2. My migraine attack or headache frequency is: Every other day, lasting for a couple of days with postdrome lasting up to 2 or 3 weeks.

3. The first migraine attack or headache I remember was: I got a visual aura while working and thought I was going blind.

4. My pain levels range from: Mild to severe (6-10 out of 10)

5. I was diagnosed in: 2010

6. My comorbid conditions include: Depression

7. I take 1 pill each day for prevention (it works somewhat) and 1-4 pills to treat an acute attack

8. In addition to pain, other symptoms I experience include: Nausea, sensitivity to touch, noise, smell and light, fatigue, confusion, lightheadedness, irritability, moodiness, tooth- and earache.

9. Treatments I have tried include: Triptans, preventatives, stress relievers, muscle relaxants, NSAID’s, cannabis, dark room rest, cool air, sleep.

10. During a migraine attack or headache, I: Try to hide it, relax and drink lots of water. Sleep usually works best, but it’s not possible while I’m at work.

11. My migraine attacks or headaches are triggered or get worse when: it’s warm outside and when I move or do exercise, stress and eat sugar or MSG.

12. The most frustrating part about having migraine or a headache disorder is: the effect it has on my husband and not being able to do or eat most things.

13. Having migraine or a headache disorder causes me to worry about: my general and mental health.

14. When I tell someone I have migraine or a headache disorder, they usually assume or say: “okay” and look confused or feel sorry for me, or they tell me about their or someone else’s migraine story and we share helpful tips.

15. When I see ads or articles about migraine or headache disorders, I think: Maybe they can help me understand more about my condition.

16. My best coping tools are: sleeping or staying busy, depending on how fatigued I feel.

17. I find comfort in: knowing that there are so many people that experience what I do, and that my pain could’ve been way worse.

18. I get angry when people say: That I shouldn’t take a sick day for “just a headache”.

19. I like it when people say: That they understand or can imagine the pain, even if they don’t, because they’re at least trying to.

20. Something kind a person can do for me during a migraine attack or headache is: To not talk to or touch me and to make as little noise as possible.

21. The best thing a doctor has ever said to me about having migraine or a headache disorder is: That he’ll help me find a treatment that works.

22. Having migraine or a headache disorder has affected my work life by: disabling me some days and slowing me down other days.

23. The hardest thing to accept about having migraine or a headache disorder is: that I can’t eat ice cream or enjoy the heat of the summer anymore without expecting a migraine.

24. Having migraine or a headache disorder has taught me: How to push through despite how I feel.

25. The quotation, motto, mantra, or scripture that gets me through hard days is: “Throw glitter in today’s face.” Just having something that makes me smile helps me cope a little better.

26. If I could go back to the early days of my diagnosis, I would tell myself: To stop eating sugar altogether.

27. The people who support me most are: My husband and my parents.

28. The thing I most wish people understood about migraine or headache disorders is: That it’s more than just a headache or a “muscle thing” (yes, a pharmacist once said to me, sounding somewhat unsure, that it’s just a muscle thing)

29. Migraine and Headache Awareness Month is important to me because: It educates people about something most of us have a misconception about.

30. One more thing I’d like to say about migraine or my headache disorder is: That I hope they will find the cause(s) and a cure some day, and that people will take it as seriously as any other disabling diseases.

Studies show TheraSpecs migraine glasses can reduce migraines up to 74%, relieve painful sensitivity to light (photophobia), and protect you from fluorescent lights. Best of all, they are drug-free so there is no risk of medication overuse headache. Learn more and get your own pair at www.theraspecs.com.

Here’s a brief summary of the study’s details and it’s findings.

In the 12-week study, 667 participants were given monthly injections of either the drug, called erenumab, or a placebo. The breakdown was:

• 191 participants received 70 mg erenumab
• 190 participants received 140 mg erenumab
• 286 were injected with the placebo

All participants had chronic migraine. At the start of the study, they had an average of 18 migraine days per month and 21.1 headache days each month. The following outcomes were assessed during the last four weeks of the study.

• Reduction in migraine days per month: Those who were given erenumab (at either dose) had an average of 6.6 fewer migraine days a month.

• 50% or greater reduction in the number of migraine days per month: 40% of participants who received the drug at 70 mg and 41% who got 140 mg had their number of headache days decreased by at least half.

• Reduction in use of acute migraine drugs (abortives): Participants who received 70 mg of erenumab took abortives on 3.5 fewer days; those who received 140 mg reduced their medication use by 4.1 days.

• Reduction in headache hours: Participants who received 70 mg of erenumab had 64.8 fewer headache hours in the month; those who received 140 mg of erenumab had 74.5 fewer headache hours.

