Dear migraine, just NO.

Migraine is a neurological disease that affects everyone differently and currently has no cure. The symptoms vary from person to person but the most common symptoms are severe head pain, nausea, sensitivity to light and sound, and some numbness and tingling. The most intense symptom is probably the unstoppable throbbing head pain.

At least 90% of people are affected with migraine, which interferes with our work, school, or daily life. It is a disease that impacts our lives in a way that is underestimated.

When you log onto the American Migraine Foundation site, this is what you see. These numbers are shocking. People don’t understand how debilitating migraine disease is. It is crippling, bring-you-to-your-knees pain and it seems that only those who either experience it or have seen a loved one battle through an attack know the power that it brings.

What my family and I are trying to do is change that. You might wonder what are 3 little people going to do? How do we expect any change if no one does anything about it? That is our plan as migraine advocates. To have better research, and a quicker plan of relief so we don’t have to wait so long or go to the emergency room to receive the “migraine cocktail.” We are running the Miles for Migraine on February 8th to raise awareness for this disease that has no cure.

My husband,  an Army Veteran, battles episodic migraine. He works hard and long hours. Every so often I find him nauseous by the toilet on the floor with a migraine attack. That means he can’t go to work that day affecting the rest of his coworkers.

My son, who is 15, battles through migraine with aura and ocular migraine attacks. Having to balance high school and college ends up at the hospital for pain relief because it gets so bad, and needs a CT scan because he is completely disoriented. That means missing out on assignments, tests, and important lectures.

I…sigh…mine are chronic migraine and migraine with aura. The auras scare me because I see a bright light or sometimes a dark spot start in my field of view no matter where I look and only grow bigger. That lasts for about an hour and the pain begins. The chronic migraine gets so severe I have seizures. Need I say more?

We are Migraine Order 66
Our team has created a donation page, and we would greatly appreciate your assistance in improving migraine care. Considering a study that was done in 2019 indicated that inadequate care is the fourth leading cause of emergency room visits for migraine, significantly increasing ER visits.

You can help support us here: Please donate to our team here and you can read my son’s story HERE
We are grateful for whatever you can do to help us. We have worked with Miles for Migraine in the past and we love and appreciate what they do to help migraine fighters. If you are interested, they have a 2 mile walk, a 5 K run, and a relax area. Some locations are hybrid where they have a virtual option as well. You can get more details Miles for Migraine info
I really hope you can help us out. No one should live with this pain.

Thank you
-g