Migraine. It's a disability not a headache.

NOT MY PICTURE

It’s not just a headache. Infact it’s not a headache at all, it’s a systemic brain disorder which affects different parts of our bodies it can even affect our digestive system, cause frequent urination, neck, shoulder and facial pain, as well as cause hallucinations and bodily aches. Migraines are very capable of being a disability and we are not hypochondriacs or melodramatic. Chronic Migraine and Atypical chronic migraines can swiftly impede on a person’s daily functionality and quality of life. Not many people are aware that there are actually people with different atypical migraines that need mobility devices and service animals. From Hemiplegic migraineurs needing walkers for one-sided paralysis to Vestibular migraineurs needing wheelchairs, walkers and canes for balance. Fatigue alone can get so debilitating that we cannot walk, sit up right, or leave our beds. Migraines can even cause seizures and vise versa.  (Migralepsy / Migraine Aura triggered seizures)

There have been many people who are completely/partially bedridden or housebound due to regular migraines and atypical migraines.  The pain of a migraine can be worse than childbirth which is regarded as one of the most painful things a human can experience.  Our blood vessels near our brains contract and swell up against our brain causing excruciating, unimaginable, disabling pain. Even the barometric pressure in bad weather can trigger this horrifying event. People are forced out of school, jobs, careers and their lives due to chronic migraine - The US government gives disability checks to those with chronic migraine/chronic atypical migraine.

   People do not realize how serious migraine can be as the average migraineur has 2-7 attacks a month and can use OTC medication to treat the attack. They are still able and functional and have a high quality of life.  Chronic Migraine/Atypical Migraine is rare about 2% of the migraineur population but it happens, and it’s a life changing, dictating, serious brain disorder that needs to be regarded as such.  Some of us are in so much pain that OTC medication is about as effective as a tic-tac even for our median pain, opiods are prescribed and our pain thresholds are higher than average changing the way we react to pain In general. Chronic migraine can cause brain damage like lesions and infarctions.  Atypical migraines can even describe a disorder without pain but still highly debilitating such as stomach migraine or vestibular migraine without pain. Chronic migraine can be so painful and debilitating that it renders some of us more disabled and less functional than those with widespread pain disorders and can cause us to need ER attention.

Our disability is not “just a headache”

 

NOT MY PICTURE.

-xoxo Rad.