Side effects

No adverse effect was reported in more than 5% of the participants. Those reported were:

• Injection site pain: 3.7% in participants who received the active drug at either dose; 1.1% placebo
• Upper respiratory tract infection: 2.6% at 70 mg; 3.7% at 140 mg; 1.4% placebo
• Nausea: 2.1% 70 mg; 3.2% 140 mg; 2.5% placebo

This yet is another promising report on the CGRP drugs that are in development for migraine prevention. All studies so far have found a notable reduction in migraine frequency and improvement in health-related quality of life for a significant portion of participants. Minimal side effects have been reported thus far. This was a Phase 2 study. Phase 3 studies, which are underway now, will include more participants and give us more information on side effects.

(Amgen has also issued a press release about the first CGRP drug Phase 3 results I’ve seen. Participants in the study had between four and 14 migraine days a month. Those given erenumab had an average of 2.9 fewer migraine days per month. With such a wide range in migraine frequency, it’s hard to tell how impressive that number is. But even for someone with 14 migraine days a month, the average would mean about 20% fewer migraine days.)

Studies show TheraSpecs migraine glasses can reduce migraines up to 74%, relieve painful sensitivity to light (photophobia), and protect you from fluorescent lights. Best of all, they are drug-free so there is no risk of medication overuse headache. Learn more and get your own pair at www.theraspecs.com.

The treatments to get me through the week were:

• Compazine 30 minutes before each meal. Although it’s a nausea med, some people get migraine relief from Compazine. (It only made me tired and helped the nausea; it did not give me any migraine relief.)
• Oxytocin as an acute medication once a day. (Which I discovered is a migraine trigger for me.)
• A new treatment I’ve been using since June 22. It is a preventive treatment that can also be used acutely. That’s all I can tell you right now, but will share more as soon as I can.

Day 1: Monday was the worst day by far. I was too nauseated and dizzy to eat breakfast until 1 p.m. and that required dosing with Zofran and Compazine. The pain, which felt cold and high on my head, hovered around a 4 and peaked at a 5, which lasted a couple hours. Ice exacerbated the pain. Thanks to Compazine, I slept from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. I definitely had a migraine attack in the night and didn’t sleep well (probably because of the Compazine-induced nap).

Day 2: I started Tuesday with a decent amount of energy and little pain. I even showered and did housework before eating. The migraine attack that followed breakfast was slight, but definitely present. Between it and the Compazine, I was laid up until I took a nap. Within 30 minutes of waking from my nap, I was perky and functional. I spent three hours working on chores and even did some writing. All with overcast skies! I once again had a migraine attack in my sleep, but it didn’t keep me up. Night sweats and vivid dreams were the only evidence that an attack happened at all.

Day 3: I switched from taking oxytocin at night to taking it after breakfast on Wednesday. It was a remarkably good day. I slowed down for a couple hours after eating, but am unsure if migraine or Compazine was the culprit. I even ran errands in the afternoon. After dinner was the first time I felt like my new treatment actually aborted a migraine attack! It was also the first night in almost a year where I didn’t fall asleep minutes after getting into bed.

Day 4: I woke up feeling fine Thursday and skipped the pre-breakfast Compazine hoping that I would be less sluggish without it. I used my new treatment after eating and it once again appeared to abort the migraine attack. I felt a little slow for maybe an hour afterward, but was able to write all day. My mind got a little fuzzy in the late afternoon, so I decided to rest. Before I did, I cleaned up a mess in the laundry room and put a coat of sealant on the bathroom tile… and discovered I no longer needed to rest. I finally stopped “doing” for the day at 7 p.m.

The other big news of the day: I ate three meals instead of two! I can use my new treatment three times a day, so I wanted to see if it would abort all three eating-triggered attacks. It did!

I then stayed awake the entire night. It wasn’t one of those maybe-I-slept-maybe-I-didn’t kind of nights. I read and did housework all night long. What kept me up? NOT having a migraine attack. I’m one of those fortunate folks who gets sleepy during an attack. After 17 months of nightly attacks, I think my body had gotten used to using migraine as a sleep aid.

Day 5: Despite not sleeping one wink, Friday was another remarkable day. It was house-focused, including signing the paperwork to have the grass removed from our yard and replaced with waterwise plants. (I’m so excited!) And I finally fixed the mess created when shelves in the laundry room fell a few months ago. Nothing to write home about… except that having a day of normal chores is absolutely worth writing home about.

