The pain is so bad at times that it truely hurts to breath. My hair hurts, and my skin hurts from touching the bed sheet.
I can't talk, can't walk, and sometimes don't recognize my own children.
How do you get thru this? How do you continue knowing that the pain will be back another day and it will probably be in the same week.
What makes it worth it? What makes it okay to have my family suffer with me?
I feel very alone and scared.
When I went through it, I felt I was losing the battle -- I decided that nothing was going to keep me from my life, and I took it back. When the headache came, I sucked hard candies to stop the nausea and did things I did not need the center of my vision for until the black spot disappeared. When I was home, I drapped a icepack around the back of my neck. I ignored the pain the best I could and just kept doing. Gradually, over the first year of reclamation, the headaches either became less severe, or I developed a high pain threshhold. At any rate, the headaches are less frequent and I have a life. Keep your chin up!
Literally, I feel your pain! :D I participate in two separate migraine forums, and you are the first one I've read (besides me) to ever say "my hair hurts." Sometimes having someone brush my hair helps, sometimes not. Sometimes my eye sockets get so sore that simply moving my eyes is painful. I've never had the sheets irritate my skin, and I don't have children. Oh, girlfriend, I wish I could give you a great big hug. *hugs* This is the best I can do at a hug.
My Mom was also a migraineur, but back in the day when doctors thought it was "all in your head." She seems to have outgrown them, and she always jokes that "her little headaches all grew up and moved out of the house." She says she got by taking "fistfuls" of aspirin.
I hope you are under a doctor's care for your migraines. In addition, here are a few "natural" things I do to help take the edge off until the drugs kick in:
1. Aromatherapy--calming scents like lavender or chamomile. Lavender is my favorite. Cheap is fine--I buy a big bottle of "lavender fields" liquid potpourri from Walmart, and use it in a sandstone scented oil burner (also from Walmart). I buy tealights in large quantities from Hobby Lobby.
2. Music therapy--soothing sounds like ocean waves, pan flutes, and such. Walmart also has a fairly good selection of those kinds of CDs as well, and in my Walmart they're on the same aisle as the candles/potpourri.
3. Hot & cold packs--I use both. Hot packs on my shoulders and base of neck, cold pack across the forehead (my biggest trigger is shoulder tension). I use the kind that have rice and other natural elements in them, they'll go in the freezer or microwave.
4. Hot herbal tea--something with a little mint and a detoxing quality to it.
I hope you have someone to help with your children. If not, I would do my best to create that type of support amongst my family. My husband is my biggest ally--he sweeps, does laundry, fends for himself in the food department, and nurses me when I'm migraining.
I guess another big concern (at least for me) is the depression I "hear" in your post. It is quite possible that in treating the depression you might find a preventive for your migraines. That hasn't happened for me, but treating my depression at least gets me off the bed. :D
You are loved, Denise. Please come back and let me know how you're doing.
I'm sorry you are suffering. I have learned we all answer this question differently. But if it helps, I am glad to share my coping methods with you.
I consider myself a Christian, even though I cannot manage to get to church more than 50% of the time. I spend a lot of time praying. For the pain to lessen, for the vomitting to stop, for the lights and sounds to be managable. I try to refocus every hour I can be aware of my surroundings and acknowledge what's going on around me. I ask for help when I know I cannot complete a task. I try really hard to not be disappointed in myself. I set my goals by the hour and celebrate each victory. And every day, I choose where to draw the line. Can I make it through the next twenty-four hours without an injection of DHE? Or is everything I attempt going to immediately fail if I don't abort this migraine immediately? The line for me is always blurry because I have chronic, daily migraines for which I am being re-evaluated for. My symptoms have greatly worsened during the last three years and the diagnosis looks like Chronic Cluster Migraines. If you aren't familiar with the varieties of our disease, it may benefit you to look into them. The theory is the more you know, the better you know how to deal with it. Take a look at the letters Teri Roberts has written to our loved ones, employers, et cetera. My advice is to find a specialist and discuss your concerns. If you feel you aren't getting through to the doctor about the seriousness of your symptoms or if you aren't finding the relief you need from your treatment plan, reach out to an available patient advocate. An adult family member, a trained professional in your community, your church-anyone who can be your voice. At times I have felt as though no one is listening, no one understands because I say the same thing every day. "My head hurts." People who have never experienced a migraine tell me things like, "just push through", "you can't always be sick". I remind them this is a disease and they should become better informed, least they say something offensive to me.
Never give up hope. Learn coping methods that will work for you. My best tool is making lists throughout the day to keep track of what I'm doing, what needs to be done. Do the things the experts say. Keep a headache log. I mark mine in the morning and at night. It helps me decide when to medicate. Keep to a routine as best as you are able. Go to bed/get up at the same time. Don't sleep unless it will kick your current headache. Look for triggers you can avoid.
Most importantly, develop a support system. Others who can help you take care of you. Never give up hope that the next moment could be better than the last.
Best Wishes!
~tj
Featuring Content From:
By using this service, you accept our Terms of Use. Please read them. The consumer health information on is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment for any medical conditions. You should promptly seek professional medical care if you have any concern about your health, and you should always consult your physician before starting a fitness regimen. Copyright © 2012 Remedy Health Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
I, and everyone else here, feel your pain. Literally.
What keeps me going is the idea, which I cling to like a life raft, that there is the right preventive regimen out there for me to get this disease under control. There over 100 medications that can be used for migraine prevention, not to mention combinations of medications.
Eventually, I am going to find the right preventive. (And if I keep saying that to myself, I'll believe it)
We all have days where it seems pointless. Like we are in a dark tunnel without a light at the end of it. But you have to believe the light is there, even if you can't see it.
I have a friend who's wife takes Cephpax and it helps her.