I can’t explain how much I hate migraines. I’ve suffered through them since I was a child and know pretty much how bad a migraine is going to be early on. Some just feel different. Yesterday was one of them. I made it through the workday - not sure how, but I did. When I made it home I thought I was going to die. Of course I wasn’t going to. It turned into one of those excruciating episodes where you wish you could go to emergency and tell them make me better - but again, its a migraine, the meds I have eventually work. I’ve been to emerg for migraines before and I knew this wasn’t going to be that bad.
And ranking right up there, with the extreme pain, sensitivity to light, sound, smells, nausea, mind bending pressure on the temples and rather bizarre light show is people who say
“Oh I took two aspirin/whatever and my migraine went away.”
If you can say that, then you have never, ever suffered a migraine.
My next favourite saying,
“if you just got up and ate something you’d be better”
Pardon me while I lean over and wretch onto your pretty little shoes when you wave that disgusting mcanything under my nose. Food will not help.
“Try this wonderful herbal remedy. My [insert hair dresser, sales clerk, lobotomist] recommended it to me. I’m sure it will work.”
Stop recommending this stuff to me. I have no doubt a number of homeopathic remedies do work. But I am not going to take something on the recommendation of a hairdresser or anyone else who does not understand how this stuff interacts with other medications. Do you know what medications I’m currently on? No? Then don’t pretend to be my *@*&$# doctor or pharmacist. For that matter, do you know how they interact with one another? I thought not. Do me a favour… go away… far away. Did you know feverfew, one of the most recommended herbal remedies can cause a tendency to bleed - if you are on blood thinners this could be a disaster. Did you know there are also some side effects that include indigestion, abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea and nervousness? Now most people this might be quite mild, but I’m being treated for a stomach disorder so this particular remedy might again prove disastrous for me. If you aren’t aware of the potential harm you can do, go away…. far, far away………
“have you seen that head on migraine commercial?”
Oh yes… and the ass who designed the annoying, migraine inducing commercial should be taken out back and beaten severely with a capsule of his own product. Oh Sh*t… there’s that commercial again.
“I really think you should try aroma therapy. It helps me relax”
What part of ’sensitivity to smells’ did you not understand? Relaxing is nice, but smells/scents trigger migraines for me. And no I’m not being difficult. It’s not a matter of being hard to get along with. That perfume you bathed in this morning does act as a trigger if I’m swamped by it. Sorry … nothing I can do about that. Its not just perfume that does it, almost all overwhelming odours.
“If you didn’t drink coffee or eat chocolate than you wouldn’t have this problem”
I just want to smack these people. Chocolate and coffee trigger migraines in SOME PEOPLE - read my lips - they do not affect all migraine sufferers. Stop reading this as though it were the gospel of the only trigger. Each migraine sufferer has their own set of triggers that need to be explored. I am lucky. Coffee has never been a trigger for me - I started getting migraines when I was a child, long before I had my first cup of coffee. And face it, life just wouldn’t be bearable without chocolate - again NOT A FRIGGIN TRIGGER. After 40 years of suffering, I think I’d have figured this one out. My big triggers are bright lights, flickering lights, strong odours, sudden weather shifts. I have a set of smaller triggers but those are the primary ones. You’ve been warned - don’t mention coffee or chocolate again.
Migraines are not headaches. They are much more than that. Check out The Mayo Clinic’s site on what a migraine is:
migraines at the mayo clinic.
It has a decent write up about the signs and symptoms. Just remember my little checklist of things not to say and it may help in your survival.
Stumble it!
3 responses so far ↓
1
Sheila
// Oct 3, 2007 at 9:29 pm
Migraines suck!! My sister and I both get them, but bless my sister’s heart, she gets severe migraines about 3 days a week. She has tried so many medications and tricks and she just can’t find anything that offers much help.
I hope your migraine has gone away!
2
Notary Public
// Oct 4, 2007 at 4:06 am
Hello fellow Migraine sufferer:
I have gotten awful migraines for years. Yes the kind that I lose half my eye sight before the pain comes on about 20 minutes later. I also have nausea, can’t stand light, sounds, and detest the smell of food.
Last year, out of desperation, I called my chiropractor and told him I was in such pain, could he do anything. I was just desperate at that point. Well I scurried down there immediately. He checked my neck and found that the first cervical vertebrae was way off. He adjusted it, and the migraine went away in about thirty minutes. I couldn’t believe it. I had a stink of the nasty migraines quite frequently after that, it seemed they came back weekly, and weekly my 1st cervical vertebrae would be out. It seemed that it was just fighting to stay out of alignment days after he pushing it back in. But now reading your post, I realize that I haven’t had a migraine for about 8 months. That’s incredible for me. I never thought I would have achieved this with a chiropractor. But I swear by it. It’s just a shot in the dark, but it might be worth checking your neck with a chiropractor just in case you get lucky and have the same source that I did. It sure was nice getting rid of that pain and nausea. I think migraines are the worst of all pain. Every time I got one, I worried that I must have a tumor as the pain was so intense. I’m grateful a simple solution took care of it for me. It was just a shame that it took many years to find that needle in a haystack! My best to you.
3
Vuksan
// Mar 9, 2008 at 3:54 pm
Amen. I just put on this hand lotion and the scene started triggering a headache. I just washed it off. I hate “reekers” I can’t sit by people who bathe in perfune, after shave or whatever. People get insulted when you ask them to refrain. I look at it as self preservation though I rather move than confront someone.
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