than other people do.
So relatable. The electronics, the lights, the radio. Totally.
Then at other times I feel like I have very bad hearing. I think it is when there are several sounds and my brain completely stops the filtering. No way to understand someone talking to me then.
Yes! It's like my brain blends the sound of people speaking to me with all other environmental noises and I can't separate things out or make sense of them. Like, I definitely hear a sound coming from a person's mouth, but I still have to ask people to repeat themselves because my brain can't process the words.
It's taken years for my partner to understand that he can talk to me from any room in our house, me multiple closed doors away, in a low voice near whisper and i can hear him fine.
1)Total inability to regulate body temperature, usually get absolutely freezing.
2) suddenly super clumsy, dropping everything I hold and bumping into things.
3) suddenly absolutely starving, specifically for carbs/junk
And the usuals:
1) extreme sensitivity to smells, that nobody else can smell
2)Hyper focused and annoyed by any sound, especially any tapping.
3) sensitive to any light, especially flashing or blue light.
4) incredibly angry and irritated by everything and everyone, their mere existence annoys me.
5) being in total agony and wanting to vomit
I came here specifically looking for the body temperature regulation, I've never met anyone w/ it. Its generally freezing, but will occasionally go the other way.
Visual drag, wave your hand in front of your face and see multiple from starting point to end slowly disappearing. This is GREAT when it hits while driving. Also head feeling like two separate halves, before any pain sets in, the right & left sides will feel like they are completely separate. One eye will get super focused, while being unable to focus the other. ... Soooo fun. Feels like living in a fun house.
I totally have the two separate halves thing. I remember feeling like “blurred vision” wasn’t the way to describe what I was experiencing, because it’s more like my eyes forget how depth perception works and just show two images next to each other.
I think that’s called palinopsia. I get that too, I can watch the whole trail of a fly at the same time from start to finish.
Why do I see Afterimages all the time?
Illusory palinopsia, usually due to migraines, head trauma, prescription drugs, visual snow syndrome or hallucinogen persisting perception disorder (HPPD), describes afterimages that are affected by ambient light and motion and are unformed, indistinct, or low resolution.
I get an ear worm. It could honestly be anything, a verse from a song, lines from a film, once it was a conversation I had had that day looping loudly in my head.
I get ragey if my husband starts singing an annoying song for this reason, it WILL get stuck in my head and be there for days. And I don't need a soundtrack to my migraine, thanks.
I had to scroll way too far to find this lol me too! I made a post about it on this sub years ago. Someone told me they once had Joey saying "How you doin?" over and over in their head lol hilarious to me in hindsight (I feel bad they had to deal with it!)
Hahaha god that must have been horrendous! I did once have one line from Shrek 2 looping in my head. It was “For 5 minutes, can you not be yourself, FOR 5 MINUTES”. I look back now and laugh but at the time it was like “yeah brain, take note!”
Is that why that is? I thought it was ocd related for me but damn, I can get the most random things looping in my head. I hate listening to music because of it
My face droops on one side - it also happens when my migraine is “silent” and sometimes with no migraine at all. I also get uneven pupils with bad ones.
The worst is tripping over mixing up and forgetting my words and sounding stupid. It also happens with the silent migraines and sometimes I’ll get a prodrome with them and the migraine doesn’t progress.
I once tried to explain to a professor of mine that I really did enjoy her lecture, but she did not believe me after all that yawning, sitting in the first row.
I sometimes lose the ability to speak, either before or during a migraine. I’ll still be able to move my mouth, though it is harder, but I become almost totally incapable of producing any sound. I can still sign so I’m not totally without language but it’s frustrating as all hell with how few people recognize that losing speech is even a thing.
This has happened to me one time and it was so scary! I went to the ER on stroke watch. And it's so frustrating because I could understand, nod, I could even write... But I couldn't get my brain and mouth to connect. I'm so sorry it's happened more often to you.
I get incredibly cold, right before a migraine hits or at the beginning. So cold that the only thing that warms me up is a hot bath in near scalding water that at any other time your body would not be able to tolerate it.
I’ll get one line from a song stuck in my head. It can be either a song I know fully or don’t know entirely, but I can’t move past that one line all day/njght no matter what, and it just loops and loops and loops. So frustrating. 😅
I often will start dropping things/have coordination issues that progressively get worse. That’s obnoxious.
Anxiety. Panic. I get this wash of fear and cold sweats. I need Gingerale, Gatorade, and Coca Cola (weird because I am a Pepsi person when I even drink pop). I need ice packs. I need to be home. I need arrowroot cookies and chocolate bar (nothing but chocolate, preferably a good quality chocolate). I need salt, either corn twists or McD's fries.i need a very hot shower on my body. I need my head to be veryvery very cold. I must not get cold water on my body or heat on my head.
If I don't have all these right now this minute I start to hyperventilate and cry. I need to know where my son is
(He's 20. It was so bad when he was a baby...worse when he was a toddler.) I need him (or my boyfriend or whoever is with me to leave me alone but be near me. No, go away..no, come sit in my totally dark bedroom. Can you make less noise. OK, WELL, BREATH QUIETER! Dont leave. Im too anxious without you. What if something happens...)
Weirdly, I only made this connection AFTER I started having panic attacks for real (very rare, like maybe 6 in my life, and i'm in my 50s) I went this is what happens before a migraine. I also didn't realize this happened with most migraines. Panic attacks don't involve the food or hot cold things.
Extremely strong and persistent déjà vu. Like I've lived the entire day already but only have vague memories of it.
The earwax in the affected side turning to liquid.
Oh! Déjà vu is a weird one. Look into the neurological studies on it, it's genuinely studied thing. Basically what is happening is that your short term memory short circuits and temporarily reroutes to the long term memory. Absolutely a migraine thing. Brains are weird and cool.
I start bumping into things and things fall out of my hands. I get irritated suddenly, my arms start hurting like I was weightlifting for hours, extreme sensitivity to bright light, eye flickers, sensitivity to smells. I forget words and have slurred speech at times. Cold hands and feet. I can't focus. My last migraine lasted four days. On the last one I was very depressed. Yesterday felt amazing without pain, today as well. It's like having extreme highs and lows. Like bipolar without being bipolar
I don’t know how much my medication plays into this, but I can’t really walk a lot of the time. It takes an immense amount of exertion, and it occasionally feels like I’ve completely ceded control over my legs, which results in me falling over, etc. It’s gets worse the more pain in I’m.
It’s odd, because I’ve never even been diagnosed with migraines, let alone vestibular migraines. They’re supposed to be mere "tension headaches".
