Migraine City – when family is my salvation

I’m not sure how many of you out there are migraine sufferers, but I can tell you, it’s a horrifying thing I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy or arch nemesis. Not that I have a worst enemy or arch nemesis, given I’m not a superhero or X-man or live in a fantasy or sci-fi show or book! My life just isn’t melodramatic enough to have a ‘worst enemy’ or ‘arch nemesis’. Although, if I was to say something was that, it would in actual fact, be my migraines.

They are the interrupter of plans, the destroyer of lovely days with the family and the heralder of pain I would rather not experience again, but know I will, regardless of how careful I am about what I eat and drink, how much I make sure I get to bed early to try to get a good night’s sleep and do all the things I need to do to reduce stress. They are an unwanted journey my body insists I go on every now and then when things are just not going right inside. I call it a visit to Migraine City. I’d prefer to never have got acquainted with Migraine City, but I have been making visits since I was 9. Mostly, they don’t come more than a couple of times a year, but there are times when other factors can make them worse.

When I was pregnant and going through IVF, they were at their absolute worse. I journeyed to Migraine City regularly, with many days recovering from my trips there – the Migraine Hangover Days. Not to mention those days spent in the outerlying suburbs, where the growth of a nasty headache is the passport through to the centre of Migraine City. Sometimes there were very few days between these times and I spent much of that period of my life living with the threat of the next trip looming close on the horizon. Those days, thankfully, fell behind me as I worked hard at righting all the things that were made not right by the IVF and pregnancy woes I endured.

Then, a few years ago, I was injured and my back, neck and shoulder were affected and the headaches and trips to Migraine City started up more frequently again. It is an ongoing issue that I am trying my hardest with trips to the physio, massages and the occasional accupuncture to deal with. At the moment, my neck particularly is out (which can give me headaches and migraines) and my hormones are not being good little hormones, so it was no surprise I got a migraine. I managed to fend it off a week ago with medication and half a day in bed, but I was foolish to think it might have gone away. My trip into Migraine City had only been postponed, not avoided completely.Β  Yesterday was a horrible day and today I feel like I’ve been run over by a truck – my muscles are weak and aching and yet tight at the same time and I have a dull headache I know won’t go away for a few days. My hearing is still a little touchy and my sinuses, ears and throat feel like I’ve had a cold and are a bit touchy and sore.

Thankfully, I have a wonderful husband and family who are incredibly helpful so that I don’t have to worry about getting the boys to and from school, call work to organise someone to cover my shifts, pack lunches, remind the boys if it’s music or sports day and so on when I am curled up in bed, clutching my head and am hardly able to think around the pain to speak, let alone organise the ins and outs of my day. I still have to catch up on everything I missed yesterday, and my writing schedule is now behind, but I couldn’t imagine having to go through this without the help I have. Every time I have a migraine and am laid up in bed for a day or two or three, I thank whoever is in charge of such things for the family I have. My family can’t visit Migraine City with me, (and I would never want them to actually come with me) but I am thankful they are there, ready to pick up the slack and pick me up on the other side when I stumble out.

Who do you have around you to make the shit times better? I hope you all have someone – it’s a hard road to do it all alone.

4 Comments on “Migraine City – when family is my salvation”

  1. Hugs – I’m sure I would have seen you on my own trips to Migraine City – if I could see at all at those times πŸ™‚ I’ve discovered something just as bad though – watching your child go through it too πŸ™

    1. I just hope neither of my kids gets them. I know how difficult it is for my parents to see mine, partly because while I’m going through them, there is nothing they can do – at least, they think that. But they do heaps in helping me so that I can just stay in that dark room with no noise and sleep it off.

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