Taking Tylenol does not get rid of a migraine!

That is what I used to get told. Just take some Tylenol and it will go away.

Nevermind the blurry vision and vomiting and sensitivity to smell and noise and pain so bad you want to knock yourself out cold.

I started having migraines when I was about 14 but they went undiagnosed until I was almost 30. I was prescribed everything from beta blockers(blood pressure meds) to daily pain pills toantidepressants. My migraines unfortunately are hereditary so my only option is to try and control them as much as possible. My worst episode ever came with one full week of suffering, going to the ER every day for pain shots to keep my knocked out because everytime I woke up and moved, I was vomiting. I do not remember much of that whole week.

My pregnancies only escalated the frequency and intensity of them, I kept diaries, tried to weed out foods or things I thought were triggers but nothing seemed to help. I tried most migraine meds out there and had resorted to trips to the ER each time a migraine episode hit so I could get a dose of morphine to knock myself out and sleep it off. Then one Dr. introduced me to Topamax in 2003. I am the first to admit that this medication is not for everyone and I have become one of the lucky people to only require a low dose of the medication to control the migraines so far. I have gone from migraine episodes 25 days of the month to 3-5 days of the month and they have been reduced to hormonal related episodes give or take the random stress induced migraine. I have learned that there are still some enviornmental triggers that I do my best to avoid and I have found relaxation techniques that sometimes help as well. Migraines in our family have been traced from my Grandfather to my mother, myself, a sister, her son and now my son as well. Our sons are both soon to be 11.

While my story is most definitely not the worst case, every one of us that suffers has a terrible battle every day. I have the utmost sympathy and empathy for the ones that are still suffering with no end to the pain in immediate sight. We are truly ones that can say we know how you feel.