Migraine

[umbralin]

This is TMI on a major level, so feel free to skip it. It's a text I wrote to explain to my psychologist what it's like to have a really bad migraine. I wasn't really planning on posting it here, but right now I just feel I need to get it out.

Comments

[nirith]

As your friend, I can just say that this was a very very painful thing to read. Even when I already knew what you're going through (as much as someone who hasn't experienced this kind of pain themselves can), sometimes on a daily basis. On a different note, though: this is the kind of text that would be a very enlightening read for a lot of people, since there's no lab test you can stare at and you can't take a picture of it and point it out (yet).

*a suffocatingly tight hug*

[umbralin]

*hug* Well, having awesome friends like you helps a lot. :) And yeah, a lab test or a picture would be nice. The 1-10 scale isn't very informative.

[umbralin]

Oh, btw, if you really feel this would be a useful read, then feel free to share it. It would be kinda cool if my experiences could be of use to future doctors. :)

I also found this quote in a book that describes things pretty well: "Severe pain: [---] The kind of pain that makes you suicidal. That kind of pain lives off the scale, somewhere between 11 and infinity. For then, all of me is pain. It is an altered state in which ranking is no longer valid. To call total pain a 10, or any number at all, feels strange - a number only makes sense when there is another number to compare it with. When pain is total, there is no entity with which to compare it." - Lous Heshusius: Inside Chronic Pain : An Intimate and Critical Account

[inexercitu]

I'm aware this is massively unhelpful, probably irrelevant, and potentially even disrespectful in some way, but I couldn't help but remember the old Hyperbole and a half's "Better pain scale". To wit:

http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/02/boyfriend-doesnt-have-ebola-probably.html

Maybe...maybe that one is a better scale for the pain? All doctors should have that one on their wall. *sage nod*

Incidentally I echo the sentiments expressed above. :-( If it helps, it was a really good read (from a distanced, literary perspective). I'm not sure if there's anything else I can say that helps though. *hug*

[daevacacia]

Oh Linda! When reading this I was torn between deep sadness for what you have to go thru, and admiration for being able to put it down on paper! This text should definitely be shared. I truly hope you will find something that works for you, that is just awful! /cry

[umbralin]

Writing about it helps a little. And fortunately I don't get migraines like these very often. My magic meds stop it before it gets this bad. I actually haven't had one like this since October. I just have about a million milders ones.

And yes, feel free to share the text if it's ever relevant. Maybe it can help someone who gets the "But it's just a headache, take a burana" comment.