Brain Pain

11 Things Migraine Sufferers Are Tired of Hearing - Buzzfeed

I had my first migraine when I was pregnant with Isabella and have suffered from them ever since.

We were living in Clayton, NY. Ryan was gone to work and I had just dropped Melanie off at school. I came back home and started feeling sick to my stomach...I didn't think anything of it because I was about 4 months pregnant at the time. Then came the most crippling head pain I had ever experienced. I had headaches pretty normally throughout my life but this was not a headache. This was debilitating. This was during the days when cell phones weren't as common as they are now and I had no way of getting a hold of Ryan. I somehow managed to crawl out of bed and drive up to the community center (we lived in Army housing) and get myself a Coke from the vending machine. My body told me I needed caffeine. I drank the Coke and laid back down, crying my eyes out and thinking I was dying of a brain aneurysm...until I woke up a few hours later and I felt fine. And that was the beginning of my migraine story.

Since then I have suffered from "regular" migraines and ocular migraines. Sometimes I get lucky and have about one a month and sometimes I go months in a row where I have many migraines very close together. I have not been able to determine any triggers. I don't get any warning signs from my body. Sometimes I can tell the difference between what is just a normal headache and what will turn into a a migraine...usually my migraines are accompanied by some serious nausea.  I rarely take my prescription medications for them anymore because it doesn't help. The only thing that gets rid of my migraines is sleep or a toradol injection if it lasts longer than a day.

I've tried almost everything except the tragus ear piercing.

My migraine routine: I first try to fall asleep but without the help of medicine I'm usually in too much pain to sleep so then I put my ice pack head wrap on. Then I end up sitting on the shower floor and let the water beat on top of my head. I will usually do the shower routine two or three times. My family knows when I have a migraine that I will need access to the bathroom at all times. I'm not sure why I do this but I do. EVERY TIME. I chug Gatorade, I lay in bed on my knees and smash my head into the pillow or headboard as hard as I can.  If Ryan is home - I make him squeeze my head. Then I'll take my nausea medication - I don't like to take it because the next day my entire body is sore to the touch and I just feel really out of it. I try my "yoga" breathing. Really, as I've said, the only thing that makes them go away is sleep.

And people that don't suffer from migraines just don't get it - they assume you just have a "headache," and think you're a big cry baby and overdramatic. I consider myself to have a pretty high pain tolerance and will suffer in silence as long as I can but I will admit defeat when it comes to migraines. They kick my ass.

Pretty random post but I had a pretty bad migraine this past weekend and when I saw this Buzzfeed post, every item I read, I was like YAAAAAAAAAAAAAS THATS ME!

Love,

Emily