Stories Collected While Living in France

French la Vie

A Miracle, Well at this Moment it is

I feel like I might jinx this if I say it, but on the other hand it is so surprising I have to say something. It is such a rare gift!

Since I was fourteen I have had a migraine at least every ten days or less. If it hasn't been full blown, lasting for a few days, it only means that I have "caught" it in time. Medication has been my only peace of mind. I have tried nearly everything… the only thing that has helped is prescription migraine medication.

For reasons unknown to me I haven't had a migraine in three weeks. I hope I don't get one tomorrow. But at this moment it feels like a miracle… no pain in three weeks.

Maybe age has something to do with it. I have noticed that my migraines are not as dreadfully painful or last as long as they use to.  Some say menopause brings a silver lining… no more migraines! But I have been menopaused since I was thirty five so that cannot be true for me.

Whatever the reason… I am happy. I hope it lasts forever.

Do you have migraines?

Comments

46 responses to “A Miracle, Well at this Moment it is”

  1. Dawn Fleming

    I am so happy for you! I have been getting various types of headaches and migraines since I have been 16. Some are migraines, other sinus & allergy related and other times stress. I too take different types of medication on a regular basis and 3 weeks ago I started allergy shots. Hopefully some time in the future I too will be able to be headache free for at least a week or longer!

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  2. LauraInSeattle

    From one sufferer to another WHOOOOO HOOOOO! Don’t change anything! Just say thank you every day, it’s a blessing.

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  3. g

    OH Corey how I can sympathize– my migraines started in my teens- sixteen-I use to just push through them; then I needed medicine-but it had an adverse effect with my system-my legs became like cement– no headache, but no movement- sometimes it would take me a week to recover-bye bye meds….now I try to watch food triggers- wine triggers- stress triggers- sun-like a day at the beach-sometimes I feel so desperate when I have one I would take ANYTHING just to not feel it-now ALL that said YEAH and here’s hoping this freedom continues-I have said this before I purchased a silver tin angel holding a laurel wreath from you some time ago-I placed her in the center of the rose wreath that hangs above my bed as a constant supplication for headache free days…also I think of you-SO SO HAPPY FOR THIS NEW(fingers crossed) TREND!!

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  4. Linda B.

    Mine have gotten less frequent over the years, thank goodness. Now it seems like I just get them at the change of the season. Glad you’re getting some relief. Hope it continues.

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  5. Tessa~

    wonderful for you.
    no, i don’t get them.
    but one of my daughters-in-law does.
    gentle hugs,
    tessa~

    Reply
  6. pc Brown

    I am SO glad to hear that you are having a break from the pain. It’s debilitating at times, inconvenient always, and frankly just not fun.
    Yes, I have migraines too. They used to be very cyclical, hormonal, I guess, then I had a complete hysterectomy and they went away. They went away for about four years and now they are back. This time with a fury and yes, I too rely on medication, dark silent rooms, and ice packs. The medication brings me back to a place where I can function, but the dull pressure in my eye and head are still constant companions for days, and the medicine causes dizziness and tummy troubles.
    Peppermint oil rubbed on my temple soothes, but doesn’t eliminate, caffeine actually helps- a bit.
    I’ve had two brain scans to see if there was a tumor, nope! So ya for small mercies!

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  7. Star

    I am so so glad for you, Corey! I hope this lasts.
    I have had a few painful migraines but most of mine are what they term “silent” migraines with blinking visual auras that are usually triggered by a bright glint or flash of light.

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  8. Marilyn

    So very happy for you and I also hope it last.
    How exciting for you! No migraines here. I have
    had only two in my life time and thankful that is all.
    Oh I hope it lasts for you!

    Reply
  9. liz

    Did you change your diet? I heard doctors found that people who suffer from migraines may have celiac disease. When switching to a gluten free diet, the headaches immediately went away and freed them from all medications. Thought this might be some news you could use. And if you don’t have celiac or gluten intolerance, then praying that you have had a miracle freeing you from all headaches forever…Amen!

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  10. pam

    I have read that if you eat glutin free and no processed food that will keep you miagrane free

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  11. Jody

    Corey,
    I too have migraines. I also have celiac disease and follow a gluten free diet which unfortunately hasn’t helped with the migraines. I’m so happy that something is working for you and pray it continues!

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  12. Cousin Linda

    I started paying attention to possible food triggers and have narrowed it down to a couple. I avoid red wine and aged cheeses. I’m currently drinking Rose wine with no problem. Know that you tend to drink also drink more Rose in the summer months. Also found that indulging in known food triggers one day is ok, but 3 days in a row and then comes the migraine. I avoid red wine, aged cheeses, foods with nitrates. Has resulted in fewer and less severe migraines. Try cutting back on the red wine and especially hard cheeses which are aged longer.

