A migraine isn’t just a bad headache. It’s an illness with myriad neurological symptoms that may include bad headaches. Migraine types include:
- Migraine without aura
- Migraine with aura
- Chronic migraine
- Abdominal migraine
- Acephalgic/silent migraine
- Migraine with brainstem aura (basilar-type migraine)
- Hemiplegic migraine
- Retinal migraine
- Status migrainosus
Many migraine types share some of the samesymptoms, which typically include nausea, vomiting, dizziness, sensitivity to touch, smells, and light, and—in a few people—numbness and difficulties with speech.
Migraine with aura
Along with the usual migraine headache, some people with migraines experience an “aura phase” before or during their migraine. When you have an aura, you may see flashing lights or bright colored lines across your visual field, or you may feel sensations like tingling in your body.
Experts don’t know exactly what causes migraine aura, but aura likely happens when cells on the surface of your brain become activated in an abnormal way.
When this happens, it triggers changes in blood flow to the areas of your brain that control vision and touch, says Charles Flippen, MD, a professor of neurology at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Migraine without aura
If you have migraines without aura, you have the usual migraine symptoms like severe headache pain without any of the visual symptoms that come with aura. Migraines can also cause nausea, vomiting, and sensitivity to light and sound.
Experts still don’t fully understand what causes migraines, but we know that migraines are partly caused by your genetics, Flippen says.
Migraines may also be linked to changes in your brain stem, a part of your brain connected to the trigeminal nerve, which acts as a major pain pathway in your body.
Hemiplegic migraine
A hemiplegic migraine is a rare type of migraine with aura that causes weakness in your muscles before or during a migraine headache.
“The weakness may involve the arm, leg and face on one side of the body,” Flippen says. Hemiplegic migraines only affect one side of your body at a time, but the symptoms may switch sides during a migraine attack.
Hemiplegic migraine sufferers may also feel confused, have slurred speech, or have a hard time producing words during migraines, Flippen says.
Hemiplegic migraines tend to run in families and experts have linked them to variations in certain genes. More research is needed, but some scientists believe that hemiplegic migraines may be caused by overactive nerve cells in your brain.
Chronic migraine
Chronic migraine is defined as having at least 15 headache days a month, with at least 8 days of having headaches with migraine features, for more than 3 months. Chronic headache begins as less frequent headache episodes that gradually change into a more frequent headache pattern.
People with chronic migraines have headaches at least 15 days out of each month, and at least eight of these headaches are migraines. Chronic migraine tends to develop over time, with the number of headaches steadily increasing.
Chronic migraines can develop when you overuse medications used to treat migraines. This can include prescription drugs like barbiturates or opioids as well as over-the-counter non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen.
Retinal migraine
A retinal migraine is a type of migraine that causes changes in your vision before or during a migraine headache. Unlike a migraine aura, a retinal migraine causes symptoms in only one of your eyes – you may see twinkling lights in your sight or you may partially lose vision. In severe cases, this vision loss can become permanent.
A retinal migraine happens when you have disturbances of the nerves in your retina, the tissue at the back of your eye that senses light and processes visual information.
Vestibular migraine
A vestibular migraine is another type of migraine with aura where you have symptoms of dizziness and vertigo.
“Patients describe feeling like they are moving or that their environment is moving,” Flippen says. These sensations can also cause nausea and vomiting.
A vestibular migraine happens when the nerves that control the balance mechanism of your brain malfunction, making you feel off-balance or like you’re moving, Flippen says.
Menstrual migraine
Menstrual migraines happen during the span of two days before to three days after your menstrual cycle starts. Menstrual migraines may feel similar to regular migraines, but they often last longer and cause more severe nausea.
Menstrual migraines are caused by a decrease in your estrogen and progesterone hormones around the start of your menstrual period.
Abdominal migraine
Abdominal migraines usually affect children under the age of 12 and can start in children as young as three, Flippen says, adding that children usually grow out of it.
“Patients usually describe feeling nauseous, some abdominal pain and possible vomiting,” Flippen says. Unlike other migraines, abdominal migraines usually don’t cause any headache pain.
Abdominal migraines are considered migraines because they’re connected to the same genes that cause migraines – children with abdominal migraine often have family members with migraine headaches and they may develop migraines as they get older.
Experts don’t know exactly what causes abdominal migraines, but they may be linked to problems with the nerves that connect your brain and your gut.
Insider's takeaway
There are many types of migraines that can cause a variety of different symptoms. If you have frequent migraine attacks, go see your doctor to find out what type of migraine you have and the best way to ease your symptoms.
There are many ways to treat migraine and “the vast majority of patients should be able gain control of their condition,” Flippen says.
