a candid look at managing and living with headaches & migraines

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Mental Health

Migraine Can Be Life-Threatening

A young woman who had chronic migraine “took her own life,” I told you Saturday. Originally, I wrote that she had “committed suicide,” but changed it after being told the mental health community prefers the phrasing “took his/her life” because “committing suicide” sounds like a crime. The corrected phrasing doesn’t sit right with me either [...]

Suicide and Chronic Migraine

A lovely young woman with chronic migraine whom I met in an online forum has just taken her own life. She had a smile that could light up the world. And she was in tremendous pain for which she saw no end. Though I didn’t know her well, this young woman’s death has hit me [...]

Migraine Beliefs

I am a faker. If I tried harder, I wouldn’t have migraine. It is my fault that I have migraine. I’m only sick for sympathy or attention. If I were a stronger or somehow better person, I wouldn’t have migraine. I have chronic migraine because I don’t want to work (and I have specific migraine [...]

Emotional Whac-A-Mole (Plus Lots of Untethered Anxiety)

After my therapist noted that I was emotionally shut down, particularly when talking about certain topics, I read Depression Part Two from Hyperbole and a Half with trepidation, wondering if I was once again in a depression without realizing it. Fortunately, my fish aren’t dead, they’re just hiding from me. The last couple weeks have [...]

Emotions & Migraine, Revisited

Writing about the possibility of a connection between suppressed emotions and migraine frequency prompted an influx of comments and emails with messages that have run the gamut from “hogwash” to “absolutely” to “watch out for charlatans.” Whether you’ve shared your reaction with me or not, your reaction probably falls into one of those three categories, [...]

Depression Explained Compellingly and Hilariously

Depression Part Two from Hyperbole and a Half may be the most illustrative, eloquent, and hilarious description of depression you will ever read. If you struggle with depression or know someone who does (and everyone falls into at least one of those those categories), do yourself a tremendous favor and read it now.

So Much Work

“I’ve already done so much work on listening to my body/not blaming myself for being sick/having self-compassion.” I’ve told my therapist some version of this countless times already even though I’ve only had three sessions with her. It sounds even to me like I’m seeking accolades, but that’s not my motivation. I’m protesting that I’ve [...]

Numbing to Difficult Emotions Through Migraine(?)

Could migraine attacks be my body’s way of numbing itself to strong emotions? “What a load of crap” is my typical response when someone broaches this subject. And yet today I find myself working with my accidental therapist on this hypothesis. Some important points I must address before continuing. Migraine is a neurological condition that [...]

Delaying the Inevitable With Triptans (Yet Another Migraine Superstition)

Do you ever feel like taking a triptan only delays the inevitable? After three days in a row in which I noticed major tooth sensitivity (my current reliable prodrome symptom) and taking naratriptan within 30 minutes of its onset, a migraine has walloped me upside the head (pun intended). The attack is as bad as [...]

Stumbling Upon a Therapist

“It seems to me you have two equally important things going on: chronic migraine and grief about what chronic migraine has meant for your life.” With those words, the naturopath I saw Friday became my new therapist. Although I knew before the appointment that she practices as both a therapist and naturopath, counseling was not [...]