1.4.1 Status migrainosus

A postgraduate student describes recurrent headaches and a spell that has not settled as her previous ones did - the sixth such episode she has had. She reports a tingling and numb feeling spreading up one arm and into her face, along with a strange shimmering at the edge of her sight, lasting around a quarter of an hour before fading; within the hour a headache had developed. Her attacks normally last around 17 to 18 hours, but the headache this time has continued for just over three days without any real break, quite different from her usual pattern in both length and severity. She has stayed off her usual activities, avoiding any activity, finds light and noise intolerable, rates the pain as moderate rather than severe, but says it has still left her completely unable to function.