Do You *Hear Voices* during a Migraine Attack?
It’s rare, but it is occasionally reported in medical literature. Hearing auditory hallucinations, most often “hearing voices”, associated with a migraine attack.
Visual hallucinations are actually much more common, and can be something simple (such as seeing a flashing light) to something very complex (seeing people). But hearing things is so rare that it’s not usually considered a symptom or trigger of migraine.
Researchers in the USA decided to do a little more research into this phenomenon. They confirmed that of all types of auditory hallucinations, hearing voices was the most common (but still only 58%). But the question remains, is this actually a symptom of migraine?
Most often the patients had the auditory hallucinations during the headache phase of the attack (75%), and it usually lasted less than an hour (67%). This seems to be something more common in patients who had at some time been diagnosed with depression, although many of the patients wouldn’t fit in that category.
In fact, it was difficult to say why these patients experienced this symptom, when the vast majority do not. We do know that in the case of these patients (12 of them – remember, this is very rare), the symptoms did always come with the migraine attack and disappeared afterwards.
So here definitions become important. Is this a migraine aura? A migraine symptom? Or could it be that auditory hallucinations are something caused by another factor, but triggered in some way by the migraine attack?
We do know that there are other physical problems that could lead to hallucinations such as hearing voices, such as blood flow to the brain or issues with the messages sent through the nervous system. But for now, although some patients may need special treatment just for the hallucinations, the answer seems to be the usual – treat the migraine attacks, and these strange symptoms should disappear as well.
Have you experienced anything like this during a migraine attack? We would love to hear from you!
Study abstract: Auditory hallucinations associated with migraine: Case series and literature review.
19 December 2014 @ 1:12 pm
Sometimes when I have migraine, I get an extreme version of a musical “earworm”, where a piece of music repeats itself until it is almost driving me crazy. It feels more like an auditory hallucination than a normal earworm because it feels out of my control.
31 December 2014 @ 8:26 pm
I hear phones ringing some times. I also get ringing and whooshes, but it is possibly more related to side effects to Pseudo Tumor Cerebri and Diamox side effects than migraines, but I have had a few episodes of auditory hallucinations the past few months since being diagnosed with both PTC and HM.
9 January 2015 @ 5:27 am
I know how it feels, Caitlyn.
17 August 2015 @ 9:47 pm
I often hear a TV or radio, people talking on it but not that I can make out. Only when is very quiet like at night. Tonight I heard whispers. Very freaky. Migraine goes right along with it. I can’t predict when it’s going to happen. Could be every day one week and then not for a month. I get chronic migraines but I definitely get different types of migraines and auras.
29 December 2015 @ 9:10 am
Last week I experienced hearing voices with my migraine for the first time. I usually see an aura before the migraine, so I have also had the visual hallucinations. I am a registered nurse, so I decided to do some research on this. Apparently, the auditory hallucinations are less common.
25 July 2016 @ 11:38 pm
Um, I am currently unable to describe the headaches I get. They come every day, usually lasting from 1-2 minutes. However, just ten minutes ago I had an extremely bad one. I am not sure of the length of time during the headache, but it was the longest I’ve had. When it was over, my sister mentioned that I was whispering something under my breath, perhaps the words I was hearing, but I cannot recall mumbling anything, or being able to make out the words I was hearing. The migraines and auditory hallucinations have been occurring for a year now, but I’ve had daily headaches for about two years. I am just a young teengaer, so I would like to have this problem resolved for my future. If anyone could help me with this, I would be so grateful.
