What is a Migraine Equivalent?

A term that is sometimes seen on the Internet and other places is the term migraine equivalent. A lot of people see it but they don’t’ know what ti exactly means. So this article is going to give you a better understanding of what the term migraine equivalent means and may also give you a better understanding of what may be happening to you in your own life.

When people think about migraines, they usually associate them with a really bad headache, nausea, vomiting, and sensitivity to light and sound. But a migraine equivalent is a migraine that comes without pain. But a migraine equivalent is a migraine that comes without the pain.

So if the migraine equivalent is a migraine without the pain in the head, why it such a big problem? The reason is simple: even though there isn’t any pain, it still is something that causes problems for people who suffer from it.

Symptoms

When someone has a migraine equivalent, they still have some of the same symptoms that someone who has a regular migraine has. Here are some of the most common t hings that people who have this will experience.

Visual Problems

One of the most common symptoms is changes in the person’s vision. Some of the changes are flashes, little light points that glitter, stripes or mirages that shimmer, and colors and patterns that seem to appear suddenly.

Other things that someone might experience with this kind of migraine is hallucinations. They may feel as if they are in a dream, feeling as if they are in the middle of a fantasy world.

Numbness and Tingling

Another symptom of this kind of migraine is numbness and tingling in a person’s feet, hands, legs, face, or arms. This can be complete numbness or it can just feel like the person’s limb fell asleep.

Length of Migraine

The migraine equivalent has really no set length of time, just like a regular migraine. It can last anywhere from a few seconds to several hours or more. It may be just one event or it can be a few things that are tied together. But it shouldn’t be thought that people who have this kind of migraine are getting off easy. The symptoms that they experience during this kind of migraine can really affect their day, frighten them, or make them wonder if they are going mad.

Although people may feel as though people who have this kind of migraine have it easy because there is no pain involved, the problems that they face with it are just as bad and just as frustrating. They have trouble telling what is real and what isn’t, they have problems with numbness in their body, and they just don’t feel like themselves. Just because there is no pain involved it doesn’t mean that the person who has the migraine isn’t affected. They are affected as badly as any other sufferer and even more so because some people may not believe that it’s a migraine.

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One Response to “What is a Migraine Equivalent?”

  1. Bunny Wasserman on August 16th, 2010 10:52 pm

    Thank you for this real account of what has haunted our 43 year old daughter for years. We have just returned from 4 days at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester Minnesota where she was for the first time diagnosed correcly with Migraaine Equilvalent Headaches and is now on Topamax. This syndromde a very complex and has 250 medical defects. Dozens on MD’s have missed this very simple fix for years and a simple look at the syndrome would have spared her years of additional agony. All it would have taken would have been a good nurologist or a good interist.

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