Difference between Meningitis Headache and Migraine

Migraine attacks can be painful enough to interfere with your daily activities. This kind of headache can cause a significant discomfort-of pain for hours to days. It can be attributed by many causes, from mild to serious – fortunately it is usually not dangerous and treatable. And sometimes meningitis headache can also be like other common headache attacks. What is the difference?

Migraine symptoms and causes

Migraine is a kind of headache in which you have a throbbing pain that typically affects one side of your head, though not always. If you have it, you’re not alone because it’s a common health problem affecting about 1 in out of every 15 men and 1 in every 5 women.

Symptoms

Warning symptoms of migraine called ‘aura’ might occur before or during the attack. Typically, they involve vision disturbances. In some cases, aura may also include disturbances of verbal (speech), sensory (touching sensations), or motor (movement).

The following are some examples of migraine aura:

1. Vision impairment /disturbance (seeing bright spot or various shapes).
2. Verbal difficulties, such as difficulty speaking.
3. Jerking (uncontrollable) or other abnormal movements.
4. Hearing loudness (noises).
5. Numbness /weakness in particular area of the body such as facial area or one side of the body.
6. A sensation of unusual, uncomfortable pricking or tingling (pins and needles), typically in the leg or arm.

Each of these migraine aura symptoms often starts gradually, builds up within several minutes and usually will last for about 20-60 minutes. Interestingly, most cases of migraine occur without aura.

Besides aura, sometimes you might have subtle changes that signal an upcoming migraine. These include food cravings, constipation, changes in mood, increased thirst, a stiff neck, and frequent yawning.

During the attack, you usually experience some of the following symptoms:

1. Headache that feels like pulsing or throbbing pain. Again the pain usually occurs on one side of the head. But in some cases, it can also affect both sides of the head.
2. More sensitive to sounds or/and light – sometimes also to smells or touch.
3. Changes in eyesight, such as blurred vision.
4. Lightheadedness (dizziness), which may also be followed with a feeling to faint.
5. Nausea and vomiting.

Causes

The exact cause is not always identifiable. Even many times, the causes are not known. However, there are some theories.

It is thought to be the result of changes in the brainstem and brain chemicals. This abnormal brain activity may temporarily affect nerve signals. For example, a drop of serotonin (a brain chemical that is responsible to control pain in your nervous system) often occurs during migraine attacks.

No one knows exactly what causes this change. But in general, genetics and environmental factors may have a role to make someone more likely to have migraine attacks as a result of a specific trigger.

Some factors /conditions that may trigger and worsen migraine are as follows:

1. Changes in hormones. In women with a history of migraine, the problem often flares up before or during menstrual bleeding, when they usually have a significant drop of estrogen. Some women are more likely to have the problem during pregnancy or menopause. Medications that involve hormones, such as hormone replacement therapy and hormonal birth control pills, may also trigger the attack.
2. Dietary factors. These include consuming too much processed foods, salty foods, aged cheese, food additives (like preservative MSG, monosodium glutamate), caffeinated and alcoholic beverages.
3. Feeling stressed out.
4. Sun glare or bright lights (sensory stimuli). Sometimes strong smells, secondhand smoke and paint thinner for examples, may also have an effect.
5. Too much sleep or missing sleep (changes in your wake-sleep pattern).
6. Extreme intense physical exertion or other physical factors.
7. Changes of barometric pressure, weather, or other environmental factors.

Meningitis headache vs. migraine

Meningitis is a potentially life-threatening inflammation of the meninges, tough layers of protective tissue covering your brain and spinal cord. Depending on the cause of the disease, it can lead to a significant brain swelling and serious complications.

There are several causes, which are classified into two categories; infectious and non-infectious causes. In most cases, meningitis is caused by viral infections. Other infectious causes are bacterial and fungal infections.

In rare cases, the disease is associated with non-infectious causes. These include certain non-infectious conditions (rheumatoid arthritis, for example), certain medications, and injury.

Though most people with meningitis can fully recover, again the disease could turn into serious or even life-threatening (this is especially true for bacterial meningitis). Viral meningitis is more treatable and less likely to cause serious lingering after effects.

Clearly diagnosis is important to make sure that if you do need treatment you can get it immediately! So it’s worth a try to understand warning signs of the disease!

Meningitis headache may feel like throbbing pain of migraine. But it is usually more severe, more persistent (not easy to relieve, even though with rest and over-the-counter pills) – it seems different than normal. And typically, it comes with the following classic meningitis symptoms:

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Neck stiffness

It is a very common symptom in people with meningitis. Your neck can be very stiff and sore because of extra pressure from your inflamed meninges. For in-depth information about this symptom, see also where does your neck hurt with meningitis?

More sensitive to light

An intense pain with light, also called photophobia, is another classic symptom among those who have meningitis. It is more common in adult patients, and less common in young children.

More sensitive to light can also be triggered by lifestyle factors such as seeing a computer for long hours. For such a case, the problem will improve with rest or other lifestyle measures. But if it doesn’t respond to any home remedies, it’s much better to see a doctor!

Unusual skin rash

Certain types of meningitis (such as bacterial meningitis caused by the bacterium called ‘meningococcus’) can lead to unusual skin rash as a result of when the infection spreads to the circulation (bloodstream). This rash can form anywhere, including face. Typically, it doesn’t fade under pressure – see more in this post!

Meningitis skin rash could turn into serious if not immediately treated! So it’s much better to NOT wait for a rash to appear. Get medical help immediately if you’re seriously worried about your symptoms or someone who is ill!

Seizures

The disease can also cause seizures, a condition of when you have abnormal electrical activity in your brain. Depending on the severity of your seizure – you might have loss of bladder control, convulsions (muscle spasms), or even loss of consciousness during the attack. But if you have a personal history of seizures (such as epilepsy), meningitis might not be the culprit of your seizure.

Unfortunately not all people with meningitis have these classic symptoms, depending on the cause and the disease severity. But if your headache is associated with meningitis, you should experience one or some of them.

If your headache doesn’t come with the presence of other common symptoms of meningitis (even though if it’s severe), it may be caused by something else. See also other meningitis symptoms in this section!

What else?

Sometimes migraine that has nothing to do with meningitis can also cause some classic meningitis symptoms such as neck stiffness and sensitivity to light, as written earlier. But whatever it is – see a doctor promptly if it is severe, followed with any unusual symptom, or worsens!

The intensity and frequency of migraine attacks can vary from person to person. In most cases, they occur occasionally. But some people can have the attacks up to several times a week.

For people who regularly have signs and symptoms of migraine attacks, it’s recommended to keep a record of the attacks and how to cope with. So when the pattern changes, they understand when they should seek immediate medical help!