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June is Migraine and Headache Awareness Month! When you live with a migraine disorder sometimes it can feel lonely because it is often misunderstood as a bad headache even by doctors and sometimes it can feel like no one understands. Migraine is one of the most underfunded disabilities that affects roughly thirty-nine million people in the United States and one billion people worldwide and would think with it affecting so many people that it would get little to no stigma but migraine is one of those disabilities that gets the most stigma because when people think of severe disabling pain a migraine disorder is not the first thing that comes to mind. If have a loved one who lives with a migraine disorder most people would want to support them in the best way that they can but sometimes you aren’t being as supportive as you think are and say things that contribute to migraine stigma. In this post, I am going to talk about a few things that people sometimes say to migraineurs that you shouldn’t.
Migraine is not a real disability– When people think of a migraine disorder a lot the time people don’t understand what migraine takes from your life and think it’s just a headache and to take Tylenol.. If you are trying to apply to get disability benefits and your only diagnosis was a migraine disorder it might be hard to get services because society has led us to believe that migraine or headache disorders are not real disabilities but even though some people in your life may not believe migraine is a real disability that doesn’t mean it isn’t. There are a lot of disabilities and chronic illnesses that never go diagnosed because doctors do not understand every disability and if you wouldn’t tell someone with mental illness that depression is just sadness you shouldn’t tell a migraineur that a migraine is not real pain. Migraine is a real disability and your life will never be the same after chronic pain because some people cannot work due to severe pain and have to give up activities they once loved and that is not a disabiltiy I don’t know what is! If you have never experienced a migraine it’s okay if you don’t understand it but when tell someone it’s not a real disabiltiy it’s a real quick way to offend them!
Migraine is just a headache– Migraine is considered a type of headache but the experience of a migraine and your standard headache are very different from each other and shouldn’t even be put in the same category. Migraine is not just another headache and the difference between the two is that a migraine is a complex neurological disease that is very difficult to manage and your standard headache can typically be treated by taking Tylenol There are a wide array of symptoms that can indicate a disorder such as dizziness or vertigo, nausea or vomiting, and sometimes even your ability to communicate can be impaired but none of those things happen with a headache. Migraine is so much more than your typical headache and when you say it’s just a headache it’s insensitive to severe pain and some people are appalled when you use the word headache to describe when you use the word headache to describe a migraine. Language matters because when you use the wrong term it contributes to migraine stigma instead of challenging it!
Have you tried Excedrin– Some people need to be on preventative medications to have less migraine attacks but not all types of migraine need prescription medication and sometimes people can get away with over-the-counter remedies such as Excedrin. Excedrin works for some people and there is nothing wrong with giving someone ideas for managing migraine that does not require a prescription and the problem is people think that these over-the-counter medications are cures. Preventative medication can have a lot of unpleasant side effects and people with migraine will try natural remedies before resorting to prescription meds but not everyone gets relief by rubbing peppermint oil on themselves. People sometimes believe that the way to get rid of a migraine is to take Execdrin and drink more coffeee but it’s not that simple because caffeine sometimes worsens migraine pain and before you give me that suggestion just assume I tried it and it didn’t work.
Stop eating dairy– Nutrition plays a huge role in managing migraine pain because sometimes certain food trigger attacks and we have to limit certain types of food or cut it out completely for less pain. Some people think that the most obvious solution for having less migraine pain is to not eat dairy or follow a certain diet program it’s more difficult than you think because sometimes there are too many triggers that it’s impossible to avoid them all. Migraine can have a lot of food triggers and to the best of our ability we do try to limit our trigger foods but it’s not as easy as you think it is because sometimes there are more trigger foods than safe ones and you have no choice but to sometimes eat foods that could potentially trigger. you. If you live with migraine it’s important to know what you are putting in your body because good nutrition can help you manage pain but it’s not always the best advice to tell someone to stop eating dairy or to go keto but it’s not always helpful to tell someone they need to eat certain and sometimes some dietary recommendation can be harmful to someone.
Take some magnesium supplements– Magnesium supplements can help prevent migraine attacks but before you go suggesting someone start taking magnesium supplements I want to remind you that not everyone can because it interferes with some medications. I don’t take magnesium supplements because it interferes with the bladder medication I am on to prevent bladder stones and if you were to suggest I start taking magnesium supplements and weren’t my doctor you would be giving me very bad advice. When you suggest that s someone takes a magnesium supplement to prevent migraine it could be great advice but it also could be horrible advice that should have never been suggested. If you live with migraine and think a certain supplement could help you talk to your doctor about it because supplement recommendations should be left to the healthcare professionals that know you as an individual. When you are disabled sometimes you are on a lot of medication and certain supplements can interfere with the effectiveness of your meds and even though you may see me taking a certain vitamin that doesn’t mean you need to be taking that exact same supplement.
You should exercise more– Exercise can help lessen the severity and frequency of attacks and doctors do recommend migraineurs find movement they enjoy but exercise only works as a way to prevent migraine but it doesn’t help once you have one. . Exercise can be great advice but it is the cure for more and before you suggest any type of exercise please be careful of the types of exercises you suggest because exercises such as weighlifting can worsen pain for some people.
It could be worse- I am well aware that the migraine pain I live with could be worse but it is not helpful to tell anyone with pain that it could be worse and that they should be grateful it’s not cancer. Migraine causes people to lose jobs and people who live with migraine are more likely to commit suicide so when you say it could be worse it’s not validating someone’s pain because even though it could be more disabling it also could be better. Instead of telling someone that what they are experiencing could be worse ask them what you can do to help.
You are just stressed- Stress can sometimes trigger a migraine but stressing less does not cure migraine or get rid of one because migraine is a hereitary neurological disoder and often attacks have nothing to do with your stress levels because there are so many other factors.
Migraine is a neurological disease that often can be misunderstood as a bad headache and sometimes it’s even difficult to find a doctor who understands migraine is more than a headache. When you think of a disability a migraine disorder doesn’t usually come to mind, but I would consider it a disability even if some people don’t believe it to be true because migraine prevents some people from working and you spend just as much time in bed as many other chronic illnesses. People with migraine do not expect you to understand pain that you have never experienced but when someone is clearly having a migraine and you call it a “headache” it’s contributing to the migraine stigma. There are a lot of headache disorders that are very painful and even though people say that migraine is not just a headache that doesn’t mean living with a headache disorder is easy because it can be hard to live with any kind of pain. These are only a few things that you should not say to a migraineur, and the bottom line is if you want to support your loved ones with migraine believe them and assume that any remedy think I haven’t tried I probably have. If you live with migraine, what would you add?
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