Migraine is the great
time thief. It shamelessly barges into our lives and steals time that we can
never have back. One of the hardest parts of living with migraine are all
the milestone events you have to miss: birthday parties, christenings, job
interviews, weddings….and on it goes. Time is stolen that you can never have
back.
I asked several
migraine buddies if they would kindly tally up an estimate of days they lost to
migraine. Counting up my own days for 2011 -12 I must admit I felt like
someone had punched me in the gut. It’s quite shocking, seeing it there in
black and white, seeing what the great time thief has taken.
2011:
Sarah (aged 46)
Basilar Migraine and Chronic Migraine
Lost: 365
days
Of
those 365 migraines, 156 of were
Basilar attacks.
Victoria (aged 32)
Chronic and Episodic Migraine
Lost: 120
days
2012:
Daisy (aged 33)
Chronic Migraine
Lost: 75
days
Plus 6 months off work.
(2013 – 60
days lost and counting…)
2013:
Fiona (aged 32)
Chronic and Episodic Migraine
Lost:
99 days so far this year…
2012:
125 days and 2011: 178 days
Claire (29)
Chronic Migraines
Lost: 70
days so far this year…
It is, really, quite
hard to estimate the actual number of days lost to migraine. In my tally I
simply added up the days I took a triptan. In 2011 most of my migraines lasted
3 days, and I also didn’t count the hangover days that followed nearly every
attack. So my tally from 2011 is probably double the 120 stated. 2011 is also
the year I had to give up work due to migraines. Sarah, Fiona, Claire and Daisy
are also essentially noting the days of migraine attacks they had. As Daisy
notes in Migraine Memoirs, these numbers also don’t take into account all the
times you stay in, tread carefully, rest and miss out on yet more of life as
you don’t want to re-trigger that migraine.
This post was inspired
by the fabulous song “Seasons of Love” from the musical RENT. The lyric for the
song begins as follows:
Five hundred
twenty-five thousand
Six hundred
minutes,
Five hundred
twenty-five thousand
Moments so dear.
Five hundred
twenty-five thousand
Six hundred
minutes
How do you
measure, measure a year?
In daylights, in
sunsets, in midnights
In cups of coffee
In inches, in
miles, in laughter, in strife.
In five hundred
twenty-five thousand
Six hundred
minutes
How do you measure
A year in the
life?.....
How many of those Five
hundred twenty-five thousand, six hundred minutes have been spent having a
migraine? But, more importantly, we should be proud of all that we accomplish
despite the time migraine steals from us.
You can learn more
about RENT here. I highly recommend that
you listen to Original Broadway Cast Recording, the above is from the film version.
Side note: Myself and the other migraineurs were all able to make this estimate
as we keep careful diaries. We all use different ones, but I highly recommend you
use a migraine diary, they’re an invaluable tool for your Doctor and for you. I’ll
write a summary of the different migraine diaries available, soon.
#morethanjustaheadache
#maw2013
Tomorrow:
Evita: “Don’t Cry for me Argentina”. Do you want empathy and understanding? Do you want sympathy? Do you ever NOT want to talk about your migraines. Why? When?
My migraines became progressively worse and more frequent over my 30s until they just merged into one big, long migraine that lasted continually and I locked myself in the house. A "good day" was when my head didn't hurt TOO bad and there weren't many visual effects blurring my vision. I lived with the shades down, only leaving to grocery shop with others once a week. That particular "migraine" lasted about three years. Altogether I would estimate 5 or more years of my life have been spent with a migraine. I'm in my 40s. (Eventually I went to a neurologist - my GP was unresponsive to my pain issues - and after extensive testing that showed nothing in particular wrong with my brain or eyes, just started taking a "migraine prophylactic" and they went away so long as I also avoid ALL of my triggers.)
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