I’m trying to temper my excitement about how much better I feel (Hart is, too). I feel so different, so much better, that I want to believe the ketogenic diet, my new treatment, and getting out of MOH have made a huge, lasting difference. And maybe they have, but I don’t want to go (too far) down that path until I have more data. I don’t want to be (too) crushed if this improvement turns out to be a fluke. Then again, I know my body really, really well. This feels different. (I might hate myself later for writing those words.)

Day 6: I felt great all day Saturday! I woke up at 8 a.m. and organized the house until 11 p.m. I didn’t even check Facebook. I slept well, too.

Days 7 & 8: Both days started well, but migraine attacks crept up through each morning. Both attacks made me so tired I couldn’t avoid napping. Both times, the migraine attack lifted within 30 minutes of waking up. Napping usually gives me some degree of migraine relief, but it only began aborting attacks completely this summer. I’m still surprised when it happens. (I was so afraid of losing another day that I took one Amerge (naratriptan) as soon as I felt symptoms on Monday. My background headache was more painful that day.)

Day 9: I spent this morning preoccupied with Sunday and Monday’s migraine attacks and obsessing over whether an attack was coming on. As I sifted through potential triggers, I kept worrying that my new treatment is backfiring. Although that is unlikely (I’ve been using it for two months with no problem), it’s my biggest fear, so it’s what my mind settled on. Other possibilities are that oxytocin is a trigger, I’ve developed reactions to some foods I thought were OK, or that merely touching cleaning product bottles now triggers attacks. I went with the oxytocin hypothesis and skipped my dose this morning. I’m going strong at 3 p.m., so I’m guessing oxytocin was the culprit.

Future weeks: Medication overuse headache symptoms can last six months after the final dose. Given how easy my migraine medication detox has been and that I’ve only been using excessive amounts of medications for 16 months, I doubt I’ll have symptoms that long. Still, I’m hopeful that the next few weeks or months could bring even more improvement. Maybe I’ll one day be able to eat without having a migraine attack at all.

*My experience does not represent the typical migraine medication detox. It has been easy because of the preventives I was on before I started (and possibly because I was only in MOH for a year). The drugs I used as a bridge were ineffective—Compazine only made me sleepy and oxytocin made my migraine attacks worse. In the six months before starting the detox, my pain rarely got above a 4 and my most disabling symptoms were fatigue and cognitive dysfunction.

Studies show TheraSpecs migraine glasses can reduce migraines up to 74%, relieve painful sensitivity to light (photophobia), and protect you from fluorescent lights. Best of all, they are drug-free so there is no risk of medication overuse headache. Learn more and get your own pair at www.theraspecs.com.

1. I have had chronic daily headache (CDH) for 38 years.
2. The first headache I remember is: that it came out of the blue while I was cleaning our new apartment. I was 28 years old and had never suffered from any kind of headaches before that.
3. After the headache started, my husband took me to the ER that night, and that was the first of many different times I was diagnosed.
4. My pain level fluctuates from mild to moderate to severe.
5. My typical pain level ranges from: 5 to horrific.
6. In addition to pain, my symptoms include: extreme tiredness, hyperactivity, irritability, stiff neck and shoulders, nausea, vomiting, cramps and diarrhea, vertigo, aphasia, AIWS, faintness, scintillating scotoma, imbalance, depression and anxiety, night terrors.
7. Treatments I have tried include: natural remedies, since I refuse to take the medications they prescribe, which rarely work and have terrible side effects and sometimes cause permanent neurological deficits. I have been offered opiates but don’t take them either because I am afraid of additions. I have had several CAT scans, MRI’s and MRA’s to rule out stroke or other neurological disease.
8. I use prayer and meditation and try to stay as positive as I can.
9. When the pain gets bad, I still do as much as I can, but rest when I have to.
10. The most frustrating part about having CDH is: Not being able to participate in normal life and losing friends because of it.
11. Because of CDH, I am prevented from being the person I was before I became disabled with migraine.
12. When I tell someone I have CDH, they don’t understand unless they also suffer from it.
13. When I see how little research and information exists on CDH, I wonder why there are so many awareness programs and funding programs for just about everything else BUT chronic migraine.
14. Having CDH has affected my entire life by taking away any hope for actually having one again.
15. Having CDH has affected by family life by: putting making my family sad.
16. The one word that best describes my experience with CDH is grief and hopelessness.
17. My best coping tools are: meditation and prayer.
18. I find comfort in my faith.
19. I get angry when people offer ridiculous remedies as if I haven’t tried everything in the book the last 30 plus years!
20. I like it when people say: I’m sorry you have to suffer like this; is there anything I can do to help?
21. Something kind someone has done for me in relation to CDH is to be patient with my limitations or wanted to be with me in spite of them.
22. The best thing a doctor has ever said to me about CDH is: “There is no cure for migraine; we aren’t even sure what causes it yet”. At least he was honest.
23. The hardest thing to accept about having CDH is that t has taken away my joy.
24. Having CDH has taught me just how strong and brave I can be.
25. The quotation, motto, mantra, or scripture that helps me cope with CDH is “Do the best you can and leave the rest to God.”
26. If I could go back to the early days of my diagnosis, there is nothing I could have done differently.
27. The people who support me most are: My husband and daughter.
28. The thing I most wish people understood is that chronic complicated migraine is not just a headache, but an intense neurological storm that is accompanied by an excruciating headache.
29. Migraine and Headache Awareness Month is important to me because I still hold out hope that someone will pay attention.
30. One more thing I’d like to say about CDH is to the people that don’t suffer from it: If someone you love suffers like this, please be kind, helpful and do everything you can to educate yourself and everyone else about the disease.

