Thursday Thirteen - 45 - 13 Things About Chronic Migraine Pain

For the past two weeks I've been held in the piercing talons of a migraine. You may recall I've mentioned my recurring migraines from time to time. Unfortunately I react to barometric changes, especially incoming low pressure systems, and we've had very unsettled weather lately. By Monday I was so worn down I muddled my way home from work and found myself sitting on the couch crying for a good half hour. My husband held onto me until I felt like I could face the next hour again. If I could have chopped my head off I would have done it.

My Thursday Thirteen this week is a collection of information on migraines as well as eloquent artwork that says it all.


1 - "The term migraine is originally derived from the Greek word hemicrania, which means "half of the head." And, for 70 percent of migraine sufferers, the headache is unilateral or occurring on one side." - National Headache Foundation










2 - "Migraine headaches have been attributed to malfunctions of the brainstem nucleus, and brainstem pathways that affect nerves and blood vessels in the head. Thus, all of the patient's conditions could arise from malfunctions within the brainstem and most could be attributed to a single neurotransmitter, serotonin." - Frank M. Painter, D.C.

"The trigeminal nerve pathway carries nerve signals from the head and face to the brain. When a migraine is triggered, the trigeminal nerve releases neuropeptides causing inflammation and dilation of the blood vessels. Subsequently, trigeminal nerve endings stimulate the release of more neuropeptides and a vicious cycle is begun. Serotonin regulates pain messages via the trigeminal pathway. There is evidence that changed levels of serotonin (a neurotransmitter) may cause migraines." - AOL Hometown

Julia's note: My face often swells on the side where I experience the migraine - my right side.



3 - "Migraine sufferers are twice as likely to experience a stroke, compared to people who do not get this type of headache. People whose migraines are accompanied by auras, such as scintillating lights or other visual disturbances, are at somewhat higher risk of a future stroke than are those whose migraines do not produce auras." - University of Washington, Science Daily

Onset of stroke symptoms (Julia's note: these mimic the onset of my migraines exactly):
"Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body
Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding
Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes
Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination
Sudden, severe headache with no known cause" - American Heart Association


4 - "Migraineurs often experience auditory-related symptoms such as increased sensitivity to sounds and difficulty in processing auditory information. There is some evidence that there may be abnormalities in certain brain regions. Amplitude growth for auditory brainstem response (ABR) was larger for the migraine group. These results may suggest subtle, but enduring, abnormalities in the central auditory system in migraineurs." - Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, University of North Texas, informaworld.com


5 - "A recent study entitled "The Effects of Weather on the Frequency and Severity of Migraine Headaches" conducted in Canada arrived at the following conclusions: A) "Phase 4" weather, characterized by a drop in barometric pressure, the passing of a warm front, high temperature and humidity and oftentimes rain, is closely associated with higher frequency and severity of Migraine attacks.
B) a high humidex discomfort index during the summer is associated with an increased frequency of Migraine attacks
C) wind from the southeast was shown to be associated with more attacks than wind from any other direction
D) a number of Migraine sufferers may be sensitive to extreme rates of barometric pressure changes." - Michael John Coleman and Terri Miller Burchfield, migraines.org

Painting by Peter Gachot




6 - "In the remote part of Washington State, in the community of Oak Harbor, a mother named Erika Miller was entertaining her little two year old daughter, Alana, when on Thursday night (September 13th, 2007) she had a break though Migraine which hit her very hard. "I remember feeling a little bit dizzy," she said. "Took two or three more steps and hit the floor."

It was reported that Baby Alana actually saw her mother Erika collapse in the next room. She then walked up to the coffee table, picked up the telephone and dialed 9-1-1. According to Petty Officer William Cummings, on the Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, "While she was on the phone she said 'Mommy ouch.'"

Petty Officer Cummings reacted to the two-year-old’s cryptic message. He checked out Alana's house only to find Erika on the floor, with young caller Alana in the other room, reportedly getting a blanket for her mom, who was shivering from the effects of an intractable Migraine attack. Paramedics took Erika to the hospital where she was released the same day.

Erika says she now has the correct medication, but says she finds comfort in knowing that Alana knows what to do in case of an emergency. According to KOMO-TV Erika said, "I was shocked to hear my 2-year-old had the ability and knowledge to call 911." - Michael John Coleman and Terri Miller Burchfield, MyMigraineConnection.com


7 - "Like so many people with chronic pain who have to keep a full-time job, mental disconnection was Hazel’s main way of coping. For her 24 years at the phone company, she put all of her energy every day into just getting through work 'like a robot' - a comparison she makes often - while keeping the pain a secret from most others. When she got home, she could do nothing but collapse." - Paula Kamen, NY Times

Photo by Dolores Neilson






8 - "I remember severe attacks that lasted for 19 days, and the acute pain was so intense that I couldn't sleep for four days. These are nightmarish memories." - Michael John Coleman, photographer

Julia's note: the squiggles in the lower righthand corner are what I see as a visual disturbance (minus the yellow color) when I'm having a migraine
Painting by Walther Morganthaler




9 - "In ancient Rome, patients with unbearable head pain were sometimes treated with jolts from the electricity-producing black torpedo fish, or electric ray.

Scribonius Largus, physician to Emperor Claudius, was a staunch advocate of the remedy. 'To immediately remove and permanently cure a headache, however long-lasting and intolerable, a live black torpedo is put on the place which is in pain, until the pain ceases and the part grows numb,' he wrote in the first century.

But recently, electrical or electromagnetic devices that hark back to the head-zapping torpedo fish have come into vogue among the country’s most prominent migraine researchers. In transcranial magnetic stimulation, a magnetic device is pressed to the back of the head, and brief pulses are delivered, altering electrical activity inside the brain in hopes of halting the migraine before it progresses. This approach is being studied only for patients whose migraines begin with an aura, or premonitory phase, that is typically characterized by flashing lights or other visual disturbances." - Amanda Schaffer, NY Times

Julia's note: This is the exact floating shape I see as a aura before the onset of a migraine. Drawing by Anton van Amerongen




10 - "Around 1550BC, the Egyptians would firmly bind a clay crocodile holding grain in its mouth to the head of the patient with shooting head pains using a strip of linen. The linen bore the names of the gods whom the Egyptians believed could cure their ailments. In actual fact, the process may have relieved the headache by compressing the scalp, and possibly collapsing distended vessels that were causing the pain." - Louise Alexander, HeadacheAustralia.org.au















11 - Famous migraineurs: Julius Caesar, Friedrich Nietzsche, Sigmund Freud, Lewis Carroll, Cervantes (Don Quixote), George Bernard Shaw, Vincent Van Gogh, Claude Monet, Tchaikovsky and Elvis Presley. - National Headache Foundation








12 - "As I look at my work from the perspective of living with Migraines, I see imagery that appears impervious to many things. The subjects seem to be more than capable of preventing anything from hurting, altering or dominating them. Perhaps in some respects I've built them, whether in paint or clay, in the way I'd like to be, too powerful to be altered by many things, blinding 'beats' of pain being one of them." - Janet McKenzie, New York artist based in Vermont

Panel from a piece by Clayton Campbell




13 - "The daggers of pain continue but Courage gains power and holds off the Dark Knight till you are strong again." - 'Lady Sharon', a migraineur