19 September 2016 @ 10:11 am
l was diagnosed with migraines over 2 years ago i thought i was having a stroke worst headache i ever hadon my right side left face and arm numb bright flashing lights i have tried many different meds still have them not as severe i have auras squiggly moving lines in both eyes usually dont get a migraine right afterwards last few weeks ive been hearing music and people talking like on the radio in a distance when im trying to sleep i have to turn on the fan full blast to drown out the noise its terrible and a little scary
16 December 2016 @ 5:29 pm
I used to hear voices when I was 6 years old until I was 10 years old during bad migraines. They sounded like two people yelling at each other but I couldn’t make out what they were saying, even though the sound was deafening in my ears. I used to think it was going to drive me crazy. I was aware the voices were not real but it’s like they were on this deafening loop in my head, which would only occur during a migraine. I have also experienced the earworm loop of a particular part of a song during a migraine. I outgrew it, but even to today, 20 years later, I can identify with the trauma these experiences caused me. Some people say that they would get a visual aura accompanying migraines, but mine were all auditory. I still suffer from migraines but haven’t experienced this in two decades, but feel compassionately empathetic for anyone who experiences this.
11 January 2017 @ 9:19 am
I have never heard of migraines lasting such a short time. If you haven’t already, you need to tell your parents about it and see a doctor. Sometimes it’s hard to convince people of our experiences like this. If your parents doubt you, look on the internet for other people with similar problems, copy and paste it into a document or email and show it to them. The same goes for a doctor. I am seeing one today and will show him what I have found in this and other articles.
16 January 2017 @ 2:12 am
Only once can i very much recall this happening to me when i was a boy. I think i was in the 4th or 5th grade and stayed home due to a migraine. As it progresses i could hear people i knew calling my name repeatedly. After the migraine stopped along did the voices but the pain aside it was pretty interesting to say the least. Lmao
21 March 2017 @ 9:17 am
I hear music but cannot discern works said. It’s muffled like through a wall but I definitely know it is music with a rhythm – the bass or drum is most prominent but every once in awhile I can pick up a word or two. I have tinnitus so IDK if it is related but the ringing also increases to the point of extreme pain at times – usually with a weather shift.
21 March 2017 @ 4:12 pm
I have recently experienced hearing sirens while suffering with migraine. Has anyone else had this?
3 June 2017 @ 3:30 pm
Yeah, I do hear voices talking to me when i’m having a migraine, mostly voices of the people I know, at first it was just calling my name, now it developed to a full conversation.
27 July 2017 @ 1:31 pm
I get Cluster Migraines and will often times hear either drills or people mumbling or whispering. It’s very disconcerting considering Cluster Migraines already affect my cognition negatively and also sometimes cause visual hallucinations. It’s like living through a “real” nightmare sometimes.
22 August 2017 @ 10:13 pm
When I was in primary school I started suffering from migraines and 3 times I was woken up by an empty room full of voices during the night. It sounded like conversations I had with different people during different times several days, sometimes years earlier, all at once. It seemed to go away, along with migraines after I had 2 ear operations (for something else). Recently that same ear has been ringing and whistling, the migraines have come back with a blast (lasted 5 days and still was suffering the sixth) on the third day it was bad and no painkillers were working, then that night the room full of voice work me up again. It was exactly what happened when I was young but I was so scared.
3 January 2018 @ 1:50 am
My son is in 6th grade and was trying to sleep and got up and said with tears in his eyes he was hearing voices of 2 girls but couldn’t make out what they were saying..he has been having bad headaches and was in the middle of one..he describes it like the voices were coming threw the wall
20 January 2018 @ 6:04 pm
Read the ‘ancient secret of the flower of life’ and look into the annunakki (not sure if that’s spelled right). It could be schizophrenia though too. You should find a doc you trust and your child is comfortable with and have them/you talk(could even be a physiatrist). I know drugs are scary to some people, but the right ones have definitely helped me(medication). I’m sorry to hear what your child is going through and I hope you both the best on your journey. Sorry.
20 January 2018 @ 6:01 pm
I have migraine attacks and have also been diagnosed with psychosis, bi-polar effective, and was depressed. Sometimes during a migraine I will start talking as if someone is speaking to me. I do this naturally as at least some of us do, but i am not in control of my energy or the ‘energy’ that’s is symptomatic to the migraine.
