If I get a proper migraine, the first sign is I start having trouble with my sight, then I start to find it hard to speak, then I get a proper aura, and when the aura goes, the big clue is me lieing on the floor sobbing from the pain. But mine are completely mild compared to two of my cousins.
One of them had a migraine a couple of years ago that came on at work. One of my sister's friends worked there and knew they lived in the same street, so she offered to take her home. By the time they got to the street, she could not even tell the girl what number it was, and she had almost completely lost her sight. The girl had to call my sister to find out what number it was. My aunt was in, and got her into bed, but did not like the look of it and called out the doctor. By the time her got there she was in so much pain she was screaming that she wanted to go to the hospital. The doctor called an ambulance and she was taken in. Two days later he was still in hospital, they were still not sure if she had a stroke or a migraine, she still had almost no sight, she was still struggling to feel her legs and hands.
It took her a few more days for her basic functions to return, for the doctors to be convinced there was no possibility of a stroke or some other kind of major event, and for them to allow her to be released from hospital. By then she was still no completely with it, not allowed back to work, and she was told to not even think about driving for a couple of weeks. That is a the very far end of the scale but it does show that migraines can be horrifically disabling events.
Also most of the early use migraine medications are very specific about not being used while exercising. I have a thing that I keep on me that I never intend to take that specifically warns that it is possible that it could turn my blood green. I would have to have a colossal aura to consider taking that.
