My migraine pain

OUCH!!!

TMI alert. This blog contains some content that some of you may find a bit disgusting. But I hope that by sharing my story, I can find someone else who has experienced this and ways to prevent it from happening again…

For the last 30 years, I have been a sporadic sufferer of migraine headaches. The first happened when I was a sophomore in high school. It was a Friday night and I was at work at a grocery store in town. The pain became so intense that I vomited. I was sent home moments later and spent the rest of the night in bed with a cold washcloth on my forehead.

I honestly don’t remember the pain like that returning for years. But over the past decade or so, the migraines have returned. They always start off the same, a regular headache that progressively gets more intense. I vomit a few times and the pain subsides and I’m back to normal.

These headaches have sprung up at work where I’ve just ‘toughed it out’ and went on about my business. I even had it happen during Monday Night Raw on two different WrestleMania weekend trips. In Dallas, I had to get up from my seat three different times to deal with the issue. My partner in crime on the trip, Chad thought I had a tiny bladder at first, then I told him my issue. Later that year, my buddy Tom experienced my pain head on when we went to a beer tasting in the Metro East. On the two hour drive home he had to pull over twice on Interstate 57 so I could vomit.

My most recent episode is pretty funny actually. Saturday afternoon my wife and I spent a few hours on the lake with our friends Trisha and Steve. Toward the end of our time in the water, I could feel a headache coming on. As we pulled the boat out of the water and made plans to meet for dinner an hour later, I knew it was going to be a rough night. But I didn’t want to cancel our plans.

We picked up Steve and Trish and as I was driving down Route 148 in Herrin, I knew I was going to get sick. I pulled over in a driveway (it was the first safe spot) and proceeded to vomit at the end of the curb. I popped back into the car and apologize for the scene I’d just laid out.

I thought I was going to be okay when we arrived at the restaurant. I ordered a glass of water and hoped for the best. But as we sat and waited for our salads, I knew I was in trouble. I walked outside and saw other diners enjoying their meal on the balcony of the restaurant. I knew I couldn’t get sick in front of all those people, so I proceeded down the sidewalk and the projectile vomiting started. I threw up three times behind a building and as I wiped my mouth (I had grabbed some paper towels out of the bathroom) I looked up and saw a sign that read “This Area Under Video Surveillance” I feel bad for whoever views that footage.

Needless to say, I didn’t eat and continued to chat with my dinner companions, thinking the whole time the pain hadn’t gone away like it usually does. I drove our friends back home and asked my wife to continue behind the wheel to our house. I reclined my seat and moaned as we made the approximate 10-minute drive home. As she prepared to turn into our driveway I yelled “STOP!” and got out only to vomit three more times on my lawn.

I came in cleaned up, brushed my teeth and went to bed. I slept for 12 hours. I woke up Sunday feeling better but was still a bit groggy. I’ve always pinpointed the main trigger to a lack of water. Saturday, in particular, was a hot day. I had only had one bottle of water to drink and three craft beers (no I wasn’t drunk).  Migraine sufferers, what are your triggers? How do you deal with the pain? Our 12-year-old daughter is going through a very similar thing right now and acupuncture has been helping her with that.