MIGRAINE HEADACHES

since i was little, i've had migraine headaches. light blinds like cold heat. my stomach turns in on itself. sounds pierce like knifes in clamps. they disable me. if it hits at home, you'll find me locked away in darkened silence. anywhere else and i'm the guy curled into a ball with his head buried between his knees.

my mom took me to see a doctor when i was young. she was concerned over the possibility of it being a more serious condition, especially since it wasn't an affliction shared in my family. after so many missed days of school, the hospital was the answer. the medically informed assessed my aches and decided upon my triggers. lack of sleep. caffeine. cheese. chocolate. in order to avoid future migraines, i should avoid these triggers. they also gave me a prescription for migraine killers. sometimes they worked. sometimes they didn't.

whether these things were the beginnings of the throbbings in my skull is up for debate. i'm a big coffee connoisseur. i love chocolate and cheese. on average, i get 6 or 7 hours of sleep a night. still, over the years, the frequency of the headaches has declined.

recently, though, i've been getting them again. i've had three in the past few weeks. i have Excedrin migraine and if taken at the very beginning, it can sometimes dull it to just tension headache pain. usually, i just have to endure. i spent most of saturday curled in fetal position under a blanket. my skull shrinking under my scalp. cutting the world out until i could handle it again.