This is a reader-submitted post.
1. My diagnosis is: Chronic migraine and tension headaches
2. My migraine attack frequency is: 2-3 times a week, tension headache daily
3. I was diagnosed in: can’t remember diagnosis date but I have been living with them since I was probably 7, and I am 34.
4. My comorbid conditions include: muscle pain and slight shortness in 1 leg, causing spine misalignment.
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: around the age of 7
7. My most disabling migraine symptoms are: sensitive to light, sound and excruciating pain
8. My strangest migraine symptoms are: a band of pressure in my forehead
9. My biggest migraine triggers are: weather, lack of food or sleep
10. I know a migraine attack is coming on when: I never know. Never really noticed any earlier warning signs. Generally I know that if I don’t take care of a headache in the early mild pain stages, it will become a nasty migraine.
11. The most frustrating part about having a migraine attack is: losing time at work or canceling plans with friends or family
12. During a migraine attack, I worry most about: getting rid of it as fast as possible especially when I have to work or go somewhere important
13. When I think about migraine between attacks, I think: I try not to think about. I enjoy the peace I have and make the most of it while I have it.
14. When I tell someone I have migraine, the response is usually: my husband usually sighs at me like “surprise, surprise”, or people ask if you can just take something to make it through and keep going.
15. When someone tells me they have migraine, I think: I understand. I give them any advise I can, and offer any support I can, or they give me advise. Generally it’s just nice to meet someone who gets it.
16. When I see commercials about migraine treatments, I think: F@#k you. If taking an Aleve or two extra strength Advil when headaches strike was all there was to it, migraine suffers would be parading those pain relief developers through the streets as heroes. It isn’t that simple and they shouldn’t make it seem like that.
17. My best coping tools are: sleep in a dark room with an ice pack and my medications, or laying on the couch with the curtains drawn watching tv with volume on low.
18. I find comfort in: watching tv – escaping into other worlds and not dealing with my own or finding distraction in simple, easy activites.
19. I get angry when people say: “It’s just a headache. You have to deal with it and get past it.”
20. I like it when people say: “How can I help you deal with this?” “How are you feeling today?”
21. Something kind someone can do for me during a migraine attack is: understand when I break plans and not take it personally, and sometimes understand that a hug goes a long way.
22. The best thing(s) a doctor has ever said to me about migraine is: I believe and I understand.
23. The hardest thing to accept about having migraine is: I am always going to have them. Like diabetes, this is a lifelong disease and it is never going away. I am always going to have limitations in life.
24. Migraine has taught me: that I can’t have everything and somethings are just not going to happen for me. Also it has taught me that I shouldn’t assume that everything is as easy as just dealing with it.
25. The quotation, motto, mantra, or scripture that gets me through an attack is: Always keep fighting. (Thank Jared & Jensen and the SPN fandom)
26. If I could go back to the early days of my diagnosis, I would tell myself: Don’t listen to Dr. Peers, he’s an ass. There are doctors out there who get it.
27. The people who support me most are: My Mom, my best friend and my Headache Doctor
28. The thing I most wish people understood about migraine is: that this is a awful, life-altering disease, and some days it is so awful, I feel like dying – those are the days I need people to understand and support me the most.
29. Migraine and Headache Awareness Month is important to me because: I need my love ones to understand what I am going through. If they could feel for just one day, the pain and confusion I go through every day, then maybe they could support me better.
30. One more thing I’d like to say about life with migraine is: I know living with migraines will always have its ups and downs, and I need to make changes to get better, but I also need with the help of those around me, so I can deal and get to a better place again.
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.