More Than A Headache, It’s Migraine!

The first time I experienced a migraine, I didn’t know that’s what it was. It began with a dry feeling in my left eye and a warmness on the same side of my face. This strange feeling woke me up earlier than usual. Maybe I was getting a cold or the flu, I thought. It was winter. My nose wasn’t stuffy, and my temperature was normal. I took two ibuprofen, but I seemed to be getting worse. I took two more. No relief, only more pain! I went ahead and took some cough medicine and rubbed my chest with Vicks just in case. My eye kept hurting. It started to feel hard to me as if it was swollen. I told my husband that my eye was painful. The pain in my face, but only on the left side, spread to my forehead and jaw. The throbbing began and it wouldn’t quit. I was thinking of going to the emergency room because the pain was horrible. I couldn’t stop crying, and I threw up. My husband closed the curtains since the light was making the pain even worse. I felt like begging the doctor to rip out my eye to end the pain. Cold wash cloths, ice packs, even a cold shower didn’t relieve the pain. I remembered that I had a bottle of leftover pain medication from my hysterectomy months before. The surgeon had given me refills if I needed them. I was worried about taking the pills because I had taken so much ibuprofen that morning. Three hours went by. I laid in the dark bedroom, suffering from pain so bad that I said it was worse than giving birth or getting an operation. I felt like I was going insane from a HEADACHE! I had to rationalize with myself to take the hydrocodone. What if I became an addict? The label said one to two pills as needed every four hours. I did need them! Before I swallowed two, I said I’d rather die from an overdose than feel anymore pain. The pills dulled my head pain but not my eye pain. I began to be calm and could lie still under my electric blanket with the ice pack on my head. The pain seemed lighter. I stayed in bed until midnight when it returned. Two more hydrocodone, back in bed with nothing to eat that day. I was able to drink warm tea at dawn. The sun was coming up, and I still had pain in my eye, although it was getting less. I remained in bed another day until the pain turned into an ache. Ibuprofen kept the ache away until I was able to see my eye doctor. You had a migraine, he said, and sent me home with a brochure about headaches. Diagnosing migraine is not uncommon for eye doctors. I used to hear people talk about migraine, but I really didn’t feel any sympathy. It’s just a headache, after all! They must be drama queens or a hypochondriac. Now I understand what it’s like to have migraines. I’m not ashamed to use the word suffering. I research about treatment and how to cope. There isn’t one thing that triggers a migraine for me that I can identify. It just happens. A dull pain in my eye has been hanging around for almost a week, and I am praying it doesn’t turn worse. #Migraine #Headache #eyepain #suffering #Opioids #Pain