Migraine Awareness Month #2: Tea for Two

If I could invite any living person to my home to discuss Migraine disease and explain it to him or her so that he or she would fully understand it, it would have to be President and Mrs. Obama. I believe that of all the people I could have this discussion with, they would be the most open and understanding and willing to listen. Take away political differences and I think many can appreciate their humanism. They believe in family, structure, fairness, equality, and opportunities for all. These are things us migraineurs believe in as well. Instead of trying to make a plea, I'd show them what the face of Migraine disease looks like. It's not just in me that this can be witnessed, but in the faces of my children, husband, family, and friends. All of whom would do just about anything to end my pain. It would be an easy going and laid-back meeting. I'm very down to earth and grounded and approach my issues with knowledgeable grace. I'm not threatening at all and that never works is gaining support. First I would ask the both of them if they knew what a migraine is and if they or anyone they know has ever experienced one. I would want to know if they believe migraines are something that is an effectively managed disorder. I would want to peruse their opinions of it and ask them if they believe migraines to be a disease? I would then tell them that I would like to know if their opinions change after hearing my history with these debilitating migraines. My biggest point to make would be to address the horrible stigma of Migraine, the labeling of being a "drug seeker" when in need of effective pain medication, the mis-education and unavailability of medical personnel who have been trained in migraine treatment, and the high rate of suicide among chronic migraineurs. I'm pretty sure they are unaware of the many comorbidity diseases, disorders, and illnesses that come along with Migraine disease. Besides having to cope with daily pain, I also have to cope with and manage Major Depressive Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, and Fibromyalgia. Are they aware of what triggers migraines and how most of them are unavoidable? Do they realize that their choice in perfume or cologne means extravagant pain and nausea for us? There are so many topics within Migraine disease to be touched upon but the most impactful one is seeing and hearing it first hand. To be able to show the full disability of migraine and most especially chronic migraine would make the biggest point of all. I'm no different than the cancer patient in chronic pain nor the RA patient in crippling pain. The only difference is that mine is invisible to the human eye. I look healthy to you so I must be exaggerating or making up my pain. That hurts more than the physical pain itself to have people not believe in your disease or your pain. We, as a nation, owe it to the millions of headache disorder patients to support and legitimatize their struggles and illnesses. It would be an awesome chance to put Migraine disease out there in the way it deserves on a national scale. But until then, I'll continue doing my small advocacy work and blog which will hopefully help our movement get a little further ahead in the fight. 

National Migraine Awareness Month is initiated by the National Headache Foundation. The Blogger's Challenge is initiated by www.FightingHeadacheDisorders.com.