Imagine having a jackhammer slammed against your skull, over and over and over again. Thats what it's like to have migraines. Migraine headaches are one of the worst medical problems someone can have or be diagnosed with. Some of these headaches will last hours and, with a good nights rest in a cold dark room, it will be gone. Others will last days. The smallest thing can set it off— smoke from a fire or someone smoking nearby; not enough water; too much or too little sleep; stress; or the wrong type of food. It could take years to figure out the trigger of the headaches and sometimes the trigger changes so you may not be able to pin it down.
Some will come with a warning, a certain light in your line of vision or some sort of tell. It could do with eyesight, hearing, tastes in your mouth— there are many different types of tells. Sometimes there is no tell, you will just be caught suddenly, dead in your tracks basically, with a pain so horrible there are no words. Sometimes the headache will start from the time you wake up and you won't be able to shake it. I find that in the summer too much sun and not dark enough sunglasses will cause one, or even swimming too much. The constant motion of diving underwater will cause my head to start pounding.
As of 2013, with the start of college, it was every two days like clockwork. I would be going about my day and I would be paralyzed by a headache. It would be from too much coffee, too much reading, too many tests in one day. It was absolutely horrible.
These headaches have put me in the hospital a handful of times. Once the ambulance had to come and the EMS crew carried me down the stairs of my dorm building because I was too weak to walk. Some patients will go into a panic attack from the pain [this has happened once to me]. This is like double the stress and double the pain, double the fear. I would not wish this on even my worst enemy. The hospital will provide bags after bags of IV fluids and IV pain medication while running blood work to make sure nothing is else is wrong that could be causing this. After a few hours you feel like new but the next two days after that you feel like you were hit by a train. You are constantly tired, can't really eat too much food, just want to sleep and be in the dark with no noise at all.
Some people [including myself for awhile] will be on a daily medication. The pill needs to be taken the same time every day up to three times a day. If you miss a dose for whatever reason you could be in for one of the worst headaches ever. Your body will become dependent on the medicine and without it, you will suffer from a massive migraine attack. Even with this daily medication you could still endure a headache and for that you can either have a pill, a nasal spray, and epipen and there is this new medicine in the works that is a spray that gets sprayed under your tongue. These medications are intended to be fast acting and take the pain away or make it less paralyzing.
Over the 15 years that I have suffered from migraines I have missed birthdays, holidays, and family gatherings to name a few because of a migraine. For me, migraines run in my family, therefore, I was at greater risk to inherit them. Throughout the years, I have learned what foods will instantly cause a headache along with what actions will cause one. Sometimes I do not have control over what gives me a migraine. For example, when I get a new pair of glasses I will get a migraine. Smells will also trigger migraines for me. All types of different things will trigger one and living in a world with so many working parts it is hard to avoid all the triggers.
If there is one piece of advice I would give someone it would be: never give up. There are so many different things you could try to help the pain and find the triggers. There are natural oils and such along with medication and lifestyle changes that could help control migraines. If you keep trying you will find something that can help. Some people, with age, will grow out of these headaches. Although, with age, people can grow into them as well. Meaning if you are a young kid with these headaches you may come to notice they come fewer and farther between as you get older. Also, with time, as you get older, you could notice them coming closer and closer together.
There are many many resources out there to help, you just have to look. Migraines don't have to control your life—you can control your migraines.
