Happy New Year one and all! I hope everyone had restful, migraine free Christmas and New Year's ?? I also hope that everyone has a set of migraine health resolutions? I'll explain what I mean about that in another exciting post.
But for now, I'm very excited to present the formidable, feisty and tireless Suzanne as Miss January! I can't think of a better person to be the first Migraineur Of The Month 2013. Despite suffering from what she likes to call "the Prada of Migraines" (Basilar) Suzanne is determined to get the most out of life and also advocates for The Migraine Trust.
Can you remember and describe your first migraine?
Yes, it was the 18th May
2006 which will go on record as the worst day of my life. I woke up and had no
feeling in my right-hand side, from my face down to my right leg; I could
hardly stand up and my right arm felt like it was hanging off me. I realised
after a few moments that I’d lost muscle control in my mouth and could not talk
or swallow. Somehow I got to casualty and they whisked me straight through. I could instantly tell that the Doctor
thought I’d had a stroke; I also thought I’d had a stroke and when they asked
me, “Do you usually talk like this?”, “Do you usually hold your head like
that?” I was unable to reply other than in unintelligible mumbles. The hospital didn’t know what it was,
‘something neurological’ and as soon as they were certain I hadn’t had a stroke
and wasn’t in danger of having a stroke, they sent me home. It was months before this attack was
labeled as ‘basilar-type migraine’.
Best migraine top tip anyone’s ever given you?

Worst Trigger?
Cadbury’s Dairy Milk –life is so cruel!
Favourite migraine
comfort?
It is now Coppella Apple
Juice (or any apple juice which is not from concentrate). A small glass when I feel a migraine is
coming on might delay it, whilst a large glass after an attack seems to bring
me out quicker. Until I learnt about blood sugar I would always crave fat Coke
and a Kebab.
What’s the worst
assumption that’s been made about you and your migraines?
That there is nothing wrong with me ‘you look so
well!’ The worst assumption I’ve
had during an attack is that I’m drunk because my speech slurs and I stumble
around. For a long time I didn’t
want to go out because of this.
What are you most proud
of doing despite living with migraines?
Not giving up!
It would be so easy to lie in bed all day and feel sorry for
myself. But I have a life, I’ll be
damn sure that I’m going to fight this migraine and I will WIN THIS.
If you could be the Queen
of England for a Year what would you do!?
I would bring in a law that made it
illegal to use flash photography at press conferences and major world
events. I miss so much of the news
because my migraines are triggered by flashing lights. Why can’t the press photographers have
a separate photo call instead of click, click, click all the way through a
speech or talk?
What are your migraine
hopes for 2013!
That I will continue to fight this thing and move towards my
goal of cycling the C2C from Whitehaven to Tynemouth – 140 miles over 2
days.
Well thank you so much Suzanne for sharing some incredible top tips here. There's no doubt in my mind that you will beat this dreaded migraine and meet every goal you set for yourself. I also feel your pain re Dairy Milk....that used to be my favourite too, life is indeed not fair....sigh. Anyway, here's hoping 2013 brings you many migraine free days.
Suzanne Collier works in
book publishing and specialises in career guidance and redundancy help for
publishers under the name http://www.bookcareers.com. She writes, lectures, consults and sees
private clients for career development.
Her personal website is http://www.suzannecollier.com. She can be found on twitter
@suzannecollier
A great migraineur of the month post! I love Suzanne's positivity. I have also suffered with slurred speech before and I can be embarrassing at times. It once happened at a dinner table with my boss and her family and I wish I had told them why. They must have thought I was a drunken idiot!
ReplyDeleteHere's to a happy and healthy 2013!
Claire x
Hello Clairebelle! Oh no, what an awful place for the slurred speech to happen!!! I hope your Christmas trip was fabulous and the journey was ok? And yes, here's to a happy and health 2013! x
DeleteThe Christmas trip was fabulous thank you and the downtime did wonders for my migraines! You will never guess what stupid thing I did though... FORGOT MY TRIPTANS!! x
DeleteNO!!!!!! You didn't.....though I'm very much hope that you didn't need any triptans so it was all ok???? eek x
DeleteWhat a numpty eh?!!!! I couldn't believe it as I was so organised before we left. I was OK and managed on Coca Cola and asprin, just.
Delete