WHAT'S WITH THE MIGRAINES?
Dude, I seriously ask myself this question at least a couple of times a week. WHAT IS WITH THE MIGRAINES? I have incredible friends and family surrounding me and supporting me through this crazy journey called life, and often times they lovingly ask me about my migraines. Although I do my best to answer their questions then and there, I thought it would be nice to tackle my most frequently asked questions here, so everyone is on the same page. Also, then if I miss a question that is eating you alive inside (doubtful, my life is not that exciting), please let me know, and I will do my best to answer it. So, without further ado, I am here to tackle: WHAT IS WITH THE MIGRAINES?
1. How long have I had migraines?
The earliest headaches I can remember getting were in middle school. They weren’t anything too terrible, just one every now and then. Both my mother and my grandmother suffer from migraines (what a wonderful gift they have genetically bestowed upon me), so I had lots of help dealing with the small headaches that came. However, as I grew older, the headaches began to be more and more frequent. Probably once every month or two. Luckily, the headaches were still not anything serious, just slightly annoying.
About halfway through my first semester at BYU, I realized that the headaches were becoming an everyday kind of thing (not full-blown migraines, just little, annoying headaches). My mother chocked it up to the stresses of college, and decided I needed to see a doctor over Christmas Break. My family doctor prescribed me some medication to take, and we hoped that the next semester wouldn’t be so stressful. I went back to school, continued to get mild to moderate headaches almost daily, took the medicine daily, and returned home. After returning home, I decided I did not want to be on a medication for the rest of my life (plus, my body had adapted to the medicine, and it wasn’t really working anymore), so we decided to see what would happen if I stopped taking it. After a while, I didn’t get the headaches every day. Yay!
Six months down the road, I was filling out my papers to become a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. When it came to the medical information section, I made sure to mark down that I suffered from headaches. However, they had not been bothering me as much lately, so I probably filled the paperwork out a little to laxly (Smart move, I know). I headed out to Michigan, where I began to suffer from headaches everyday again. I felt terrible constantly making my companion come home early, or not being to aid in teaching lessons. After lots of prayer and fasting, I knew the right decision was to come home early.
As I have gotten older, I no longer suffer from just headaches. I do unfortunately suffer from full blown migraines every once and a while. However, an actual migraine is not very common, I usually just get strongish headaches.
2. How often do I get headaches?
Now that I am home, I usually suffer from just a couple of headaches a week. Sometimes more, sometimes none, but I would say that is a good average. Maybe every couple of months I get a full blown migraine, but it is usually just a strongish headache.
3. What causes my headaches?
Usually, there is some sort of trigger that causes a migraine. Some people can’t eat certain foods, or take certain smells. For me, most of my headaches are caused by changes in the weather. (I know, it sounds out there, but I am unfortunately speaking the truth) I think it must have something to do with the way the pressure in the air changes as the weather changes. I believe that is why my headaches were so frequent in Utah and Michigan.
1. My body was not acclimated to the new pressure in each new state.
2. The weather in both states tended to change a lot more than it ever did in New Mexico.
My mom thinks that after a year or two of living in a different state, my body would become acclimated enough that I could live somewhere new. So, I have the wonderful superpower of being able to tell days in advance when a storm is approaching. (Jealous, Batman?) Some other things that I have noticed cause my headaches are putting off meals (like having a late lunch), or stress. Luckily, these are more easily fixed by eating regularly scheduled meals, and going for long runs.
4. What am I doing to treat the headaches?
Ahh, can the migraines be cured? Sometimes. As was above mentioned, after my first semester at BYU, I began to take some medicine for the pain. It did help alleviate the pain for a couple of months, but my body began to adapt to the medicine and it was no longer as powerful. Since returning from my mission, I have been to a couple of doctors, who have helped me to narrow down what causes my headaches. Each doctor has had me try out some different medicines, but honestly, none of them seemed to work that well.
I think the best treatment I have found to work with my headaches it just kind of understanding them better. As I have matured, and experienced more headaches, I have become familiar with what I can handle. I can usually recognize the difference between a full blow migraine, and an annoying headache. With an annoying headache, I can usually just take a couple of Advil, or go for a quick run, and nip the headache in the butt. Sometimes I even just power through (with tons of help from above), because I have learned what I can and cannot handle. With a migraine, I have a stronger medicine that I save for emergencies, and I try my best to sleep it off. I know it is not the perfect system, but it seems to work for me. I feel like headaches will always be apart of my life, so it is important for me to understand my personal headaches as best I can. What I can handle, what needs medicine, what needs sleep. Understanding them more has been the biggest game changer for me.
5. How do I keep such a positive attitude?
First of all, my mom legitimately started laughing when she read that question. (Ahh, she knows me so well). Some days, I for sure do not have a positive attitude. When the migraines get bad, it is easy to sometimes think “Why me?”. However, since I am trying to be a more positive person, I try and look on the bright side of things.
A. Since moving back home, the terrible migraines have been few and far between.
B. This opportunity has allowed me to toughen up and has helped me to learn what my body can handle.
C. I really don’t have it that bad. There are so many people who have medical issues far worse than mine. How can I complain?
D. I have seen so many miracles and tender mercies from the Lord through this journey. There have been times where I am studying and learning with a headache, and I can actively see the blessings of the Lord being rained down upon me. I am blessed with focus, understanding, retention, the list goes on and on. I have truly have been blessed.
So, I hope I was able to answer any questions you might have about my migraines. If I missed one, please let me know. Coming home early from my mission was hard, but it did kind of force me to recognize that my headaches were a bigger issue than I thought and allowed me to start figuring out how to deal with them. I am thankful for a loving Heavenly Father and Savior, who have helped me to work through my headaches when I need to, and have helped me to toughen up a bit and learn what my body can take. I will forever be grateful for the amazing friends and family I have, who worry about me, care about me, and supported me when I came home early. I can seriously never repay them for their kindness. I have a feeling these headaches are going to be around for a while, so I guess I better learn to love them.