How I accepted migraine.
Until recently I thought my migraine attacks were making me weak. I felt always the pressure to overcompensate in lot of other aspect of my life. Be it friends, family, colleagues, so they would forgive me when I disappear or cancel on short notice. "Oh, Anna again!“
But a migraine is not just a headache you can ignore or that goes away with a painkiller. Imagine your worst hangover and multiply it by 10. This affects your whole body, the pain is sometimes unbearable, you might have temporary issues with your vision, in some cases feeling nauseous, aversion to light and smell, basically anything around you is too much. It´s not shameful to disappear during this moment. Who wouldn´t? In fact, I felt I was strong enough to overcome those days and moments. This is my strength.
It gave me a different perspective on a lot of other painful situation that those moments are just momentary, it will pass and you will smile again. Breaking it down to this thought opened up a new perspective on my life. Migraine is just a very difficult moment in your life, the migraine itself is not what makes you 'You'. Yes it affects you, slows you down, or you might miss out on some fun occasions, but those are just a few moments, which shouldn´t define the rest of your life. Don´t overcompensate, you are a strong person who just disappears from time to time.
Admit this and be open about it to your friends, colleagues or even your boss. Creating awareness will help you to find support and sometimes great ideas, be it alternative medicine, headache-tracker (I'm using 'M-sense' and I found it helpful so far - will write soon a review about it.), yoga, awareness of your body, reducing unnecessary stress...
If you want to read and share more about migraines, here is a wonderful forum talking about personal migraine experiences not necessarily in clinical terms.
Daily Migraine inspirations and learnings you find on this Instagram Account.
Do you have migraines, or any other ´unfortunate moments` which makes you stronger? Don´t hesitate to share your story in the comment section.