‘IT’S LIKE SOMEONE HAS TAKEN A PICKAXE TO MY HEAD’
Digital PR executive Karen Martin, 29, from Lancaster, has chronic cluster headaches, a rare type of migraine that affects one to two people in every 1,000. She had her first migraine at the age of 10.
Heading into town with my friends, I felt nauseous. I’d planned a big night out for my 21st birthday, but I was about to be floored by a crippling migraine.
“I’m so sorry,” I cried to my friends. “I can’t do it. Carry on without me.”
It’s hard not to feel resentful about the things I’ve missed because of migraines. I had my first one aged 10, but as my mum Christine also suffered with them, I was able to find treatment quickly. I was prescribed medication and I’d spend days lying in a dark room with an ice pack on my head. But after two years, the pain got worse.
Changes in the weather and air pressure would trigger intense migraines, causing me to have painful sinuses and poor balance. It felt like someone had taken a hot pickaxe to my skull. I was diagnosed with chronic cluster headaches, a rare type of headache that can last for several weeks at a time.
Migraine is a term that gets thrown around with little understanding. What I’m living with isn’t just a bad headache, it’s everything that comes with it, from dizziness and difficulties with balance to changes to my taste buds. I’ll be fine one week, then plan a holiday and be struck
down with a paralysing attack. I hate being the one laid up in bed while everyone else is having fun.
I have an amazing group of friends and luckily they understand that I can be unreliable. But in the past, some people have assumed I use migraines as an excuse not to socialise. It’s made my career more challenging too, as I can’t afford to take weeks off work.
In my working life so far, I’ve had more than 120 migraine-affected days. When the pain is at its worst, I try to push through. I use two medications, sumatriptan and codeine phosphate, and I’ll wear sunglasses at my desk when the sensory overload is too much.
I don’t know whether it’s possible for me to stop having migraines, but I’m determined to manage them as best I can.
I’m planning to see a headache specialist and I have friends in the online community who recommend Botox injections. I’m my own advocate, educating people on what migraines are and how they differ. It’s helping me to feel less stressed, which is another trigger.
Migraines need to be clearly defined and understood. If I cancelled everything or stopped making plans for fear of an attack, I would never leave the house. I don’t want to miss out on anything and I feel like I’m finally turning a corner.