The phases of a migraine attack

Before the headache

Premonitory symptoms can occur before pain and may include mood change, fatigue, neck stiffness, nausea, increased urination or difficulty concentrating. For some people, aura occurs before or during the attack.

After the main attack

The postdrome phase is sometimes described as a migraine hangover. People may feel washed out, foggy or unusually sensitive even after pain has reduced.

Understanding the phases of a migraine attack

The phases of a migraine attack can be part of the wider migraine picture, but the meaning depends on timing, frequency, associated symptoms and whether this is a familiar or changing pattern for you. Clea focuses on helping you organise those details rather than turning one symptom into a diagnosis.

How it fits into migraine

Migraine is a neurological condition that can affect pain, sensory processing, balance, thinking, mood and the gastrointestinal system. Symptoms can occur before, during or after head pain, and some migraine attacks occur without prominent headache.

What else can look similar

Many symptoms are not specific to migraine. A clinician may need to consider other headache disorders, medicines, sleep, infection, hormonal factors, eye or ear conditions, musculoskeletal problems, neurological disorders or other causes depending on the symptom and examination.

What to notice

The useful question is not simply whether the phases of a migraine attack happened once. Look for a repeatable pattern across attacks: when it appears, how long it lasts, what other symptoms occur with it and how much it changes normal activity.

• Timing and duration
• Frequency
• Symptoms that occur with it
• Impact on work, school or daily life
• What you tried and what happened next

What to track in Clea

Record headache or migraine days, severity, associated symptoms, medicines used and the context around the episode. Several weeks of consistent observations are usually more useful than trying to prove a cause from one attack.

• Headache and migraine-like days
• Severity and function
• Associated symptoms
• Acute medicine days
• Anything that changed around the pattern