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How Would You Describe a Migraine to Someone Who s Never Experienced One Before

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This Is What a Migraine Really Feels Like

A migraine isn’t just another run-of-the-mill headache. It’s a serious condition that can trigger symptoms like vomiting, nausea, dizziness, numbness, and more. Here, real people pull back the curtain on what it’s actually like to experience a migraine.

It' s Like Someone Putting My Head in a Vice Grip While Setting It on Fire

You Start Throwing Up Then You Start Dry Heaving

In Their Words

Here are some of the standout quotes our My Take contributors said about what a migraine feels like.

Sarah DelLosso

“It is the worst pain I’ve ever felt in my life. I’ve had two children and I would rather go through childbirth than have migraines. It literally makes your whole body feel like you’re going through hell.”

Stephanie Roloff

“It is a feeling like you cannot even imagine…The dry heaving is the worst…People always say to me, ‘How can you get so sick from a headache?’ They don’t realize that this is not a normal headache — this is something much more severe.”

One Way to Tell Whether You re Having a Migraine

W ondering whether you’re having a migraine or an average headache? Oftentimes, the tell-tale sign of a migraine is nausea, says Nauman Tariq, MBBS, a neurologist and the director of the Headache Center at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. “There are two common types of headaches: tension-type and migraine... with tension headaches being far more prevalent,” explains Dr. Tariq. The World Health Organization estimates that more than 70 percent of people in some populations have occasional tension headaches, which can be described as pressure or tightness around the head and neck. Oftentimes, people who experience them will have some sensitivity to light — but “the main difference between the two is the presence of nausea [in migraines],” he says. “In people with migraines, the nausea varies from minor to severe,” Tariq says. “For some, the pain of the headache may not be as overwhelming as the nausea itself.” The Migraine Research Foundation says that only about 25 percent of people with migraines also experience aura — a visual disturbance commonly known as the “classic” symptom of migraines. Other symptoms include head pain that ranges from moderate to severe; according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, some people describe the sensation as pulsating, throbbing, or pounding.

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