Ravindran, Murugan K, Zheng, Yin, Timbol, Christian et al. · BMC neurology · 2011 · DOI
This study found that headaches—especially migraines—are much more common in people with ME/CFS than in healthy people. Researchers studied two groups and found that 84% of people with ME/CFS experienced migraines, compared to only 5% of healthy controls. People with ME/CFS who had migraines with visual symptoms (aura) showed more severe dizziness, memory problems, and heart-related symptoms than those without aura.
This study provides concrete evidence that headaches—particularly migraines—are a prominent and quantifiable symptom in ME/CFS, affecting the majority of patients. Understanding that migraine severity correlates with neurological and cardiac symptoms may help clinicians recognize and manage these co-occurring problems in ME/CFS patients, potentially improving quality of life.
This cross-sectional study cannot establish causation or determine whether migraine causes ME/CFS symptoms, whether they share a common underlying mechanism, or whether the observed associations would remain stable over time. The small healthy control sample in Cohort 2 (n=21) limits generalizability of headache comparisons. The study does not establish whether central sensitization is the primary mechanism linking migraine to CFS pathophysiology.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
The first block is for the primary paper and is the citation you should use in research work. The atlas-snapshot line only applies if you are specifically referring to this atlas’s reading of the paper on the date shown.
Primary citation
Ravindran, Murugan K, Zheng, Yin, Timbol, Christian, Merck, Samantha J, & Baraniuk, James N (2011). Migraine headaches in chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS): comparison of two prospective cross-sectional studies.. BMC neurology. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2377-11-30
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-ravindran-2011-migraine-headaches,
author = {Ravindran, Murugan K and Zheng, Yin and Timbol, Christian and Merck, Samantha J and Baraniuk, James N},
title = {Migraine headaches in chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS): comparison of two prospective cross-sectional studies.},
journal = {BMC neurology},
year = {2011},
doi = {10.1186/1471-2377-11-30},
note = {PubMed: 21375763},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/ravindran-2011-migraine-headaches},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-25. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/ravindran-2011-migraine-headaches
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