"All headaches are a form of migraine"

[awkwardsitch]

A top, private neurologist told me this.

"There is no such thing as tension headaches - all headaches are a form of migraine".

And then:
"Everyone gets migraines, but different people have different levels of tolerance to trigger and severity"

You learn something new every day.

A migraine is a type of headache isn’t it?

That is one v odd neurologist! Unless you misheard him?
There are multiple causes of headache, many of which have nothing to do with migraine, including sinusitis, brain haemorrhage, meningitis and tumours.
Mind you, I'm a recently retired doctor - perhaps understanding of headache has undergone some radical change in the last 18 months!

I was told that there was such a thing as a ‘stomach headache’ where foods eaten can give you a stinking sore head.

As a migraine sufferer I find that a bit insulting.

I’ve seen/met some rather quackery ‘top’ medical folks on Harley Street. I guess every profession has people with odd ideas or bad ways of explaining themselves.

My neurologist - who runs the migraine clinic at the National Hospital for Neurology in Queens Square - would find this news

He told me it was genetic and some people were migraineurs and some weren't.

Some headaches (thunderclap ones) are potentially fatal... definitely not migraines.

Not meaning to worry any migraine sufferers, I have had thunderclap headaches and I am very glad I had a neurologist who did appropriate tests.

If all headaches are a form of migraine, then not everybody gets migraine, because not everybody gets headaches. I have read that about 10% of us don't.

rubbish.

migraines don't cause me pain, they mimic small TIA's, blind spots, loss of vision, slurring of words and language loss, pins and needles, and a god awful post-drome hangover.

Tension and sinus headaches I can physically find the sore spots on my head/face and massage them away.

The two are not related.

I suffer from migraines, as does my Dad, brother and daughter. And they are not the same as headaches.

I get headaches a lot but 2 painkillers and a coffee with a sugar and they're gone.

Migraines? I have red spots before my eyes, I have awful pain in my neck so I cannot lift my head off a pillow, I cannot stand light of any kind at all, if I must get up to go to the toilet I wear sunglasses to navigate the hallway then effectively pee in pitch black (thank god I have a windowless bathroom). I wretch, I can't eat, I can barely drink and then I have to just lie there in agony. Sleep is impossible because of the pain.

I have one or two every two to three months, and my triggers are usually grey overcast skies and/or humidity, along with my hormonal cycle. DD is the same.

I have had them for over 20 years and they leave me exhausted. I know when they are coming because I start to yawn excessively, feel sick, my eyes feel like they are burning and I get almost double vision.

I then have to get myself into the dark very quickly if I can, and wait it out. Horrendous.

Compared to a migraine, a headache of any sort (tension or sinus I get a bit) is a mild irritant. So I'm sorry to disagree with the neurologist.
and a dark cool room for any fellow sufferers out there.

You can have a migraine without auras, sickness and sensitivities though. Sometimes if can "just " manifest as chronic pain.

I suffer daily with sinus headaches and they most definitely are not migraines. The gunk streaming out my noise when they finally lift us testamount to that!

Doctors talk a pile of crap sometimes

Mother of four the stabbing pains sound like neuralgia. Which I think is medical for stabbing pain in your head :o my mum went to the docs with them about twenty years ago and there was nothing they could do, but conversely they weren't anything to worry about iyswim