Share your experiences, learn from fellow migraine sufferers, and access valuable research – all on one site.
People who have never experienced a migraine for themselves often have trouble appreciating just how debilitating this condition can be. To help others understand the struggles you face as a migraine sufferer, you need to be able to describe your migraine symptoms and migraine pain in detail. Below is a guide and words bank to help you put your experience into words. Continue reading “How To Describe Your Migraine Pain”
You’ve waited for this all year; it’s the day of the family reunion. This is the one day of the year when all of your family members are in one place. Now it’s time to catch up on everyone’s latest news. You’ve spent a week planning, preparing food, choosing a new dress and getting cute little outfits for the kids to wear. The car is all packed, your husband is getting the kids rounded up, and you are putting the finishing touches on your hair and makeup. Then it happens. Another migraine strikes. Is this really happening on one of the most important days of the year? You try to push through the pain and go to the reunion, but it’s just not working. There’s no choice but to pull the shades, retreat to bed and let your husband take the kids to the reunion alone. And soon, the phone calls from concerned loved ones will start, adding to your pain and frustration.
Continue reading “3 Reasons Why Migraineurs Stop Sharing Their Migraine Pain”
Tis the season to be jolly… until a migraine sidelines your holiday party plans. Everything from a few glasses of bubbly to the wrong combination of food can trigger a migraine episode. If you suffer from migraines, it’s tempting to forgo all the celebrations and simply stay home. But with a little pre-planning, you can still enjoy the festivities – and feel as great waking up on New Year’s Day as you did watching the ball drop at midnight.
Don’t ring in the New Year with an “unwanted guest” this year. Follow these three tips to kick off a great 2014:
Continue reading “Celebrating NYE: 3 Tips for Migraine Sufferers”
Imagine you are a manager interviewing an applicant for a new job. She is an Ivy League graduate ranked at the top of her class and on paper, seems like the perfect fit for your business. Suddenly in the middle of your otherwise normal interview, her speech turns to babbling and she can no longer understand the words you are speaking to her. She continues speaking as normal, but looks at you bewildered when you try to speak to her. You call emergency help believing she is having a stroke, only to find out later that your applicant was suffering a migraine symptom known as transient aphasia.
Continue reading “Aphasia Migraine Symptom: Losing The Ability to Speak, Read or Write”
The family returns home from picking out the largest, greenest, most perfect tree. The treasured ornaments have been removed from the attic to be lovingly hung. And, miraculously, all the lights work the first time they’re plugged in.
It would be a scene out of a cheesy Christmas movie if not for one thing: that dreaded build of pressure that will culminate in blinding, debilitating pain. The scent of evergreens is one of your migraine triggers.
Continue reading “Oh Christmas tree, Migraine Triggers Do You Bring Me!”
Imagine coming home from work and getting ready to make dinner, only to begin smelling a rotten scent that seems to be coming from somewhere near you. Several minutes go by as the scent gets stronger. You take out the trash and search your refrigerator to no avail – the smell is still there. Suddenly, the smell begins to subside as you begin experiencing a throbbing migraine episode. You have just been the victim of migraine related olfactory hallucination, or phantosmia.
The holidays are a special time of year meant for spending time with the ones you love. But plans for fun and merriment can be shattered in an instant by an unexpected migraine. As all migraine sufferers know, these are more than just headaches – they are debilitating episodes of pain that can steal away irreplaceable time with the ones you love. Continue reading “Holiday Stress and Migraine Triggers”
A cluster headache is a form of intense head pain that affects one side of the head or around one eye, often with tearing and redness of the eye and a stuffy or runny nose. Skin may be pale and sweaty, and the pain, which is usually described as an excruciating, often burning sensation, may spread to the neck or shoulders.
Refractory migraines – also known as intractable migraines – are chronic migraine headaches that do not respond to standard treatments. To be considered chronic, migraine symptoms must recur for 15 or more days per month.
Continue reading “Refractory Migraines—Understanding The Unresponsive”
Hemicrania continua is a rare but treatable primary headache disorder that is also known as the ‘chronic daily headache’. It was not until 1981 that the medical community became aware of hemicrania continua.
Continue reading “Hemicrania Continua – The Chronic Daily Headache”
