A few months ago one of my best friends bravely shared her migraine story in a Her Campus article, and thanks to her she has inspired me to share mine. I highly suggest you read hers as well!
I have had migraines since I was around 14 years old. The first one terrified me. I didn’t understand why my vision suddenly became blurry and I couldn’t see anything clearly. I didn’t know headaches could be so painful. I didn’t know that it would hurt to look at a screen, read a book or even just be in a room filled with daylight.
Fast forward 7 years later and I still get migraines and headaches. Sometimes they’re not too bad, and I can ignore the achy pain at the front of my head throughout the day while continuing on with my daily life. Other times they stop me from going out and doing my homework. There’s no rhyme or particular reason to them. Sometimes I’ll wake up with the dull ache in my head knowing it’s going to be a long day and other times I’ll be out at the beach or shopping and the corners of my vision will start to blur up with spots appearing in the middle. At this point it becomes difficult to do anything and I have to wait around 20 – 30 minutes for the aura to disappear, then within the next half hour I’ll have a headache. When the aura happens I hope I’m at home or in my dorm because it normally makes me disorientated, dizzy and/or nauseous. The following pain varies from feeling like a heavy, tight baseball hat wrapped around your head to baby needles jabbing at your brain. Once I didn’t take painkillers because the pain wasn’t too bad which surprised me as I had the aura. I woke up at 1am with the room spinning quickly around me, sending me into a panic attack as I laid still in my bed. Now I always take painkillers when I have aura with a migraine.
I have completed major exams with a migraine, scribbling my essay only half able to see, I have spent whole days struggling through class and my homework because it needs to be done, and I have had special days with my family, like one Easter Sunday ruined because I needed to lay in bed.
If I had to describe them in a few words I’d say they are – Interruptive. Annoying. Painful.
Sometimes I’ll have a good week or month when I get one or two mild ones. Other times I can have them nearly every day. They make it hard to concentrate and when they are fully-blown migraines with the aura I don’t want to do anything, including eating or drinking – I can only lay still, in a dark room. It can be lonely and difficult to explain to someone what it is like if they have never experienced a migraine, it isn’t just a headache. Sometimes I get nervous to go out somewhere in fear that half-way through my trip to Disneyland or on a flight I’ll see the blurry edges in my vision, ready to ruin my day and make me feel horrible until I can sleep properly in a bed. I carry Aleve and a bottle of water with me everywhere just in case. But it isn’t just that, the next day I will have a “migraine hangover”. Even though the initial pain is gone, you are still left with a cloud which makes your thoughts foggy and a dull ache that hurts to move your head forwards towards your feet.
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There are days when I feel like my migraines are controlling me, deciding if I do or don’t go hang out with my friends or drink at that event. It’s tiring. It brings me down. I know that stress, lack of sleep and random foods such as Dole pineapple and Extra chewing gum can help give me migraines in which case that is my fault. But my hormones also give me migraines, these I cannot control.
If you are reading this and have migraines you are not alone. In fact, according to the Migraine Research Foundation
- Migraine is the 3rd most prevalent illness in the world
- It is more prevalent in women – 18% of American women, 6% of men, and 10% of children experience migraines
- It is the 6th most disabling illness in the world
- While most sufferers experience attacks once or twice a month, more than 4 million people have chronic daily migraine, with at least 15 migraine days per month
- 25% of migraine sufferers have visual aura which usually lasts less than an hour
If you are having migraines often go talk to your doctor. But some things I have learnt over the years is be aware of what you are eating/ drinking on the days you get a migraine, maybe you’ll notice pattern. Make sure to drink plenty throughout the day and try to have a decent amount of sleep every night. Be prepared during the bad periods by carrying painkillers and water around just incase one strikes. Research natural ways you can help your migraines. And … don’t be afraid to tell someone when you have one and explain to them how it isn’t just a headache if they don’t understand.
I hope by reading this you have gained some insight into what it is like to live with migraines, and if you have them, you know that you are not alone.
Photo Courtesy of Pinterest
Here are some resources you can check out!