CHRONIC TONIC posts on Thursdays at 9 p.m. EST. It is a place to share stories, advice, and information and to connect with others with chronic health conditions and those who care for them. Our diarists will report on research, alternative treatments, clinical trials, and health insurance issues through personal stories. You are invited to share in comments (and note if you'd like to be a future diarist).
Tonight's diary by: triv33
A lot of people get migraines and if you're one of them, you know what it feels like. When people find out I'm on disability sometimes they ask me what for, after all, I look just fine. My stock answer is intractable migraine and it's often met with, "That's it? They give you disability just for that? A headache?" I used to try to explain it, try to tell them that, no, it's not just a headache, my diagnosis is intractable migraine/chronic cluster combination headache, nowadays, I just say, "Yup."
Intractable, in that the migraine is always with me, sometimes better and sometimes worse, but never completely gone and combined with attacks of cluster headaches. These bad boys will wake you from a sound sleep, come on with no warning, can strike up to ten times a day and last anywhere from 15 minutes to three hours. As hard as it may be to believe, I can walk around and function with a screaming migraine just because at this point, I'm used to it, but a cluster, I don't care who you are, will take you down. The cluster headache is known by another name as well. They call it the suicide headache.
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