There\u2019s a thief in my life that follows me wherever I go. Sometimes its presence is sudden, but other times I can tell when it\u2019ll strike. It steals things from me that I can never get back. <\/p>\n
This thief, this unwanted visitor, this literal albatross around my neck, is the scourge of my existence: the dreaded M word. Not Metallica, though that\u2019s a good guess (imagine heavy metal pounding away in your head), but Migraine. I need a better name for it, but for now, imagine a long stream of unleashed curses. Much like Metallica, actually.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve gotten migraines for years, a gift handed down from my paternal grandmother who had to lie down in a dark room when one came on. She later died in her 60s of a suspected brain aneurysm, which scares the living hell out of me.<\/p>\n
Before I had kids, my migraines were well controlled, thanks to a blood pressure medication that worked 100 percent with no side effects. When I was pregnant, the migraines stayed away (and no, don\u2019t you even dare think it!). As much as I love my kids, having them messed up my body chemistry causing the migraines to return with a vengeance. The only possible light on the horizon is that menopause has been known to help. Yay menopause, bring it on!? <\/p>\n
For years, I\u2019ve kept track of my headaches by marking on a calendar the frequency, possible triggers, and my exercise habits. The binder is ready to explode, as I have years\u2019 worth of patterns in there. Lest I get too excited that my migraines are finally decreasing, I only have to look at my charts to remember that certain times of the year are better than others.<\/p>\n
Because there\u2019s no cure for migraines, my neurologist and I have had to do a delicate dance to find the best possible combination medications to make me functional. I used to get over 15 migraines a month; thankfully, the number is now lower. But as a typical migraineur, I\u2019m also medication sensitive. Any rare, unusual side effect that\u2019s listed, I\u2019m likely to experience. <\/p>\n
Migraine statistics are pretty damning. Nearly 1 in 4 households have someone with migraine, with about 18 percent of American women sufferers, according to the Migraine Research Foundation. More than 90 percent of sufferers are unable to work or function normally during migraine, which is called \u201can extremely debilitating collection of neurological symptoms.\u201d It\u2019s not just a bad headache. <\/p>\n
I don\u2019t get an aura like some people, but I\u2019ve learned my particular symptoms. I\u2019m still learning, actually; within the past year, I\u2019ve noticed that when I experience vision issues, that\u2019s a precursor. My headaches start in my neck, and the sensation of pain or heaviness always brings with it the knowledge of what\u2019s to come. I have some triggers, but of course they\u2019re mostly ones I can\u2019t control. Lack of sleep and stress I can sometimes alleviate, but hormones and weather changes like barometric pressure I can\u2019t do a damn thing about. If I get overheated or exercise a certain way, my head retaliates.<\/p>\n
I sometimes wonder what life would be like if I didn\u2019t always have to worry about getting a migraine. If I have a pain-free stretch, I get cocky and revel in how \u201cnormal\u201d I feel, but then immediately know I\u2019ve jinxed it. Every event, big or small, I wonder if the thief will return. It likes to steal time with my family and friends and keeps me from fully living life.<\/p>\n
I do what I can to keep migraines at bay. I take my daily medication and stronger medication when needed. I exercise as often as possible. I\u2019ve had to develop strategies for working during migraines, though it helps that for now, I work from home. As long as I make my deadlines, it doesn\u2019t matter when I do the work. <\/p>\n
But no matter what I do, migraines are persistent. Inevitably, I end up feeling frustrated and depressed because I can\u2019t remember what it feels like to not have one, or because I\u2019m sick of having this weight that comes and goes as it pleases. <\/p>\n
No one truly understands until they experience it for themselves \u2013 much like losing a loved one. This Huffington Post article<\/a> about what not to say to someone with migraine is dead on. People mean well, but after all these years, I know what does and doesn\u2019t work. I don\u2019t drink red wine because it\u2019s bad for migraines. You have a remedy you\u2019ve heard of? I\u2019ve tried it. Exercise is great, but only when I\u2019m pain-free. Any kind of physical activity during or after a migraine is out of the question because it\u2019ll just make it worse. <\/p>\n Getting a migraine isn\u2019t just something that takes me out of commission for a few hours. It can be a multi-day process. I might fight one for a few days, which means operating at less than optimal strength. Once I get one, I\u2019m knocked out for an unknown period of time. Sometimes it goes away for a while, but it can linger. Sometimes the pesky devil will go away only to come back a day later. Occasionally, it parties in my head for over a week. And what happens after hosting a party? I\u2019m worn out and exhausted, and still have detritus lying around.<\/p>\n I know I can\u2019t live my life looking for the thief around every corner. But when I\u2019m in the middle of an attack \u2013 like now \u2013 which stole precious time with friends, I don\u2019t know any other way to be. So I write and do what I can until the day when I can fling that *&#@ albatross across the sea. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There\u2019s a thief in my life that follows me wherever I go. Sometimes its presence is sudden, but other times I can tell when it\u2019ll strike. It steals things from me that I can never get back. This thief, this unwanted visitor, this literal albatross around my neck, is the scourge of my existence: the … Continue reading The thief in my life<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-570","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4roOt-9c","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inmyhead.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inmyhead.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inmyhead.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inmyhead.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inmyhead.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=570"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/inmyhead.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":574,"href":"https:\/\/inmyhead.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570\/revisions\/574"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inmyhead.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inmyhead.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=570"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inmyhead.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}