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The Beyond Pain Foundation

Migraine types we support

Migraine guide

Migraine without aura

Migraine without aura is the most common form of migraine. Attacks come without the visual or sensory warning signs that some people get, but they can still be severe enough to stop you working and wipe out whole days.

Share of people with migraine
About 8 in 10
An untreated attack lasts
4 to 72 hours
People with migraine in the UK
About 1 in 7
More common in
Women, 2 to 3 times

This guide is general information, not medical advice. Medicines and treatments must be prescribed or recommended for you by a doctor or pharmacist. We do not give doses here.

Related guides: Migraine with aura, Chronic migraine, Medication overuse headache.

What it is

Migraine is a long-term brain condition, not just a bad headache. In migraine without aura, attacks usually bring a moderate to severe headache along with other symptoms, but there is no aura beforehand. It used to be called common migraine.

You can have attacks with aura and attacks without aura at different times. Attacks may happen once every few years or several times a week.

Symptoms

  • Throbbing or pounding pain, often on one side of the head
  • Pain that gets worse when you move, walk or climb stairs
  • Feeling sick or being sick
  • Finding light, sound or smells hard to bear
  • Pain severe enough to stop your normal activities

How an attack unfolds

  1. Hours to a day before

    Warning stage

    Tiredness, yawning, stiff neck, mood changes, food cravings, thirst or needing to pass urine more often.

  2. 4 to 72 hours

    Headache

    Throbbing pain with sickness and sensitivity to light and sound. Medicines work best taken early.

  3. Hours to 2 days after

    Recovery stage

    Feeling drained, foggy or low, sometimes called a migraine hangover.

Not everyone has every stage, and they can overlap.

Triggers

Attacks often happen when several triggers add up. Common ones are irregular sleep, missed meals, not drinking enough, stress or the let-down after stress, alcohol, too much or too little caffeine, hormone changes, and bright or flickering light. Some things that seem like triggers, such as craving sweet food, are really early signs of an attack.

Keep a headache diary

Write down each attack, how long it lasted and what you took, along with your sleep, meals and periods. Eight weeks of diary helps your doctor and supports a funding application. Download our free printable diary.

Treatment

During an attack

Simple painkillers

Pharmacy or supermarket

Aspirin, ibuprofen or paracetamol, taken as early as possible in the headache. Aspirin and ibuprofen usually work better than paracetamol for migraine.

Triptans

Prescription, and some from a pharmacist

Medicines made for migraine, as tablets, melts, nasal sprays or injections. If one doesn't suit you, another often will. They aren't suitable for people with heart or circulation disease.

Anti-sickness medicines

Prescription

They ease sickness and help your body take in other medicines during an attack.

Gepants

Specialist or GP, depending on your area

Newer tablets for people who haven't been helped by at least two triptans, or who can't take triptans and haven't been helped by simple painkillers.

Watch how often you take painkillers

Taking acute medicines on more than 2 days a week can lead to medication overuse headache, which makes headaches more frequent. If you need them that often, ask your GP about preventive treatment.

Preventing attacks

Preventive tablets

Usually from your GP

Considered if you have 4 or more migraine days a month, or attacks badly affect your life. Options include beta-blockers such as propranolol, amitriptyline, topiramate and candesartan. They are started at a low dose and built up. Give each one at least 3 months at a good dose before deciding. Topiramate and sodium valproate can harm an unborn baby: they must not be used in pregnancy, and anyone who could become pregnant needs highly effective contraception while taking them.

CGRP medicines

Specialist, after GP referral

Monthly or 3-monthly injections, a hospital drip every 3 months, or daily or every-other-day gepant tablets, that block a chemical involved in migraine. On the NHS they are usually offered once at least 3 preventive tablets haven't worked.

Nerve blocks

Specialist clinic

An injection of local anaesthetic, sometimes with a steroid, at the back of the head. It can calm migraine for a few weeks to around 3 months.

Supplements and devices

Usually self-funded

Riboflavin (vitamin B2), magnesium and coenzyme Q10 help some people. Nerve stimulation devices such as Cefaly, gammaCore, Nerivio and sTMS can be bought privately but aren't on the NHS for migraine.

When to get urgent help

Call 999 if you have

  • a sudden, extremely bad headache that peaks within minutes
  • weakness, numbness or a drooping face on one side, or slurred speech
  • sudden loss of sight
  • confusion, drowsiness or a seizure (fit)
  • a high temperature with a stiff neck or a rash
  • a headache after a head injury

Call NHS 111 if

  • an attack lasts more than 3 days
  • your symptoms are very different from usual

See your GP if

  • attacks are becoming more frequent or severe
  • you need painkillers on more than 2 days a week
  • your treatment isn't working
  • migraine is new for you and you're over 50

Work and your workspace

Migraine can count as a disability under the Equality Act 2010 (the Disability Discrimination Act in Northern Ireland) if it has a substantial, long-term effect on your everyday life. Conditions that come and go still count, and the law looks at how you would be without treatment. If it applies, your employer must make reasonable adjustments.

Adjustments that often help

  • Flexible hours and working from home on bad days
  • Regular short screen breaks
  • A quiet, dark place to rest and take medicine
  • Time off for appointments
  • Flexibility over migraine-related absence

A migraine-friendly workspace

  • A chair with good lumbar and neck support
  • A desk big enough to put your screen at arm's length
  • Screen raised so the top is at eye level
  • A flicker-free monitor with an anti-glare or blue-light filter
  • Lighting without flicker or glare, and blinds to control daylight

Access to Work can pay towards equipment and support. Acas and Citizens Advice give free advice on your rights.

How The Beyond Pain Foundation can help

If NHS waits are too long, or the help you need is not available to you on the NHS, we may be able to fund:

  • A private appointment with a headache specialist to get a treatment plan sooner
  • A trial of a nerve stimulation device your doctor recommends
  • A course of nerve blocks or acupuncture from a qualified practitioner
  • Workspace equipment that removes triggers, such as a supportive chair, a larger desk and screen filters

Every award depends on your situation and the funds we have that month. A letter from your doctor, a headache diary and a written quote all help your application.

Apply for funding Check the requirements

Support and sources

The Migraine Trust

Information and support service

Information on every type of migraine, a free information and support service, and advice on treatment and work.

migrainetrust.org

National Migraine Centre

Charity headache clinic

Specialist appointments in person and online, including routine appointments for a voluntary donation, plus free factsheets.

nationalmigrainecentre.org.uk
Sources for this guide

Written in our own words from the sources above. Last reviewed: October 2026. Figures can differ between sources; where they do, we give the range.