Every day it’s hard to drag yourself out of bed and fight a painful chronic disease.
Many people who have never experienced a migraine don’t realize the profound effects it has on your everyday life. Those who suffer from chronic migraines miss spending time with loved ones, working, and experiencing many joys in life.
If you’re someone like me with chronic migraines, you know how debilitating they can be. And sometimes you just want to rip your head off.
Here are 16 things people don’t realize you’re doing because you struggle with chronic migraines:
1. You cancel plans
It’s because you simply can’t bring yourself to get out of the house. You can’t walk, and your head is pounding so badly that you’d just rather stay home.
2. You don’t want to do anything
Migraines are mentally and physically draining. Others may call you lazy, but in reality, you’re just too nauseous and in too much pain to do anything at all.
3. You are very sensitive to everything
You’re very sensitive to light, sound, smell, and touch.
4. You barely eat
Migraines ruin your appetite, and you can’t eat or drink much for a day or two.
5. You’re cranky
You get easily angry at little things, and you cannot help it. You’re very irritable.
6. You find comfort being in the darkness
You try to stay away from the light, and you can always be found somewhere in a dark corner. Being in darkness eases the pain.
7. You wear a hat and sunglasses indoors
When you’re at work or at a local place, you always wear a hat or sunglasses so you can block some of the light.
8. You mainly communicate through texts
Talking hurts, so you avoid being on the phone with anyone.
9. You are unkempt
You don’t really bother to do anything with your hair or face because you simply don’t have the energy to put any effort into your physical appearance.
10. You go M.I.A
You disappear from social media and don’t respond to phone calls or texts. It’s because you don’t want to be bothered at all.
11. You’re always rubbing your forehead, neck, and temples
You are just trying to soothe some of the pain away.
12. You have a hard time communicating with others
You speak very softly, it hurts to talk, and even the noise of your own voice bothers you. Sometimes you slur your words as if you were drunk, and you are unable to speak in a correct manner.
13. You get cold easily
You are always rubbing your hands, crossing your arms or rubbing your legs. When you have a migraine, your body temperature drops, and you always have cold hands and feet.
14. You often call in sick
Some days are impossible to make it to work because you suffer from throbbing pain, weakness, dizziness, nausea, blurred vision, and light-headedness.
15. You have the blues
Living with chronic pain takes a toll on your mental and emotional well-being as well. Migraines also lead to anxiety, depression and even suicidal thoughts. Knowing that you have to live with them forever and you cannot do anything about it is terrifying.
16. You keep taking pills throughout the day
You are taking Advil, ibuprofen, Aleve, Excedrin or whatever you can find, and you don’t even worry about the fact that you could exceed the dosage limit because you will do just about anything to get rid of your migraine.
If you suspect you have migraines, talk to your doctor about it. And if someone you know has migraines, offer them love and support.
Originally published on Thought Catalog.
Featured image from @claubarbosa via Pexels.