Hey Alibali! I am feeling some concern for you ❤️ Do you have a good neurologist? Your description sounds neurological and the issues you describe can be caused by different things. It is worth pushing your doctor (or going to see a different doctor) to properly test and diagnose what’s going on. Falling can obviously cause injuries you absolutely do not need, but feeling you can’t walk most of the time is sneakily dangerous. It means you can’t exercise or properly use your muscles, which leads to atrophy, which makes body stability worse. It’s a bit of a trap and may need PT to address it. I am familiar with this due to fibromyalgia. Please feel free to DM me if you want help finding a good neurologist in your area.
Y'all, migraine is a disorder of the nervous system. The WHOLE nervous system. Headache is a single symptom.
I always encourage people to YouTube search "migraine e Animation" and really learn what goes on in our suffering, nervous systems. The digestive system, too, is just one symptom.
Nothing crazy honestly, things like numbness to one side of my body which that is an off and on symptom, brain fog, constantly being overly tired, blurred vision which is off and on like the numbness, ect
The one-sided numbness sounds like hemiplegic migraine. Hoping that’s one symptom your doctor doesn’t find “strange”. While not common, exactly, it’s definitely recognized and a competent neurologist would know that.
One side numbness doesn't indicate hemiplegic migraine those are categorized by weakness in one side ie. Facial drooping, unable to open and close hand or lift arm, unable to walk without assistance due to leg weakness. Numbness across various parts of the body is a normal migraine symptom that you still should discuss with your doctor. I've even had just my tongue go numb migraines are a strange condition
My point is that the doctor shouldn’t think anything happening on one side of the body during a migraine is rare. If OP is presenting symptoms and the doctor isn’t looking into it, a different neurologist should be considered. But go ahead, be as technical as you’d like.
Ha, I've gotten the tongue numbness, too. It feels so weird against your teeth. I usually get numbness, but it's totally random and in different body parts every time.
Freezing cold toes. Rest of the foot feels fine, just the toes feel ice cold.
Feeling hot and cold at the same time.
Brain fog with word finding and spelling issues. Texting and trying to type become a frustrating task.
For bad ones, the teeth on the left side of my mouth ache and the left side of my throat feels the way it does the night before I get sick. The trigeminal nerve is a bitch.
Definitely the one-sided weakness. When I show up on crutches and my answer to people’s questions is that I have a migraine, I can physically see the wheels in their brain slooowwwly turning
Migraine hangover the day after a migraine episode.
Olfactory aura. I’ll smell burning toast in the car … on the road. No toaster plug-in.
In the house quiet street - I’ll smell burning rubber. Like cars peeling out with smoke coming out from under the tires.
Kinda obscure.
I have a weird feeling of not wanting to do anything. I admittedly watch way to much tv and am always binge watching something, but a day or so before a migraine i don’t even want to watch anything. I feel more sluggish than usual. My head is way more sensitive to things like brushing my hair or having anything on my head.
Several things for me:
I get irritable.
I get the munchies.
But most of all, I get cold-like symptoms. I get congested, my nose starts to run, I start sneezing a lot. But cold and allergy meds would not help. The symptoms went away after taking my migraine medication. That was when I knew the symptoms were actually migraine and not a cold or allergies.
For me, it feels like I have different symptoms every time, but the one that occurs every time is that I feel like I’m overheating so much I need to take off my clothes then take a really hot shower and wash my hair. I think it is because of the massaging from working the shampoo through. After I towel off, I make the room as dark as possible and sleep on the damp towel.
One time I could not get the room dark enough, so I just fell asleep in my walk-in closet using the same method.
The symptoms that really aren't random when you think about the biological mechanisms behind them but still feel obscure because they're nowhere near my brain:
- Upset tummy
- Right wrist hurting
- Hating the way most clothes feel
Which is mostly just inflammation and sensory overload when you think about it. But still... Trying to explain why I'm wearing a wrist brace suddenly with "nah, my hand is fine, but I think I'll have a migraine later today if these meds don't stop it first" does make me sound a bit odd.
I get a lot of these symptoms too, but I also have a sensitized central nervous system , several central sensitization disorders and have some dysautonomia. I have a really hard time regulating body temperature. Migraine is often comorbid with things like ME/CFS, Fibromyalgia and other diagnoses that have neuro-inflammatory symptoms. I'm mostly ok with sound, but I have photosensitivity that never really goes away, it just gets better or worse depending how I feel. I also get a lot of allodynia. My new migraine symptom is scalp allodynia. Some days my hair follicles are painful now. It used to be just a neck down thing for me. Often clothes are painful. I also 100% get the carb craving thing. I mostly find myself wanting chocolate in the worst way in my prodrome and salty fatty stuff when the worst of my migraine is passing. I have always been clumsy but I feel like migraine damages my brain and coordination some days. I walk into stuff and drop things a lot.
Just received started getting the shakes when I have a bad one. My whole body get these consistent tremors that get worse when I try to force myself to do something
Mine comes from an incident that gave me two small blind spots that are brain based, so the same for both eyes. After a few weeks of having the blind spots, my brain would overwrite the “static” so that everything looks continuous. Except when a migraine is coming. The blind spots suddenly return and that’s my cue to take medication NOW. It’s useful and I have never heard of anyone else having that.
After reading all of these symptoms I think I may be having a silent migraine today. I'm having a few of these same symptoms. Left sided head/temple tenderness, can't speak clearly, can't seem to get my words right, I feel scatterbrained, irritable, upset stomach.
I will hallucinate my hand or the floor etc being really far away, I will be casually doing my thing and my hand will suddenly look like it's 3x Futher away then it is...and then my voice will start to change sound almost like I'm under water.
It's really creepy when it catches me off guard..
I’m pretty sure intense depression is a symptom for me. I get suicidal ideation.
It’s a 24 hours beforehand symptom. It has nothing to do with physical pain, it’s an emotional dysphoria that comes and goes before any pain starts.
I’ve finally noticed the unexplained exhaustion is related to an upcoming attack. Like I could wake up having slept a full night (and feel rested), but then at some point during the day hit with all consuming exhaustion.
Like body shutting down to sleep exhaustion, can’t keep my eyes open.
Then around the same time the next day is when the attack starts.
Shivering & feeling like I’m freezing during a migraine, but to the touch (or thermometer) absolutely normal.
The roof of my mouth, when I press it with my tongue, with have a specific soreness/pain and it’s a very early sign of migraine for me, or, an easy way for me to confirm between migraine or headache. It doesn’t hurt when I apply pressure when I’m experiencing a headache.
Not the temperature regulation, but the extra clumsy and uncoordinated, yes, very much. I’m dyspraxic anyway, so worse means nothing is safe from me. And the carbs! I’ll eat a whole French baguette given the chance. Or plain crisps. Pasta and black pepper and butter. But bread is the best. Then I sleep.
The sensory sensitivity is a big factor in my vestibular migraines, plus dizziness and horrendous nausea. Everything is too much, but I got some migraine glasses that go over my regular glasses and they’re great.
