Migraine Misery

I knew I was coming down with a migraine yesterday morning when I was getting Faith ready for school. My vision started becoming blurry and I could only see out of one eye. As I walked back upstairs after getting Faith on the bus, I knew the pain would come soon as my vision began to clear up. I had been down this road many times before.

I remember having migraines as young as three years old. At that time, the main reason I got them was because I overexerted myself and my heart wasn't able to keep up. It was my body's way of telling me I needed to rest. 

When I was a child, my migraines not only caused enormous pain in my head but my stomach as well. I often ended up leaning over the toilet before getting to bed. I would cry because it hurt so bad but there was really nothing that could be done for me. Rest was the only thing that helped.

There were many days in elementary school that I needed my mom to come and get me because I ended up with a migraine. This went on quite often until after my third heart surgery which bettered my health in many ways. 

Still, even though I was able to increase my physical activity after this surgery, there were times I would do too much, and my body would once again force me to rest. Even though there are prescription meds available to migraine sufferers, I could not take any of them because of my heart condition. Advil barely touches them, so for me, rest is the best medicine.

It wasn't until after I had Faith that for whatever reason my migraines became fewer and farther between. It seems getting pregnant and having a baby did something positive for my body. Now when I do get one, I wonder what is going on in my body. Have I been overextending myself, is my thyroid acting up, is it heart-related, is it a spiritual attack? I never really know. 

What I do know is that they don't hurt nearly as bad as they used to, although I can still feel it for the next few days, which is a real source of frustration. Migraines can rob so much from so many. For me just this week, it has robbed me of energy to play with my daughter, from spending time writing, from praying with Moms In Touch, from making certain phone calls...seriously frustrating. 

So, I rest and pray that tomorrow is a better day and remind myself of what my mom often says, "This too shall pass."