Day 20 Migraine Awareness Month #MHAMCB

Migraines run in my family. While I'm not sure how far back they go, I do know that my maternal grandma had them most of her life. All of her 5 kids talk about how bad it was for her. Back then doctors really didn't even think of migraines as a real disease and mostly chalked it up to a her being a woman and not coping well with life. Triptans didn't exist so her only rescue option was to take a sleeping pill and hopefully sleep through the worst of it. The only saving grace here is that her migraines never went chronic.

Most of her five kids have had at least one or two migraines in their lives but none have suffered the way grandma did. All five of her kids have kids of their own (11 total) and most of us have also had at least one or two migraines. A handful of us have had enough of them that we have prescriptions for rescue meds. I went chronic 7 years ago and just in the last year or so one of my younger cousins also went chronic. We have been the unlucky ones who have suffered more than grandma did.

Migraines are very much a part of my family. Even though we've all had at least one, it's really only my one chronic cousin and I who understand them. The rest still carry around misconceptions and false beliefs based on their very limited experience. To make matters worse, they are all pretty convinced that this experience has made them experts. 

That is a big part of why I've been spending this month dispelling migraine myths of my personal facebook page. Although, I have serious doubts that people are actually reading the links and posts. Such is life.

June 2013, Migraine and Headache Awareness Month, is dedicated to Unmasking the Mystery of Chronic Headache Disorders. The 2013 Migraine and Headache Awareness Month Blog Challenge is a project ofFightingHeadacheDisorders.com.