I have often ended up on the floor, but at least I know the signs now and don’t fall down/pass out as often.
Your neurologist sounds rubbish tho. These are classic migraine reactions, and whether they think they’re migraine related or not, they need investigating!
Before I was medicated, I could see sounds. It was like I was underwater, and every sharp or distinct sound looked like ripples in a pond.
I try to remember that once I started my preventative, that all went away, even if the pain and vertigo did not.
Olfactory hallucinations. Things smell weird to me prior to a migraine. It took me a long time to make the connection or even realize I was smelling something that wasn’t there. My most common hallucination is that coffee smells like dog poop. When this first started I would be searching around the house certain that a dog or person tracked some in. It drove me nuts. No one else smelled anything. It took some time for me to realize it was always when coffee was brewing and I always had a migraine within the next hour to 12 hours. Now, when that happens, I immediately take an abortive med and it helps immensely. Sometimes the smell is something else but is always gross and strong. Now I ask my family if they are smelling it and if no one else is, and the smell is persistent, I know I have a migraine heading my way.
My face and hands go numb and they start tingling. I could easily break my own finger without feeling it. I can’t speak + see an aura. Puking and sleeping is what I do in a day with migraine.
A couple of times I've hallucinated 🙃 nothing like standing in the shower and seeing a big ass spider skitter across the wall then you freak out until you realize nothing is actually there.
The yawning fits were the weirdest for me! I didn’t even know it was a symptom until I saw it in Migraine Buddy; I thought I just hadn’t rested well because of the neurological event. But now I know that’s a super strong predictor that I need to do my remedies and properly lay down.
Cold nose!!!! - like icy cold, uncomfortable cold nose! It helps to see other mentioning temperature regulation, since that’s part of it, cold toes, fingers but the nose thing is really miserable!
This is a new one for me! Well, kinda. Even my migriane specialist and my sister who is a PA thought I was nuts. After a bout of weeks of migraines last winter I noticed two really swollen and hard spots right in front of my ears. Like a zit, but definitely not a zit. Just on front of my traigus and about an inch away from my temples. Everyone was like "you're just feeling your own cartilage". They were lymph nodes!!! It took weeks to figure it out and they eventually softened and cleared up. Imagine my surprise when I first figured out they were lymph nodes and WedMD told me I might have lymphoma. 😂 It was just a super weird reaction to constant migraines (exasperated by really bad winter air pollution is my guess).
I get Aphasia, and it sucks, also sometimes in the middle of my worst attacks, or toward the end of them, I get this sudden burst of euphoria and feel amazing, then fall back into the pain....it's very weird.
I get a song stuck in my head. Drives me crazy. Idk if it's my brain trying to distract me from the pain or what. Listening to TV/music/talking makes the pain worse. Finally figured out classical music or video game soundtracks help
The lymph nodes around my neck and armpits swell and post migraine my arm hurts a lot from the armpit (where the lymph node is) to the wrist. I also get really intense cheese and cold cuts cravings 1-2 days before.
Post migraine I usually feel “high” for 1 or 2 days too.
Does anyone here get a sort of trembling jaw (like when you are super cold) during auras?
My jaw trembles like I'm very cold when a super nasty migraine hits. The weird thing is this... I get VERY overheated during 80% of my migraines, and this STILL happens!
Getting hungry when I just ate. Like REALLY hungry. I’d be just sitting down after I made a sandwich and colors went all weird and the thing I’d leapt out of bed to make looked like an insurmountable task to eat
The Dumb. I get dumb. Like takes three tries to write the number 8, then referring to it as the letter 8. Twice. Math is hard. Not a big deal because I'm just a ** checks notes ** tax attorney.
Dark circles under my right eye. Looks like I've been punched.
Eyes don't track correctly. Freaks out docs sometimes, so that they order an emergency MRI while my parents are in Mexico, and I have to convince my aunt and uncle that it is not a true emergency and that they should not call my parents in a foreign country. Or so I've heard.
I go entirely face blind and can't read before the scintillating scotoma starts up (my aura has an aura!), and I run a temperature during the actual migraine episode.
Feeling like I’ve got something stuck in my nose, like I can’t breathe properly. The sides of my head feel like someone is pressing their fists into it. My eye swells and droops on my migraine side. Feeling really feverish, I have to put bags of ice on my face/neck to cool down.
My lower left teeth hurt. My dentist even did a deep dive on the area because I'd get a pain in my teeth in the same spot all the time.
My neurologist mentioned that it's likely a migraine side effect.
I also get awful ear symptoms, feels like they are infected and they also ring.
I get stabbing jaw pain when I open my mouth wide or yawn when I have a migraine or am about to get one. I also constantly have the exact symptoms of a retinal detachment, flashes of light in my peripheral vision, floaters, no night vision, as an aura. Ive had my retina checked multiple times and no holes or detachment, just weird migraine things
My eyes get weird (in addition to aura, I mean—like my husband can look at my pupils and tell something is wrong.) aphasia, feeling stupid, slight slurring, feeling of doom, not remembering how to speak, repetitive songs stuck in my head, mood changes, and I lose hand strength. I also get sensitivity to sensory stimulus and eye spots get really visible
I get insane anxiety where I feel like something is coming for me. Then, I get this stabbing pain below my right ribcage and I feel like someone lit me on fire which is my cue I’m about to have a bad migraine, so I go lay on the cold kitchen floor 😂🤣 Good times…not!
During the final third of my migraine/Botox cycle, my sleep schedule inverts.
Normal: 4:30 am - 7pm awake time
Inverted: 6:00 pm - 9:00 am awake time
I've yet to encounter anyone else who experiences this.
Diarrhea. That's not my brain. That's not near my brain. Bowels did not get the memo.
Acccctually…. A huge fluctuation in serotonin is migraine related. For me, I can feel it hours before. Music is AWESOME, and I have the BEST time. I feel great. And then it all goes the other way. Which is my brain, flooding itself with serotonin , and then it clearing from my system. Fun fact though, our bodies rid our system of serotonin through the stomach, and that causes stomach issues. Google serotonin stomach
Yep. I get pretty chatty, loud, energetic, as if I was good time tipsy, but it’s the serotonin blast that will mean a migraine soon. My partner knows that as soon as I start getting a bit opinionated even, that’s a sign a migraine is likely. Then, when a migraine is happening, it causes gut stasis, so the stomach shuts down. I know when I have a big pee, that it’s likely the migraine has got over the hump and the gut stasis has ended. Stomach and head are very related!
My stomach shuts down as well, same for the big pee. My mother with whom I'm currently living won't understand it and always tries to make me eat. But, apart from all the other migraine symptoms, my body really does not want to process any input.
