Migraines

by Jimi, 15

When I was roughly 12 or 13, basically out of nowhere, I started getting a headache. I would get them once every week or so. Then, once summer hit, I started getting them more often.

Halfway through the summer I was getting a migraine literally EVERY SINGLE DAY. The only thing I could do was go straight back to sleep.

Back to bed

What would happen was that it would be a nice day, I’d wake up, eat something, take a shower, get dressed, I'd go and tell my mom "I am gonna go out, I'll be back later". And the minute I walk outside the door, I would sigh, walk right back indoors and go to sleep.

That entire year I had NO life whatsoever. I never went to the hospital, but I did go to my doctor after a few weeks. I always hated how he would respond with “take some daily aspirin”. Gee, thank you, because that never has helped me, ever.

Lasting longer

Now my headaches were lasting longer than a day. And if they didn't last longer than a day, it would still come back the next.

My life was miserable. I had to sit in my room with towels or aluminium foil covering my windows, in the pitch dark, TV off, and sleep. And eating, drinking, talking, seeing, hearing, smelling, moving, made my migraine just throb harder than it was (if you would call it a throb).

Specialist help

One day I got to go to a neurological specialist/surgeon. Since it was my first time seeing that doctor they gave my mom that sheet that doctors give you when you’re new to their office where you fill out all you info. And since my mom forgot her glasses, I told her I would fill it out for her.

So, as I’m reading there on the back, it was all about describing my migraines. It had a scale of pain, 1-10, and I remember writing in 20, ha ha! And then it gave a list of all the common causes of migraines.

RIGHT OFF THE BAT I knew at least ONE of the causes for my migraines was right in front of my eyes. But my mom said “don't fill that in because you don’t know what that means”, but I KNOW what I was talking about, it made soooo much sense to me. Just think, in the summer my house air conditioning is on, it’s kinda cool, the MINUTE I walk outside, which where I am from is always hot in the summer, BAM, headache.

No problems

This doctor prescribed me propranolol, which never started working until a year straight of taking it. Now it has been a couple years and I haven't had any problems with migraines yet.

Unfortunately, only recently I have been getting seldom headaches and I am afraid of them maybe coming back.

And to anybody who suffers migraines, trust me, it isn't worth trying to cope with – get the help you need, and hopefully it works for you as good as it did for me and it gives you your life back. :]

This story may have been edited by Children First for Health for editorial and confidentiality reasons only.