Headaches suck

I get migraine headaches. They suck. For those of you that have never had a migraine headache, please let me try to describe the experience.

Sometimes you get a warning that you're about to have one. Sometimes it is an unexplained smell. Sometimes it is a cloudiness in one eye that just doesn't go away. Some people see "auras." I've never seen an "aura" so I have no idea what that is like. I usually get the cloudiness and the smell together. I can't describe the smell. I only know that when I smell it, I'd better be close to some Excedrin Migraine.

Okay, so what happens after the smell/cloudiness? I usually start to yawn alot. I'm not tired, I'm just yawning. Then I feel the pressure build in my left temple. It feels like a little gremlin is inside my brain pounding away with a spike hammer. My left eye begins to become sensitized to light. Everything begins to hurt. Thoughts hurt. Smells hurt. Light hurts. Pain hurts. The pain begins to intensify until it reaches a state where the pain is so bad that suicide seems like a winning option. By this time the pain is all that you can think about, all you expect and the one thing that you want to escape.

At some point in this process the rest of your body begins to revolt as well. Your bowels desire to turn loose, so does your stomach. Sometimes this happens simoultaneously. This doesn't offer relief, only more irritation as the smells, tastes and after-effects reach the rest of your senses.

There are various ways of dealing with migrainous pain, none of them are effective at all times. I've taken pills, suppositories, shots. I've used massage therapy, accu-pressure and mental visualization techniques. I've used herbal remedies as well. The only true way to defeat a migraine is through time. My time used to be about 14 hours. It's down to about 7 to 9 hours now. That's 7 to 9 hours of being almost completely incapacitated though.

That being said. I had a migraine last night.