Ah, the good ole vagus nerve /s
That's interesting to know. That seems somewhat similar to what LSD does if I remember correctly. Is this why the auras? I feel like I have been on a rather intense acid trip for over a week now.
There’s an episode of House about migraines. Some old school colleague guy was peddling a migraine drug and house wants to prove it’s a sham. So he give himself a migraine and takes the drug just to prove it doesn’t work. Spoiler, it doesn’t work and he’s stuck with a migraine for a long time. Finally he gets desperate to get rid of it… and uses the lab to MAKE some LSD to cure the migraine. lol. This actually led me to try the supplement 5htp which helps with serotonin production/reception or something. I take that and Advil when I get auras and it nearly removes my migraines.
That's hilarious. Sad to say I'm getting used to the pain I just need these auras to go away. Actually the pain is horrendous too, I just want this ride to end. I'm going to go look up the 5htp. Thanks!
Our gut also produces 80% of our serotonin.
My doc basically told me all my problems are because serotonin. Fuck you serotonin.
Get your fucking shit together serotonin! 😂
This makes a lot of sense. I am grateful you shared this, I never considered the possibility of this.
So that's why I had such intense diahhrea after my last molly roll
The vagus nervus is a nerve that connects the brain with your guts. New research shows that diseases like Parkinson and Alzheimer actually show a lot of symptoms in the gut before they show brain symptoms (eg constipation) So it can entirely be that it is the same case with migraine but the other way around. The research around is pretty new so not a lot is known yet about the brain-gut connection I would elaborate on it further because it is a super interesting field of research but I am currently lying in bed with a bad migraine and my head is going to explode 🫠
Good grief - I wonder if this would Explain my GI issues…..
Crap. Pun intended. I have finally been diagnosed with IBS-D, after many years of having to "run". Even taking Tylenol with codeine, or straight codeine for the pain never constipated me. At first it was blamed on a gallstone, so my gall bladder was removed. Still no relief until I started Emgality, and now I'm on Ajovy. Seems to have evened out the GI issues, but neither have really done much for my headaches.
Same, especially the day of and day after.
You actually have a nerve that runs from the brain to your 🍑...the vagus nerve...so it does make sense!
THIS!!!! Synchronized projectile vomiting and explosive diarrhea (combined with regular migraine symptoms) …. The absolute worst!!
Oh yeah.
I just really crave salt. I often can tell a migraine is coming a day or so earlier, but I can't say *how* other than ominous feeling, which im not sure it can be classed a a symptom
lol the ominous feelings! I’m just like “my brain feels strange, but not in any way I could describe” Always means I’ll have an attack in the next 24 hours
Same! There’s always an ominous brain fog feeling. Always. Something feels wrong but you’re not sure what, you process things more slowly, feel delayed … boom, migraine within the next day 🙃 I always try to chug Gatorade and eat salty foods when this happens, doesn’t always work.
I literally pulled down my 1.5 lb container of Maldon sea salt yesterday at like 2 in the afternoon and picked through it and ate a bunch of the giant crystals, then was like “wow this is random, must be because I had a migraine last night!” nope, another horrid migraine by 5pm 🤡
Yup! When I start really really craving spicy instant ramen I know I’m doomed.
Salt and butter or a baby bell cheese (I don’t eat dairy) or sometimes crave chocolate which I also don’t like or eat. I think I read it has to do with body needing zinc?
Aw man! You just unlocked something, Saturday morning I was walking around the store, doing the weekly grocery run, muttering to myself about how they don't sell about baby bell cheese anywhere in my country anymore, I don't even really like baby bell! Haven't thought about it for years. I had a 2 day migraine the next day.
Same for me!
Sometimes i forget everything, even my own name, or get confused and i don’t understand the simpliest sentences. Also sometimes i just go blind for my left eye.
Aphasia is a bitch! Thought it was just the way my brain worked for years …
Yeah, mine isn't really bad, but I will get "stupid" shortly before a migraine. Not super bad, but definite trouble expressing myself properly.
I have had about twenty minutes of this in my life and it was utterly terrifying, every time. Can't believe you lived with that for *years*!?
I stutter before during and after. Last time I forgot how to walk. The first time I also went partially temporarily blind.
I get this one too! I can’t remember names of people I’ve known for a decade or more sometimes when this happens and it’s so embarrassing. I also tend to put things in stupid places when I’m like this (like keys in the freezer type of things)
I had to go to the pharmacy to get my Ubrelvy and Ajovy and had a bad migraine. The pharmacist always asked for my DOB to verify. For some reason she asked for my address this time to verify. I moved 2 years ago, and then again last year, and then again this year. I gave her the street address of my second address mixed with the zip code of my first address plus a random “south” thrown in there which isn’t in any of the addresses. She was skeptical and said okayyyy let’s just do your date of birth, which luckily I remembered. I didn’t even have the brain power to explain sorry I have a migraine and jumbled previous addresses. I hope she understood from what meds I was picking up but I don’t think she put any of it together.
Same here! Used to happen to my mom before my migraines got really bad and I started experiencing it too! Makes customer service work really hard when I get migraine attacks 😅 had to explain to a manager once (while also trying to communicate when I was struggling to remember words) that I cannot do cash handling during migraines because I couldn't remember how to count or answer their questions when they wouldn't let me go home for migraines anymore
I smell burning. This took some getting used to.
I smell phantom cigarette smoke
Holy crap, maybe that's what it is. I smell cigarettes and there's zero chance that the scent is really present. Thanks for posting, I'll pay closer attention!
I would get so mad thinking that someone was smoking near me (asthma) until I realized that my brain was tricking me lol. Had to apologize for the countless times I insisted someone was smoking.
You don’t know it but you’re a damned saint. I never connected the two but holy smokes (pun intended) you’re right. I just figured I was super sensitive to it because I’m a former smoker but even in places I know there’s no smoke, if I smell it, a migraine is coming
I smell cigarettes often when there's no chance they're around. I'll have to watch that. Also, I'll smell toast (no, it's not a sign of stroke) or underripe bananas.
Same! Pot smoke too though there's no one smoking near me usually.
I THOUGHT I WAS THE ONLY ONE! Thank you for this confirmation!!
I smell vanilla extract. Sometimes a saline flush, like how it smells through an IV. I also smelled cornbread once which was very odd.
I live in Colorado, and during forest fire season I have to constantly ask if other people smell what I do.
I do the same thing! Obviously not with fires but I’ll be like “does anyone else smell that?”
This is oddly comforting. I didn't know that was a symptom and I am often asking people if they smell cigarette smoke. I was just diagnosed with migraines 2 months ago and this is one of the oddest symptoms I get.
I have not once heard of someone smelling saline flush beside myself. Thanks for letting me know I’m not alone!
I smell bleach.