I was diagnosed schizophrenic, but since, recently, I have not been schizophrenic. I’ve heard that a lot about migraines is unknown and do par-take in the smoking of trees. This seems to help, as well as, my hemp oil. What I’m thinking is that it’s fibromyalgia along with migraines I’m suffering from currently, but not sure. Leave a reply if you’re a doctor or know what you’re talking about, or going through something similar and could help me figure out what’s going on or vice a versa. Thanks.
31 January 2018 @ 1:36 am
Since I was about 8 I’ve been hearing voices with my migraines, and it’s extremely painful. The first time I experienced it I was terrified and didn’t know what to do or what was happening. I woke up from a deep sleep just hearing a crowd of people screaming at me, some speaking above each other while others were lost in the wave of angry chants. It’s still the same to this day ( I’m 20 ).
3 February 2018 @ 10:41 pm
I experienced my first migraine when I was in the 3rd grade. I was home alone and so i do not know how it started, but I do remember sitting on my parents bedroom floor and becoming aware that my mother’s dresser was talking to me. Not voices coming from her dresser. I was having a conversation with her dresser. It was old and each knob had some sort of fancy face plate that I somehow associated with an actual face. I was aware that we weren’t speaking English and it was very warbly, but at the time I understood it completely. As I came out of the hallucination I forgot what was said and the pain took over. My mother came home and we headed to the hospital where I was examined and promptly discharged. My migraines ceased for years but came back at about 8 years ago when I was around 25. The first was excruciating and have since morphed into migraines with auras/large visual loss and distortions with a blistering sensation that my skin and bones are on fire that lasts hours. Thankfully they’ve gotten less frequent and have calmed to occasional migraines and much intermittent, very short lived ‘bursts’ of auras. I’ll take that over agony and talking dressers any day!
26 May 2018 @ 12:04 pm
So it’s weird but the location of my Migraine seems to determine whether or not I have Auditory Hallucinations.
26 June 2018 @ 9:41 am
I have been getting migraines for about 6 years now and I hadn’t experienced hearing or seeing things till resently about a year ago. I started taking the genetic migraine pain killer instead of the original brand so not sure if that was the reason but now even if I take the original kind it still happens which wasn’t the case before taking the genetic type. I can hear regular conversations and see images like people-blur sort of thing. I don’t feel scared or like I should bother because I know it’s not real but it does worry me if there is something triggering this that my doctors can’t diagnose. I am helatlhy besides getting migraines and keep myself active and eat healthy but when I get migraines I am a mess I can’t function and it lasts a few days even when I take migraine meds right when I feel it coming it still unfolds. Does anyone have any recommendations on maybe some other options that have worked for you? I have tried accupunture and followed my doctors advice but even a sertain smell triggers my migraines. So any advice would be welcomed
26 June 2018 @ 9:44 am
How can you tell? I get migraines too and I haven’t been able to tell what triggers it
29 June 2018 @ 9:55 pm
So I dunno if this is gonna be helpful to anyone but I thought I’d share just in case, bc It turns out the bizarre migraines I began having about a year ago were different from the norm of the past decade as they were in fact seizures. The aura was there but a bit diff and the location had changed. I was hearing, seeing, and sometimes smelling stuff that wasn’t there. It didn’t occure to me or my Drs that they weren’t migraines until I was diagnosed with Lupus.
Hind sight is 20/20 I guess but if you’re one of those people who’s headaches have changed in weird ways- the hearing stuff actually helped them determine which part of my brain was seizing- maybe make an appointment and don’t try and wait it out or anything. Migraines can also be the cause of seizures too.
30 July 2018 @ 4:46 am
Hi i have been diagnosed with schizophrenia for 26 years with vocal hallucinations..a few years ago i started getting migraines with flashing lights in my eyes then almost everytime later a voice comes and talks through me saying his name and that he curses me this went on for the past 3 years for days at a time and especially when i wake until last night i took some paracetemol and he seemed to disappear..is there a link between the two ailments that would cause this..thnx Sean