Would love to remove my head!
My migraines started after I was injured in an auto accident in 1966. Back then there was no such thing as "closed head injury." My face hit the steel dashboard of a pickup truck which slide on ice in the winter. The surgeons and entire medical field were focused on saving an 11 year olds life and trying to figure out what her face was suppose to look like instead of a huge swollen basketball the color of eggplant.
I have a physical reason for my migraines, one's brain is not meant to be tossed about in your skull like a baskeball. I was not diagnosed with migraines until I was in my mid 20's. I just had these horrible headaches which made me unable to see due to spots like a flash bulb going off in my eyes, unable to have load noises and throwing up. When I got one that lasted for over a week, I finally was sent to a Neurologist who finally gave me the good new.
The CAT Scan also show bone fragments in the brain from the accident which help cause the headaches. My big triggers are weather, stress, smoke and change of my routine. I have a boss who doesn't believe me when I have to take time off work to go to the doctor for a pain/nausea injection. I has questioned my sick time off and I have been placed on report. Just because someone doesn't have a physical appearing illness some believe I am faking it. But people who "know" me, can take one look at me and they know right away that I am having a migraine. My right eye droops and my thought process is not good. I have a hard time putting words together and lose my train of thought.
I am 58 years old now and there have been times when I would love it if my husband would just remove my head the pain is so bad. I don't like to take my pain meds unless it gets bad for a very days but at least then I can function somewhat. They take the edge off and the meds for the nasua helps keep fluids down. I have been in the hospital for 5 days with one of these and the IV pain meds were so strong to stop the pain, I have to know my name, the year, the president and everything else because I was being injected every 3 hours.
To say that Narcotics are bad I understand but when that can keep someone from this kind of pain, who is to judge. I would sign any contract, or anything else if I could have under lock and key in my safe at home the pain injection so I didn't have to drive to the Doctor's office, make my husband take time off his job too, just to get the relief I have to get.
As for the cost of the drugs and stress from my boss, it is also unbelieveable stress. So one feeds to other. And then depression, how can someone who gets this kind of pain not get depressed from time to time. As a preventive for the migraine I take Zoloft so that must help the depression at times.
It's just that this is an ugly problem and I try to stay postive most of the time. I've live almost all my live with these and I have them more that 16 days a month, but as my one doctor told me, "If this is the only side effect of your closed head injury, I'm damn lucky."
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