As a migraine sufferer, isn’t this what you would like to tell people who either don’t understand migraines at all, or who say they understand because they’ve experienced bad headaches themselves?
Many people know very little about migraines – and have a tendency to think Migraine is just a bad headache that comes and goes in a couple of hours. Let’s face it, we’ve probably all had that type of headache at one time or another.
After suffering with chronic and intense migraines for many years, I remember that my husband had a bad headache associated with high blood pressure – lots of throbbing and pain for a few hours. Afterward, he looked at me and said, “Now I know how you feel when you get a migraine!” I’m sure as a migraine sufferer you know what my “not so nice” response was to that comment!
Lots of people say they have a ‘migraine’ when they have a bad headache that lasts a few hours. They don’t know what severe chronic migraine really is.
Using the word ‘migraine’ to describe a short headache that could have many different causes leads to misunderstanding, and can really be almost insulting to a chronic migraine sufferer.
Migraines are one of the most serious and common neurological problems in the country. The World Health Organization reports that more work hours are lost to migraine than any other neurological disorder, as well as it being in the top 10 for loss of ‘disease caused’ productivity in the world.
One of the major issues migraine sufferers have is people minimize their struggles by saying it’s ‘just a headache.’
There is so much more to a migraine than the pain portion. Let’s not forget the more ‘invisible symptoms’ – photophobia, sonophobia, extreme pain, nausea, vertigo – all of which are psychological in origin. Stress can trigger migraine. But you should know that this is a neurological condition that is made worse by stress. It’s not psychological in origin.
September is National Pain Awareness Month. As a migraine sufferer, did you know that Migraine is one of the most common causes of chronic severe pain in both adults and children? Don’t let people get into your head by saying it doesn’t matter because it’s ‘just a headache.’ Migraine is very real and definitely not something to be taken lightly. So don’t let people minimize what you are going through. Call it what it is – a neurological disorder which can be very serious and debilitating.
However, in saying that, also know that there is help and hope. While I had almost daily migraines for many years, I have now had the blessing of working through my pain holistically and have ‘come out the other side’ with renewed hope and optimism. Going from pretty much daily pain to now only experiencing barometric pressure and weather triggered migraines (which I am proactive with), I now that there is hope and help. You too can experience the same breakthroughs I did. Just take one small step today.
I believe I suffered from a migraine once in my life. I had photophobia, sonophobia, nausea, severe pain and dizziness. thankfully, it was only that one time. I truly do not know how people who suffer with migraines on a continuous basis survive.
I still suffer from barometric “headaches” occasionally, but thankfully they are not migraines and I can get rid of them holistically.