Migraines, Fibromyalgia, and Me

30 Things About My Invisible Illnesses You May Not Know

1. The illnesses I live with are Migraine disease, Chronic Migraine, Daily Chronic Headache, Fibromyalgia, depression and anxiety.
2. I was diagnosed with Migraine in 1986, CM/CDH in 2009, depression in 2002, anxiety in 2004 and fibromyalgia in 2011.
3. But I had symptoms since I was eight years old (Migraine).
4. The biggest adjustment I’ve had to make is being an involved parent despite my illnesses.
5. Most people assume I am in great health.
6. The hardest part about mornings are getting up in pain and wanting to crawl under the covers and never come out.
7. My favorite medical TV show is Grey's Anatomy.
8. A gadget I couldn’t live without is my laptop.
9. The hardest part about nights are not being able to fall asleep until 4 or 5 in the morning sometimes.
10. Each day I take 8 pills & vitamins. (No comments, please)
11. Regarding alternative treatments I have tried acupuncture, acupressure, relaxation, meditation, chiropractic and massage.
12. If I had to choose between an invisible illness or visible I would choose neither.
13. Regarding working and career, being a mother is my career.
14. People would be surprised to know that I spend nearly every day in pain.
15. The hardest thing to accept about my new reality has been trying to live within the limitations of my illnesses.
16. Something I never thought I could do with my illness that I did was continue to be present.
17. The commercials about my illness are only for episodic migraines and are not informative.
18. Something I really miss having since I was diagnosed is confidence.
19. It was really hard to have to give up my idea of what life should be.
20. A new hobby I have taken up since my diagnosis is blogging.
21. If I could have one day of feeling normal again I would go out in the sun, have a glass of wine and eat whatever I wanted.
22. My illness has taught me patience.
23. Want to know a secret? One thing people say that gets under my skin is "You need to drink more water."
24. But I love it when people realize the legitimacy and disability of Migraine disease.
25. My favorite motto, scripture, quote that gets me through tough times is “I know God won't give me anything I can't handle. I just wish he didn't trust me so much.” ― Mother Teresa
26. When someone is diagnosed I’d like to tell them that they are not alone.
27. Something that has surprised me about living with an illness is how strong I am.
28. The nicest thing someone did for me when I wasn’t feeling well was be concerned.  That's always a nice feeling.
29. I’m involved with Invisible Illness Week because more people need to know about it.
30. The fact that you read this list makes me feel validated.