18 Signs You're Having a Migraine

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How to tell you're having a migraine

By Karen Pallarito

Nearly 30 million people in the United States have migraines, and three times as many women as men have them.

Migraines are pulsating headaches, often on one side of the head. Physical activity may intensify the pain, but symptoms can vary from person to person and from one attack to the next.

"In patients who have migraines, we're going to treat all of their headaches as potential migraines," says Anne Calhoun, MD, partner and cofounder of the Carolina Headache Institute, in Chapel Hill, N.C.

Here are 18 ways to identify migraines.

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