Migraine pain feels like a throbbing or pulsating pain that is intensified by routine physical activity, coughing, straining, or lowering the head. It's sometimes so severe that it interferes with daily activity and may even wake you up. The attack is debilitating, and you are often left feeling tired and weak once the headache is over. A migraine usually begins inone area on one side of the head, then spreads and builds in intensity over 1 to 2 hours and then gradually subsides. It can last up to 24 hours, and in some cases, several days. You may experience symptoms like nausea, vomiting, sensitivity to light, or sensitivity to sound. Hands and feet may feel cold and sweaty and unusual odors may be intolerable.The two most common types of migraines are migraines with aura and migraines w/o aura.

• Migraines with aura: Auras are neurological disturbances such as: Most auras are visual and described as flashing lights or seeing stars around objects. You may also see zigzag lines, wavy images, or hallucinations. Some experience temporary vision loss. Nonvisual auras include motor skills weakness, speech abnormalities, dizziness, vertigo, and tingling or numbness of the face, tongue, or extremities.
• Migraine without aura is the most diagnosed type and can occur on one or both sides of the head. You may also feel tired or have mood swings th day bfore it actually hits. Nausea, vomiting, and sensitivity to light often accompany migraine without aura.
  
• Abdominal migraine is most common in children with a family history of migraine. Symptoms are abdominal pain without a gastrointestinal cause and can last as long as 3 days, nausea, vomiting, and flushing or paleness. Children who have abdominal migraine often develop typical migraines as they get older.
• Basilar artery migraine is a disturbance of the basilar artery in the brainstem. Symptoms aresevere headache, vertigo, double vision, slurred speech, and poor muscle coordination. This type occurs predominately in young people.
• Carotidynia , also called lower-half headache or facial migraine, causes a deep, dull, ache, and sometimesstabbing pain in the jaw or neck. There's usually tenderness and swelling over the carotid artery in the neck.This type can occur several times weekly and last a few minutes to hours and occurs mostly in older people.
• Headache-free migraine is characterized by the presence of aura without headache. This occurs in patients with a history of migraine with aura. (If you have to have them this sounds like the one to have!)
• Ophthalmoplegic migraine begins with a headache felt in your eye causes vomiting. As the headache progresses, the eyelid may droop and nerves responsible for eye movement become paralyzed. (These are no fun at all, I have personally experienced them, but I have migraines with and without auras. most of the time I have some form of an aura.)
• Status migraine is a rare type involving intense pain that usually lasts longer than 72 hours and you may require hospitalization.
• Menstrual Migraines start just before or even during your cycle. They appear to be related to hormonal changes and often do not occur or lessen during pregnancy. Other women develop migraines for the first time during pregnancy or after menopause.

• Beverages-decaffienated coffee, fruit juices, club soda, decaffeinated colas (7-up, Ginger ale), Alcoholibeverages that are least likely to trigger a migraine attack are: Haute Sauterne, Riesling (my favorite), Vodka, Seagram's V.O., Cutty Sark. Limit wine, port wine, and distilled spirits to 4 oz, or less.
• Meat, fish, poultry- freash prepared meats, fish, poultry, and eggs
• Dairy Products- Milk: homogenized, 2%, or skim only. Cheeses: American, cottage, gouda, farmer, ricotta, cream cheese, velveeta, yogurt, limit sour cream to 1/2 cup.
• Bread/Cereals/Starchy Vegetables: commercial breads, all hot and dry cereals. white potatoes, sweet potatoes, rice, and pasta.
• Vegetables: All except those on the avoid list but use caution in the preparation of navy beans and pinto beans.
• Fruit: All except those to avoid or limit.
• Soups: Cream soups made from foods are ok and homemade broths.
• Desserts: Fruit, sherbets, ice cream, cakes, cookies, jell-o
• Sweets/Hard Candy: sugar, jelly, jam, honey, syrup
• Miscellaneous: Salt in moderation. Vinegars and commercial salad dressings in small amounts.

• Beverages: Limit caffeine sources to 8 oz. daily: coffee, tea, cola-type sodas, chocolate milk, and cocoa. Alcoholic beverages: ale, beer, chianti, sherry, burgandy, any red wine, and vermouth. Caffeine aggaravates the symptoms of the headache and hypertension.
  
• Meat, Fish, Poultry: Aged, canned, cured, or processed meats, canned or aged ham, pickled herring, salted dried fish, chicken liver, aged game, hot dogs, sausages (NO nitrates or nitites), bologna, salami, pepperoni, summer sausage, any meat prepared with meat tenderizers, soy sauce, or yeast extracts.
• Dairy Products: Aged or mature cheese: blue, boursalt, brick, brie types, camembert types, cheddar, swiss, roquefort, stilton, mozzerella, parmesan, provolone, romano, emmentaler.
• Breads/Cereals/Starchy Vegetables: sourdough bread, breads and crackers containing cheese or chocolate.
• Vegetables: broad beans, italian beans, lima, lentils, snow peas, fava beans, soy beans, and sauerkraut.
• Fruit: Limited to 1/2 cup daily. avocado, banana, citrus, figs, raisins, papaya, passion fruit, red plums, raspberries
• Soups: Canned soups, soup cubes, bouillon cubes, soup bases with autolyzed yeast extracts or monosodium glutamate(MSG).
• Desserts: Use with caution products containing chocolate.
• Sweets/Hard Candy: chocolate candies, licorice, molasses, chocolate syrup
• Miscellaneous Items: Soy sauce, monosodiun glutamate(MSG), yeast, yeast extracts, brewer's yeast, meat tenderizers, accent, seasoned salt. Commercial T.V. dinners, pizza with cheese, nuts and seeds, peanuts and peanut butter use with caution, pumpkin, sesame, some snack items and instant food products (be sure to read the ingredients label), any pickled, preserved, or marinated foods.

• http://www.migraines.org/
  
• http://www.headaches.org/education/Headache_Topic_Sheets/Migraine