Migraine headaches have special characteristics and can easily (in most cases) be identified from other types of headache. Migraines affect a lot of people and is one of the major forms of headaches. You can identify if you are suffering from migraine headaches if you experience one or more of the following:

1. The pain lasts between 30 minutes to a couple of hours
2. You notice that you suddently have greater sensitivity to light, strong smells and loud sounds.
3. You start feeling nausea and vomit
4. You experience temporary blindness in one of the eyes (usually on the same side as the headache pain), and you see flashes and feeling dizzy.
5. You notice that certain foods give you a headache pain.
6. Suddenly you feel that you have a lot of energy or feeling very tired with out any particular reason.

If you experience any of the above symptoms then you need to research more on the problem. The best way to start is to keep a diary to record your activities, habits and everything you eat or drink. If you do this then the next time you have a headache you can see from your journal what you did or eat. Once the headache pain is gone you should avoid for sometime doing the things that might have caused you headaches and also avoid the suspect foods and beverages. If this proves successful and you do not get a headache for sometime then this is an indication that those actions or foods created the headache. In order to be able to do this you need to be patience because it takes a lot of time. On the other hand once you have this information it will be much easier to get treatment either using self help measures or getting the help of the doctor. The doctor having this information will be able to make a proper diagnosis and provide the appropriate treatment.