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  13. Debbie

    Hi Corey – I am rejoicing in your pain free days right now! I had non- stop migraines for 25 years, the only variable was how debilitating. Unable to move or able to power through. Medications didn’t help. Innumerable neurologists, brain scans, diet changes, etc etc. then about three years ago they began to slow, to be less intense, to arrive less often and now (I am almost afraid to write this) they have stopped. Prayers of gratitude going out for you, me and everyone who suffered these things and is now feeling the absence of pain.

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  14. Kathie B

    Corey, has anything been different in your life (or environment) the past three weeks? Can you reconstruct a diary of everything you’ve consumed (or avoided, even unintentionally) to see if a pattern emerges — especially if a beneficial change becomes apparent that might possibly be causational, so that you’d want to perpetuate it? (E.g., a year after I quit eating meat I suddenly realized one day that I’d stopped getting food-poisoning any more).

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  15. Debra

    Oh, so happy you are feeling well. I can not imagine having that type of pain so often. I do not remember you sharing this before, but pain free living is a huge gift. Have a great week! Xo

    Reply
  16. Diane Belforte Lewis

    Don’t know if you remember my mom having them, but they were doozies. I can’t remember what age she was, but when she got older they just stopped! Hopefully yours will too.

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  17. Shelley Noble

    Thank God. Thank God. SO happy to hear this, Corey. May it always be so, if that’s for the very best.

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  18. Momof5

    So happy and hope your migraine relief is permanent! I had migraines for years and was on various medications . Then my doctor suggested hormone replacement therapy and bingo no more migraines. It felt like a miracle. But after five years I had to come off hrt and was afraid I’d start haviing them again but I haven’t. A migraine is rare these days and only triggered by too much red wine so I stick with white or rose. Hope you never have another migraine!

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  19. Linda

    My sister gets fewer migraines with botox injections along with some wrinkle reduction. Migraines run in my family but skipped me except except during a time of high stress when I developed optical migranes woth a visual object with colors and moving parts that interfered with my vision-hard to explain. Once the stress went away, so did the problem. I hope your stopping the migraines is permanant.

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  20. Dee

    Reading this about you and others makes me feel somewhat comforted. Almost everything I read in these comments I can relate to. I had migranes and headaches most of my adult life. None of my friends were bothered with them. My family members weren’t very sympathetic when about once or twice a month I ended up in bed for the day with a headache. Now that I’m in my late sixty’s, they’ve subsided for the most part. Hope this happens for you, too.

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  21. Linda G.

    I always had a once-a-month migraine when I was much younger, and usually missed a day of school. They disappeared after I had a hysterectomy many years ago. My husband suffered with cluster headaches, which are often described as the worst of all headaches. After almost 30 years of one and sometimes two a day, his are finally starting to abate. Our son suffered from migraines when he was a teenager, and now and then as an adult. Seems it would be reasonable to deduct that they run in our family. I guess we can at least be grateful that there are meds now that lessen or kill the pain. My great grandmother lived in the days before aspirin, had terrible headaches and (so the story has been handed down) all she could do to relieve the pain was to tie a large handkerchief around her forehead…as tight as she could. I’ve often thought of her — living on a farm, having 7 children, making their clothing, cooking meals for at least 9 people 3 times a day — and all the while trying to ignore a raging headache. They had to be strong in those days!

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  22. Noelle

    Corey,
    Mine started during my last pregnancy at age 28. They were not as bad as some describe, but then again, everyone has a different level of pain tolerance. By age 45 they had slowed from at least one a month to perhaps 3 a year. Then in my 50s, they’re next to gone–perhaps 1 a year. I felt mine were hormonally related. No medication helped and I was grateful as they only lasted a day. Hoping yours are gone forever! Will pray for your relief and with gratitude for the current reprieve. Enjoy the beautiful Summer pain free and in peace!

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  23. pattyg

    Hi Corey,
    I have had a few migraines over the years, but never enough to see a doctor for it.
    Sometimes I’ll start to have the visual Aura and try to immediately take ibuprofen, and if I can, close my eyes and sleep it off.
    I do have sensitivity to certain kinds of light. I also have lately tried to stay really, really hydrated.
    I think if I drink alchol, and caffeineted drinks, they may led to a migraine. Also I do have a fair amount of tension in my neck, and lately, I have wondered if some probable arthritis in my upper neck could also be a contributing factor.
    I so hope your migraines continue to let up!

