went to work with another migraine

Had to work today with a bad migraine(nothing new). It`s physical work and sometimes I just wonder how I get through it. I was so miserable... The weather was cold, overcast and snowy.So that added on to my misery. Of course I still have it... Actually I`ve had it for more than a week now.How do you guys do it when you have to go to work with a bad migraine?

i take what i can to reduce the pain, and just grit my teeth, and try to get through it, i have a physical job where i help people and it is so hard when you feel bad yourself, i have been known to go to the restroom and stay there for a while just to try to rest and have a cry, where i feel so rough, it is crap!

and then i finally get home and am expected to start all over again with the kids, housework etc it sucks!!

sorry no pearls of wisdom to hand down i am afraid, i think alot of people here are clinging to their jobs, trying desperately not to phone in sick again.

Hi Kate

Build up resisantance and live in denial. I've had coworkers ask me how I do it and the answer has been that I have no choice. Pity is poison so I don't tell anyone when I'm in it (compassionate ones can usually tell) and I switch the brain off to feeling sorry for myself. I just plow through and endure and tell myself that I've had worse and it should be over soon. As you can read by some of the other posts on this forum, sometimes we break down and look for comfort when it gets too much. Feel free to do the same.

The good days are wonderful, the bad days you endure with whatever you have in your arsenol to use. Don't let other people tell (guilt) you what you should or shouldn't do in your physical and emotional care during this time. You have to carry the bigger load and only you know how much you can take.

On a practical side, I find that practing yoga helps build my core strength in a gentle way as well as reduces stress. It keeps you strong and straight.

Hope some of this helps

Angela

I had a day like that yesterday, between my head and back I felt like screaming. BUT, I had no choice. I was already short-staffed and din't have the option to go home. I miss so much work as it is it's unfair to tell a staff member they can't have it off because I'm sick, AGAIN.

It's helps a little now that I've made the decision not to talk about it at work. Yes, the compassionate ones can tell, but it helps me not focus as much on it if I don't have people constantly asking "how are you feeling?"

Plus, about two-three years ago I started taking narcotics at work to keep the pain down to a dull roar. It has improved my productivity and my concentration. Prior to taht I had this weird narcotic stereotype that I shouldn't take it at work. Don't know why, I dont operate machinary or drive. The change in that pain management has allowed me stay at work on most bad days.

Charlotte

I had a physical job I had to quit because of M. The sympathy of co-workers seemed fake or forced, I mean
they told me " I get headaches too and come to work ". So at my new job I did not talk of it, I found that better.

Great story at the new place,.. a man and woman had worked there about 15 years . they often talked of susan who
had worked there longer but had to leave because of M which they claimed she faked most of. so her name would come up now and then as they laughed. well about 2 years later, they were quitely talking about her death.

Brain tumor killed her. so I say " Wow maybe all those M she had where real and she had a tumor causing them," then I laid out all I knew about M so they would feel worse. I really wanted to punch them in the face.

co workers expect us to suck it up. I see little compassion, thats why i remain silent.

I havent been able to work for 20 years. Between first the IBS then the migraine and then adding in the FMS.
Not an option anymore.
All that training and helping other people, down the drain.
I thought I was bad then. Be thankful you can still actually do it sometimes...I wasnt, and now I miss it.
You never know what's around the corner.
(I hope that doesnt sound unsympathetic, it isnt meant to)
P

rileyoday wrote:The sympathy of co-workers seemed fake or forced, I mean
they told me " I get headaches too and come to work ". ......
co workers expect us to suck it up. I see little compassion, thats why i remain silent.

I received some of this at work before I ended up going on disability. It's very disheartening after many years of sacrifice at a job when they don't try to understand how much you suffer and the level of pain you've been in consistently.

I try not to let it bother me, but it hurts that people would think that you'd make up something like this to stay isolated in a dark room with little noise, light, or smells and little to no human contact.

Becky

I've never skipped a working day due to migraine, but I do an office job which does not imply relation with people. So, I can quite well sit down at my desk and isolate from the rest of the world. Of course, I must continue to work at the PC, but if I take my abortive in time I can make it.
Sometimes I feel so miserable and I look so horrible that my colleagues worry and insist that I go home, but I know that if I resist 1 hour after the abortive I can make it. So I give in and stay.

The problem is when I have to drive to our office 80 miles from here and I get migraine during the drive.... I've seriously worried in a couple of occasions. Driving with severe pain and wait for ergot to work is not funny at all.

There are embarassing situations then. If migraine hits during a meeting while I have to do a presentation and talk about figures and budgeting, it's very difficult to focus and it's embarassing to mispell words and figures and not to be able to reply to questions as quickly and rationally as possible

FORTUNATELY, my boss suffers from "bad h/a" as he calls migraine.
Also, in our open space there are several migraine sufferers so we are quite sympathetic and supportive when one of us is sick.

Bye

I can only imagine how you guys do it. I am fortunately that my abortives work most of the time. On the few occasions I'm at work and waiting for them to work I pretty much do nothing of value. I sometimes take a narcotic to clear my mind (contrary to what they say about them making you drowsy). If it wasn't for my abortives I would stay home. Otherwise I would be vomiting in the car, etc. It would be impossible for me. You guys that do it are stronger than me.

Everyone is a bit different in how they tolerate things and how others perceive things. I have an office job where most could argue that you should be able to do that job. I have chronic symptoms, meaning if I don't wake up with a full-blown one at some point during the day I will often become completely miserable. I have to drive to get to work and if you've ever had to, I'd rather not - I really don't want to cause an accident because I'm unwell. I am fortunate that I work with others that were chronic or had severe attacks and they understand what I deal with....so if I don't show up for a week (this happened due to my meds) they know I'm at home working from my couch. There are quite a few that truly don't get it though. And for the most part when people ask me how I am, I say fine. The only way I don't get away with that is if I'm white as a sheet (rats!). Much easier to lie than to get the pity and "oh you poor thing" looks. I'm in pain, not confined to a wheelchair and I'm still me. Granted often a crankier me but still me. I feel for those who are on disability due to these nasty things - I'm frustrated with the way my life is and I'm not even close to that yet.