June is Migraine awareness month. Migraine awareness month suddenly means a lot to me, because a couple of months ago I was diagnosed with Chronic Migraine and honestly it has kind of turned my life upside down. Still very much out of control and flaring.
I had my first migraine when I was 13. I wasn’t sure what it was and just thought it was a bad headache, although what I now know is an aura was definitely weird, I didn’t want to say anything about it for fear of being dramatic. I kept calm and carried on and got through the horse riding lesson I had that day. I was at the stables when it started and the show must go on.
They weren’t a huge problem until my first year of university. An endometriosis flare, gastro flare, bladder flare and trying to push through caused my migraine attacks to become more frequent. Around once or twice a week at the time. They steadily increased in frequency and over the next year and a half and I unknowingly became chronic. Often getting taken out by two week migraine attacks. I didn’t do anything about it until my migraine attacks became daily.
I responded well to Propranolol and also take Gabapentin and Amytriptyline which might have an impact on my prevention and whilst still chronic my migraine attacks stopped having such a debilitating effect on my ability to function.
They increased again in the summer of 2019, just after I graduated. But I was still somehow able to work a full time job and at one point I was climbing four times a week and socialising on top of that. I have no idea how but my then daily headaches and regular migraine attacks weren’t as debilitating back then. That and the nature of the job may have made it easier to push through that brain foggy fatigue of an attack and a postdrome.
They started to ramp up to become debilitating just before the first lockdown, but I got that under control eventually, started a masters, finished a masters. All whilst dealing with daily headaches and 2-4 weekly migraine attacks. As long as I took triptans when needed, took breaks and paced myself I managed. I even had a period of being the most headache free I can remember being just before this flare-up started.
And then we get to 2022. My migraine attacks now. Daily, debilitating, excruciating and more than just a headache. I get nausea and vomiting daily, visual auras, facial drooping and tingling in one side of the face, dizziness, brain fog, fatigue so extreme that I’ll be unable to get ready for bed or eat dinner.
It’s more than just a headache and whilst the headache can often be the worst, there are plenty of times when it really is so much more than that and the headache is not the worst part.
Migarine, especially once chronic are often difficult to treat. Personally, I’ve tried so many things to prevent migraine. Propranolol, Amytriptyline, Gabapentin, Topirimate, Candesarten, Pizotifen, Magnesium, Co-Q10, Vitimin D, Tumeric. I’ve cut out chocolate, caffeine, avocados, alcohol, dairy, gone vegan, eaten meat, been somewhere in between. I’ve also tried many things to treat an attack, sumitriptan, aspirin, paracetamol, caffeine, electrolytes, kool n soothe pads, essential oils, ice, heat, accupressure, exercise, rest, a dark room, a tens unit. If it’s affordable I’ve probably tried it.
Chronic Migraine has no quick fix and often there’s months or years of trial and error. It’s also a completely different ballgame to episodic migraine, especially when you get into the daily or near daily attack territory. Your always in one or more stages of an attack and it’s exhausting. I find my energy levels are really quite low when I’m going through a rough patch. A level of fatigue so unexplainable.
It can be life destroying, soul destroying. Too much time spent in dark rooms, missing from the things we want to be doing. Work, family time, a social life, exercise, other hobbies. Too much time spent pushing through when we are really unwell.
Having yet another migraine isn’t just an excuse. We really do have yet another migraine and if we push too much we’ll just get worse or prolong the pain.
Spoonielivingfree 