Living with Aura
I turned 58 on December 10. I've had migraine since I was 8 years old, 50 years of living with them.
Prodrome experience
I go paralyzed just like someone having a stroke, they call it an aura. It lasts anywhere from 15 minutes to over an hour, it has to run its course. This was a very scary experience in my teen years because I never told anyone about them. I just learned to live with it.
Learning about aura
After I had my only child at age 24, I told my OB-GYN about these aura episodes because I had a bad one while taking a bath. I had to be helped out of the tub because I did not have control of my hands, arms, legs, and feet. That is when I was told what it was.
Migraine frequency
I have had as many as 15 to 20 days a month with migraine, some less than others but always with either the paralysis and/or the squiggly lines in my eyesight. If the attack includes nausea and light sensitivity, I have to go to the ER and get knock-out shots to get rid of them.
My disability claim... denied
With the medicine I'm on now they are not as frequent, but I still get them if I get stressed real bad. I filed for my disability in 2013 because of the migraines and other health problems. I went to a court hearing in 2014 and when my lawyer asked me to explain a typical migraine for me the judge laughed when I explained the aura about being paralyzed and denied my disability claim.
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