| A Day In the Life of a Migraineur | |
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What is YOUR day
like?
Picture this:
The alarm goes off and you cheerfully rise out of bed, stretch and smile as your start your day. You enjoy a delicious breakfast with your family and then you’re off to work or off to start your day of carpooling and errands.
Throughout the day you happily greet friends and co-workers as you go about your business. Evening comes and, with it, the joy of knowing you’ve had another busy and productive day. You think over your accomplishments with pride, glad in the knowledge that you have the ability to do what you want and that life is good.
Now, picture this:
The alarm starts buzzing and, with your head pounding, you slam off the alarm. You can’t believe it’s morning already and it’s time to face another day. Thoughts of breakfast fly out the window as your stomach rolls with waves of nausea. Your spouse and kids seem unusually loud this morning, causing piercing pain to radiate through your skull.
Work is something to put up with; there is certainly no joy in your accomplishments. You avoid co-workers as they usually talk in shrill voices or are drenched in perfume or cologne, all of which will exacerbate your pain and nausea.
And it’s hard to avoid the carpool as the kids need to get to school, but you put off the errands – again – in order to lie down in a dark room and seek some relief from the knife in your head. No matter that you’re out of milk and bread and the dog is looking a little thin – all you seek is relief from the monster living in your head.
The second scenario is very familiar to Migraineurs – people who suffer from Migraine attacks.
Lyn, Anne
and Jim are Migraineurs. Lyn is a busy career woman who travels frequently for
her job. Anne is a stay-at-home mother with two children and a busy household.
Jim is unusual in the fact that men make up a small percentage of those with
Migraine disease, but he suffers from attacks many times a week. Each must deal
with their Migraine attacks and have found ways to get through each day, each
week, and each month, year by year.
“A ‘typical’ Migraine day usually begins around 9 a.m. or 4 p.m.,” says Lyn. She
doesn’t understand the timing but those are her “peak times” for “head bangers.”
Her morning Migraines find her at work so she must deal with fluorescent
lighting in her cubical office. “Due to my overall light sensitivity, I already
have the overhead lights in my cubicle extinguished,” Lyn explains, “so I will
retreat to my sunglasses.” Lyn also has to deal with noise in her office; she
uses a radio on low volume to drown out the noise from her co-workers.
Lyn tries to medicate herself immediately and uses relaxation techniques to
focus her energy on feeling better. “I do my best to continue with the job as
usual, but I find that my thoughts are fragmented, my concentration is limited
and my thought processes blurred,” she says.
Jim also finds his work affected by Migraine attacks. “I have no warning signs,
such as aura, that a Migraine attack is coming,” he says. “Workdays are the
worst because the pain can interfere with my employment obligations. I just try
my best to endure the pain and to keep up appearances.” Unfortunately, Jim
hasn’t found an abortive or preventative medication that works for his daily
head pain. “I am currently under the care of a very good neurologist and we are
searching for Migraine preventative medications.” For now, Jim only treats about
two or three attacks a week; the rest of the time he avoids medication in order
to avoid daily rebound headaches. (For more information on rebound headaches,
see: Arghhhhh! Rebound Headaches!)
On top of the everyday grind of dealing with head pain, Jim’s Migraine and
severe tension-type headaches have changed plans he’s had for his schooling and
career. “My head pain has forced me to give up the thoughts of going to graduate
school,” he says, “the pain of Migraine has also made me think twice about
certain career choices."
Anne handles her Migraines while dealing with a hectic family life. “Guilt is
harder to deal with than the Migraines,” Anne says. Anne feels like she’s
constantly telling her kids to be quiet or settle down so they don’t disturb her
head too much. “I’m afraid I’m stifling their personalities; and that all
they’ll remember when they get is older is mom always had a headache,” she
explains.
“My Migraines usually start mid-morning; at least I’ve got the morning carpool
out of the way before I have to stop, lie down, throw up or medicate,” Anne
says. The rest of the day is usually a blur of pain, housework and after-school
activities. “My favorite time of day is 5:30 p.m., when my husband gets home
from work,” Anne says. “I hand-off everything to him and shut myself in my
bedroom. However, that causes guilt, too; I feel my family deserves dinner or
time together and they are cheated out of that many times a week.”
The daily relationships Migraineurs have may suffer because of Migraine attacks.
Family members may not understand what the Migraineur is going through;
co-workers may resent an often absentee sufferer because of the extra workload
absenteeism can create.
Anne often finds herself masking her daily pain in order to keep her household
in balance. “My kids don’t understand what is going on with Mom; all they know
is many of their needs aren’t being met and they sometimes have to cope on their
own,” Anne says. “My husband resents that he often has to take over my job after
a long day at his job.” Rather than face the wrath of an unsatisfied family,
Anne trudges through her days and evenings taking care of her family when she
should be taking care of herself.
However, Lyn and Jim are lucky. They have a strong daily support system in
place.
“I have to say, I’m truly blessed in the arena of co-workers,” Lyn says. “I have
one co-worker who is a fellow sufferer,” she continues. “My co-worker is
absolutely an angle when she knows it is Migraine time. She quiets the others
and makes sure I have a cola, ice, etc. She has offered to take me home.”
Jim also finds support from his wife. “I am very fortunate to have a loving,
wonderful and supportive spouse,” he says, “I am also blessed with a very
understanding family.”
Lyn, Anne and Jim don’t speak for all Migraineurs, but their lives mimic the
lives of many who live with head pain disorders. Each has found a way to deal
with their daily Migraine or head pain. Their coping mechanisms may not be for
everyone, but with some experimentation, education and support, most Migraineurs
can find ways to deal with their chronic, sometimes daily pain.
Deborah Wirtel is a freelance journalist and Migraine sufferer. She is a forum host on headaches.about.com.
© Deborah Wirtel, 2002
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