I didn’t see it coming. Excuse the pun (it wasn’t even intentional). Usually in the days leading up to me getting a migraine I can tell it’s coming. The tell tale signs for me are yawning a lot, peeing a lot, probably moody, very irritable, no patience and no appetite. I haven’t had much appetite in a while generally speaking but I didn’t have any of the other signs recently so this mornings migraine was a very unwelcome surprise.
I woke up this morning after a good nights sleep. At least 8 hours. I was in a chipper mood, had a snuggle in bed with my partner and then got up. Usual stuff – bathroom, then skincare, then make up. I felt out of sorts walking about; confused, unsteady on my feet and distorted vision. This is normal for me with migraine. I didn’t put 2 and 2 together and assume this was a migraine trying to take hold. The confusion was worse than normal so I wasn’t even able to put a thought together to consider if the confusion was migraine onset, if that even makes sense.
It was when I was trying to put my make up on that I started to feel really crap. I was looking in the mirror and it was very unclear. It was as if parts of my vision were blocked out in a blurry way. Again I thought to myself “this is wierd” and kept trying. It was only when I tried to put on eyeshadow that I realised “yup, this is a migraine!” Visual disturbances are quite normal for those who experience migraine with aura (all the crappy physical difficulties that can come with migraine). Some people just get the pain and that is it, others like me get the full whack. I don’t regularly get the visual disturbances. Maybe 2 in 10 migraines I will have the visual difficulties. This morning, it was silver sparkly snake like shapes moving over my eyes. This sounds concerning on it’s own, but in the realms of migraine with aura, it is normal. There is a really good youtube video I came across recently that shows the visual disturbance so well! I showed it to my partner to try and help him understand what I so poorly tried to explain to him and I am probably so poorly describing now. At times the snakes can be colourful too. The best I can describe it is like looking through a kaleidoscope. Imagine that (down below) but in squiggly snakes moving over your eyes.
After the sparkly snakes came the pain in my head and then the nausea. I took my medication, put my eye mask on to try and block out any light and tried to sleep it off. Usually I zonk right out for hours when I have a migraine. However this morning my medication didn’t work as well as it usually does and I couldn’t sleep either. This is a worry in itself for me because if my medication doesn’t work then I am in a world of absolute pain and it is usually a call to NHS 24 for a GP home visit or an ambulance for me.
Luckily this morning, despite the meds not working as well, and not being able to sleep at all to let it all pass, it seemed to pass on its on. I just lay in bed with a cold cloth on my head, eye mask on, making horrendous noises due to the pain, and vomiting randomly in to a bucket by the side of my bed.
Within 3 or 4 hours, I felt able to lift my head, open my eyes without being tortured by light and eat an apple. I randomly have cravings for apples and chip rolls after a migraine. Although very unpleasant during the onset and the actual migraine, today was a mild migraine for me which I so grateful for. Otherwise I would be still be vomiting, literally rolling about and wailing in pain, and certainly not able to sit up and use a laptop never mind put together a blog post. Don’t get me wrong, I feel crappy. I still feel sick, my head is banging, light is not my friend and movement is not advisable.
I am also very thankful that I didn’t even attempt to put mascara on this morning. You all know how you look after you’ve vomited from an illness. I can 100% attest that I have looked exactly like that image when I have had a migraine whilst wearing mascara. Small victories and all that. Although my hair looks the same and I am sweaty and shiny. You can’t have it all.
S x
Thank you for sharing this post. Many people are unaware of the variety of migraines that people can get. I sometimes get, but more often when I was a kid, ocular migraines; where my vision gets completely blurry but without the headache pain. The vision aspect sounds similar to what you described.
Roger
Mind and Love
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Thank you for the comment. I plan to write more on my migraines to raise awareness.
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That’s a great idea!
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