Chronic Migraine: A Day in the Life

Health news - As personification surviving pinch chronic migraine, each time is different. There’s nary cure for this familial neurologic disease, but location are things I do to negociate my day-to-day life.

I'm 40 years aged and I unrecorded successful Santa Monica, CA. I’m a master writer and an advocator for group pinch chronic symptom conditions. I find spot to get done my days pinch this individual mantra: Never fto your symptom spell to waste.

Let maine explain.

I had my first migraine onslaught erstwhile I was 5 years old. Throughout people school, college, and into my master life, I continued to person migraine attacks. During immoderate of these periods, I decidedly met nan criteria for having chronic migraine disease. But I didn’t recognize it until later.

More article :Chronic Migraine: The Future of Treatment

Eleven years ago, I had a migraine onslaught that I couldn’t shake. I missed 2 consecutive months of activity and was wholly bedridden.

After 3 months, my headache master told maine I had chronic migraine. Because I was continuously having attacks pinch nary breaks successful between, I learned it was called chronic intractable migraine, aliases position migraine.

In nan past 11 years, I’ve had very fewer pain-free days. I’m ne'er without immoderate level of caput symptom and associated symptoms. 

How It Feels to Have Chronic Migraine

Light and sound sensitivity, nausea, and vomiting are what astir group deliberation of erstwhile they perceive nan connection migraine. I wish that was each I had to woody with.

I experience:

• Cognitive impairment
• Loss of words
• Trouble making decisions
• Extreme fatigue
• Numbness and tingling
• Clumsiness
• Ringing successful my ears
• Sensitivity to touch

My migraine attacks tin beryllium very achy and disabling. The symptom is louder than immoderate stone performance I’ve ever been to. My look feels for illustration it’s pouring aliases drooping. My assemblage tenses up and each I tin deliberation astir is getting to bed.

This tin past for 4 hours aliases a week. When nan worst of it is over, I person to push myself during nan betterment play truthful that I tin break retired of nan cycle.

How I Manage nan Pain

I return medications and supplements each time to effort to forestall my symptom from spiking. I cognize it’s clip to scope for acute medicine erstwhile nan pounding successful my near temple and nan stabbing symptom down my eyes is each I tin deliberation about. But it doesn’t ever help.

About erstwhile a year, I person inpatient curen that lasts for 5 days. My doctors springiness maine a cocktail of medications that thief to bring my mean symptom levels down a fewer notches. The effects past 6-8 months.

There are a fewer things I do erstwhile I'm successful nan heavy of a horrible migraine. Getting a massage aliases utilizing an at-home massage roller aliases shot helps. I for illustration utilizing basal oils for illustration lavender aliases peppermint. I besides emotion utilizing a weighted blanket. And though it's incredibly hard, I effort to get up and walk. The sooner I commencement moving, nan sooner I statesman to consciousness better. 

Ups and Downs

There’s really nary emblematic time for me. What each time is for illustration depends connected really aggravated my symptom is and for really long. Since I person chronic intractable migraine, I ever person immoderate level of pain.

On high-functioning days, my symptom is debased and tolerable.

I’m astir productive successful nan morning. I eat breakfast. I effort to do immoderate shape of exercise, moreover if it’s conscionable for 20 minutes. I besides return medicine to support nan symptom level tolerable.

I whitethorn return clip to write, make doctor’s appointments, aliases do a mini magnitude of housework. If my symptom level spikes, I whitethorn return a nap. When I aftermath up, I whitethorn consciousness a small better.

Sometimes I person bursts of power and want to get everything done. But I’ve learned that excessively overmuch activity tin pain maine retired for days to come. I dispersed retired my errands and family chores passim nan week.

I besides effort to support a regular slumber schedule. But my caput symptom mostly spikes astatine night, which tin make it difficult to get to sleep. I whitethorn return much medicine to forestall it from getting worse and to power my symptoms for nan adjacent day.

On high-pain days, I’m fortunate if I make it retired of bed.

On these low-functioning days, immoderate plans I had are thrown retired nan window. Leaving my flat is retired of nan question. Reading, watching TV, aliases moreover looking astatine my telephone makes it worse. I whitethorn spell to sleep, hoping nan symptom signals extremity firing while I’m resting.

Living With Unpredictability

The group closest to maine cognize and understand nan unpredictable quality of this disease. If I make plans, it’s ever pinch nan caveat that it depends connected really I feel. I effort not to overpromise. I still get FOMO, aliases fearfulness of missing out. But I cognize my limitations and really my assemblage will consciousness if I do excessively much.

How Lifestyle Changes Help

Yoga, walking, and mindfulness person helped me. But sometimes moreover insignificant beingness exertion tin make my symptom worse.

It’s taken a agelong clip for maine to go successful tune pinch my migraine body. It took maine 2 years of moving pinch a trainer to get backmost to my yoga mat and study really to usage modified versions of poses.

I can’t alteration nan measurement my life is from time to day. But I effort to usage my experiences pinch chronic migraine to thief others. I’m now nan migraine defense liaison for nan U.S. Pain Foundation. I’m besides nan head of diligent relations for nan Coalition for Headache and Migraine Patients (CHAMP). It comes backmost to my individual mantra: Never fto your symptom spell to waste.

SOURCES:

Katie M. Golden, migraine defense liaison, U.S. Pain Foundation; head of diligent relations,   Coalition for Headache and Migraine Patients, Santa Monica, CA.

National Headache Foundation: “Intractable Migraine.”