Living with migraines

 I have suffered from migraines since I was around eight years old. There was a lot of back and forth to the gp as my mum knew something wasn’t right but was dismissed a few times by the doctors until one gp finally diagnosed me with migraines and then put me on a preventative medication for them.

What are migraines? 

In short a migraine tends to be a very bad headache with a throbbing pain on one side of the head. However not everyone presents the same, people experience different symptoms. 

Personally I have warning signs before I head into a full migraine attack. Here is what I experience:

Aura’s. This is big warning for me. It’s usually the first one I get. For anyone who hasn’t experienced aura before it’s basically where you get problems with your vision and get weird lines/flashing lights in your eyes. Sometimes I also get temporary vision loss or blurred vision too. 

Numbness or tingling in my face and down one side of my body.

Loss of speech/slurred speech. Which of course can be scary as this is also a sign of a stroke.

Sensitivity to light.

Dizziness.

Nausea/Vomiting. I always without fail end up vomiting one or two times whilst experiencing a migraine attack.

Extreme tremors. I have tremors anyway, I have no idea why I haven’t really ever looked into it but when i’m having an attack these get so much worse than usual.

Stiff neck.

And then comes the headache. Sometimes the headache runs along side the ‘warning symptoms’ however it usually starts once those have settled down a little.  Migraine attacks are absolutely debilitating and it really annoys me when people assume or think a migraine is just a headache. I literally have to close all the curtains, turn all lights off and just lay down in a dark room and try to sleep. 

A headache is part of a migraine flare up but it’s not a migraine, some people don’t even experience a headache when having a attack. 

What causes migraines?

They are believed to be caused by abnormal brain activity affecting nerve signals, chemicals, and blood vessels. An exact cause is uncertain but there are certain triggers which are linked: stress, lack of sleep, hormones, medications, environmental changes and certain foods are all factors which have been noted for people who live with migraines. 

I’ve spent most of my life on a preventative medicine for migraines. I’ve had to swap and change but eventually found one that works for me as an adult. When I was a child and in my teenage years I took pitzotifen which really helped but as an adult I noticed I was experiencing migraines more often so had to change my medication as clearly it wasn’t working for me anymore. I now take nortriptyline which has really made a massive difference for me and I now very rarely have migraine attacks. 

Recovering from a migraine attack

Depending on how long it lasts, it can be anything from a few hours to a couple of days but most of the time for me it’s around twenty four hours. Following the symptoms calming down and slowly disappearing I feel so exhausted and tired, even though i’ve mainly just slept through it. So I tend to need a day or two to recover, whether that be sleeping or just taking it easy. 

If you think you are experiencing numerous attacks of migraines and aren’t yet taking a preventative I would definitely recommend speaking to your gp. I honestly cannot stress enough how much of a positive impact being on the right medication has been for me.

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