When I told a friend I never expected to be migraine-free, her response was along the lines of, “But you can always hope and wish for that, right?”
This may sound really strange, but my honest answer is no, I can’t. Being migraine-free — or going from chronic to episodic migraine — would be wonderful. I don’t discount the possibility that it might happen someday, but I cannot expend any mental or emotional energy on hoping that it will.
Each day, I spend everything I have to live as well as I can with chronic migraine and working toward reducing the frequency, severity and/or duration of my attacks. I’m so focused on making the best of what I have that I don’t have anything to spare for wishing and hoping to be migraine-free.
Imaging myself migraine-free doesn’t propel me forward, it focuses my thoughts on what is wrong with my life. I can’t afford that distraction — I have to think about how I’ll live each day the best I possibly can given my current circumstances. That’s not to say I don’t sometimes complain and even rage about how horrible it is to live with chronic migraine. It absolutely sucks, but falling into a pit of despair will not help me move forward in my treatment.
The people who love me can hope, wish, pray, send positive vibes into the universe for me to become migraine-free. I’m otherwise occupied, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t love for it to happen.
My 14 year old son has had a migraine since September 2013 but one hospital has picked up his heart rate and he is now under a cardiologist at a different hospital. My son is being investigated for POTs ( Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome) which explains so much of my son’s symptoms.
Does you heart rate differ from changing from lying down and standing, even after 10 minutes?
Sue,
It’s not an issue for me personally, but I’ve heard from several people for whom POTS triggers migraine attacks. Best of luck in sorting out your son’s triggers.
Kerrie
Ouch
Several years ago I was struggling to get my insurance to pay for injectable Imitrex. I was also experiencing problems with the auto-injector pen and was eagerly awaiting when generic vials with seperate syringes would be on the market. One night I was taking out the garbage and saw a shooting star. I immediately told myself to make a wish and the first thing that popped into my mind was me, doing a syringe draw from a vial of generic sumatriptan. Next doctor visit, I told my physician about this. Her response? “Why didn’t you just wish for an end to your migraines?”
Well, if only it were that easy. Years later, I do have vials of generic (covered by my insurance) and syringes. This probably would have happened with or without the falling star. But I don’t wish for impossible things. I’d love to have an end to my migraines. But I’ll settle for an affordable, easy to use medication that controls them.
That’s a great illustration of what it’s like. Thanks for sharing!