Migraine does not take into account your creed, colour, education or social status….. it effects everyone – any age, any background…….
A few facts:
- It is the most prevalent neurological condition in the UK
- 1 in 7 people in the UK suffer from migraine.
- 190,000 migraine attacks everyday in the UK
- It costs the UK around £2.25 billion per annum.
- It is estimated that 10% of schoolchildren have migraine.
Source:(Migraine Action 2011)
Yet it remains one of the least understood illness and still carries a stigma….
How many times have you or someone you know rung in sick after a night of partying…….. sighting you have a migraine?
Do you have any idea how many people this white lie insults?
A hangover is NOT a migraine attack…….. Can you imagine ever calling in sick and saying you cannot come in as you have had a minor stroke ? No… thought so…….
Having a true migraine attack hurts…….. really hurts……. on a physical and emotional level.
Imagine you are walking down a road and a dark spot appears in the corner of your eye…….. its there but not quite clear just yet……..but with each step it grows……and is now blocking the view of the world – all you see is flashing light, snow dots and squiggles…. wooh the panic is starting (Are you going blind?).. but wait your hand is numb…….(what is going on?)……this spreads to your arm………numbness and tingling….travelling to your face……..(Oh have you just been to the dentist? – you know you have felt that numbness before)…. then as you struggle to see and to walk you start to sway …..(oh are you on that roller-coaster?)…….the one which has thrown you upside down….round and round..you do not known which is up or down anymore… your tummy is churning, your head is spinning, the world is spinning too, you cannot stand up..you cannot see, you cannot think….(are you out of control?)…. Add in that bad seafood from last night……sickness is brewing..churning in your tummy…. lumps in your throat… you know your going to throw up… but still the world is turning.. you cannot think straight and look up and all you can see still is the flashing light, dots, squiggles……… a land of patchwork bubble bee sight……. your ears are stinging with the smallest of sounds……. light burns into your eyes…….the panic grows…….. the anxiety kicks in……….you want to scream for help……but you have lost the ability to communicate – words in your head just do not come out your mouth…. the room is still spinning…….. the tummy still churning…….. sickness stuck in your throat….limbs still numb….your brain has stopped thinking……. the light burning in to your eyes…….(can this get any worse?)…………. then the horse kicks you in your head from the inside out….BANG… every move BANG………you struggle to stay still… the slightest of movements – sometimes even a breath and BANG that horse kicks you again…… over and over……
A Migraine is NOT just a headache and neither is it a hangover….
Migraine Talk 