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Question: “Can migraine cause memory loss? Sometimes I have a migraine and can’t remember the night before…”
Many migraineurs suffer with memory loss or some type of cognitive dysfunction during a migraine attack.
And why not? Migraine symptoms are neurological probably caused by the brain cortex….and not anywhere in the brain specifically. That accounts for the multitude of symptoms that can occur during a migraine: light sensitivity, sound sensitivity, smell sensitivity, nausea, etc. There are plenty of studies out there regarding cognitive issues during migraine but nothing that relates to any particular type of cognitive dysfunction consistently. A recent study looked at the impact of migraine on memory loss following an attack. The only thing that was significant was that migraineurs showed impairment in global-visual processing in the 2 days following an attack but not in attention or working memory.
There is another neurological disorder called transient global amnesia where patients will have complete amnesia lasting hours without other symptoms. It is usually attributed to either migraine, seizure, or transient ischemic attack (the technical term for “mini-stroke). Having migraine is a significant risk factor for transient global amnesia so they are thought to be related.
The good news is that the effects of having migraine do not show any effect on cognitive function in the long term.
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"I had my first migraine when I was 12. I thought I was going blind, the spots in my vision all grouped together and everything went black. The pain was intense and felt like my head would crack open above my right eye." 
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Please note that the megrain effects on memory for me are spscifcaly the inability to recall names.
The storage is OK It is the inability to recall what I want when I want that is very frustrating.
I was born In 1944 in London England. I am now 67
I have suffered Megrain headaches ever since my earliest daya as a child.
I associated the onset of the pressure headache with the Probable change of weather in about 24-36 hours.
England is known for it’s changeable weather.
In 1985 I moved to Tel Aviv Israel a semi-desert region. The megrains have persisted with less frequency and notably the weather is more consistent.
About 1996 I was diagnosed with Hypertension and Prescribed Tritace ( Rmipril)
I have found that taking the prescribed medication Ramipril for my hypertention (1x tritace pill each day) has the side effect of stopping the megrains from starting.
I have been taking 10mg. (2x5mg). pills twice a day about 10-12 hours apart for about 6 months. (Tritace pills have a half life of about 8 hours)
Blood tests have shown no adverse symptomes.
I tried the capsule delayed action form and found them ineffective in reducing the BP or more importantly The onset of megrains.
Blood tests show no ill effects.
Megrains do not effect my BP
I am now virtually Megrain free.
Megrains have ruined my life as they effect my memory recall and physical balance. Apart from being toally debilitating.
The unexpected side effect of the medication Ramipril has been significant to my well being and quality of life.
I hope that this comment will help other sufferers.
Your reply would be very welcome
Regards to all.
Tony Trenton