I created this post as part of a campaign by Teva Pharmaceuticals. I received an American Express gift card for participating.
I feel it in my eyes first. Everything is too bright and causes my head to drum, a slow drumming throb at first. Then I can start to feel sound. When the sound becomes movements in my brain, the lights have become lasers beating my brain. The pain is intense and I know I don’t have just a headache. Oh no, I have a migraine. It’s at this point that I generally am curled in bed, with a pillow over my head to drown out sound and light. I often find that I have waited too long and the nausea sets in and I become too afraid to take anything in fear of vomiting because there is More to a Migraine than just the throbbing pain.
I have suffered from migraines for more years than I care to admit. My migraines typically last me 24-48 hours. Did you know that migraines generally last 4 – 72 hours? I know generally around the 24 hour mark I become completely useless as the pain has worn me out and all I want is to be pain free.
Migraines rank in the top 3 of the world’s most prevalent medical conditions. With nearly 36 million Americans suffer from migraines, including its various characteristics. About 18% of American women and 6% of men suffer from migraine. In my family, myself and my both my 20 something daughters suffer from migraines. I honestly don’t know what is worse, suffering from one myself or watching my daughters in agony with their own migraine.
Have you noticed that certain activities often trigger a migraine (e.g. disrupted sleep, stress, certain foods or drinks)? I have found that knowing some of my triggers can help me to ward off getting as many migraines as I once used to. For me, I know if I eat ginger snaps, I will get a migraine within a few hours. I am not entirely sure what in the gingers snaps triggers it for me, I just know that it does. I also get a migraine monthly with my period. I know for me, that the day I get my hormone migraine, that Aunt Flo will be visiting within 24- 48 hours. It seems so unfair to me to get both within a day of each other.
So how about you? Do you get migraines? How long do yours last? What is your warning sign that a migraine is coming on?
