What are the types of migraine headaches?

Creator: SingleCare
Published: 2023-08-03T13:47:33-04:00

Different types of migraines have unique symptoms and triggers. Learn about migraine types and treatments.

By Stephanie Melby, Pharm.D. | Aug. 3, 2023

Migraine headaches are a common and disabling condition affecting around 39 million people in the United States. Migraine is a neurological condition that can develop in anyone, including children and adults. However, migraines affect adult women three times more often than men. It is a headache characterized by recurrent attacks of moderate to severe pulsating and throbbing pain on one side of the head. Each person may experience different migraine symptoms, but the most common symptoms include head pain, sensitivity to sound and light, nausea, brain fog, and dizziness. As a disabling condition, migraine interferes with education, career, or social activities for more than 90% of those affected.

Experts believe the pain associated with migraines is caused by the activation of nerve fibers within the wall of brain blood vessels traveling inside the meninges (the three layers of membranes protecting the brain and spinal cord). Migraines may occur at predictable times, such as before menstruation or during stressful events, or migraines may be unpredictable. The duration of a migraine may be a couple of hours or a few days. Certain factors may trigger a migraine, such as sudden changes in weather, too much or insufficient sleep, strong odors, motion sickness, skipped meals, anxiety, head trauma, bright lights, or flashing lights.

Since migraine headaches can be different from person to person, it’s important to know the different types of migraine headaches as they can differ in their causes, triggers, and symptoms. Depending on the type of migraine headache, people can use different techniques to prevent the headache and specific medications for treating the migraine.

Types of migraine headaches

Migraine with aura

This type of migraine is one of the major kinds and was previously called a classic migraine. A migraine aura is a warning phase before the actual headache (usually lasting 5 to 60 minutes) and can present as sensory and visual changes. The visual symptoms may include seeing spots, zigzags, or flashes of light. Other classic symptoms include trouble speaking, nausea, numbness or muscle weakness on one side of the body, sensitivity to noise, tingling sensation in the hands or face, and confusion. Women who have migraine with aura may be at a higher risk of stroke.

Migraine without aura

This is the most common type of migraine that occurs in about 75% of cases and is sometimes called the common migraine. This type of headache does not have a warning phase. Symptoms of this type of headache include head pain that occurs without a warning sign that is usually on one side of the head, nausea, confusion, blurred vision, mood changes, tiredness, and increased sensitivity to light or sound.

Menstrual Migraine

This type of migraine affects women during their menstrual period. Typically, these women also experience migraines at other times of the month. Fluctuations in hormone levels like estrogen during the menstrual cycle can bring on new migraine symptoms and changes in symptom severity. The changes in estrogen level can also cause migraine headaches to last longer and involve greater light sensitivity than attacks at other times of the month. The symptoms of a menstrual migraine may include migraine without aura, pulsing pain on one side of the head, nausea, vomiting, and increased sensitivity to light and sound.

Chronic Migraine

People who experience chronic migraines have 15 or more days of headache pain each month for over three consecutive months. Furthermore, at least eight of those headache days must have migraine symptoms, but there could be variability in the severity of headache pain on any day throughout the month. About 3 to 5% of Americans have chronic migraines. Those who suffer from chronic migraine attacks are likely to have greater disability and negative effects on their physical, social, and work life.

Abdominal Migraine

This type of migraine is most commonly experienced in children, and the symptoms are much different than other types of migraines, as head pain is usually absent. Abdominal migraine symptoms include abdominal pain focused around the belly button, nausea, and vomiting. This type of migraine lasts 2 to 72 hours and affects 1 to 4% of school-aged children. The cause of this type of migraine is unknown, but some children and their parents may notice certain triggers that bring on an attack. While most children eventually no longer have incidents of abdominal migraines into their teenage years, many of them go on to develop typical migraines.