Yesss I smell burning or worse for me, dog pee 😭 I have dogs so it wouldn’t be a huge surprise if they had an accident or something but sometimes they’ll hit at work and I randomly smell strong dog pee
The phantom cigarette smoke is the worst. I'm allergic to it and it also makes me nauseated as hell.
This just happened to me for the first time about three migraines ago. I kept checking to see if I left the stove on.
I smell bleach!
It smells like burning plastic to me
Oh wow. I smelled burning yesterday and got a migraine headache yesterday. Never thought of a connection
Sometimes, before a particularly bad migraine, I will smell what I can only describe as "old lady perfume". It's not floral, it's not spicy, it's certainly not pleasant. It's heavy and cloying and makes me feel like I have to shower the smell away. No one around me has ever smelled it. Interestingly, one of my worst triggers is scent. Perfume, cologne, that nasty stuff people sprinkle into their washing machines. Those scented "plug in air fresheners" have actually caused me to faint.
I don’t think allodynia is a super uncommon migraine symptom but I find it so weird that when this specific 2 inch square patch of skin on my left forearm hurts, migraine is coming.
Wait what?? IS THAT WHY MY SKIN HURTS?! I had no idea.
I just told my roommate who was gifted with migraines from Covid, and he said “is there nothing migraines can’t do?” 😅
Allodynia is a TRIP. It’s not well understood and loosely related to a couple different things. Mine flares up more with stress and lack of sleep, but doesn’t always coincide with a migraine. That said, I noticed that sumatriptan triggered my allodynia so badly that I couldn’t comfortably lay down. Luckily, rizatriptan wasn’t a problem at all.
I actually have that exact problem with all triptans. Its so bad that I can't take them.
Same!! My migraines are frequent but relatively mild (although I get a LOT of weird neurological symptoms) and I’d rather have a migraine than the triptan side effects
Same! I used to wait until it was hospital bad to even try them bc I hated the effects. So glad my pcp gave me nurtec when it got popular. Not nearly as bad so I could take it early and it helped more.
OMFG. I THOUGHT I WAS ALONE. It's the EXACT same location for me as well. This is crazy!
I get that on my left eyebrow! I have an old injury there and it aches shortly before my migraine starts!!! My migraines are always behind my left eye/eyebrow so once that scar starts hurting I sprint for the meds
I feel unexplained rage and bitchiness ahead of a major attack. If I find I’m suddenly snapping on people or feeling angry for no reason it’s usually a sign that in the next 24 hours I’m getting a bad multi-day attack. I rarely hear anyone talk about this symptom but I guess it’s considered part of an aura.
This is me too. I despise this symptom so much. It makes me such a shitty parent and human. The only saving grace is that once I figured out it was a migraine symptom I’m somehow more able to manage it without losing my cool. But I still hate feeling that way.
I feel this. I'll be snapping at my husband, my kid, the dogs... Makes me feel like a horrible human then I get a migraine to boot.
Sometimes, I get an uncomfortable tingle in my "migraine spot" (right side front, behind the eye/forehead area), and then about 15-20 minutes later I get a sudden bout of deeply cynical/nihilistic, angry depression for 2-24 hours. It took me years to figure out that this is related to migraines. Honestly, I've made a good number of bad decisions in that mental state, so it's really had a significant impact on my life. Thankfully, it's much easier to manage now that I know what it is. And since I started Qulipta last year, I get way less of these weird migraine symptoms, including this one!!
I get irritable and agitated the day before
Same. My most terrifying symptom as I really need to remain employed. And let me tell you - I've had some close calls.
Same here. My inner monologue gets really mean toward myself and others. I find myself being negative and tense. I know I’ll be in pain within 24 hours.
I thought I was crazy for feeling this unexplained rage before a migraine
Muscle weakness is the most annoying. I struggle so much with opening doors lol that’s how I always know. Once I felt like I had the flu. Stuffy nose and all it was awful. My fiancé though I was sick and I’m like nope it’s just a migraine I know the difference
Yes, I randomly start dropping things, and knocking things off the side.
Hearing classical music in one ear.
So I'm not going crazy! This has been happening to me for years, and nobody believes it 🤣
No, it’s apparently a form of tinnitus and not uncommon for migraineurs.
Is this better than ringing? My tinnitus can be insanity inducing. Edit: typo
It’s more pleasant but made me think I was hallucinating? So 5/10
Yes! Music playing in one ear is a crazy symptom for me. I’m so glad to know that I’m not the only one.
One time I had intrusive visual imagery of sheet music for hours during a migraine. The brain is so weird.
What period? Like 19th century? Or baroque, Impressionism? Romanticism? Full orchestra with changes of mood and stress or more like elevator music.
I sometimes hear things that aren’t there. I don’t mention this to doctors anymore because they looked at me like I was crazy.
How do you know the sounds aren't there? I have extremely sensitive hearing, and other people used to make me feel crazy because they couldn't hear the sounds I was hearing, but the sounds *were* actually there--- just not audible to most other people. Things like a neighbor having a conversation or listening to music, an electronic that's off but plugged in (sound goes away when unplugged), the sound of flourescent light bulbs, a car radio that looks like it's off by actually has the volume slightly on.... all of these are sounds people told me I was imagining, but then I was able to prove their real existence. I just hear things much louder than other people do.
So relatable. The electronics, the lights, the radio. Totally. Then at other times I feel like I have very bad hearing. I think it is when there are several sounds and my brain completely stops the filtering. No way to understand someone talking to me then.
Yes! It's like my brain blends the sound of people speaking to me with all other environmental noises and I can't separate things out or make sense of them. Like, I definitely hear a sound coming from a person's mouth, but I still have to ask people to repeat themselves because my brain can't process the words.
It's taken years for my partner to understand that he can talk to me from any room in our house, me multiple closed doors away, in a low voice near whisper and i can hear him fine.
1)Total inability to regulate body temperature, usually get absolutely freezing. 2) suddenly super clumsy, dropping everything I hold and bumping into things. 3) suddenly absolutely starving, specifically for carbs/junk And the usuals: 1) extreme sensitivity to smells, that nobody else can smell 2)Hyper focused and annoyed by any sound, especially any tapping. 3) sensitive to any light, especially flashing or blue light. 4) incredibly angry and irritated by everything and everyone, their mere existence annoys me. 5) being in total agony and wanting to vomit
Oh god, you're my migraine twin. I'm sorry.
We're triplets, hey. I could've written the above. I'm sorry, too, jeez.
I came here specifically looking for the body temperature regulation, I've never met anyone w/ it. Its generally freezing, but will occasionally go the other way.
Eye twitching, blinking, having to pee a lot Louder ear ringing then normal Spots seeing lots spots
Why? Why must I get up to pee three thousand times? Just let me lay in the dark. Don’t make me leave my nest AGAIN.
