A migraine can disable you with symptoms so severe, that you are unable to function. Migraines are painful and may be accompanied by other signs and symptoms including nausea, vomiting, and extreme sensitivity to light and sound. Migraine can be so severe as to incapacitate you for hours or even days.

The treatment for migraines has improved over the years.

How do you know if what you are experiencing is a migraine or not?

When you are experiencing a migraine you may have one or several symptoms such as a moderate to severe pain that is confined to one side of your head or it may be on both sides of your head. The pain pulsates or throbs. The pain gets worse if you try to do a physical activity. The pain will interfere with your ability to perform your regular activities. You have nausea and perhaps vomiting too. You are sensitive to light and to sound.

If you do not treat the migraine it can last anywhere from 4 to 72 hours. Some individuals have migraines several times a month and others have one just once or twice a year.

Some people experience migraines with auras and others do not experience migraines with auras. If you do experience auras before a migraine set in, you will notice that the aura appears about 15 to 30 minutes before the headache begins.

An aura may be like sparkling flashes of light, dazzling zigzag lines that enter your field of vision or you may experience slowly spreading blind spots in your vision. You may feel a tingling, or pins and needles sensations in one arm or leg. Rarely individuals who experience auras report weakness or language and speech problems.

Sometimes individuals will get a feeling or premonition that they are about to have a migraine a day or two before the headache starts because they experience feelings of elation or intense energy, crave sweets, become very thirsty, become drowsy or irritable and some go into a depression just before a migraine. Not all migraine sufferers experience premonitions or auras.

The migraines that children get tend to last a shorter period of time. The pain can also include nausea, vomiting, lightheadedness, and an increased sensitivity to light. They can also have all the signs and symptoms of a migraine but not have the head pain. It is important to talk to your child's pediatrician if your child is suffering from frequent headaches so that a diagnosis can be made and treatment started.