What's Your Secret: Superpower

By Holly Harding

1 min read

Attempting to flip the script on migraine to see it as having any positives can be a challenge. In this What’s Your Secret Video, we invite you to do just that. Migraineurs can often smell odors, hear sounds, and see lights that others don’t even notice. Are there ways we could use finely attuned senses as superpowers? Additionally, life with chronic pain can lead to a deeper sense of gratitude, patience, strength, resiliency and compassion than we might otherwise have had.

Please join the conversation in the comment section below by sharing ways that you might be able to use your fine-tuned senses and characteristics for good in the world.

This article represents the opinions, thoughts, and experiences of the author; none of this content has been paid for by any advertiser. The Migraine.com team does not recommend or endorse any products or treatments discussed herein. Learn more about how we maintain editorial integrity here.

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Holly HardingMember
<inline-mention user-id="3906820" username="glassmind"/> - once again you did a wondrous job articulating the ways that migraine can impact an existence. I deeply appreciate you sharing your positive outlook, which can be hard to come by when we are plagued by severe pain so frequently. Most everything you outlined below I (and I'm sure others) can relate to. Your examples made me smile and knowingly nod. Thank you for taking the time to help us all feel connected and remember to continue to search for the bright side in this challenging disease. So grateful you are a part of our community. Please stay in touch!
Holly HardingMember
So glad this article resonated with you, <inline-mention user-id="3801583" username="checky"/> . Many of us do indeed feel like human barometers: <a href='https://migraine.com/living-migraine/hurricanes-pain-migraines-change' target='_blank'>https://migraine.com/living-migraine/hurricanes-pain-migraines-change/</a>. Changes in the weather, if a trigger for you, are hard to manage because they are unavoidable. Unlike light or sound sensitivity - for which we can protect ourselves with hats or earplugs- we cannot avoid a barometric pressure drop. So, yes, we are left looking for the positives as we perhaps become notifiers for our community of loud noises or weather changes in ways that we might perhaps help people in some way or another. It's empowering to shift the fact that our ears are exquisitely sensitive (such that loud noises are painful) to the positive (i.e. how far can our hearing reach?). I'd love to hear the stories of how you've been able to rescue people or animals throughout the years! Grateful for your comment and your presence in the community. Please stay in touch.
Holly HardingMember
Hi <inline-mention user-id="3925758" username="colliemom"/> - Thanks so much for sharing. Such interesting symptoms that, to me, are only further confirmation that migraine is a complex neurological disease. Many report phantom smells, like cat urine, mold, gasoline, and smoke for which there is no source. And these smells can be troubling and nausea inducing. <a href='https://migraine.com/video/secret-smell' target='_blank'>https://migraine.com/video/secret-smell/</a> You are not alone in this! You are also not alone in having cold hands! If you haven't already, take a look at the following article. The comment section alone will help you see that you are in good company: <a href='https://migraine.com/blog/cold-fingers-and-toes' target='_blank'>https://migraine.com/blog/cold-fingers-and-toes/</a> So glad you're a part of our community. Please stay in touch.
Holly HardingMember
Hi <inline-mention user-id="3881793" username="sewingkitty1170"/> (love your username, btw!)- I wanted to ask you about the cigarette smoke. It really is such a cloying terrible smell, especially when we are anywhere near migraine attack-mode. For many of us, if we are experiencing an attack, already unfolding, and we are in proximity to someone smoking it will expedite the pain process and make things worse. Many others report cigarette smoke as a phantom smell (others talk about gasoline, cat urine and one)- that occurs in the prodrome stage before they are aware the migraine is coming. There is often no actual cigarette anywhere nearby, but we smell it. And when we do, it means a migraine is on its way. It's yet another clear confirmation that migraine is a neurological disease. Amazing that our brains can manufacture a smell out of nowhere. <a href='https://migraine.com/video/secret-smell' target='_blank'>https://migraine.com/video/secret-smell/</a> Which is it for you? A phantom smell or an actual odor? Thanks so much for sharing and please keep in touch!
Holly HardingMember
Ew. Just the thought of lysol is challenging! Good on you that you have the cooperation of coworkers to let you off the hook when it comes to spraying chemicals near/around you. Many of us struggle with that kind of agreement with our coworkers- I've heard stories of people refusing to give up their perfumes for their suitemates even though it is a trigger for their migraine attacks. Such a challenge. Bloodhound is a great analogy! Thanks for sharing.