Migraine VS Sensory Overload

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What are some notable differences?

My mum and I experience migraines, though my mum's are far worse than mine. Her migraines are typically triggered by stress. When she has a migraine, her vision screws up to the point where she cannot see well enough to drive or move things, and can't really tolerate being spoken to. They also cause nausea and tiredness.

The cause is different (somewhat), but the symptoms are mostly the same.

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Unapologetically, Norny.
-chronically drunk

I find it very easy to tell the difference as I have excruciating pain in my head, face, jaw and/or neck when I have a migraine. I do not have this when I go into sensory overload, even though the overwhelming feelings are sort of pain-like.

If you have migraines without pain ("silent migraine") I would imagine it could be very difficult to tell the difference between overload and one of those. Mine always come with pain so I don't know.

Differences for me:

Migraine comes with headache -- the most horrible excruciating headache imaginable. Sensory overload can, as a stressful thing, act as a cause for migraine or other headache but does not actually include headache by itself.

Migraine can come with nausea and vomiting. Sensory overload does not involve nausea nor vomiting, even though some/all of the sensory input that leads to the overload might make me gag and retch and feel nauseous, it is very different -- take away the offensive sensory stimuli and the nausea is gone.

Migraine visual disturbances are just distrubances -- I am still processing what I see. With sensory overload there is diminished or no processing of what I see -- if it looked weird or wrong like with migraine I probably would not notice nor remember if I did notice.

Migraine causes worsening of sensory sensitivity to an extreme degree and for no reason at all (e.g. light sensitivity rapidly gets to the point where I must be able to see literally no light at all or it hurts -- so basically my eyes must be closed and covered or I must be in a pitch-black room to find relief). Sensory overload does not do this -- sensitivity remains the same.

I don't think I get tired with migraines....the pain of it can eventually exhausts me but it's just like any other pain that's really bad and/or goes on for days. I can remember as a kid having migraines, I would become completely enraged because I was not only in pain but I was bored and restless and I couldn't stand to be lying in bed with cold packs on my head, doing nothing all the time. I couldn't keep still and would even try to do things despite the nausea and the agony and I'd always end up making the migraines exponentially worse. I'm not sure I'd say I get tired with sensory overload either, but there is a feeling much closer to tiredness that happens...a purely mental exhaustion.

If I get a migraine because of stress, it can be any kind of stress. I also get migraines when I don't get enough sleep, don't eat enough, get dehydrated, am overheated for too long, and when the weather changes, and for no apparent reason at all. Sensory overload only happens as a result of sensory stimuli that is beyond what I can handle.

A couple OTC meds makes my migraine go away. No such thing for sensory overload.

A couple OTC meds makes my migraine go away. No such thing for sensory overload.