Diary of a Woman with Migraines

One in four people in the United States among the 328.2 million people experience migraines, an invisible pain. Most of the suffers are women, I am one of them.

I experienced my first migraine at summer camp when I was about twelve. I only recently remembered when I experienced my first because I had put on a swimming cap and the pressure of the cap sent me back to a memory of when I used to put my goggles over my eyes and swim for hours which would create pressure in my head that wouldn't go away for the rest of the day. I only assumed it was a headache much later in life.

The second most vivid experience of having a migraine was the first day of high school. I remember waking up and simply feeling nauseous and having an aura (probably the first aura I can recall). My parents said I could stay home if I wanted to, but since it was the first day of school I ended up taking the bus to school. That was not a smart decision, the entire time I just held my head and stomach trying not to throw up. I entered my first-period class and simply took my seat and laid my head down until class started. It seemed like all the noise happening amplified it tenfold. The teacher I had was a bit of a comic and would do things in class so students not slack off. As he was explaining the rules of the class, he explained he didn’t tolerate slacking or sleeping in class and then cracked a ruler squarely on my desk. When I tell you it felt like my head was having an earthquake would be an understatement. My ears were ringing and I could feel every inch that the noise from the crack made fill my head with throbbing pain. It was hell. If you have migraines, I highly suggest you let your professors and teachers know beforehand, It will save you from feeling like the world is shattering around if they talk loud or crack rulers on your desk in my case.

What caused these migraines speed up in frequency was when I got a concussion at a water park. My friend and I had gone on this pair's ride that spun you around, each other’s knees facing each other that spun you around. My friend and I spun gradually and then the farther we went down, the faster and more out of control we noticed. My friend's knee flung into the side of the head. Initially, as a young kid, I tried shaking it off but over some time; the pain kept getting worse and worse. On the drive home, nausea got so bad that I ended up having to throw up on the side of a highway. Not a shining moment, but it helped relieve some pressure in my stomach. I ended up going to a sports doctor for a concussion; it wasn’t a stellar experience. I was told to do a balance test in which you stand on one leg, then the other, and touch your nose with each arm simultaneously. That was it, it flabbergasted me they didn’t take time to more extensively examine my head. I ended up being bedridden for two weeks.

During the time of having a concussion and my head throbbing all the time, I realized that people didn’t seem to care whether I was in pain. And I don’t mean this to say they didn’t care I was suffering, more like they didn’t recognize this pain as legitimate. I refer migraines and concussions to being invisible pain. People don’t see it the same way as say a broken leg, or being physically sick. When being at the sports doctor, the test they gave me was not extensive, and I was only given a doctor’s note. When presenting my doctor’s note to my marching band director, I was told to “do what I can”, which ended up being too still play my instrument and doing the steps in place, which I believe made my concussion worse. And it ended up he made me work the field the same as everyone else. They gave no leniency. They treated me like there was no pain and that I was making up. This ended up being the beginning of not being believed.