Hemiplegic Migraine

Hemiplegic migraine is a severe and extremely rare type of migraine that causes temporary paralysis, which is a weakness to one side of the body, along with common migraine symptoms such as headache and aura. Within this type of migraine, there are two categories of hemiplegic migraine. Familial hemiplegic migraine runs in the family, and sporadic hemiplegic migraine occurs with no family history. Hemiplegic migraine usually begins in childhood. The symptoms can last for hours to days or even weeks in rare cases, but most will go away completely. Because this type of migraine has similar symptoms as a stroke, it’s important to see a healthcare provider to receive an accurate diagnosis as this may be a medical emergency.

Vestibular Migraine

This type of migraine is unique as people develop symptoms of vertigo, a sensation of moving, falling, or spinning while sitting still. These symptoms of vertigo may be spontaneous or brought about by body movements or looking at moving objects or patterns. Vestibular migraine may or may not lead to a headache. Additional symptoms of this type of migraine include sound sensitivity, light sensitivity, and often ear pain, pressure, or ringing. This is a less common type of migraine, as it affects about 3% of the adult population.

Migraine Without Head Pain

This type of migraine is also known as silent migraine. A silent migraine does not lead to headache pain but rather presents as an aura and other symptoms of migraine like nausea, vomiting, and constipation. This type of migraine can be brought about by typical migraine triggers, and these people are likely to experience other types of migraine.

Retinal Migraine

This type of rare migraine has the unique feature of visual loss or disturbance in just one eye. These visual disturbances may be similar to common visual aura symptoms experienced with migraines and are usually associated with migraine headaches. Women during their childbearing years are more likely to experience this type of migraine. The vision loss can last between 5 to 60 minutes and should be fully reversible.

Migraine treatment

Migraine treatment and prevention will vary from person to person. Treatment aims to relieve symptoms and prevent additional migraine attacks. Available treatments include drug therapy, behavioral therapy, lifestyle changes, trigger avoidance, and at-home remedies. It’s helpful to work with a healthcare team to find the best treatment.

Medication treatment can be either acute (abortive treatment) or preventative. Acute drugs are used as soon as symptoms occur to relieve migraine pain and restore function. Effective treatment options include both over-the-counter medications (OTC) and prescription drugs. OTC options may be best suited for people with mild to moderate attacks without nausea or vomiting. These drugs include ibuprofen, naproxen, aspirin, and acetaminophen. Prescription options may be more appropriate for moderate to severe pain, and they include triptans, antiemetics, calcitonin-gene-related peptide (CGRP) antagonists, and ergots. Triptans are usually the first prescription drug used for migraine treatment, and commonly prescribed drugs include Imitrex (sumatriptan), Zomig (zolmitriptan), Relpax (eletriptan), Maxalt (rizatriptan), and almotriptan. Some triptans are available as nasal sprays, which is a helpful option for people experiencing severe nausea or vomiting. CGRP antagonists used for migraine treatment are Nurtec (rimegepant) and Ubrelvy (ubrogepant). These options are used in patients who don’t respond to conventional treatment or those with coronary artery disease.

On the other hand, preventive medications involve taking medicines daily to lower the severity of future attacks or keep attacks from happening. Various prescription medications can be used for preventive treatment, including beta blockers, antidepressants, anticonvulsants, calcium channel blockers, and CGRP antagonists. Some CGRP antagonists used include Aimovig (erenumab), Ajovy (fremanezumab), and Emgality (galcanezumab).

For people aware of their migraine triggers, avoiding these triggers is key to preventing migraines. Other lifestyle changes include regular exercise, relaxation training, eating regularly scheduled meals, and staying hydrated. If a migraine comes on quickly, some fast and easy home remedies include napping, resting in a quiet and darkened room, placing an ice pack on the forehead, and drinking lots of fluid.

How to save on migraine treatment

The cost of migraine medications without insurance can vary depending on various factors, such as the pharmacy location and the strength or quantity prescribed. With a SingleCare coupon, you could save on the cash price of the medication.

When available, the generic form of the drug will often be a more affordable option.

In some cases, paying cash with a prescription discount card could save you more than purchasing the drug through your insurance. It’s helpful to compare the cost of the prescribed migraine medicine with insurance to the cost of a SingleCare savings card to find the lowest cost. Search singlecare.com to see how much these savings can be on medications.