As some of you might or might not know, I suffer from migraines. Skipping the details of the affliction, suffice it to say that it's one of the most painful and frustrating ailments I've experienced. There is a silver lining though and that's really the impetus for this post.
I can usually trace my headaches back to a catalyst, usually my sinuses and the drastic shifts in weather the valley tends to experience more frequently in the spring and fall seasons. As I detect the onset of a migraine, I try to take certain precautions to avoid a full-blown, paralyzing headache. However, just this morning, I awoke around 6:00am with a migraine. While having a migraine develop over the course of the day is frustrating, waking up with one is worse. It forces me to wonder, "what the hell happened to me in my sleep to cause a migraine?" I have no answers. I feel completely helpless. There's really nothing I can do while I sleep.
The silver lining, you ask? Well, whenever I wake up and the migraine has abated, I'm truly just happy to be alive without the paralyzing pain. For example, here I am at work, and I couldn't really care less. Just being able to see clearly and move freely without nausea is refreshing.
I'd really rather be doing anything than suffering from a migraine and that's made clear to me everytime I have one. Whether I recover in the beginning of a day or at the end, it's just an amazingly thankful and optimistic feeling about what lies ahead knowing that it probably won't be as bad as what I just went through.
As corny as it sounds and as painful as they are, my migraines really do make me appreciate the relatively good health I have 99% of the time.
Posted by languorous at September 27, 2004 02:36 PMI feel bad for you. I dont think I have ever actually had an actual migraine. I get a few "really bad" headaches a year that make me just want to go to bed, but thats about it. It stinks that there is very little you can do to prevent them from coming on. We should all appreciate the good health that most of us have, some people are stricken with far worse than any of our minor ailments. I always try to remember that
Posted by: Jon at September 30, 2004 07:28 PM