Reader-submitted stories solely represent the personal point of view, experience, and opinion of the author, not of The Daily Headache or Kerrie Smyres.

Studies show TheraSpecs migraine glasses can reduce migraines up to 74%, relieve painful sensitivity to light (photophobia), and protect you from fluorescent lights. Best of all, they are drug-free so there is no risk of medication overuse headache. Learn more and get your own pair at www.theraspecs.com.

1. My diagnosis is: chronic migraines
2. My migraine attack frequency is: Pretty much everyday I have some form of migraine symptoms – the severity varies from day to day.
3. I was diagnosed in: 2002
4. My comorbid conditions include: Bipolar type II, panic disorder w/o agoraphobia, anxiety, PTSD, C-PTSD, and thyroid hormone imbalance due to thyroid cancer/lobectomy of right lobe.
5. I take ____ medications/supplements each day for prevention and ____ medications/supplements to treat an acute attack: I have been on a few prophylactic meds including Topamax and am currently testing out the efficacy of Effexor. I currently have prescriptions for 9 different medications used to treat acute attacks.
6. My first migraine attack was: 4/24/99
7. My most disabling migraine symptoms are: Severe nausea, vertigo, dizziness, disabling pain and muscle weakness.
8. My strangest migraine symptoms are: Aphasia, hypomania, Alice In Wonderland syndrome, food cravings, and chronic tinnitus in my left ear.
9. My biggest migraine triggers are: Marijuana smoke, emotional stress/trauma/stress-letdown, tannins, physical stress/trauma, insomnia, altitude changes, changes in barometric pressure, and temperature changes.
10. I know a migraine attack is coming on when: The Left Eye Twitch of Doom, an increase in sensitivity to smell, taste, sound, light, touch and temperature changes.
11. The most frustrating part about having a migraine attack is: I’ve had a moderate/severe migraine headache most days in the last 3 years – most of the time when they become intense the meds I have either don’t work or make me feel worse. Also having to go to the ER in an acute attack with intense symptoms and they aren’t able to give me any relief aside from rehydration via IV fluids.
12. During a migraine attack, I worry most about: Throwing up because it makes the pain and other symptoms 10x worse.
13. When I think about migraine between attacks, I think: When is the next one coming and how can I get to the ER without anyone to give me a ride.
14. When I tell someone I have migraine, the response is usually: Sympathy, apathy or skepticism.
15. When someone tells me they have migraine, I think: I’m so sorry that someone else experiences this disabling disease.
16. When I see commercials about migraine treatments, I think: Yeah, right, that’ll work. Not.
17. My best coping tools are: Cold packs, noise canceling headphones, dark and cool room, and antinausea meds.
18. I find comfort in: My horse and music
19. I get angry when people say: “Sorry you’re having a bit of a headache” or “It’s just a headache” or “You just need to do more cardio/eliminate gluten/corn/wheat, etc.” And my all time favorite: “Again?? That’s four days in a row!”
20. I like it when people say: “Let me turn the lights off for you and bring you some cold packs.”
21. Something kind someone can do for me during a migraine attack is: Understand that it’s not just head pain – nausea and dizziness are often more disabling for me.
22. The best thing(s) a doctor has ever said to me about migraine is: “You’re doing everything right.”
23. The hardest thing to accept about having migraine is: that I can’t depend on myself; I can’t support myself because I can’t work and I almost invariably let people down.
24. Migraine has taught me: not all pain is visible and everyone’s experience is different.
25. The quotation, motto, mantra, or scripture that gets me through an attack is: I have yet to find one. *Edit* “It’s the guilt of what reality has given me. Making sense of all mistakes and my stupidity, and when you’re sick you seem to think you’ve failed eternally.” ~ Blue October “Overweight”
26. If I could go back to the early days of my diagnosis, I would tell myself: Fight and advocate for yourself!
27. The people who support me most are: A few close friends and my horse.
28. The thing I most wish people understood about migraine is: I have no control over when the symptoms will become disabling – I may have just enough energy to do a couple of things in a day but then just completely crash afterwards.
29. Migraine and Headache Awareness Month is important to me because: It gives louder volume to fighting the stigma of living with migraine and let’s other sufferers know they aren’t alone.
30. One more thing I’d like to say about life with migraine is: Search for and take joy in the small things. Creating a small but meaningful life is the best thing for me. I’d also like to say that it is fucking exhausting trying to convince doctors of how much pain I’m in.

