This is a reader-submitted story.
1. My diagnosis is: Chronic migraine
2. My migraine attack frequency is: Right now, daily
3. I was diagnosed in: my 20’s, almost 30 years ago
4. My comorbid conditions include: Anxiety, neck and back pain
5. I take __2__ medications/supplements each day for prevention and _2___ medications/supplements to treat an acute attack
6. My first migraine attack was: In my 20’s attributed to hormone fluctuations.
7. My most disabling migraine symptoms are: Nausea, confusion, pain
8. My strangest migraine symptoms are: Blurred vision
9. My biggest migraine triggers are: Hormonal fluctuations, sleeping, eating, wine, sweets, heat, strong smells.
10. I know a migraine attack is coming on when: I feel waves of nausea.
11. The most frustrating part about having a migraine attack is: They are never at convenient times, life is too busy to lay down for three hours while medication kicks in. One abortive works, but it makes me feel even worse, and exhausted for a couple of hours after I take it.
12. During a migraine attack, I worry most about: Will the meds work, staying awake, disappointing my children, husband, co workers.
13. When I think about migraine between attacks, I think: Thank goodness I feel good right now.. I wonder if I could drink just one glass of wine and not have an attack. 🙂
14. When I tell someone I have migraine, the response is usually: I try to keep it to myself… it’s just so frequent, I don’t want to be a buzzkill.
15. When someone tells me they have migraine, I think: I am very sympathetic. I used to be a teacher, and I knew who the migraine kids were in school. When I saw them laying down I would always stop and make sure the lights were down, that their parent had been called and that they had taken whatever meds they were allowed to take at school… and I tried to offer some empathetic words.
16. When I see commercials about migraine treatments, I think: That probably won’t work for me.
17. My best coping tools are: Abortive meds.
18. I find comfort in: Quiet couch time.
19. I get angry when people say: Try Excederin Migraine.. I know they mean well though, so try to take it in stride.
20. I like it when people say: I have a co worker who asks me upon arrival every day how I am feeling. I don’t usually offer up my daily condition.. I just quietly endure my migraine, 3-hours of yuck before abortive kicks in cycle.
21. Something kind someone can do for me during a migraine attack is: Be sympathetic and caring.
22. The best thing(s) a doctor has ever said to me about migraine is: Your MRI looks good. I truly thought I must be having strokes, or have a tumor or something.
23. The hardest thing to accept about having migraine is: I keep thinking that I have some undiagnosed medical condition that nobody has taken the time to figure out. I hate that I can’t fully participate a lot of times.
24. Migraine has taught me: to keep on going even when feel absolutely horrible.
25. The quotation, motto, mantra, or scripture that gets me through an attack is: Not sure. My all time favorite verse is Jeremiah 29:11 so maybe that applies here too: For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
26. If I could go back to the early days of my diagnosis, I would tell myself: Find a headache specialist.
27. The people who support me most are: My family
28. The thing I most wish people understood about migraine is: How much it upsets me and makes me sad. How sick I feel so much of the time.
29. Migraine and Headache Awareness Month is important to me because: I think this should be treated as more of a chronic illness. It is more serious and debilitating than people think.
30. One more thing I’d like to say about life with migraine is: I wish there were better preventatives. I tried Topamax and felt awful. Now I take Zonisamide. It make slightly take the edge off, but doesn’t really help. They keep trying to put me on Effexor, which makes me feel so weird after a few days that I can’t continue. The daily remedies haven’t really helped. I would like to learn more about others’ experiences with preventatives.
Reader-submitted stories solely represent the personal point of view, experience, and opinion of the author, not of The Daily Headache or Kerrie Smyres. Follow this link to learn how to share YOUR 30 Things about living with a headache disorder.