The Migraine Worm

So a few nights ago I had a horrible migraine. I get migraines fairly often and have been off and on medication for them for quite a few years now - although nothing much seems to help stop them so I usually resort to taking Mercindol and knocking myself out for a few hours. Not the healthiest option, but the easiest by far.

I picture my migraine like a worm that is stuck in my brain. A horrible little worm that wriggles and bites and makes pressure build up. I hate the migraine worm.

Some interesting facts about my migraines:

1. I smell an artificial strawberry smell when I get migraines.
2. Artificial mint and strawberry lollies always trigger a migraine – even just the smell of them.
3. I always crave white bread or white rice before and after a migraine AND if I eat white bread and drink coffee when I feel a migraine coming on, I can sometimes prevent it.

I first started getting migraines in high school. I can remember sitting slumped in my chair in classes with my head on my desk trying to block out all the light and sound going on around me. I must say that I adore all my high school teachers for being so good to me throughout those years – never once did they yell at me or pressure me to get up and do work. They just let me be.

My migraines got progressively worse the older I got. By the time I was attending university they were horrible and lasted for days at a time. After one especially bad migraine I went down to the university doctor and encountered Doctor T.

Doctor T was probably not the best doctor for me to have seen. For one thing he seemed convinced that I was making it up and that I was just trying to get out of university classes and work. His response after I gave him my symptoms has stuck with me for all those years…

 I was not impressed! Luckily the second doctor I saw was much more professional and diagnosed me with chronic migraines.

Migraines have resulted in some very painful and embarrassing moments for me. For instance when I was in my last year of high school I went shopping up town and got a migraine. Normally this would be no problem but this was in school holidays so my parents were working, I didn’t drive and I lived several kilometres out of town.

 After vomiting violently in the public toilet in the mall I lay collapsed on the floor of the cubicle, my mind whirling over how many germs I must be lying in, but my brain and body were too pain racked to care. I eventually called my mum and she said she’d come and get me. I stumbled up and made my way out to the top car park near the movie theatre to wait for her. Unfortunately it was raining and cold outside but I was worried that if I waited inside I’d not notice my mother’s car, so I curled up on the ground in the rain to wait, only moving to crawl a few metres away to vomit.

It was horribly humiliating to be huddled in the rain in a public place with so many people walking past. Big thanks to the two women who stopped to ask if I was okay. There wasn’t anything they could do but they waited with me until my mother arrived out of the goodness of their hearts. I have no idea who they were…but thanks. I less impressed with the dweeb and his dumb blonde girlfriend who came over to see if I was "alive".

I’ve also spent time huddled under my desk at work with a migraine to escape the light and I’ve driven 120 kilometres in a car with a migraine, only pausing to pull over at truck stops and be sick. Big thanks to the random trucker who came to see if I was okay on this trip and gave me an unopened bottle of water and some gum during one of my vomit breaks. See? Not all truckers are evil!

Personally, I look forward to the day when scientists cure migraines or find some amazing way to stop the pain.