Timeline of a migraine attack
This diagram was shared via a Discord group I joined recently. I’m not sure where it’s from.
I think it’s particularly useful for explaining to others that ‘migraine’ is more than a headache and is a whole-body thing that lasts a few days.
For me, the ‘Prodome’ phase involves irritability, sensitivity to light/sound, fatigue, difficulty in sleeping, but also (not listed on the diagram) loss of muscle tone.
The ‘Aura’ phase is marked by visual disturbances, for which I use Rizatriptan (usually sorts it out within 30 mins).
I used to get really bad ‘Headache’ phases, but these days it’s more like throbbing, neck pain, and anxiety.
And then the ‘Postdrome’ differs. The best times are when I’m in a euphoric mood and I grab a piece of paper and start mapping out connections between things that hadn’t previously made sense. It doesn’t always work out that way, though.
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