My Migraines - A New Development

In college I had a friend who would curl up in a ball on the bathroom floor in the dark for an entire day to cope with her migraine bad. I always felt badly for her, but I never truly understood what she was going through. Until now.

About two years ago, at age 35, I started getting monthly migraines around the time of my menstrual period. Completely unfamiliar with migraines, I only knew that these pains were strong, pulsing and lasted longer than a typical headache, and I was sensitive to light and sound. I called it a migraine, took extra-strength pain reliever, and prayed it would go away. Over the past year or so, my migraines have gotten worse, and now I experience the nausea my college friend dealt with.

The good news -- they only tend to hit once every two months or so. But they keep me in bed for an entire day, maybe two. Migraines have caused me to miss work, kept me from going to the movies with friends, doing the laundry and other errands, and taking my kids to the zoo.

But my real migraine story is what happened in July... As I was driving my kids to a movie, I developed a migraine with auras and blurred vision. My first thought wasn't a migraine; I was sure I was having a stroke. I drove directly to Burger King where I called a friend to come and get us and take me home. While I waited for him to arrive, I became bewildered and lost my ability to speak - everything I said came out warbled and made no sense to myself or anyone else. I called 911 but could not communicate simple terms to help them locate me, such as "Burger King," "Honda" (the type of car I drive), or the street name (a very well-traveled street that I am very familiar with). I simply couldn't form the words. I was finally able to spit out enough information for them to determine where I was. The paramedics arrives and took me by ambulance me to a nearby hospital while my friend took my frightened children home. It wasn't a stroke, it was a severe migraine, of course. But you already knew that, I'm sure.

Luckily, this hasn't happened again since although I did experience a 48-hour migraine several weeks ago. Due to other medical and life issues, I have yet to visit a neurologist. It's on my to-do list though, believe me.