Yesterday afternoon I had a migraine. My first one in over 16 months and I was unprepared for it.
After being migraine free for so long I thought I had seen the last of them but alas, it wasn't so.
Here's a bit of background info on migraines, according to Wikipedia:
Migraine is a chronic neurological disorder characterized by recurrent moderate to severe headaches often in association with a number of autonomic nervous system symptoms. Typically the headache is unilateral (affecting one half of the head) and pulsating in nature, lasting from 2 to 72 hours. Associated symptoms may include nausea, vomiting, photophobia (increased sensitivity to light), phonophobia (increased sensitivity to sound) and the pain is generally aggravated by physical activity.[3] Up to one-third of people with migraine headaches perceive an aura: a transient visual, sensory, language, or motor disturbance which signals that the headache will soon occur.[3] Occasionally an aura can occur with little or no headache following it.
Migraines are believed to be due to a mixture of environmental and genetic factors.
In my case, it is hereditary. My mom was a sufferer as was my granddad's side of the family. I've had migraines since I was five years old. Triggers would include bright lights (like the flood lights on a tennis court, dietary items (apparently dairy is common but this is unconfirmed, and naturally stress. A typical attack would be brought on by the aura mentioned above, and a pins and needles feeling in my fingers and hands. Imagine electric spider webs compromising your vision, starting off slowly and small before increasing so much that I could barely see. For a young child it's scary. I didn't know what was happening. So I would panic and that would make it worse. The tingling and visual impairment would last half an hour and then the vomiting, diarrohea and headache would start. Once this began, I was man down. It would last two to three days. Eventually I would just lie on the bathroom floor because any slight movement of lifting my head off the pillow would make me dizzy and feel faint. In between the vomiting I would sleep. A dead type of sleep where you don't dream, it's just black. Once the gastrointestinal episode was over, I would be able to eat and sit up in bed but I was weak and sluggish. Only a day or so after that would I start feeling more human and function normally. Back then they lasted a whole week. I missed a lot of school days due to these migraines.
When I was seven years old my mom booked an appointment with a neurologist. After being treated like a typical lab rat with blood work, MRI's, EEG's and other tests he concluded it was definitely migraines and started me on a treatment plan. Dr Terblanche prescribed a nasal spray that I was to to take as soon as I felt a migraine coming on. It was expensive but effective and reduced improved my recovery time from five days to two. Once I knew how to handle the migraines, and as I got older, the frequency of them decreased. I went from having two or three per year to one per year. By the time I reached the end of my high school career I hadn't had an attack in years.
In the years since then (ten to be exact), I have had small attacks. Most commonly in the past two years. Thankfully they would not be as severe as when I was an adolescent. In these cases, they would come on while I was exercising, yet I know that the real trigger was stress. So, I booked another appointment with Dr Terblanche in November 2012, and ran the lab rat gauntlet once again. He found no abnormalities in my results, and prescribed a series of vitamins to take on a daily basis to balance the chemicals in my brain. I take Stat-10 Choice, Vitamin B, and magnesium slow release tablets. Dr Terblanche also prescribed "rescue medicine". It consisted of a wafer to place under my tongue and a tablet when I felt an attack coming on.
Everything had been going well until yesterday. I had alot on my mind (job, studies, juggling everyday tasks, etc) and had just arrived at the gym when the aura started, and unfortunately I didn't have my rescue medicine on me. Dr T warned me it would only be effective if taken immediately so knowing it was pointless to walk home to get the meds, I decided to continue with the gym class. Thankfully the gastrointestinal phase of the attacks seem to have fallen away in later life, but the headache remains the same. It was right at the base of my skull and every time I sneezed, coughed or bent down, it would throb. I ate a small dinner then had an early night, and woke up this morning feeling 95%. By tomorrow I will be back to normal (thank goodness).
As unpleasant as the experience was, it reminded me that it is OK to not be a superhuman. Sometimes I need to just relax a bit and let some things slide. No use getting all worked up for nothing.
If anyone reading this has migraines - seek help. Why suffer if you don't have to?
