Living with Migraine

I am a migraineur.  That is I live with migraines.  How is living with migraines different than with any other headaches or different from anyone else?  I will spell out what it means to live with migraines.

First of all what is a migraine?  A migraine is a headache, but no ordinary headache.  It is also a medical condition and a diagnosis.  They affect their hosts periodically and may be triggered by certain things or situations.  There are many types of migraines and they vary from person to person.  If you think you are suffering from migraines, go see your doctor.  The sooner a person is diagnose with a migraine the sooner an appropriate treatment can be formulated.

Medically speaking, migraines seem to act like a disease.  Many migraines have injury associated with them.  My doctor explained to me that the brain swells and hits the walls of the skull.  This causes some type of migraines.  By hitting the wall of the skull, my head becomes very sensitive and it feels pressure.  This causes a few things to happen to me.  The first big symptom is excruciating pain.  Other symptoms include, bodily weakness, slow thinking, not standing too much light, not standing loud sound, seeing an aura in my eyes, getting tired quickly.  My migraines come and go periodically, I often have a big one once a month.  One of the major triggers for them is stress in my case.  Other people can have different triggers.

Migraines are a disability in that they can cause disabling symptoms.  Without treatment I cannot function for four days when a migraine hits.  For other people, their migraines last different amount of time than mine.  Sometimes I take a sick day in order to rest the migraine out. 

Migraines have a lifestyle associate with them.  I cannot stand anyone touching my head, whether I'm having a migraine or not.  I cannot go to loud concerts, it's too much to bear.  I have to take pills every day.  The older I get the worse the migraines become.  I have to choose carefully what classes I take in college.  I cannot take too stressful of a class.  I have to guard myself from getting into arguments, because the stress from an argument triggers migraines.  Sometimes I have to wear sun glasses even indoors.  Many times I prefer to get away from people to calm down.  There seems to be no cure, just treatment to alleviate the symptoms.

I spoke of migraines as a disease/injury, as a disability, and as a lifestyle.  I also defined what a migraine is.  I am not a doctor, I'm a migraineur.  I wrote this so others can understand a little and be a little more supportive when they find someone who says they have a migraine.  Please don't be incredulous.  Migraines and migraineurs exist.