From about the age of 5 I have suffered from migraines. Visual disturbance as described above, desperately painful headache, almost always above my right eye, vomiting. I never understood why, but during the few minutes before throwing up, the headache would go, only to come back again afterwards. This lasted until I was in my 30s. I recall one attack which happened while I was teaching. It was about 11.50 and suddenly my vision went. I could see kids' hands going up but I couldn't see the faces of the owners. I went home ten minutes later, went to bed, threw up and was sufficiently recovered the following morning to go back to work. I felt washed out, and that feeling lasted a couple of days typically. This would happen about three or four times a year.
Suddenly, in my 30s, it changed. I would still get the visual disturbance but the headache didn't come. If it did, it was a feeble effort of a headache and once my vision had returned to normal I could work through. The vomiting stopped. Also, the frequency reduced to once or twice a year.
I'm bloody glad to be rid of them. It's got to be at least 20 years since I had a proper migraine. The last one I recall was on the night of the Michael Fish Hurricane.