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  24. Julia – Vintage with Laces

    I keep my fingers crossed for you, Corey. It would be wonderful if your migraines would be gone. I got them since I was 11. Mine are hormone related but I also get one when I’m stressed, when it’s very humid and sometimes I just can’t find out a reason. I’ve tried everything over the years, from acupuncture, special diet, musle relaxation with electro impulses etc. The only thing that works is heavy migraine medicine. It can’t take so long anymore that I get into menopause and I hope it will get better than.

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  25. Susan Davis

    I used to get them when I was young (7o’s) and when extra strength Tylenol was invented if I took it soon enough I could ward off the migraine. I always carried the med, of course. I am 63 and haven’t have a migraine since my 30’s. Also, have to tell you about my friend Karri. We were flight attendants together and she used to get migraines so bad, we had to call her husband when we landed and he had to carry her off the aircraft. Her mom got them too and tried every headache clinic the University of Minnesota ever had, so it was hereditary. Karri’s husband sold dental equipment and he wanted her to try a new product (early 90’s) that was a retainer on front teeth, top and bottom, that prevented jaw from clenching. She was convinced she didn’t clench teeth in her sleep. Her dentist fitted her with the retainer. It worked and she hasn’t had a headache in years. At her yearly Dr. appointment the Dr. was ready to prescribe a years worth of meds and was shocked she didn’t need them anymore. He now sends migraine sufferers to the dentist to get the retainer. Karri doesn’t need the retainer anymore as her jaw is trained not to clench. Hope this will work for some the the sufferers who commented. Migraines are so dreadful and stop life when they attack.

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  26. Francesca

    I got the migraine gene from my father, (a migraineur, like his father was) who was truly devastated when I got my first episode at the age of 5. He took the day off work and spent the day by my side, massaging my head, holding the bucket when I had to vomit. I am 53 now, and still have them every 20 days or so. I truly hope yours have gone away forever. x

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  27. Martha Chabinsky

    I started having migraines when I was 15, and continued until I was 30. They stopped for a long time and started again when I was 58. There’s a wonderful article by a Johns Hopkins neurologist about triggers…on the web. You can have one trigger at a time and generally not have a problem, it’s when you have several that you end up with a headache. Some very common things can be triggers, for example, bananas, vinegar, avocados, raspberries. Check out that article.
    Even better though, i can stop a headache cold with Migra Spray! It’s a homeopathic remedy available on Amazon, that works like magic, particularly if you take it immediately. I take it with me everywhere!!

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  28. Wendy Shippee

    I have to laugh, reading all the comments. You would think with all the people suffering from migraines research would have come up with a cure by now!
    I too suffer with migraines, I get this from my mother. We have sinus and non-sinus. I take meds (zomig and maxalt) which help, but I tried Botox for migraines and that really helped, though not so much for sinus type. The doctor gave me some shots in the back of my head and in each temple area. It worked 3 months now. I don’t know if I will try it again, I only did so as an experiment after a very bad optic migraine ( which I had never experienced before). It was terrible and I vowed I would try anything, and I did!!
    Lucky you Corey, I hope the spell is broken!!

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  29. Jude

    Thank goodness for Imetrex. It was a miracle drug for me. It knocks out a migraine when you initially feel the symptoms. It used to be dreadfully expensive, but since the patent has expired, you can get the generic more reasonably. Mine were heat related and I enjoy being in the heat so it was a godsend.

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  30. Gracie

    Menopause is not only a matter of not having periods, hormones still were running in your body, maybe now is the real menopause that’s getting you better than before. It’s happening to me for my asthma.

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  31. Lynne

    I used to have them . . .
    DREADFUL
    Made me non functioning, sometimes for days . . .
    Medication became my saving grace . . .
    Sometimes one would appear out of nowhere though, even with medication . . .
    They were even more DREADFUL . . .
    And then they stopped . . .
    Just like that . . .
    Done Over Kaput
    I hope your three weeks becomes fifty two and more . . .

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  32. Julie Loeschke

    My dear mother-in-law used to get them about every three days.She was sick to her stomach and had to stay in the dark.Through all that she raised four children and helped run the family farm.I was sympathetic,but didn’t really understand until I had one.Who took care of me?She did,of course.I never had another one,thank God.

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  33. carolyn

    Corey, I get vision migraines. They are awful. Not only do I have the whole splitting headache, but I also get bluury vision with floating spots.
    I have to consciously force myself to relax, relax my jaw, etc. Eventually it wil go away. I believe they are stress related.
    Glad you are without pain and feeling good!

