This guide provides insights into migraines and their potential impact on daily living and mobility. It explains how migraines might affect your ability to carry out everyday activities safely, effectively, accurately, and repeatedly.
Migraine is a condition which includes a headache, nausea and light sensitivity. A migraine has a number of symptoms of symptoms which cause a migraine attack.
Symptoms of a migraine attack
Most auras are related to sight issues. This can include:
Other symptoms can include:
Aura symptoms should not last more than an hour.
Migraine attacks can last varying amounts of time from a few hours to several days and can start with an aura before the headache arrives and finishes when the
headache goes. The number of migraine attacks someone might experience vary from every now and again to several times a week.
Women are more susceptible to migraine attacks than men due to hormonal changes during their period and/or perimenopause. Migraine attacks in women tend to improve during pregnancy or menopause. Migraine attacks seem to reduce as people get older.
Migraine with aura subtypes
Retinal (ocular) Migraine
This type of migraine is rare and usually affects only one eye. This can include flashes, sparkles, blind spots or even temporary sight loss. If this happens for the first time you need to seek urgent medical attention to rule out any other eye conditions.
Silent Migraine
People will experience the aura but do not get a headache. This is more prevalent in older people.
You may experience a throbbing headache which is on one side of your head. It becomes worse when you move and you are unable to do anything, become light and/or sound sensitive, feel nauseous and/or you may vomit.
This is defined if you have 15 or more headaches each month. Eight or more headaches should have migraine symptoms for at least 3 months. If you have fewer headaches with migraine symptoms this is known as episodic migraines.
Symptoms
Other symptoms include aura (such as visual disturbances, problems with speech, numbness or pins and needles), dizziness and vertigo.
This occurs with neurological symptoms which include at least two of the following:
The attacks are regular and take place in a time cycle of several weeks.
Symptoms
People experience a combination of vertigo, dizziness or balance problems with other migraine symptoms.
Symptoms
Along with the headache other symptoms may appear including:
Additional migraine symptoms can include:
This type of migraine affects children as well as some adults.
Symptoms
People experience a temporary weakness down one side of the body as part of the migraine attack. This type of migraine can occur if it already runs in the family or if there is no known family or inherited connection. This weakness may be in addition to some common aura symptoms:
People may also experience:
The migraine attacks are linked to the menstrual cycle. They tend to occur around 2 days before your period starts and last up to the third day of your period. The migraine attacks can begin when you start your periods and stop in menopause. You can have menstrual migraines at other times of the month. This is known as menstrually-related migraine
This results from a frequent use of acute medicines or painkillers e.g. triptans, ergotamines, opiates, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and paracetamol.
People who have primary headache disorder can develop this order e.g. migraines or a family history of migraine. It usually with a headache on 15 days or more each month. The medication itself causes more headaches and are sometimes referred to as rebound headaches.
Treatment can help manage the symptoms of a migraine and/or prevent migraine attacks.
Treatments do vary and can include the following:
Take painkillers as soon as the headache starts.
There are preventative treatments which can be prescribed to prevent migraine attacks. This can include:
A health professional may suggest lifestyle changes including eating regularly, keeping hydrated and reducing caffeine intake, for example.
The causes of migraine are not really known but it is when there are changes to the nerves and blood vessels in the brain.
More prone to migraines if you have a close family member with them.
Some people find that there are certain triggers which cause migraine attacks e.g.:
Keeping a diary might help you to identify the trigger/s which cause migraine attacks. You also need to consider how often you have migraines, how long they last for and what the aftereffects are which impact on daily living and/or mobility:
The following sections outline the daily activities assessed in PIP claims and how Crohn’s Disease may affect them. This is not an exhaustive list; ensure all relevant details are included in your application.
Migraines can impact how you prepare a simple meal in a variety of ways:
You may experience the following when eating and drinking:
This descriptor examines how you manage health-related treatments, and you may find:
What other health professionals are monitoring your condition e.g. GP, neurologist, pain management team etc.
This looks at the ability of being able to bath or shower and what issues you may experience:
Are you able to wash your body and legs below the waist without any issues?
This descriptor is about the ability to use a toilet independently and to be able clean yourself afterwards and have no continence issues:
If you experience continence issues due to your migraines, you need to explain what these are.
This looks at whether you can dress and undress yourself and choose appropriate clothing:
Do you experience issues if you are having a migraine attack whilst dressing undressing? Do you need to stop what you are doing? What symptoms do you experience – pain when moving your head, vision is impaired, vertigo, light/noise sensitivity etc?
This descriptor looks at someone’s ability to verbally communicate and to be able to express and convey information and to be able to receive and understand information:
People experiencing migraine attacks may have issues with communication due to the symptoms they are having. If you have communication issues, then you need to state what these are.
This relates to the ability to read and understand written or printed information:
People having migraine attacks can struggle socially and find it difficult due to:
This descriptor looks at if you can manage their money:
These evaluate how migraines may affect mobility related tasks. This is not an exhaustive list; ensure all relevant details are included in your application.
Migraine attacks may make planning and following a journey challenging:
Moving around may be affected due to migraine attacks:
Consider are you moving around safely when experiencing a migraine attack
It is important that when you complete your PIP form, that you include how migraines affects you in relation to each descriptor. Ensure that you give specific examples, under each descriptor, where you have struggled due your migraines. where appropriate. It is important that you include any aids, adaptations or support/supervision that you need to help you complete each activity, where appropriate.
This information only covers migraines. If you have any other health conditions and/or disability you should include how they impact you under the relevant descriptors.
Remember to include copies of any relevant medical evidence, diagnosis letters, care plans etc to support your claim for PIP.
Please remember that this is not a complete list and if you have other symptoms or conditions that affect this descriptor, they need to be included on your PIP claim. More information can be found at www.gov.uk
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