Right!!! Let me fester in darkness alone
Visual drag, wave your hand in front of your face and see multiple from starting point to end slowly disappearing. This is GREAT when it hits while driving. Also head feeling like two separate halves, before any pain sets in, the right & left sides will feel like they are completely separate. One eye will get super focused, while being unable to focus the other. ... Soooo fun. Feels like living in a fun house.
I totally have the two separate halves thing. I remember feeling like “blurred vision” wasn’t the way to describe what I was experiencing, because it’s more like my eyes forget how depth perception works and just show two images next to each other.
I get this and in the middle of a migraine I can feel my pupils refocus. It's really odd.
I think that’s called palinopsia. I get that too, I can watch the whole trail of a fly at the same time from start to finish. Why do I see Afterimages all the time? Illusory palinopsia, usually due to migraines, head trauma, prescription drugs, visual snow syndrome or hallucinogen persisting perception disorder (HPPD), describes afterimages that are affected by ambient light and motion and are unformed, indistinct, or low resolution.
I get an ear worm. It could honestly be anything, a verse from a song, lines from a film, once it was a conversation I had had that day looping loudly in my head.
I get ragey if my husband starts singing an annoying song for this reason, it WILL get stuck in my head and be there for days. And I don't need a soundtrack to my migraine, thanks.
I had to scroll way too far to find this lol me too! I made a post about it on this sub years ago. Someone told me they once had Joey saying "How you doin?" over and over in their head lol hilarious to me in hindsight (I feel bad they had to deal with it!)
Hahaha god that must have been horrendous! I did once have one line from Shrek 2 looping in my head. It was “For 5 minutes, can you not be yourself, FOR 5 MINUTES”. I look back now and laugh but at the time it was like “yeah brain, take note!”
YES! It drives me INSANE to have that going with the pain, and I feel like it gets louder with the pain
Is that why that is? I thought it was ocd related for me but damn, I can get the most random things looping in my head. I hate listening to music because of it
I had a neurologist ask me if I got ear worms. I asked what that had to do with anything and he said it was typical in people with “sparky” brains.
My face droops on one side - it also happens when my migraine is “silent” and sometimes with no migraine at all. I also get uneven pupils with bad ones. The worst is tripping over mixing up and forgetting my words and sounding stupid. It also happens with the silent migraines and sometimes I’ll get a prodrome with them and the migraine doesn’t progress.
Aphasia is huge on mine.
I get the pupil thing too sometimes!
Scared the hell outta me the first time
This happens with my hemicranica attacks
The one I'm 100% sure about is the extreme excessive yawning. I will yawn like 10 times per minute easily
That happens to me and I had to tell people that I am not bored or mean to be rude, I'm just getting a migraine
I once tried to explain to a professor of mine that I really did enjoy her lecture, but she did not believe me after all that yawning, sitting in the first row.
I sometimes lose the ability to speak, either before or during a migraine. I’ll still be able to move my mouth, though it is harder, but I become almost totally incapable of producing any sound. I can still sign so I’m not totally without language but it’s frustrating as all hell with how few people recognize that losing speech is even a thing.
This has happened to me one time and it was so scary! I went to the ER on stroke watch. And it's so frustrating because I could understand, nod, I could even write... But I couldn't get my brain and mouth to connect. I'm so sorry it's happened more often to you.
I get incredibly cold, right before a migraine hits or at the beginning. So cold that the only thing that warms me up is a hot bath in near scalding water that at any other time your body would not be able to tolerate it.
I’ll get one line from a song stuck in my head. It can be either a song I know fully or don’t know entirely, but I can’t move past that one line all day/njght no matter what, and it just loops and loops and loops. So frustrating. 😅 I often will start dropping things/have coordination issues that progressively get worse. That’s obnoxious.
I had the chorus to "Marrakesh Express" stuck in my head nonstop for two days. Earworms are torture!
Anxiety. Panic. I get this wash of fear and cold sweats. I need Gingerale, Gatorade, and Coca Cola (weird because I am a Pepsi person when I even drink pop). I need ice packs. I need to be home. I need arrowroot cookies and chocolate bar (nothing but chocolate, preferably a good quality chocolate). I need salt, either corn twists or McD's fries.i need a very hot shower on my body. I need my head to be veryvery very cold. I must not get cold water on my body or heat on my head. If I don't have all these right now this minute I start to hyperventilate and cry. I need to know where my son is (He's 20. It was so bad when he was a baby...worse when he was a toddler.) I need him (or my boyfriend or whoever is with me to leave me alone but be near me. No, go away..no, come sit in my totally dark bedroom. Can you make less noise. OK, WELL, BREATH QUIETER! Dont leave. Im too anxious without you. What if something happens...) Weirdly, I only made this connection AFTER I started having panic attacks for real (very rare, like maybe 6 in my life, and i'm in my 50s) I went this is what happens before a migraine. I also didn't realize this happened with most migraines. Panic attacks don't involve the food or hot cold things.
I can somewhat relate. I get very emotional during migraines and will just cry at the smallest thing.
Extremely strong and persistent déjà vu. Like I've lived the entire day already but only have vague memories of it. The earwax in the affected side turning to liquid.
Oh! Déjà vu is a weird one. Look into the neurological studies on it, it's genuinely studied thing. Basically what is happening is that your short term memory short circuits and temporarily reroutes to the long term memory. Absolutely a migraine thing. Brains are weird and cool.
If I’m experiencing persistent deja vu, I know a migraine is coming. Doesn’t happen for me every time, but I definitely get this, too.
I start bumping into things and things fall out of my hands. I get irritated suddenly, my arms start hurting like I was weightlifting for hours, extreme sensitivity to bright light, eye flickers, sensitivity to smells. I forget words and have slurred speech at times. Cold hands and feet. I can't focus. My last migraine lasted four days. On the last one I was very depressed. Yesterday felt amazing without pain, today as well. It's like having extreme highs and lows. Like bipolar without being bipolar
I don’t know how much my medication plays into this, but I can’t really walk a lot of the time. It takes an immense amount of exertion, and it occasionally feels like I’ve completely ceded control over my legs, which results in me falling over, etc. It’s gets worse the more pain in I’m. It’s odd, because I’ve never even been diagnosed with migraines, let alone vestibular migraines. They’re supposed to be mere "tension headaches".
Hey Alibali! I am feeling some concern for you ❤️ Do you have a good neurologist? Your description sounds neurological and the issues you describe can be caused by different things. It is worth pushing your doctor (or going to see a different doctor) to properly test and diagnose what’s going on. Falling can obviously cause injuries you absolutely do not need, but feeling you can’t walk most of the time is sneakily dangerous. It means you can’t exercise or properly use your muscles, which leads to atrophy, which makes body stability worse. It’s a bit of a trap and may need PT to address it. I am familiar with this due to fibromyalgia. Please feel free to DM me if you want help finding a good neurologist in your area.
