Watch for these Three Migraine Warning Signs
These are not signs that you may develop migraine later in life, but signs that a migraine is starting – and that a headache is likely to hit within 24 hours.
Why would this be important to know? Well, when a “premonitory” symptom hits, you may still be able to dodge or at least minimize the headache phase of the attack. The early symptoms we’re talking about here are not painful, so if you can use them to lessen the headache pain (by doing some stretching, having a rest, drinking some water, taking some meds – whatever works for you) that’s a big bonus.
Dr. Peter Goadsby explains more about the premonitory phase:
The premonitory phase can occur from hours to days before the canonical attack. The symptoms include: neck discomfort, yawning, tiredness, concentration impairment, mood change, polyuria/polydipsia, or food cravings. The symptoms can be seen in children, as they are in adults. Moreover, there is evidence from functional imaging of activation in the region of the hypothalamus during the premonitory phase.
Understanding the non-pain phases of migraine: premonitory and postdromal
Remember, we’re not talking about warning signs that come 1/2 an hour before a headache, but warnings coming hours and even days early.
Dr. Peter Schmidt and colleagues reported on a study of three particular warning symptoms – mood changes, excessive yawning, and fatigue. The researchers found that many patients experienced at least one of these, and some more than one symptom.
Noticing one of these was by no means a guarantee that a headache would hit within 24 hours, but with every symptom the risk increased. Almost half of the patients in the study had a migraine headache within 24 hours of one of these symptoms (a significant number, considering how individual migraine can be. There are many other possible premonitory symptoms).
Excessive yawning was the most reliable warning, with 25% of patients getting to the headache phase within 1/2 an hour. Again, each symptom raised the likelihood of a headache attack. Read more here: Migraine attack risk increases with each premonitory symptom
Many patients haven’t consciously thought about these warning symptoms because they come so long before the headache hits. It seems likely that if we pay more attention we may be able to better predict (and avoid/partially avoid) attacks.
That being said, patients aren’t always good at predicting attacks. A couple of years ago a study on that very topic found only 9% of migraine patients to be really consistent at predicting attacks (Individual self-prediction of migraine attacks: longitudinal analysis of cohort of migraine patients using a digital platform). But here’s the thing. If we learn to observe, many of us may be able to learn how to predict some attacks. And if we can avoid a few headaches, it’s worth it.
What about you? Have you had success in predicting attacks well in advance?