Reader-submitted stories solely represent the personal point of view, experience, and opinion of the author, not of The Daily Headache or Kerrie Smyres.

Studies show TheraSpecs migraine glasses can reduce migraines up to 74%, relieve painful sensitivity to light (photophobia), and protect you from fluorescent lights. Best of all, they are drug-free so there is no risk of medication overuse headache. Learn more and get your own pair at www.theraspecs.com.

Since eating anything is my migraine trigger and no preventive medications have been able to address that issue, I feel stuck. Going off the medication is not going to stop eating from being a migraine trigger. But my last visit with my headache specialist got me thinking about the two treatments I’ve been trying this year. One is the ketogenic diet and the other I can’t tell you about yet. Both have helped a small amount, but neither has had a huge impact. They have helped enough that I don’t want to stop either one, but I’m having trouble quantifying the extent of each one. What if MOH is somehow keeping me from realizing the full benefit of either or both treatments?

What if…? When a question like that lodges itself in my mind, I have to learn the answer. My migraine medication detox began last night.

My doctor offered to admit me to the hospital to keep me comfortable through detox. I declined because I don’t think I need it. Instead, I will take Compazine (prochlorperazine) 30 minutes before meals and use an oxytocin nasal spray after the migraine attacks begin. Compazine is known as a nausea drug, but it can also help reduce migraine symptoms. Oxytocin is being studied as a potential acute migraine treatment and could also have preventive effects. If my migraine attacks take a sharp turn for the worse, I’ll add DHE or Migranal to the lineup (assuming they aren’t out of stock). I have the option of starting another preventive at the same time, but think I’m going to wait in an attempt to control variables.

If you’re reading this to learn how to do a migraine medication detox with as little pain as possible, please be aware that my treatment may not be an applicable template. For most people with MOH, going off the medications would result in horrendous pain. My symptoms and situation are different than most. Thanks to my current preventive treatments and dietary restrictions, my pain rarely gets above a 3 on a 0-10 scale. I expect that it won’t exceed a 6 even while detoxing. Fatigue and cognitive dysfunction have been more disabling than the pain for me for the last few years. Those symptoms will be bad, but as long as I can feed myself and plan to limit my work for a couple weeks, detox shouldn’t be too bad for me.

I very much want to discover that MOH has crept up on me and is keeping two somewhat effective treatments from reaching their full potential. But I’m not holding my breath. I suspect I’ll go through migraine medication detox and discover that I still have a migraine attack every time I eat. While the acute medications may be increasing my susceptibility to migraine attacks outside of eating, they are also managing the attacks I get twice a day no matter what. My best hope is that the ketogenic diet and the other treatment are far more effective than I think because MOH is hiding their efficacy. Or maybe oxytocin will provide great relief. Whatever happens, I’ll have at least one more data point to help determine what my next course of action will be.

(Pardon any typos. Editing is beyond me right now.)

Studies show TheraSpecs migraine glasses can reduce migraines up to 74%, relieve painful sensitivity to light (photophobia), and protect you from fluorescent lights. Best of all, they are drug-free so there is no risk of medication overuse headache. Learn more and get your own pair at www.theraspecs.com.

Pain in My Brain

By Sarah Smith

I bury my head into my pillow trying to apply pressure to my skull. I pull up the covers to block out any light and hopefully to muffle any sound. I lay there motionless. My head throbs, pulsating, feeling as if at any moment it may explode. Dizziness sets in, and I continue to not move; maybe it’ll go away. I start to feel nauseous. I lay there with nothing but this pain and my thoughts: “How long will this last? Why can’t things just be normal?”

I have suffered from chronic migraine since I was five years old. Growing up, doctors would tell me that, “Your migraines will probably go away when you have menopause.” This was not very reassuring to hear. When I reached the age of 14, I started going to a neurologist. I would meet with him every three months and answer all of his questions and give him a review of my health. He prescribed me some medication that only helped some of the time. Eventually, when I was about 15, my neurologist suggested that I get an MRI, which I did, but there was nothing to be found. I continued to take medications for my migraines until I was about 17 when I decided that I didn’t want to be dependent on pills, and that I should try to figure out the triggers that cause my migraines.

