NMAM, Days 7-9

Migraine Awareness Month continues, and in this post I tackle questions from days 7, 8 and 9.

Migraine Awareness Month #7: List Topper. There are lots of myths and misconceptions about Migraine. Which one tops your list as the biggest and most common? What can we do to get the truth out there?

When I tell people that migraine is more closely related to epilepsy than headache, they are always surprised, even many people who have migraines.


Migraine Awareness Month #8: "Let there be light." Most Migraineurs have issues with light sensitivity. What do you do to cope with it?

I'm dependent upon sunglasses and hats, and I avoid painful lighting when I can. My preference is have lights face the walls and ceiling, so I never see a bulb. Even diffused with a frosted cover, direct lighting is horrible. Even with a hat and sunglasses, lights that flicker are difficult for me to tolerate and fluorescent lighting makes me yawn incessantly, so that's an interesting early-warning to vacate the area. The sun itself is pretty tolerable as long as I'm hat and sunglassed up, but the glare off cars and windows and the strobing effect of the sun passing behind trees and buildings when driving are enough to send me into a migrainous tailspin within seconds. The light isn't my friend.


Migraine Awareness Month #9: "Day Dream Believer." Describe your dream day - without a Migraine to hold you back.

I answered this question during the HAWMC, here, so I'm going to talk about something a little different, my dream for myself, with migraines. I've been doing a lot of thinking about how to make my life a great one, even with chronic migraines. I'm going to school, slowly but surely, and if I keep going, even at my snail's pace, I'll eventually earn a degree. I need to make that degree matter. I need to learn something that will keep me fed and warm even when my migraines have me knocked into the ground. My dream is to be comfortable, financially, so I can stand on my own two feet, even when I can't open my eyes.