To think my friend has never had a proper migraine and has no idea what she's talking about?

[Sleepswithbutterflies]

I had to cancel on a friend last week due to migraine. Friend was a bit snippy about which I get - it's annoying when plans are cancelled at short notice. She said when she has a migraine she just takes a couple of paracetamol and carries on as normal.

Ha ha ha. The migraine I experienced last week affected my vision, speech, balance and caused loss of feeling in one side of my body. I was sick over and over and over again and at one point dh contemplated phoning an ambulance. Paracetamol? Ha ha ha. I don't get them often but when I do they're a force to be reckoned with. Even now my head still feels bruised and I'm sensitive to the light. No way could I have gone anywhere, driving would have been a bad idea. At one point I couldn't remember my own house number.

Aibu to think she actually has never experienced a real migraine because if she had she would have a bit more sympathy than 'take a couple of paracetamol and carry on as usual.'

Oh, and DD's started when she was 6 as "abdominal migraines". While nothing has been found that helps her yet, it was an astute paed that figured it out. When the headache type arrived, at least we knew what we were seeing.

I never vomit with migraines.

I've never known a migraine that wasn't completely debilitating. I vomit for hours, can't open my eyes as the slightest bit of light hurts, and can only get any relief by lying completely still in positions that would normally be extremely uncomfortable. I honestly don't understand anyone who can continue to function through them - it literally isn't possible for me. It gets right on my wick when people think it's just a bad headache.

All migraines are different rally. It is perfectly possible to have migraines that don't hurt at all, or that are controllable with painkillers.

However, I strongly suspect that most of the people who claim to be struggling bravely on the ought their horrid migraines are simply bigging up nasty headaches.

I get visual disturbances, the feeling of travel sickness, sometimes I have communication problems, and the most awful awful pain.
I have been told that its likely that I suffer vestibular migraine too.
Either way they're buggers, and I move heaven and earth to catch it in time with my prescribed tablet.
If I do though, things can change reasonably quickly,so I'm quite able to go about my normal business -I just feel a bit odd and 'disassociated'.

I carry on much of the time. I simply don't have a choice - I get lots of of them and I have 3 children.

I get some where the headache isn't awful, but it's most certainly a migraine -nausea, an ache down into the jaw, a sensation of pressure behind the right eye, sensitivity to smells. I get others where the headache is dreadful. I often lose words, etc.

The only consistent thing is that for it to go, sleeping in a darkened room is essential. When that can't happen, I carry on as best I can until it's possible.

I wasn't suggesting otherwise Evil, just that I wish that was my experience of a migraine!

I am with you tho - I think a lot of people think they're having a migraine when they've really just got a bad headache.

Yanbu. Migraines make me contemplate cutting my head off. If a limb hurt that much, I'd do it!

As my dd2 was born without a hand, I'd say you are just as guilty as the friend of the OP on that. Losing a limb isn't to be treated lightly either-anyway you'd probably still get phantom pain, as well as all the issues of dealing with things without that limb.

Yanbu.

I've only had a couple of migraines but both were hideous.

First time I had only a mild headache but so many peripheral symptoms I ended up in A & E being checked out for a mini stroke.

The subsequent one was 'just' headache, nausea & aversion to lights but there is no way on earth I could have taken paracetamol & carried on.