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  34. La Contessa

    The Miracle for me TODAY is you are in my INBOX!LIke old times……….not that BLOGLOVIN!As an e-mail…………………HOORAY!
    I too went through menopause early!Not as early as you but early!It was a piece of cake…….couple hot flashes and that was it!
    I hope those NASTY M’s stay away……..I cannot imagine feeling them so often!
    XOXOX

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  35. Di

    Oh, Corey. I am sorry you suffer with migraines. And I am thrilled with the relief you have experienced. May it just continue, on and on.
    Blessings,
    Di

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  36. Helene

    So much headache suffering for you and other readers of your blog. I want to mention an herbal rub that seems to help. It is a compound of peppermint and other herbal essential oils that is called Past Tense by DoTerra. It comes in a tube with a roller ball. When rubbed on the painful, tight parts of the head and neck the sensation starts to tingle in a way that seems to dispel the headache. It doesn’t seem to work for everyone but it is a very simple to try without any side effects. I hope it works for you as well as it does for me.

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  37. Jennie

    I’m sorry you have been dealing with them so long! I know how you feel and have had them since 12 (when hormones kicked in). Normally I get migraines around that fun monthly time. But I recently discovered while taking antihistamines for allergies (they are so bad here in Atlanta and I am on Claritin) that they also made my migraines stop! I also read an article stating women get sick more often and asthma symptoms are worse right before and during their period. So I suppose the antihistamine does something to calm the system down. If they come back for you, try some Claritin or something like it for a while and see if it helps! Good luck!

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  38. suzanna

    no, but lately, for weeks or even months I have had a headache everyday, I wonder if this is due to “mold”, I don’t know. I have never been known to get headaches, they are horrible….I forge ahead inspite of them, though they are a nagging along in my head….I am thinking of a neurologist, but do not like MRI”s….yet this just doesn’t seem normal to me….advil helps but Nasaids all the time is a concern, I really don’t know, I am seeking a occusal guard for night time, maybe I am gnawing my teeth and don’t realize how much it is doing…..I feel ya Corey ~

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  39. Paula

    I am another migraine sufferer.
    Good luck with yours.
    And, receiving the email blog was thrilling!

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  40. Rebecca

    I too, get migraines. Not as frequently since my hysterectomy. Some of my triggers are eye strain, bright lights, and fumes from gasoline when I am pumping gas into my car.
    I pray you never get another headache!

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  41. Linda Kay

    I used to have migraines on a fairly regular basis. When I started taking beta-blocker (Toprol XL) for my blood pressure, the migraines stopped. What a wonderful “side effect”

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  42. Teresa Young

    As you know I have them…but I must tell you mine have become less frequent the past few years….they got worse during the beginning of menopause, and as the years go on, I get them less frequent. I’ve been through the food thing keeping a diary of everything I ate, trying to find the culprit, took a series a 2 allergy shots a week for 3 years. One thing that I have found is barometric pressure, when a change in weather is going on, often causes my headaches. And the 2nd thing is taking my meds at the first sign to prevent them from getting out of hand.
    Peace my friend….so glad to hear your good news.

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  43. Leslie in Oregon

    I hope you continue to be migraine-free. Until I reached my natural age for menopause, I had very painful, debilitating headaches. (I always felt were sinus-related rather than migraines, but my doctor felt that they well could be migraines.) In the 15 years since that menopause, I have had only one headache, and it was a symptom of the cold I had. It has been wonderful to be headache-free, and I wish the same for you.

    Reply
  44. Sue Morris

    I get them occasionally and they are horrible, but my 39year old son gets them frequently and has been getting them since he was about 5years old….he suffers dreadfully – cannot go to work and finds it hard to function for about three days when they are at their worst……I hope that yours will stay away forever…..hugs.

    Reply
  45. Paula

    Oh that is a blessing that you havnt had one for a while. With any luck hofully the will get less and less. I, like you had migraines from 14 years of age. They were so delibating even after the pain had gone I felt so weak for days. Thankfully I do not get them so much these days and definately no so severe. Who knows maybe one day we will be migraine free.

    Reply
  46. Jeannie

    I had been diagnosed with migraines when I turned 50. Not the way I wanted to start the next half of life! After years of suffering for days on end with no relief, I was finally diagnosed with cervical dystonia – not migraines! The muscles in my neck contort and squeeze the nerves causing the headaches. I still get bad headaches, but less frequently. I get Botox injections in my neck/shoulder muscles every 3 months.

    Reply

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