Migraine Shame

I think that most people who suffer from chronic migraines have some form of migraine shame. It sneaks up when you tell someone you can't function the way you would like because you have a migraine. It washes over you when you get the skeptical look and half hearted "Okay..." from someone who hasn't ever had a migraine in their life.

Sometimes when my migraine is bad in the morning and I try to suffer through and go one with life, I get asked if I had a wild time the night before. When explaining that I have a headache - I get the blanket advice to not drink so much next time and then my head won't hurt. Even worse - I've been asked if I had a substance problem because of seemingly erratic behavior during my more debilitating migraine pain. Shame.

Back when I was working, there was a day when all the telltale signs that I was about to launch into a doosey of a headache hit and I knew that I had two options - drop everything and get home before I couldn't drive myself anymore or lock myself in a conference room until it was over - who knows how long. I choose to go home, but received feedback a few days later after recovering from a good friend that one of my co-workers made some derogatory comments about me leaving work because of a headache. This person said that must be a woman thing and that is why they didn't like to work with women. Wow. Shame.

Migraine Shame. Hits me sometimes when I least expect it and reminds me how much opportunity there is to educate people about the disabiling effects of migraines on peoples lives.