Somehow, the word migraine has become a synonym of headache. Now, everyone will tell you they have a migraine, when in reality, it’s most likely just a bad headache. Statistically speaking, 3 percent of the population have migraines according to the Migraine Research Foundation. Migraines are also classified as the eighth most disabling disease in the world. For migraine sufferers, there’s most definitely a big difference between a bad headache and a migraine. For those not privy to experiencing a migraine, here’s what a normal day in the life for someone with chronic migraines is like.
Waking up. Typically, I’ll feel a migraine coming on around mid-morning or early afternoon. However, if I’m sleeping in, I’ll most likely feel it within a few minutes of waking up. Believing that maybe this time it’s just a headache from not eating, I’ll try to grab something to eat relatively soon after waking up, whether it’s an apple or a bagel. The food will help the pain subside for about an hour, and then that’s when it gets hard.
Afternoon. So it’s about 2:00 p.m. now and the full effect of the migraine is starting to take control. Am I nauseous because I couldn’t eat lunch, or am I nauseous because of my migraine? I’m not really sure, but the fear of throwing up combined with the steady pain of the migraine on my temples and forehead mean I’m not about to try and eat anything right now. I’ll eye the bright blue bottle of prescription medication my neurologist prescribed to me, then convince myself it’s not that bad yet. My vision’s been distorted by this point and I’m most likely curled into a ball and crying, but after a while you learn to live with it.
Night time. If you haven’t caved and taken a sumatriptan or other prescription grade medication to stop the pain, you’ve made it this far, collect $200. For me, I try to not take those medications I’ve been prescribed because I’m a masochist like that and prefer to stick it out if I can. These medications are heavy duty and can bring about a lot of negative side effects, so usually, you can be sure you won’t be driving a car or forming a complete sentence for the next few hours if you do take it. However, if you don’t and you’re like me, I’ll be sitting around in a cold and dark room holding a water bottle with my eyes closed. Sometimes, by the time I go to sleep, it’ll be gone. Sometimes, it’ll be there again when I wake up in the morning, and the cycle continues.
Cures. “You should try drinking water,” someone will tell me throughout my day. People usually say this because drinking water can help a headache, but with a migraine, no amount of water will fix that. Excedrin is the most known medication for migraine sufferers to take, but if it’s not taken before the migraine starts, it’s basically useless during the migraine. Pinterest has pretty diagrams talking about essential oils, but when you’re so nauseous you don’t even want to eat, the smells coming from these oils will just make the pain worse. And if you try laying down, best of luck to you. Once you lay down, the pain feels like it begins to pulsate through your skull, oh happy days.
Through the looking glass. Now, there’s a lot of different types of migraines, and they affect people differently. Some have auras, some do not, some have pain, some do not. There’s a lot of possibilities, but usually, this is what the world looks like for me when I have a migraine. Not to mention, everything is usually pulsing for me as well. Keeping your eyes closed can sometimes increase pain for me personally, but when everything around you starts pulsating and vibrating, the last thing I want to do is keep my eyes open.
Don’t call, ever. Please, I beg of you, don’t call me. Between the sound coming from your phone (or the sound of it vibrating), and the screen’s resolution (no matter how dim I make the brightness setting), usually a cell phone or a laptop or tablet is completely off the table. I’ll try to talk to someone if they really need me, but it’s almost impossible. Also, please don’t make loud noises or speak around me when I have a migraine because between the pain I’ll get and the anger I’ll feel (if I have the energy to feel that anger), it won’t be pretty.