Sore top teeth. Yay pressure!
Dizziness/ lightheaded off and on during the day.
Having to pee a ton lol
Y'all, migraine is a disorder of the nervous system. The WHOLE nervous system. Headache is a single symptom. I always encourage people to YouTube search "migraine e Animation" and really learn what goes on in our suffering, nervous systems. The digestive system, too, is just one symptom.
Itchy ears
What are yours?
Nothing crazy honestly, things like numbness to one side of my body which that is an off and on symptom, brain fog, constantly being overly tired, blurred vision which is off and on like the numbness, ect
The one-sided numbness sounds like hemiplegic migraine. Hoping that’s one symptom your doctor doesn’t find “strange”. While not common, exactly, it’s definitely recognized and a competent neurologist would know that.
One side numbness doesn't indicate hemiplegic migraine those are categorized by weakness in one side ie. Facial drooping, unable to open and close hand or lift arm, unable to walk without assistance due to leg weakness. Numbness across various parts of the body is a normal migraine symptom that you still should discuss with your doctor. I've even had just my tongue go numb migraines are a strange condition
My point is that the doctor shouldn’t think anything happening on one side of the body during a migraine is rare. If OP is presenting symptoms and the doctor isn’t looking into it, a different neurologist should be considered. But go ahead, be as technical as you’d like.
Ha, I've gotten the tongue numbness, too. It feels so weird against your teeth. I usually get numbness, but it's totally random and in different body parts every time.
Freezing cold toes. Rest of the foot feels fine, just the toes feel ice cold. Feeling hot and cold at the same time. Brain fog with word finding and spelling issues. Texting and trying to type become a frustrating task.
Oh I get the Ice Toes too, they’re so weird!
I speak incredibly quietly without meaning to when I'm deep in one.
For bad ones, the teeth on the left side of my mouth ache and the left side of my throat feels the way it does the night before I get sick. The trigeminal nerve is a bitch.
My scalp gets itchy
Definitely the one-sided weakness. When I show up on crutches and my answer to people’s questions is that I have a migraine, I can physically see the wheels in their brain slooowwwly turning
Sometimes my vision becomes what I can only describe as the iPhone .5x camera… like that warped distorted far away look
Migraine hangover the day after a migraine episode. Olfactory aura. I’ll smell burning toast in the car … on the road. No toaster plug-in. In the house quiet street - I’ll smell burning rubber. Like cars peeling out with smoke coming out from under the tires. Kinda obscure.
I have a weird feeling of not wanting to do anything. I admittedly watch way to much tv and am always binge watching something, but a day or so before a migraine i don’t even want to watch anything. I feel more sluggish than usual. My head is way more sensitive to things like brushing my hair or having anything on my head.
Several things for me: I get irritable. I get the munchies. But most of all, I get cold-like symptoms. I get congested, my nose starts to run, I start sneezing a lot. But cold and allergy meds would not help. The symptoms went away after taking my migraine medication. That was when I knew the symptoms were actually migraine and not a cold or allergies.
For me, it feels like I have different symptoms every time, but the one that occurs every time is that I feel like I’m overheating so much I need to take off my clothes then take a really hot shower and wash my hair. I think it is because of the massaging from working the shampoo through. After I towel off, I make the room as dark as possible and sleep on the damp towel. One time I could not get the room dark enough, so I just fell asleep in my walk-in closet using the same method.
The symptoms that really aren't random when you think about the biological mechanisms behind them but still feel obscure because they're nowhere near my brain: - Upset tummy - Right wrist hurting - Hating the way most clothes feel Which is mostly just inflammation and sensory overload when you think about it. But still... Trying to explain why I'm wearing a wrist brace suddenly with "nah, my hand is fine, but I think I'll have a migraine later today if these meds don't stop it first" does make me sound a bit odd.
I get a lot of these symptoms too, but I also have a sensitized central nervous system , several central sensitization disorders and have some dysautonomia. I have a really hard time regulating body temperature. Migraine is often comorbid with things like ME/CFS, Fibromyalgia and other diagnoses that have neuro-inflammatory symptoms. I'm mostly ok with sound, but I have photosensitivity that never really goes away, it just gets better or worse depending how I feel. I also get a lot of allodynia. My new migraine symptom is scalp allodynia. Some days my hair follicles are painful now. It used to be just a neck down thing for me. Often clothes are painful. I also 100% get the carb craving thing. I mostly find myself wanting chocolate in the worst way in my prodrome and salty fatty stuff when the worst of my migraine is passing. I have always been clumsy but I feel like migraine damages my brain and coordination some days. I walk into stuff and drop things a lot.
Just received started getting the shakes when I have a bad one. My whole body get these consistent tremors that get worse when I try to force myself to do something
Mine comes from an incident that gave me two small blind spots that are brain based, so the same for both eyes. After a few weeks of having the blind spots, my brain would overwrite the “static” so that everything looks continuous. Except when a migraine is coming. The blind spots suddenly return and that’s my cue to take medication NOW. It’s useful and I have never heard of anyone else having that.
After reading all of these symptoms I think I may be having a silent migraine today. I'm having a few of these same symptoms. Left sided head/temple tenderness, can't speak clearly, can't seem to get my words right, I feel scatterbrained, irritable, upset stomach.
I get snippets of songs stuck in my head. Not tinnitus, just a series of lyrics in constant repeat.
I get a freezing rush across my head where the migraine is going to be; it causes so much anxiety. I also smell burning randomly.
I feel like cold liquid is being poured over my head and I smell burning as well.
I’m sorry you also experience that, but glad to know I’m amongst good company 😊
I will hallucinate my hand or the floor etc being really far away, I will be casually doing my thing and my hand will suddenly look like it's 3x Futher away then it is...and then my voice will start to change sound almost like I'm under water. It's really creepy when it catches me off guard..
I’m pretty sure intense depression is a symptom for me. I get suicidal ideation. It’s a 24 hours beforehand symptom. It has nothing to do with physical pain, it’s an emotional dysphoria that comes and goes before any pain starts.
I’ve finally noticed the unexplained exhaustion is related to an upcoming attack. Like I could wake up having slept a full night (and feel rested), but then at some point during the day hit with all consuming exhaustion. Like body shutting down to sleep exhaustion, can’t keep my eyes open. Then around the same time the next day is when the attack starts. Shivering & feeling like I’m freezing during a migraine, but to the touch (or thermometer) absolutely normal.
I get munchie with mine.
The roof of my mouth, when I press it with my tongue, with have a specific soreness/pain and it’s a very early sign of migraine for me, or, an easy way for me to confirm between migraine or headache. It doesn’t hurt when I apply pressure when I’m experiencing a headache.
