Yes, I have had a headache every day for 7 years and 2 months.  I have had people tell me this is impossible, no one could have a headache for that long! I really wish this was true.  I do want to explain what life is like for me.  Remember, every person with pain has a different experience, but I want to share how my life has changed.

My headaches range from mild to severe. I have a headache everyday, but it can be one or a combination of three or four different types of headaches.

Depression makes the pain worse as well. Pain and depression are closely linked.  I believe my depression and anxiety was made worse by the lose of my future.  I had a plan to use my Doctorate, do research, get published, help patients determine their neurological issues.  All of this slowly slipped away the first three years of this journey.  The depression and pain continued to get worse the more I pushed myself to achieve.

The more I tried to have a “normal” life, the worse the condition became.  I was trying to live up to my parent’s expectations (yes, I was in my 30’s still looking for their approvel, will discuss in a later post). When the pain became to much, I would stay home, then try to work again.  I was in this terrible cycle for six years, yep, it took me six years to determine to take care of ME. It did not help that my headaches and migraines become so bad I was in bed more than I was functioning.

As my pain got worse, the more pain medication I took.  Make sense right, if it hurts take a pill.  But that is not how the brain works. This summer I finally got the dianosis of Hemiraina Continua, THIS CHANGED MY LIFE.  The sharp stabbing pain I had on the right side of my face was finally treatable. The tearing, eye drooping, nausia enducing pain was gone for a few hours at a time!!  And it was not a narcotic, but an NSAID, that took away my horrible pain.  A medication for Gout!?! Indocin was a miracle for me. This helped me withdrawal from the Viocodin, almost.

I have good days and bad, it is just my good days look like other’s bad days. I am learning to take one day at a time and not judge myself on the days I can’t do much. I am also trying to find new purpose in my life, determing what God has for me!
 

 

 

Pain and Depression