“With
me, they started when
I was almost 40,” said
56‑year‑old
Marcia Robertson in a
telephone interview. “I
was having them only several
times a year then, and
just 12 hours at a time.”
By
age 43 she was waking
up daily with a migraine.
A doctor then diagnosed
her with “intractable
migraine headache.” Today,
Marcia has them literally
around the clock and tries
managing them with various
pain medications.
“I’ve
always told people they
feel like an ice cream
headache that won’t go
away,” she said. “They
are also like really bad
hangovers in that I have
nausea, too.”
Of
course she’d rather not
have the migraines. She
has lost friends. In 2000
the constant pain led
her to quit a job she
loved in education. She
won’t drive because of
being drowsy on
medication, and over the
years has missed numerous
activities involving her
son and daughter, twins,
now 21. However, she’s
still able to function
well enough to do paperwork
for the family business.
Her
husband over the years
has been her best advocate,
especially with people
discounting or dismissing
her constant pain and
occasional emergency room
personnel believing she’s
a drug addict seeking
a high.
Besides
traditional methods to
soothe pain, Marcia has
tried chiropractors in
three states, naturopathic
medicine, diet modification,
acupuncture and acupressure.
The only help has been
Botox injections administered
to her forehead every
three months.
“Many
people don’t understand
migraines,” she said.
“They think they are no
big deal. But with them
full‑blown, basically
I’m not able to function
and have to lay in a dark
room with an ice pack
on my forehead.”
Mostly
due to the unyielding
pain, she began in 1998
having bouts with major
depression. Because of
her children, she never
seriously considered committing
suicide, yet kept the
option “on the table”
until the Botox injections
began working, she related.
To
help herself and others
cope, Marcia started a
chronic pain support group
for her area.
“It’s
nice to be around people
that understand chronic
pain, people you can telephone
and not depress with your
problems,” she said.
