Anyone who suffers from Migraines, can attest to this post.
Migraines are a one of a kind experience. People who have never had them, are
extremely lucky and some usually think they are just really bad headaches…
wrong answer! I’ve been doing a lot of research lately on Migraines, and the
best descriptions so far that I have found says “Migraine is a complex
neurological disease that affects your central nervous system…Migraine is
caused by abnormal brain chemistry…Migraine is a genetic difference, in most
cases inherited from one or both of your parents.” (The Migraine Brain,
by Carolyn Bernstein, MD and Elaine McArdle). Here’s a statistic for you from
this same book “Thirty million people in the United States get migraines.
Almost half have never been diagnosed with migraines, and another 25 percent
have been misdiagnosed with other ailments.” And yet here is a sad thing, there
aren’t many doctors who specialize in migraines, it’s hard to find a doctor who
will adequately treat a patient with migraines.
So, what’s it like to have a migraine? Well, there are many
many different answers out there. I will explain my experience, as everyone is
different. First of all, there are many different types of headaches, and there
are many different types of migraines. I’m only just starting to crack the
surface of learning all this information by reading and researching (my main
sources right now are migraine.com and the book The Migraine Brain) I’ve
had headaches since I was a child, and apparently I have suffered from
migraines since I was at least a teenager, but never realized it. I didn’t
start to get treated for migraines until 2012, so I’m a newbie in the migraine
treatment world. I get daily headaches, which I used to pop Excedrin like
candy, and that worked for me for many years. Though there were times I
remember I had to lay in my bedroom in the dark for hours not moving because
the pain was so bad. I never realized that I was experiencing a migraine. I
always thought it was just a bad tension headache. In 2012 I was put on topomax
as a preventative migraine medication, and also given imitrex and maxalt as
abortive migraine medications. It was night and day when I used these meds
during my so called “severe tension headaches”, and the pain would dissipate.
That was when I realized I was dealing with migraines. I do have familial
history of migraines, so yes it is genetic in my family. But back to what it’s
like, typically I have little to no warning (rarely do I have an aura- auras
are flashes of light in the eyes, or zigzag lines in the eyes, etc right before
the pain begins), though I’m learning that there are some signs that do occur
for me, such as watery eyes, increased irritability, my scalp begins to hurt to
the touch, I become sensitive to sound and light, etc. When the pain starts, it’s
usually one sided. I have excruciating pain behind one eye (like a screw driver
is being shoved into my eyeball with each heart beat), pain in the temple (I
tell my husband that I’d love to take a drill to my temple to relieve the pain),
severe pain in the upper neck on the same side, and sometimes that pain wraps
around the side of my head like a spider web from the neck to the eye. On my
worst days, I have nerve pain in my face where I feel like an ax is being
shoved into my face and moved down in a straight line from just above my eye
down to just below my chin. There is extreme light and sound sensitivity,
severe nausea (thankfully I do have medication for that as well, and I’ve been
able to keep from vomiting), and all I can do is lay in the dark of my bedroom
(with an eyemask over my eyes, ice behind my neck) and lay as still as possible
because any movement at all (including moving from side to side in bed) causes
extreme pain. The worst is when I am woken up by these migraines without
warning. I’ve scared my husband half to death out of sleep and had him run to
get me ice, and to fish through my prescriptions in the dark to hand me my
medication while I writhe in pain at 3 in the morning. I hate those migraines.
I hate any migraines. But I do appreciate some sort of warning, so I can take
my “cocktail” before things become too excruciating which currently consists of
IB prophen, Tylenol, phenergan (anti-nausea), flexeril (muscle relaxant),
maxalt (abortive migraine med) or imitrex, and oxycodone (pain med), ice, and I
use essential oils on my neck, forhead, and temples. My last resort tends to be
morphine (I use it when I have nerve pain, like in my face, or when I’ve had a
migraine for more than 3-4 days straight and the meds I’ve tried aren’t
working). I hate morphine, I feel like a zombie for 3 days after taking it, but
the relief that comes after suffering so long is an incredible sigh of relief
and I am finally able to relax and fall asleep for the first time in days. This
is all just a summary of my migraine experience, I know I’m forgetting symptoms
and treatments. Why am I writing this? Because lately I’ve been averaging 2-3
migraines a week (or one large migraine a week) for the past 2 months. I know I
need to speak to my doctor about it and see what can be changed, because this
is just unbarable, and my stomach ulcer is coming back from all the meds I'm taking. But I loathe talking to my doctor about yet another problem.
I hate how migraines just ruin your life. I have to cancel scheduled events,
blow off good friends because I’m sick in bed all the time, and unable to do
everyday mom duties and housework. It’s completely debilitating. I wear
sunglasses everywhere I go, and I’ve gotten to the point where I’m so tempted
to wear them to church on Sundays, because otherwise I can’t go, the lights
hurt my eyes. But I feel so embarrassed to wear sunglasses inside places,
especially at church. But I hate missing church on Sundays, it’s my day to show
my devotion to my Savior Jesus Christ and I miss it so much whenever I have to
stay home.
So for
those reading this, I know many of my friends struggle with migraines and can
relate to this post. But if not, and you know someone with migraines,
understand that it’s not their fault, it’s a neurological disease in their
brain. If you see someone wearing sunglasses inside, they may just be sensitive
to light, have a migraine, or trying to keep from getting one. If they cancel
an outing with you because they say they have a migraine, be understanding
rather than judgemental. Also know that if you see me out and about, it’s not
always because I’m having a “good day”, most of the time it’s because I’m well
medicated and can function. On Sundays I get a lot of “how are you doing?” or “you
must be feeling well since you are here today”, and I recognize that people are
trying to be loving and show that they care, but to be honest I never know how
to answer those questions because truthfully Sundays are the worst, I tend to
crash and burn over the weekend while my husband is home to help me, and I
literally drag myself up and medicate to get to church. So no, I’m not usually
doing well, I’m just thankful to be there. But thank you for asking!
(I’ve added a few humorous pics I’ve found) enjoy!:
Happy Sunday! Until next time…
No comments:
Post a Comment