In the seventh grade, I began feeling what my creative, 12 year old brain called "daily afternoon headaches." Every afternoon, around 2 o'clock, my head would start to ache. Over the years, I got so used to the pain that I didn't really notice it. In 10th grade, I hit my head and thought I had a concussion because it hurt so bad and I felt dizzy for a few days. I went to the doctor and he claimed it was because my muscles were misaligned. Other than that one incident, I tried to put my headaches out of my mind. When I turned 17, that all changed.
My friends and I had put together a little garage band during the summer before my senior year of high school. We were in the middle of playing one of our covers when I started to feel the pain in my head. This was not unusual, so I didn't think much of it. About 10 minutes later, the pain became agonizing. Eventually, I went home because the pain was so unbearable that I started crying. My mom went and bought me meds and after a couple painful hours, the pain settled down. I had my first of many migraines.
Unfortunately, my migraine didn't go away for about 6 months. Every day, from sunrise to sundown, I had a headache. Some days the pain was excruciating, while others it was barely enough for me to notice. I tried taking advil and various over the counter medications but nothing seemed to alleviate my headaches.
They started to take over my life. I cancelled plans at the last minute because the simple thought of moving made my head pound. I stopped sleeping because my mind wouldn't shut up about why my head was hurting (along with all the other drama a 17 year old girl has going on). I got irritable and uneasy- I wanted to be alone as much as I could. My friends and family would get upset with me because I "always had a headache". Maybe they thought I was exaggerating the pain because I did a good job of hiding how much my headaches affected me. I was in leadership positions in high school as well as an active member in band and colorguard, so I had to act like I was fine for the sake of my team. I tried to be as happy and smiley as I could but as soon as I was behind closed doors I would break down. I would scream, throw things, pull my hair, or simply just sink into my bed, close my eyes, and try to will my headaches away.
Eventually, I went to the doctor to see what was wrong with my head. One doctor recommended a CAT scan, but it came up clean. Another told me to get massages and test the effects of what I'm eating. The massages help, but I can't get one every time my headache is bad. Another prescribed me migraine pills. When those didn't work, she sent me to a neurologist. The best the neurologist could diagnose me with was Chronic Daily Headaches and Chronic Migraines. He then told me that my new anti depressant meds might double as daily headache prevention.
Those pills worked for a while, but over the past 6 months my headaches have returned, as ferocious as ever. On Friday I tried a new tactic: I pierced my daith in my ear. Research shows that acupuncturist use it as a pressure point. Hopefully, it will help resolve the pain.
I still don't know what is causing these headaches, but I don't think they will go away anytime soon. For a long time, I forgot what it was like to wake up without a headache. I forgot what it was like to not have a headache at all.
