Actually, not all migraines are particularly painful.  According to my
doctor, there are three symptoms that can go along with a migraine- the
headache pain, the nausea, and the visual disturbance (the aura).  An
individual can have any one or any combination of the three (the worst
being the literally blinding headache that makes you throw up).  I get
*just* the aura.  No headache, no nausea.  Without the other symptoms,
the aura is actually kind of fun- pretty glittery lights, oscillating
colors.  A bit of a pain when it happens at an inconvenient time, since
I can't really see any kind of detail while it's going on ( get 20-30
minutes of warning before it hits so I can get to somewhere safe if I'm
driving), but I've taught class right through them more than once.  I
know my subject well enough that I don't have to look at my notes, so
my students usually don't even notice.  I usually get them in clusters-
no migraines for months or years, then several in a row.  Each episode
usually lasts about 45 minutes start to finish.

Katrina