Theresa's Migraine Story

I so appreciate all of you who have taken the time to share your stories. I did not have my first migraine until I was 35 years old. I was bed ridden at the time with arthritis, prior to a major back surgery for that. I am 62 now and the migraines have only accelerated with time.

The first migraine was 12 hours long. I have never had one shorter than that. As so many of you have shared, it is not just a headache. Your whole body is sick, weak, nauseated and tense. You can't read or think or talk. You hide in bed begging God to end it or let you die. I have researched and gone to so many many doctors. I cannot tolerate most of the medications. They either burn a whole in my stomach seemingly or they make me depressed. I am not a depressed woman except when trying to take a new migraine pill. Besides, none of them have ever helped my migraine.

Relpax gives a few hours of lessening the pain, but the headache comes back and runs it's course. They never last less than 7 days now. I may have a couple days reprieve, along with the hangover and then the next one slams.

My migraines also seem to exacerbate the arthritis pain in all my joints. I feel on fire with pain from head to toe. Obviously, pain has ended any semblance of a normal life for me. I rarely leave the house, except on my "good" days, and then for only short spurts of time. I have tried chiropractors of every kind, massage, drugs, Botox, etc etc. None of which have given relief. I am not a tense or depressed or stressed woman as so many doctors want to attribute my pain to.

I am also on a very strict elimination diet by a Dr. Buccholz from John's Hopkins. His book was very helpful, but I could not tolerate any of the drugs he recommends for his patients. Heal Your Headache by Dr. Buccholz is well worth a read. This diet has lessened the severity of the pain from a 10 to about a 6-7 so I stick with it. It means NEVER eating out because MSG is in everything and if I do try (twice in the last two years)I barely make it home to throw up and spend the next week in bed.

If not for the Love and promises of God in His Word that this suffering will one day be over and I will have a new pain free body in Heaven I would truly despair. I miss being a wife, mother and grandmother in any sense of the word. I miss never planning anything or living life in any normal way. My most recent try at relief was natural hormones from a local trusted compounding pharmacist. To no avail so had to stop them. I spend most of my pain filled days crying out to the Lord for relief if He would choose or courage to endure with a thankful and contented heart.

Thanks to all of you who have shared your stories. This is of course very hard for my husband. In so many ways he has lost a wife, as I'm sure many of you can relate to.

Theresa Simard Schwartz