The sensorium of the migraineur

The occurrence of perceptual disturbances in migraineurs, particularly during the headache-free interval, has been scrutinized rather rarely. This subject was studied via a mail survey in 134 patients presenting perceptual changes before or during their migraine attacks. The patients had to complete a 5-part questionnaire covering history, events before, during as well as after the attack, and the attack-free interval. Sensory alterations during the headache-free interval were not reported by 36.6% of the patients. Alterations of equilibrium and/or spatial orientation, mainly susceptibility to motion sickness, were present in 47.8%, increased sensitivity to cold or heat in 40.3%, intolerance of tight clothes or being touched in 34.3%, altered visual function in 32.8%, changes in olfactory acuity in 31.1%. These percentages show that these 5 types of interictal sensory disturbances may not be rare in migraineurs. The exact frequency of these symptoms and how they correlate with perictal phenomena, sex, age and disease characteristics has to be further studied.