Care and Mobility Considerations

The acute attack of migraine can be troublesome and distressing. The severe head pain, nausea and vomiting can lead to the patient withdrawing to rest in a darkened room.

Frequent attacks can disrupt the normal routine of life. However, even during the attack no specific impairment of function would be expected with no disabling loss of function of the limbs and no cardiovascular impairment.

Even for those who suffer severe attacks, the intermittent nature of the condition means that the person is asymptomatic for most of the time. The condition can demoralise the person but during the attack there should not be any change in awareness or intellect.

There is a small increased risk of stroke in migraine sufferers. The rare cases that experience severe effects such as unconsciousness or paralysis are likely to be under the care of a neurologist particularly as other more sinister causes of the symptoms need to be excluded.

Between attacks the person would be expected to function normally apart from sensible adjustments to lifestyle to avoid known trigger factors.