What Happens To The Body When You Get Migraine?

Migraines are a recurring headache which leads to moderate to throbbing pain, most often in one side of the head. It is also characterized by other symptoms which are quite disabling in nature. Have you wondered what happens to the body when you get migraine?

Let’s look at what happens in the body when you suffer from a migraine attack:

Brain – Brain function and migraine have quite a link. The chemical in the brain such as serotonin and CGRP which are necessary for brain functioning go off balance during and after a migraine.¹ This changes how your brain works for a short period of time.

Here is what happens to the body when you get migraine, as regards brain function. The person experiences:

Difficulty in reading
Problems in decision making
Difficulty concentrating
Trouble in speaking
Changes in the senses of touch and taste

Because of these symptoms, people keep themselves from performing their daily tasks.

Head – As any of the triggers such as stress, bright light, certain food, lack of sleep, ups and downs of estrogen in women hit the person, there is a difference in the activity in the mind. A certain part of the mind overreacts and this over activity leads to pain in the head in the people.

A person suffering from migraine mostly describes headache as one of the main symptoms. The type of headache is important when understanding what happens to the body when you get migraine. The headache in migraine is described as

Throbbing
Pulsating
Pounding
Numbness in certain parts of head and face
Neck pain
Dull aching pain

Most people also complain about pain from usually not so painful things such as brushing your hair, shaving, laying head in the pillow and wearing hat or earrings.

Eyes and Ear – As migraine trigger comes across the disrupted brain activity affect how the person sees and hears things for a short period of time. The symptoms are,

Hearing sounds that are not there (auditory hallucinations)
Blurred vision
Sensitivity to light and sound
Seeing spots or lines
Pain in ear

Nose – The sense of smell is also affected when the migraine attack hits. Certain fragrances might seem too strong and some too low. It may be due to nerves in the brain stem being affected. This is also a part of all that happened to the body when you get migraine.

Migraine patients mostly describe the following symptoms:

Stuffy nose
Pain and pressure in the sinus
A sense of smell of things that are not there
Smell sensitivity
Sinus symptoms like runny nose and nasal congestion

The nasal symptoms are quite similar to the sinus problem and are confused by most of the doctors. If the two conditions regularly occur together, they might actually be related.

Arms and Legs – Due to irritation in certain parts of the brain, the arms and legs feel a tingle or a numb feeling. And this feels mostly on the fingers and the toes and usually on one side. There might be sleeping feeling in the limbs. The tinging is felt in a small part of the body like one finger or just a part of one finger. Most of the people complain of tingling and numbness in the limbs before the migraine hits.

Digestion – Most of the people suffering from migraine experience digestive symptoms before the attack hits, while the attack is happening and afterwards as well. The symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, and food craving are most experienced. In addition to what happens to the body when you get migraine, there are some emotional upsets as well. This is possibly due to the physical complaints and overall triggers that also irritation.

Now that you are aware of what happens to the body when you get migraine, you can plan a better lifestyle and treatment regimen. It is important to address migraine as soon as you feel it coming. Delay in the treatment can make it very difficult to bear the symptoms. A little change in lifestyle, exercise and management techniques prove to be helpful in reducing the frequency and severity of these attacks.

References:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4549713/

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What Happens To The Body When You Get Migraine?