How about levels of migraine???  We're often asked by doctors to describe our pain level with 10 being the worst pain we've ever felt.  So the person that cannot function in society at large is a 10.  The person that has one per quarter or less is a 1.  Each person could be assigned a number by their doctors with its value depending on...

a)  The number of migraines per month/quarter/whatever

b)  The severity of the migraines in causation of disability (i.e. the ability to physically/mentally function) with guidelines being set by the AMA, NHA, or whoever.

No way could it be perfect as there would be some objectivity by the doctor and/or the patient, but HEY, it's just a thought.

Could you imagine some of the conversations between migraine sufferers...

Joe:     (To co-worker Mary)  How'd your visit with the neurologist go?

Mary:   The doctor says I'm a level 6 head pain sufferer.

Joe:     Sorry to hear that.  Doc says I'm a level 7 MIG head but could be a 4 or 5

           if I would stay away from MSG. 

           My wife says I'll always be her level 9 pain though...

I absolutely agree that it does raise more questions than answers.  It seems like I spend a good deal of time educating my friends and family on what exactly "my" migraines are.  I would put them under the disease category because I have more than 3 or 4 a month.  But do I want the rest of the world seeing me like that?  I don't know.  Am I diseased?  Yes, according to my doctor.  And yes, according to me.  However, as much as these migraines control so much of my life, I still don't want to give them that much power by giving them a classification.  They have altered my life upside-down.  They took away a career that I loved and plans made are always iffy.  I've accepted that I am a person with a disease and that disease is migraines and I have adjusted my life accordingly.  Yes we need more funding, we need to be heard, this disease needs so much more from society and our government.  What I've written here, about me, it's just my personal views.  Please don't anyone take it personally.  I had migraines a long time ago.  They went away...or so I thought!  3 years ago, they came back with a more strength then I ever thought possible....and I don't like them!! Like anyone does, huh?  

At the age of 15 I started getting bad headaches, which then my parents called them migraines. The pain was excrutiating. I started to have severe neck pain and dizziness, and things kept getting worse. My Dad has migraines, bad ones, and they figured it had passed on to me. Though day in and out, they didn't subside. I started to puke all the time and just not be myself. I was rushed to the hospital where I was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis. After 15 days in the hospital I was back home with an IV to accompany me for 3 months. The doctors said that though I won't get headaches, I will get intense migraines. And that I do. It's been about 5 years since I dealt with the meningitis. I've lived with migraines that are always so intense I'm afraid the meningitis has come back and just when I'm at wits end the symptoms lighten up. I've always denied that the meningitis had after effects on me, but this I will say.

1. My memory is bad. (I thank God for my boyfriend, he helps me remember things, things I'm embarassed I forgot.)

2. There are sometimes when I am standing, my vision gets black and fuzzy for a couple seconds and goes away. (This occurs a couple times a week.)

3. I feel and hear in my forehead a type of cracking. (I can't better explain it, but I know I'm not making it up. When my migraine is really intense I can't fight it, but feel and hear it, and I start to cry because I'm afraid the meningitis has come back and it's too late for treatment, so I have an emotional breakdown..and I fear I will die.)

Migraines, meningitis, it's terrible. It can depress you to a point where you just feel like you'll never live again. That your time could be up at any second. Just recently with being sick, (I hardly get sick, but this time my temp went up to 101 and that really scared me. I haven't had a high temperature since my meningitis, so I was in denial, very sure that I was going to die. Thank God my boyfriend was there to comfort me and tell me he wouldn't let me die.)

Love is important. It is so important. Migraines are dangerous. You need someone that can comfort you and support you. Migraines are scary. Depending on your history, they can be very scary. Sometimes ignorance is bliss and the things you know can either highten or lower your anxiety.

It's hard because sometimes my migraines will bring me to ultimate lows. My boyfriend is going to propose to me :) If I let my pain get to me, I feel like I'm not going to make it to my own wedding. Like the pain will permanently stop my life in it's tracks. When the migraines are peaking I feel like I'm dying and there is so much more in life I want to accomplish. Migraines cause emotional damage, meningitis causes emotional scars..(and physical scars)  

Basically cherish every moment, Thank God for the time you are given, and live Life to the Fullest. Good luck to everyone and thank you for your interests. Together we make life better.