Consult your local neurologist, or The Headache Clinic and improve your quality of life.
After being migraine free for so long I thought I had seen the last of them but alas, it wasn't so.
Here's a bit of background info on migraines, according to Wikipedia:
Migraine is a chronic neurological disorder characterized by recurrent moderate to severe headaches often in association with a number of autonomic nervous system symptoms. Typically the headache is unilateral (affecting one half of the head) and pulsating in nature, lasting from 2 to 72 hours. Associated symptoms may include nausea, vomiting, photophobia (increased sensitivity to light), phonophobia (increased sensitivity to sound) and the pain is generally aggravated by physical activity.[3] Up to one-third of people with migraine headaches perceive an aura: a transient visual, sensory, language, or motor disturbance which signals that the headache will soon occur.[3] Occasionally an aura can occur with little or no headache following it.
Migraines are believed to be due to a mixture of environmental and genetic factors.
In my case, it is hereditary. My mom was a sufferer as was my granddad's side of the family. I've had migraines since I was five years old. Triggers would include bright lights (like the flood lights on a tennis court, dietary items (apparently dairy is common but this is unconfirmed, and naturally stress. A typical attack would be brought on by the aura mentioned above, and a pins and needles feeling in my fingers and hands. Imagine electric spider webs compromising your vision, starting off slowly and small before increasing so much that I could barely see. For a young child it's scary. I didn't know what was happening. So I would panic and that would make it worse. The tingling and visual impairment would last half an hour and then the vomiting, diarrohea and headache would start. Once this began, I was man down. It would last two to three days. Eventually I would just lie on the bathroom floor because any slight movement of lifting my head off the pillow would make me dizzy and feel faint. In between the vomiting I would sleep. A dead type of sleep where you don't dream, it's just black. Once the gastrointestinal episode was over, I would be able to eat and sit up in bed but I was weak and sluggish. Only a day or so after that would I start feeling more human and function normally. Back then they lasted a whole week. I missed a lot of school days due to these migraines.
When I was seven years old my mom booked an appointment with a neurologist. After being treated like a typical lab rat with blood work, MRI's, EEG's and other tests he concluded it was definitely migraines and started me on a treatment plan. Dr Terblanche prescribed a nasal spray that I was to to take as soon as I felt a migraine coming on. It was expensive but effective and reduced improved my recovery time from five days to two. Once I knew how to handle the migraines, and as I got older, the frequency of them decreased. I went from having two or three per year to one per year. By the time I reached the end of my high school career I hadn't had an attack in years.
In the years since then (ten to be exact), I have had small attacks. Most commonly in the past two years. Thankfully they would not be as severe as when I was an adolescent. In these cases, they would come on while I was exercising, yet I know that the real trigger was stress. So, I booked another appointment with Dr Terblanche in November 2012, and ran the lab rat gauntlet once again. He found no abnormalities in my results, and prescribed a series of vitamins to take on a daily basis to balance the chemicals in my brain. I take Stat-10 Choice, Vitamin B, and magnesium slow release tablets. Dr Terblanche also prescribed "rescue medicine". It consisted of a wafer to place under my tongue and a tablet when I felt an attack coming on.
Everything had been going well until yesterday. I had alot on my mind (job, studies, juggling everyday tasks, etc) and had just arrived at the gym when the aura started, and unfortunately I didn't have my rescue medicine on me. Dr T warned me it would only be effective if taken immediately so knowing it was pointless to walk home to get the meds, I decided to continue with the gym class. Thankfully the gastrointestinal phase of the attacks seem to have fallen away in later life, but the headache remains the same. It was right at the base of my skull and every time I sneezed, coughed or bent down, it would throb. I ate a small dinner then had an early night, and woke up this morning feeling 95%. By tomorrow I will be back to normal (thank goodness).
As unpleasant as the experience was, it reminded me that it is OK to not be a superhuman. Sometimes I need to just relax a bit and let some things slide. No use getting all worked up for nothing.
If anyone reading this has migraines - seek help. Why suffer if you don't have to?
Consult your local neurologist, or The Headache Clinic and improve your quality of life.
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