My 30 things

This is a reader-submitted story.

1. My diagnosis is: Chronic Migraine.
2. My migraine attack frequency is: sometimes daily, at least five a month. Menstrual migraines too.
3. I was diagnosed in: 1989
4. My comorbid conditions include: IBS, low blood sugar, anxiety
5. I take Pizotifen and magnesium medications/supplements each day for prevention and Imitrex and ginger root tea (made from raw ginger root, and boiling water) sometimes metaclopromide to stop nausea if the ginger is not working: medications/supplements to treat an acute attack
6. My first migraine attack was: aged 9
7. My most disabling migraine symptoms are: agonising right or left head pain, the lethargy and tiredness, the watering eye/sinus pain, the yawning
8. My strangest migraine symptoms are: no longer have the aura but still have terrible vertigo and sensitivity to light
9. My biggest migraine triggers are: hormones, change or routine, and I don’t know what. genes?
10. I know a migraine attack is coming on when: Yawning, watery eye, eye socket pain, lethargy.
11. The most frustrating part about having a migraine attack is: the loss of time. We don’t live long and about a half of my life is being wasted. My poor boyfriend who sees me suffer.
12. During a migraine attack, I worry most about: My poor boyfriend.
13. When I think about migraine between attacks, I think: Dear God what did I do to deserve this.
14. When I tell someone I have migraine, the response is usually: Oh, I had one once.
15. When someone tells me they have migraine, I think: Do you have a cure? What works for you?
16. When I see commercials about migraine treatments, I think: Tried that…. #fail.
17. My best coping tools are: Dark room. Quiet. Triptans. Ginger root (helps with sickness and head pain). Cold compress out of freezer. Shower. Hot water helps.
18. I find comfort in: knowing it won’t kill me.
19. I get angry when people say: Oh, you have a headache……………try tylenol.
20. I like it when people say: Oooh that’s really bad. How do you function? I hope you find a cure.
21. Something kind someone can do for me during a migraine attack is: Find me somewhere to hide, help me take my triptan. And a nice lady who gave me a clean nappy bag to throw up in in some dignity. You are a Nice Lady.
22. The best thing(s) a doctor has ever said to me about migraine is: Hopefully the menopause will help finish this a bit.
23. The hardest thing to accept about having migraine is: That it is probably genetic and I’m saddled with it for another 20 years. Damn.
24. Migraine has taught me: to value being well. And not to drive when taking triptans.
25. The quotation, motto, mantra, or scripture that gets me through an attack is: YOU WILL GET THROUGH THIS. Relax. Go to your inner self. Sooth. Breathe. Shower. Rest.
26. If I could go back to the early days of my diagnosis, I would tell myself:
27. The people who support me most are: My boyfriend. (love). My friends, my doc even though he can’t cure me.
28. The thing I most wish people understood about migraine is: That it is a serious debilitating neurological condition, not an excuse not to come to your wretched party.
29. Migraine and Headache Awareness Month is important to me because: I can support the cause.
30. One more thing I’d like to say about life with migraine is: Thank you for inventing Triptans, big pharma. Now can you please make them cheap (as cheap as it is in Austria, 13 Euros for six tablets)

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.