Migraine

To all the others with migraines. Today has been a good day for my head thankfully. I am glad to find a group of others with the same issues. I'm not to the point of disability, so I am thankful for that. I get about 8 migraines a months when things are good. I have had migraines since I was 13, and other headaches starting much younger. I used to tell my mom I had a 'dizzy head' because I didn't know how else to explain it. Migraines run in my family on both sides, my mom gets them occasionally, and my paternal aunt very frequently like me.

I have found daily help with Topamax, (thouth the side effects were too strong for me), and Lexapro which I take at this time. My triggers seem to be barometric pressure, alcohol, lack of sleep, crying, but mostly stress/anxiety. Any other migraine/anxiety sufferers out there? Worried about the headaches and headaches because you are worried?

I'm glad I've found medicinal help and a health care provider who cares when the headaches are bad. I have a recurring dream that I have a terrible migraine and am crying so hard and no one believes me or cares. It is the saddest dream and I see others are afraid of this also. Things are not great, but improved at this point.

6 months ago I was a mess because of the nearly daily headaches my job stress was causing. The job is over now, and it was one of those bittersweet learning experiences. I found out what I can't handle and who I don't want to be. I will pray my next real job has a better outcome. I am returning to school in January to study art and am currently collecting unemployment. FYI, my job did end in part to productivity issues (related to migraines). I could not keep up. I worked full time but was only 'there' part time. I should have protected myself when the headaches were bad with a family medical leave doc. Hindsight... There is nothing to do now but move on.

What have the workplace scenarios for you others been like? I am 24, and working full time has been very hard for me so far...

Thanks and looking forward to chatting with everyone,

Katy

Hello Katy and welcome to our forum family! Our goal is to provide everyone with the information and support that we all need to manage our Migraines and/or headaches. To that end, we consider this a “safe harbor,” where nobody tries to sell us anything, and we all use “family-friendly” language so parents are comfortable letting their children read the forum with them.

Please take a few minutes to review our policies and guidelines along with the other information in the START HERE folder. For information about Migraines, a good article to begin with is Learning About Migraines - Where to Start.

Your history sounds very much like mine. Although, I started getting Migraines as a teenager, they really didn't get out of control until I hit my mid thirties. At that time, I worked for a great company and had a boss who was super understanding. He would send me home and allow me to make up hours, it was great. A few years ago my husband got transferred and that was right about the time my Migraines were coming every three days, so, I ended up having to quit my career and focus on my health. I found this forum which lead me to my Migraine Specialist in Dallas. I also found a great local neurologist and I'm starting to see some progress. I've even returned to work part time.

As for stress being a trigger, there's still some controversy, but I hate to see anyone accept that stress is a trigger without at least trying to see if they encounter triggers during stressful times that they either don't encounter at other times or they're only triggers when the body is stressed. The International Headache Society has removed stress from their list of Migraine triggers and put it on their list of exacerbating factors -- things that make us more susceptible to our triggers. More information in Is Stress a Trigger??.

Again, welcome to the forum family! If you have any other questions, just ask and we'll do our best to help you out

Hi Katy,

Welcome to our forum family! I'm in Wisconsin too (Appleton) - Go Packers! I'm sorry that you've had such a rough time. Eight migraines a month is still quite a few. I hope that does not increase when you go back to school.

Wishing you a migraine-free day, Tonya

Hello Katy!

Welcome to our forum family!

You bring up some very valid issues about working and Migraine. Sometimes I wonder how I do it. Sometimes I think I should just go on disability, but I know that would cause a lot of stress on my DH right now.

You asked how others cope with Migraine and working. I can tell you what I do, if I may.

I worked for the same place for ten years. During that time, I was diagnosed with Migraine, found this site, and have become my own advocate. I am no longer at my medical billing job. I recently took a new position with my FIL's business. I can tell you that during the ten years I was working at the same job, I found that I had really educated people on my disease - more so than I thought!

Migraine started to rule my life when I was around 22/23. This was before I knew it was Migraine and did not even realize that my 'headaches' were abnormal. Finally, after days and days of no relief, enough advil for an army, and tears streaming down my face from the pain, I called my doctor. That is when I was diagnosed. Finally! I knew that there was help for me! At that point I was just taking Zomig as needed - now it's preventives, abortives, rescues and muscle relaxers (oh my!).

