Migraine - Types

• Migraine with aura:Patients with this type of migraine experience various disturbing symptoms that occur before the actual headache begins, usually lasting about 20 to 60 minutes. About 20% of people with migraine experience ‘aura’ in addition to some or all of the symptoms of migraine without aura. The other symptoms of migraine are usually followed by the migraine aura.
• Migraine without aura:The majority of migraine patients have migraines without the aura. Instead, they experience symptoms of migraine that occur during the main headache attack, but none before the onset of the migraine attack, making them experience a sudden severe pain.
• Migraine aura without headache: About 1% of migraine sufferers experience only the migraine aura without the actual headache. However, the symptoms of their auras may be of any type, varying from person to person.
• Basilar migraine:Basilar migraine is a rare form of migraine that includes symptoms such as loss of balance, double vision, blurred vision, difficulty in speaking and in some patients even fainting. These sensations are often frightening because they mimic the feeling of a stroke. This type of migraine occurs when the blood circulation in the back of the brain or neck is affected.
• Hemiplegic migraine:Hemiplegic migraine is a rare but severe form of migraine that causes temporary paralysis, usually on one side of the body. This type of migraine often begins in childhood, and often, there is a strong family history.
• Ophthalmoplegic migraine:Ophthalmoplegic migraine is a very rare type of migraine that occurs mainly in young people that weakens one or more of the muscles that move the eye. In addition to usual migraine headaches, symptoms of ophthalmoplegic migraines include dilation of the pupils, inability to move the eye upward, downward or across and sometimes causing drooping of the upper eyelid.