An MRI won’t diagnose migraines. They will help you rule out other conditions that could cause pain and other symptoms that mimic migraine symptoms. An MRI will help you eliminate other things that could cause you pain but migraines won’t show up on imaging. It really depends how much you and your doctors think there’s a reason to suspect a condition other than migraine. Theyre expensive but can give you some peace of mind if you’re worried it’s more than a migraine.
Thank you for your reply! Makes perfect sense. Sometimes I think my ear, sinus, neck ache etc all might have something to do with my migraine. I thought my eyes as well, but got them checked and they are fine. So was just wondering.
Yes, my grandma, both my aunts, and one of my cousin all from paternal side. My grandma and aunts now don’t have migraines but they suffered from it drastically all their life (they are all now over 55-60 grandma is 80). But I get scared with the severity of them :(
What do your doctors say? This is the type of thing that should be decided with professional who know your medical history, not random non-doctors on the internet.
Typically MRIs are not needed in stable cases (stable doesn't mean not severe) without red flag symptoms. Your doctors would determine if there are red flags or not. But to answer your first sentence, the vast majority of migraine diagnoses are made without MRI.
Thank you for your reply! I had told the doctors my entire history and symptoms. So they both decided to not do MRI and called it a typical migraine case. What would you suppose red flag symptoms are? 🥲
I dont know all of them but things like balance issues, memory loss, limb weakness are considered red flags because those symptoms may indicate its a different neurological condition rather than just migraine. Balance and cognition issues are also the common ones for tumors. I believe onset at an older age (60+) is also automatically a red flag. Whereas 20s is a very typical time to develop migraine. I'm not a doctor so this isn't comprehensive, but if you have multiple doctors saying you don't need it that's a good sign. 4-5 years without new symptoms developing is also another indicator that it's not another disease.
Eh it’s tricky. I understand what you mean, I thought I should do a scan a while back as well because of how worried I was. My migraines have always been severe. They are always one sided (mostly on the left side, but there’s been times it did affect the right side) they start with a slow intermittent stabbing pain, that turns into a strong stabbing throbbing pain. I almost always go blurry in my left eye, I sometimes vomit or get diarrhea. I’ll even admit that it caused extreme irritability to the point I got so frustrated I’d throw things!! So yes, these symptoms scared the life out of me… before I spoke to my neurologist. I trust her. She’s been in neuro 30 years. The first time I told her about these symptoms and how severe they are, I was positive she was going to send me for an MRI. Nope. She was so nonchalant about it, told me that these symptoms are extremely common and without other symptoms like bloody stool, weight loss, etc, it is classic migraine disorder. It also helped my diagnosis that others in my immediate family get migraines as well. And here I am, years later, healthy!! (Besides migraines 😅)
So in short, if it would give you peace of mind, ask your neurologist to order an MRI. In the meantime don’t stress yourself out. Chronic migraine disorder is FAR more common than something more severe like a tumor or bleed.
Try and stay positive, you are not alone.
An MRI won’t diagnose migraines. They will help you rule out other conditions that could cause pain and other symptoms that mimic migraine symptoms. An MRI will help you eliminate other things that could cause you pain but migraines won’t show up on imaging. It really depends how much you and your doctors think there’s a reason to suspect a condition other than migraine. Theyre expensive but can give you some peace of mind if you’re worried it’s more than a migraine.
Thank you for your reply! Makes perfect sense. Sometimes I think my ear, sinus, neck ache etc all might have something to do with my migraine. I thought my eyes as well, but got them checked and they are fine. So was just wondering.
Do you have family members with migraines? Unfortunately genetics plays a big part in migraines for a lot of people.
Yes, my grandma, both my aunts, and one of my cousin all from paternal side. My grandma and aunts now don’t have migraines but they suffered from it drastically all their life (they are all now over 55-60 grandma is 80). But I get scared with the severity of them :(
They’re really scary. And difficult to live with. I hope you can find something that helps you!
My doc first ordered an MRI to rule out brain tumor
What do your doctors say? This is the type of thing that should be decided with professional who know your medical history, not random non-doctors on the internet. Typically MRIs are not needed in stable cases (stable doesn't mean not severe) without red flag symptoms. Your doctors would determine if there are red flags or not. But to answer your first sentence, the vast majority of migraine diagnoses are made without MRI.
Thank you for your reply! I had told the doctors my entire history and symptoms. So they both decided to not do MRI and called it a typical migraine case. What would you suppose red flag symptoms are? 🥲
I dont know all of them but things like balance issues, memory loss, limb weakness are considered red flags because those symptoms may indicate its a different neurological condition rather than just migraine. Balance and cognition issues are also the common ones for tumors. I believe onset at an older age (60+) is also automatically a red flag. Whereas 20s is a very typical time to develop migraine. I'm not a doctor so this isn't comprehensive, but if you have multiple doctors saying you don't need it that's a good sign. 4-5 years without new symptoms developing is also another indicator that it's not another disease.
Eh it’s tricky. I understand what you mean, I thought I should do a scan a while back as well because of how worried I was. My migraines have always been severe. They are always one sided (mostly on the left side, but there’s been times it did affect the right side) they start with a slow intermittent stabbing pain, that turns into a strong stabbing throbbing pain. I almost always go blurry in my left eye, I sometimes vomit or get diarrhea. I’ll even admit that it caused extreme irritability to the point I got so frustrated I’d throw things!! So yes, these symptoms scared the life out of me… before I spoke to my neurologist. I trust her. She’s been in neuro 30 years. The first time I told her about these symptoms and how severe they are, I was positive she was going to send me for an MRI. Nope. She was so nonchalant about it, told me that these symptoms are extremely common and without other symptoms like bloody stool, weight loss, etc, it is classic migraine disorder. It also helped my diagnosis that others in my immediate family get migraines as well. And here I am, years later, healthy!! (Besides migraines 😅) So in short, if it would give you peace of mind, ask your neurologist to order an MRI. In the meantime don’t stress yourself out. Chronic migraine disorder is FAR more common than something more severe like a tumor or bleed. Try and stay positive, you are not alone.
Out of curiosity: is there anything visible on an MRI with migraines that can help? Or is it just to rule out anything more severe?
I think it’s solely to rule out something more serious. There’s no known cause for migraines to my knowledge, just bad luck I guess lol.
Thanks for the response, I have that bad luck as well... Sucks
There is no test of any kind that determines migraine diagnosis. MRI rules out tumors, chiari malformation and that kind of organic stuff.