Because I get migraines so often, about 3-4 days a week, it was/is hard to pinpoint exactly what the triggers are. It didn’t take long to discover my biggest migraine culprit – florescent lighting. Since the lighting of a room is not something I get to decide, it is extremely difficult to prevent a migraine from happening in these situations. If I’m in a room with florescent lights for a short period time, it’s not that much of a problem. However, high school was incredibly difficult for me, because I was around these lights for eight hours at a time. Much of the time my migraines will last more than a day. Because of this, I would go to school for a day, get a migraine, and miss the following day. This happened so frequently that I missed a large portion of my senior year and almost didn’t graduate.

Some of my other triggers include wind, long exposure to the sun, bright lights, loud noises, inconsistent sleep schedule, and eating more sugar than normal. The symptoms I have from migraines vary on the degree of pain. I usually experience blurry vision, dizziness, nausea, and severe headache.

I have found that the best cure for a migraine is simply to sleep. I will often also take ibuprofen or Excedrin Tension Migraine. Sometimes, even these don’t work, and I just have to wait the migraine out. These are the worst types of migraines, because no matter what I do I just need to let the migraine run its course.

In addition to almost not graduating high school, my migraines have impaired other aspects of my life. When I have a migraine I can’t go out and do the things that everyone else is doing. This was especially hard while growing up, because all I wanted to do was play with the other kids and do what they were doing. It was also hard to explain why I couldn’t go out and play with them. Most children don’t understand what a headache is, let alone a migraine. So in addition to being left out, I was also misunderstood. All I wanted to do was fit in.

In the end, I learned that the state of my health was not the determinant of the relationships I had with my friends. My attitude and character were the deciding factors of my relationships with others. Although I may not have had a physical presence some of the time, I was still able to have a bond with my friends. It also helped that they were genuinely acceptive of me, which made me incredibly grateful.

There is a saying, “Attitude determines altitude.” I have come to believe this. It has helped me to cope with a debilitating chronic illness, and it has brought me closer to my friends, family and God. Thomas S. Monson shared his thoughts on attitude which has been a great inspiration for me. He said, “So much in life depends on our attitude. The way we choose to see things and respond to others makes all the difference. To do the best we can and then to choose to be happy about our circumstances, whatever they may be, can bring peace and contentment. We can’t direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails. For maximum happiness, peace and contentment, may we choose a positive attitude.”

Reader-submitted stories solely represent the personal point of view, experience, and opinion of the author, not of The Daily Headache or Kerrie Smyres.

Studies show TheraSpecs migraine glasses can reduce migraines up to 74%, relieve painful sensitivity to light (photophobia), and protect you from fluorescent lights. Best of all, they are drug-free so there is no risk of medication overuse headache. Learn more and get your own pair at www.theraspecs.com.

