You know what migraine is: That extreme, one-sided throbbing pain on one side of your head, often accompanied by sensitivity to light, nausea, vomiting and other symptoms. Perhaps you’ve even heard of migraine with aura, in which the migraineur experiences a warning sign (such as a visual disturbance or numbness) that the migraine is coming.
So what is silent migraine?
It has a provocative name, but essentially silent migraine (also called “acephalic migraine”) is just migraine symptoms without the head pain.1 It might include fatigue, difficulty speaking, numbness, partial loss of vision, confusion, visual aura and other common symptoms of migraine—but those symptoms are not followed by a headache.
How does it work?
A migraine rolls out in stages2:
- Prodrome: Symptoms occur as early as 24 hours prior to the migraine and may include irritability and diarrhea.
- Aura: This warning sign typically lasts one hour.
- Headache: This is the throbbing pain that may be accompanied by other symptoms such as sensitivity to light and nausea.
- Postdrome: For up to 24 hours after the migraine, migraineurs may experience fatigue as the pain is resolved.
If you have migraines, you might experience all four stages—or you might just experience the first one or two.
How do you treat a migraine that doesn’t involve pain?
Well, if there were no pain, a pain reliever wouldn’t seem to be much help. The National Headache Foundation recommends use of daily preventive medications instead, the same preventive medications used to stave off typical migraines.
References:
1. Boston.com.
2. WebMD.