My coworkers knew about my headaches, I then found this site, read Teri's book Living Well with Migraine Disease and Headaches, and started to really read up on my disease.

With my new knowledge came the need to educate. I found that turning the computer brightness down, or at the time, putting a glare screen on it, would help. Scents became a huge issue in my office (if you search though some of the old posts from about a year ago, you will see I had a pretty hard time with a certain "perfume girl" who just couldn't get it through her head not to wear so much perfume). It came to a point that I would leave if she came into work wearing it. It was horrible. My boss kept trying to help and was to the point of sending her home to shower and return to work if she came in wearing it. It was difficult.

Since no one can see my illness - it's not like I have crutches, a wheelchair or a sling, it was more difficult to explain that certain things make my head worse and trigger a Migraine for me. I printed out Teri's fantastic education article: Understanding Migraine Disease and Migraineurs and posted it on the wall of my cubicle. (There is also some other great info HERE )

It was frustrating when people at work would say "oh you are just picking on 'perfume girl' because you two don't see eye to eye" like it wasn't physically hurting me for her to wear the perfume. I also got "when are those doctors going to help you so you don't get those headaches anymore", "you need a chiropractor", "take some advil"

It is really hard for someone, in my opinion, to really understand how painful a Migraine is and what causes it unless they have a reason to research it. They didn't know I ended up having Medication Overuse Headache because I took way too much Advil, way too often. It never helped so I just kept taking it.

After talking to me and really listening, they understood it more. It was also a little easier because I was not the only one in the office that suffered, but I was the worst of the bunch . It also helped that someone else in the office, my boss's mother, also has an invisible illness. She has MS, so sometimes we would be on the same medication since some of the preventive medications used for Migraine, also helps Multiple Sclerosis.

You mention that you are not currently working and returning to school soon. When you do start work again, you may want to check out the FMLA if you need it.

I'm glad you have found a doctor that is helping you. That is one of the hardest things I've found with this disease, finding someone that not only "gets it" but also really helps! The list that Laura gave you has a lot of the doctors you may hear us talk about in here - they are all patient recommended.

Welcome again! Jump right in and start chatting away! We look forward to hearing more from you!

Hi, Katy!

I haven't had much trouble with work and multiple chronic ick (migraines, thyroid, and fibro), chiefly because I'm a very functional migraine. They don't usually shut me down to the point that I can't function. In a way, this is a blessing, but in a way it's kind of a curse, too, because it's easier to overdo things if you can manage to carry on like that. I also work with fabulous people, and we look out for one another. My main co-worker and I share the load, so if one of us is having an off day, we pick up the slack for the other.

Hi Katy,

Welcome to the forum. :-)

I'm 29 and a PhD student - I teach college classes and spend the rest of my life doing research. Like Droolie, I'm fairly functional. I do my best to get everything done despite the migraines. I rarely miss teaching a class, though I've had to cancel sometimes. My migraines have meant it's taking me longer than usual to get to where I am now.

Typically for me, I can push through the work, and then it's just the "me time" that gets ruined. Social life, time with friends, etc.

I hope you start getting more consistent relief and that the job situation isn't too stressful.
~Rachel

Hi Katy,
Just wanted to add my welcome to the pile. It seems like the girls have given you lots of helpful information.

You and are the same age, and like Eileen my migraines started to really increase when I was 22/23. Now that I look back on my childhood I can remember times when my head hurt so bad I'd curl up in bed with the shades down in the middle of the day and take a nap. Back then some Tylenol and a nap usually made my head feel better. Nowadays, not so much. I've been struggling a lot trying to find any medicine that will help me with these everyday miserable migraines. So far, I've found nothing, but I know there are a lot more options for me to try. Thanks to this site, I haven't given up hope in finding some kind of solution to help me make it through the day.

Right now I work 2 jobs. It's very challenging. There are many days when I wonder how I make myself get out of bed. If I could, I'd probably remain in bed most days. I'm trying to figure out right now how to cut back on work and see if that helps my head at all.

I know you'll find lots of good information and lots of support here. I know I have. Good luck!

Meli