1. My diagnosis is: Chronic, Complex Migraine with TIA
2. My migraine attack frequency is: pretty much daily with at least 3-4 a week that keep me from normal activity
3. I was diagnosed in: 2005 officially. I have had headaches my entire life though
4. My comorbid conditions include: knife stabbing pains in base of head by neck, throbbing intense pain on top of head, Nausea , blind spots in vision, irritability, numbness on right side of body
5. I take ____ medications/supplements each day for prevention and ____ medications/supplements to treat an acute attack: daily- blood pressure, anti anxiety , anti depressants and triptipans. To treat an attack- fioracette
6. My first migraine attack was: I believe in my teen years
7. My most disabling migraine symptoms are: unable to put words together and pain
8. My strangest migraine symptoms are: before major attacks hit I tend to yawn a rediculous amount and experience euphoria
9. My biggest migraine triggers are: barometric change and heat
10. I know a migraine attack is coming on when: Vision gets blurry, then blind spots, feel anxiety
11. The most frustrating part about having a migraine attack is: that I feel like a nuisance to my loved ones. Even though they are incredibly supportive to me, the guilt kills me! I think non migraine people do tend to not understand the severity of the pain and symptoms. Which in turn makes me feel the need to try to “push” through an attack to keep plans.
12. During a migraine attack, I worry most about: letting people down.
13. When I think about migraine between attacks, I think: I need to get as much as possible done between attacks to try to have some kind of life. I often push myself to hard which leads to another attack. Horrible cycle. My wonderful hubby gets to keep me from over doing it but it’s hard not to.
14. When I tell someone I have migraine, the response is usually: a look of “oh really, you mean headaches?”
15. When someone tells me they have migraine, I think: God bless them and their family
16. When I see commercials about migraine treatments, I think: they are a joke! They are part of the reason society doesn’t understand how TRUELY debilitating they are.
17. My best coping tools are:the love of my family and friends
18. I find comfort in: my dark, cold quiet room with lots of pillows and quilts!
19. I get angry when people say: ” just take some Advil and drink water, you’ll be fine”
20. I like it when people say: ” get some rest and we will take care of everything else”
21. Something kind someone can do for me during a migraine attack is: just to be understanding. To not get upset if I don’t answer calls or texts for a few days while I am dealing with it.
22. The best thing(s) a doctor has ever said to me about migraine is: I will stick with it until we get the right combo of MEDS and lifestyle to help you
23. The hardest thing to accept about having migraine is: the depression that goes with it and constant feeling of letting people down.
24. Migraine has taught me: I am not in complete control of my life.
25. The quotation, motto, mantra, or scripture that gets me through an attack is: the serenity prayer… God grant me the serenity to accept the things I can not change, courage to change
The things I can and the strength to know the difference.
26. If I could go back to the early days of my diagnosis, I would tell myself: Relax, it’s gonna be a long journey.
27. The people who support me most are: my mom, husband, children and best friend
28. The thing I most wish people understood about migraine is: They are not predictable. They always seem to come at then worst time and no two migraines are ever the same.
29. Migraine and Headache Awareness Month is important to me because: I wish there was more research done to help people
30. One more thing I’d like to say about life with migraine is: As much as it appears to be exaggerated or convenient or a cry for attention: everyone suffers differently. Each person has their own ways of dealing with them and I can promise each person feels guilt with them. I wish society in general was better educated on them

Reader-submitted stories solely represent the personal point of view, experience, and opinion of the author, not of The Daily Headache or Kerrie Smyres.

Studies show TheraSpecs migraine glasses can reduce migraines up to 74%, relieve painful sensitivity to light (photophobia), and protect you from fluorescent lights. Best of all, they are drug-free so there is no risk of medication overuse headache. Learn more and get your own pair at www.theraspecs.com.

1) Chronic Migraine
2) menstrual migraines: about 7-10 days of 8/10 pain around the time of my cycle and sporadic migraines and tension headaches scattered throughout the rest of the month at 3-6 out of 10
3) age 5- the smell of cherry Hubba Bubba gum
4) 0-9
5) around 2012- a Family physician who was filling in for my regular physician dx me with migraines versus ongoing unexplainable “sinus pain/infections” that I was told was viral and all I could do was sleep it off.
6) Bipolar, ADHD, IBS, chronic fatigue and significant muscle soreness
7) 4 pills for preventative and 3 pills for acute attack
8) nausea, vomiting, vertigo, poor motor coordination, aphasia, confusion, sensory overload and integration issues, extreme fatigue, muscle soreness, sometimes aura such as partial blindness, not sure the term but my visual perception is skewed ex. The left side of a person’s face, sticks out and is
seen as lower than the right side of the person’s face,
it smells like something is burning, ongoing thoughts
of worry and obsessing over being powerless and
fears of not being able to come to the rescue..for ex/
if my 12yr old daughter breaks her arm at school
9) treatments tried: Reiki, prayer, Mindfulness, Japanese mint oil, listening to binaural/bilateral beats with headphones, electroconvulsive therapy for depression, later realizing the depression was secondary to the chronic migraines, with improving the effectiveness of preventative medication…with the significant decrease in chronic daily pain, the depressive symptoms were significantly decreased to the point of almost being eliminated
10) cold cloth, cool dark room, no noise, trying deep breathing, Triptan, 1000mg Naproxen
11) triggers: hormones/menstruation, smell/odours, foods, weather, stress, loud noises, fluorescent lights
12) worst part: feeling powerless at the time with not
being able to put to words, or explain what is going
on when I have an attack
13) biggest challenges: meeting family’s needs ex/making meals, housecleaning, a decrease and/or loss of income. I feel bad having to reschedule my clients on short notice (not as reliable and dependable as I’d like to be
14)”Drink more water”.
15)migraine commercials: “maybe there is hope”
16) setting realistic expectations of myself, acceptance of being human and flawed
17. Comforts: my dog being by me, my soft blanket with Aromatherapy fabric softener in it, my bamboo pillow, ceiling fan above me, windows open, Coconut juice on my night table
18) “stop being so lazy.” It’s all in your head.”
19) when I have to cancel and they are okay with it.
They tell me to “take care” and to call them when I
feel better
20) for them to bring me a cold wet cloth, glass of
water and to let me have my quiet in a cold dark room
21) best thing Doctor said, “it’s not a sinus problem; it’s a migraine
22) being compassionate towards myself, and keeping my goals realistic depending how I’m feeling
23) accept I have limits and that “I can not be everything to everyone”.
24) you have a neurological disorder- explain it to significant others who want to know more versus quietly suffering in pain
25) thank God the symptoms go through phases and are reversible (to the best of our knowledge)
26) accepting that presently migraines are not curable, but depends on fine tuning your lifestyle with preventative and abortive measures
27) supportive people in my life: those who have also experienced chronic pain
28) migraine is a neurological problem not a choice
29) headache awareness month- not only helps to educate myself but the community and society as a whole
30) migraine disorder has provided me with the opportunity to accept my “shadow” or “flawed” side and integrate it as one of many parts of my true/whole self

