Dealing with migraines is not only about the pain

Dealing with migraines is not only about the pain but it is also psychological. Having them chronically, I have to trick my brain(so to speak) into thinking that it is not that bad and that I can make it through the today. I guess it is mind over matter. Briefly just trying to forget that I have pain but it is always there. I go to work in pain, shop in pain, vacations in pain,etc and all the other affects that I have with the migraine(light headedness, auras,etc). I feel like if I give in to the pain that psychologically I will literaly loose it. Even though I get tired of fighting mentally and physicaly, I'm to stubborn to give into these freaking migraines.

It really is psychologicaly challenging and unless a person has ever had chronic pain then it is hard for them to even know how much mental effort it takes to get through the day. I was listening to a celeberty(forgot his name) talk about how he has daily pain because of MS and this is what he does(mind over matter). This celeberty is still very active in his life even though he has major pain on a daily basis. A while back ago I was watching an interview they were doing on Patrick Swazy and how he was dealing with cancer. Before he passed, he was doing a movie. He wasn't well and was in pain everyday on the set. This can be physicaly and mentaly exhausting for someone on a daily basis.

I agree with you. I get chronic daily migraine and while my pain isnt the worst part, it's all the other stuff that gets me - the prodome, aura, etc. I get SO irritable before a bad one - like I could claw someone's eyes out and the personality changes are awful. I try to tell myself every day that there are a lot of people that are worse off than me, struggling with cancer etc. At least I can muddle through my day. But I tell ya, it's hard!!!

Kate, you are right. It is definately mind over matter. It is really hard if you have a job where you are in the public eye all day and you have to pretend that everything is fine.

I always find that it only takes one thing to throw me over the edge. Like I'll be coping okay and then I will stub my toe or something and then I just lose it.

I read that Elvis suffered from chronic migraine. It would have been hard to be that famous and deal with migraine too.

I find that if I am looking forward to something like a holiday, I always end up getting a migraine. It's like I jinx myself.

I think it is hard for migraine sufferers because there is no set of rules to help. If you have Cancer generally you have a set treatment plan to follow. There is no definative treatment plan for migraine and therefore it makes it difficult to have hope and to focus on getting better. You just have to have faith that you are doing the right thing at the right time to make your life more manageable. It is great to have a forum to read other people's experiences and trials. It helps to keep you more grounded.

Pain is the least of my problems - although if I got pain as bad as some of the people here, I might change my mind :-(

My main problems have to do with: the mental dysfunctions I get during the migraine - severe brain fog, loss of vocabulary, etc.; the nausea; inability to see well, or at all, sometimes; inability to talk; hearing loss; vertigo;one-sided body numbness; a general feeling of extreme illness like I have the flu; difficulty walking or even standing; along with the inability to move without making everything worst. Even with my occasional painless migraines I become totally dysfunctional.

I get a little tired of telling people I'm unable to participate in something because I have a migraine and they go "Oh, you've got a headache." I wish that was the only problem.