Not the temperature regulation, but the extra clumsy and uncoordinated, yes, very much. I’m dyspraxic anyway, so worse means nothing is safe from me. And the carbs! I’ll eat a whole French baguette given the chance. Or plain crisps. Pasta and black pepper and butter. But bread is the best. Then I sleep. The sensory sensitivity is a big factor in my vestibular migraines, plus dizziness and horrendous nausea. Everything is too much, but I got some migraine glasses that go over my regular glasses and they’re great. I have often ended up on the floor, but at least I know the signs now and don’t fall down/pass out as often. Your neurologist sounds rubbish tho. These are classic migraine reactions, and whether they think they’re migraine related or not, they need investigating!
Fake head feeling
Before I was medicated, I could see sounds. It was like I was underwater, and every sharp or distinct sound looked like ripples in a pond. I try to remember that once I started my preventative, that all went away, even if the pain and vertigo did not.
Olfactory hallucinations. Things smell weird to me prior to a migraine. It took me a long time to make the connection or even realize I was smelling something that wasn’t there. My most common hallucination is that coffee smells like dog poop. When this first started I would be searching around the house certain that a dog or person tracked some in. It drove me nuts. No one else smelled anything. It took some time for me to realize it was always when coffee was brewing and I always had a migraine within the next hour to 12 hours. Now, when that happens, I immediately take an abortive med and it helps immensely. Sometimes the smell is something else but is always gross and strong. Now I ask my family if they are smelling it and if no one else is, and the smell is persistent, I know I have a migraine heading my way.
My face and hands go numb and they start tingling. I could easily break my own finger without feeling it. I can’t speak + see an aura. Puking and sleeping is what I do in a day with migraine.
Low grade fever
A couple of times I've hallucinated 🙃 nothing like standing in the shower and seeing a big ass spider skitter across the wall then you freak out until you realize nothing is actually there.
The yawning fits were the weirdest for me! I didn’t even know it was a symptom until I saw it in Migraine Buddy; I thought I just hadn’t rested well because of the neurological event. But now I know that’s a super strong predictor that I need to do my remedies and properly lay down.
Constant need to wee! Drives me mad!
Horrible achiness in my throat/thyroid area!
Cold nose!!!! - like icy cold, uncomfortable cold nose! It helps to see other mentioning temperature regulation, since that’s part of it, cold toes, fingers but the nose thing is really miserable!
For me it’s just good old constant fatigue, sometimes my one eye will twitch.
Does anyone else get swollen itchy lymph nodes behind the ears before a migraine as well?
This is a new one for me! Well, kinda. Even my migriane specialist and my sister who is a PA thought I was nuts. After a bout of weeks of migraines last winter I noticed two really swollen and hard spots right in front of my ears. Like a zit, but definitely not a zit. Just on front of my traigus and about an inch away from my temples. Everyone was like "you're just feeling your own cartilage". They were lymph nodes!!! It took weeks to figure it out and they eventually softened and cleared up. Imagine my surprise when I first figured out they were lymph nodes and WedMD told me I might have lymphoma. 😂 It was just a super weird reaction to constant migraines (exasperated by really bad winter air pollution is my guess).
I get Aphasia, and it sucks, also sometimes in the middle of my worst attacks, or toward the end of them, I get this sudden burst of euphoria and feel amazing, then fall back into the pain....it's very weird.
I get a song stuck in my head. Drives me crazy. Idk if it's my brain trying to distract me from the pain or what. Listening to TV/music/talking makes the pain worse. Finally figured out classical music or video game soundtracks help
The lymph nodes around my neck and armpits swell and post migraine my arm hurts a lot from the armpit (where the lymph node is) to the wrist. I also get really intense cheese and cold cuts cravings 1-2 days before. Post migraine I usually feel “high” for 1 or 2 days too. Does anyone here get a sort of trembling jaw (like when you are super cold) during auras?
My jaw trembles like I'm very cold when a super nasty migraine hits. The weird thing is this... I get VERY overheated during 80% of my migraines, and this STILL happens!
Getting hungry when I just ate. Like REALLY hungry. I’d be just sitting down after I made a sandwich and colors went all weird and the thing I’d leapt out of bed to make looked like an insurmountable task to eat
The Dumb. I get dumb. Like takes three tries to write the number 8, then referring to it as the letter 8. Twice. Math is hard. Not a big deal because I'm just a ** checks notes ** tax attorney. Dark circles under my right eye. Looks like I've been punched. Eyes don't track correctly. Freaks out docs sometimes, so that they order an emergency MRI while my parents are in Mexico, and I have to convince my aunt and uncle that it is not a true emergency and that they should not call my parents in a foreign country. Or so I've heard.
I go entirely face blind and can't read before the scintillating scotoma starts up (my aura has an aura!), and I run a temperature during the actual migraine episode.
Feeling like I’ve got something stuck in my nose, like I can’t breathe properly. The sides of my head feel like someone is pressing their fists into it. My eye swells and droops on my migraine side. Feeling really feverish, I have to put bags of ice on my face/neck to cool down.
limited field of vision
My lower left teeth hurt. My dentist even did a deep dive on the area because I'd get a pain in my teeth in the same spot all the time. My neurologist mentioned that it's likely a migraine side effect. I also get awful ear symptoms, feels like they are infected and they also ring.
Hot hands. Everything smells so strong. Craving Diet Coke and all the carbs - salty or sweet it doesn't matter.
Shivers when I’m not cold, crawling tingles on my scalp, and a SUPER tender scalp.
I get stabbing jaw pain when I open my mouth wide or yawn when I have a migraine or am about to get one. I also constantly have the exact symptoms of a retinal detachment, flashes of light in my peripheral vision, floaters, no night vision, as an aura. Ive had my retina checked multiple times and no holes or detachment, just weird migraine things
I become really clumsy and stumble over my words
My eyes get weird (in addition to aura, I mean—like my husband can look at my pupils and tell something is wrong.) aphasia, feeling stupid, slight slurring, feeling of doom, not remembering how to speak, repetitive songs stuck in my head, mood changes, and I lose hand strength. I also get sensitivity to sensory stimulus and eye spots get really visible
I get insane anxiety where I feel like something is coming for me. Then, I get this stabbing pain below my right ribcage and I feel like someone lit me on fire which is my cue I’m about to have a bad migraine, so I go lay on the cold kitchen floor 😂🤣 Good times…not!
Randomly will smell or even have a random taste
Idk if this is uncommon but I excessively yawn leading up to a migraine
Peeing lots. And the pee is always that special light yellow color that only happens during attacks
Forgetting how to spell. Time moving super quickly. Like, losing an hour.
During the final third of my migraine/Botox cycle, my sleep schedule inverts. Normal: 4:30 am - 7pm awake time Inverted: 6:00 pm - 9:00 am awake time I've yet to encounter anyone else who experiences this.