Reader-submitted stories solely represent the personal point of view, experience, and opinion of the author, not of The Daily Headache or Kerrie Smyres.

Studies show TheraSpecs migraine glasses can reduce migraines up to 74%, relieve painful sensitivity to light (photophobia), and protect you from fluorescent lights. Best of all, they are drug-free so there is no risk of medication overuse headache. Learn more and get your own pair at www.theraspecs.com.

My diagnosis is: chronic daily headache and chronic migraine
2. My migraine attack frequency is: headache at least one per day, leading to a migraine as few times per week
3. I was diagnosed in:2008, with just having migraines, but have since been diagnosed with chronic problems.
4. My comorbid conditions include: light, sounds, and smell sensitivity, nausea, atm and leg weakness, inability to concentrate/form thoughts, depression.
5. I take 5 medications/supplements each day for prevention and 2+ medications/supplements to treat an acute attack
6. My first migraine attack was: when I was eight years old
7. My most disabling migraine symptoms are: light sensitivity and nausea, and well duh: head pain
8. My strangest migraine symptoms are: having a stuffy feeling head right before an attack
9. My biggest migraine triggers are: prolonged loud sounds, laughing too hard, not eating, and hydration. Laying in bed too long after I wake up also is a trigger.
10. I know a migraine attack is coming on when: my Hess gets stuffy and my forehead and neck start to get stiff.
11. The most frustrating part about having a migraine attack is: people think I am both overrating my own pain level, and people expect me to continue with work and responsibilities.
12. During a migraine attack, I worry most about: making it work, so I can pay rent.
13. When I think about migraine between attacks, I think: how nice it is to be almost pain free. (I usually always have a headache, even if it’s not a migraine)
14. When I tell someone I have migraine, the response is usually: either A: they don’t understand what that really means, or B: they have another possible solution that I’ve already tried.
15. When someone tells me they have migraine, I think:I wonder how much better/worse they have it, because you never really know their pain level compared to yours.
16. When I see commercials about migraine treatments, I think: ha. Works in 30 minutes, right, and then I’m back to work or play? Sure. I wish
17. My best coping tools are:sites that share others’ experiences and ice packs. Both used at different times.
18. I find comfort in: the dark.
19. I get angry when people say: you’re fine. Do some work instead of just sortisitting there.
20. I like it when people say:Hey, it’s ok, I get it and I’m here to help.
21. Something kind someone can do for me during a migraine attack is: be with me and get me whatever I need..? Like my boyfriend? But others could pick up my shift at work with understanding.
22. The best thing(s) a doctor has ever said to me about migraine is: they haven’t said anything good to me. I’ve had nothing but doctors giving up on my case.
23. The hardest thing to accept about having migraine is: there is no cure. Your best chance is maybe to outgrow it or to have it be less later in life.
24. Migraine has taught me: empathy, and how to step out without being apologetic.
25. The quotation, motto, mantra, or scripture that gets me through an attack is: nothing..
26. If I could go back to the early days of my diagnosis, I would tell myself: enjoy your time when you’re pain free, and rest yourself when you’re in pain.
27. The people who support me most are: my parents, my boyfriend.
28. The thing I most wish people understood about migraine is: it’s not the victims fault.they don’t want to be in pain either.
29. Migraine and Headache Awareness Month is important to me because: people don’t understand
30. One more thing I’d like to say about life with migraine is:I wish it was gone.

Reader-submitted stories solely represent the personal point of view, experience, and opinion of the author, not of The Daily Headache or Kerrie Smyres.

Studies show TheraSpecs migraine glasses can reduce migraines up to 74%, relieve painful sensitivity to light (photophobia), and protect you from fluorescent lights. Best of all, they are drug-free so there is no risk of medication overuse headache. Learn more and get your own pair at www.theraspecs.com.