Migraine Evil

When I was in 5th grade, I began having really bad headaches that eventually progressed to full blown migraines a few years later. I suffered with them from the tender age of ten until I hit about fifty-five years of age. The pain they created was always concentrated in my right temple and could linger anywhere from an hour to three excruciatingly long days. Few were manageable while most were crippling and incapacitating in every conceivable way. Migraines are an illness that no one can visibly see, so during many of my attacks, especially in the earlier years - before more migraine awareness and treatment became more accessible - I would suffer the stares and judgments from others who were skeptical because there was no physical ailment that could be seen with the naked eye.

I vividly recall once when I was away from home and visiting a friend during my college years. I awoke very early in the morning with a severe migraine. I lay there in my bed and willed the penetrating pain in my right temple to subside but it was unrelenting, and instead became increasingly stronger and unbearable. As I tossed and turned in an effort to tame the pain in any possible way, a distinct image flashed through my mind: I was absolutely sure someone somewhere had a voodoo doll of me and was forcing a long needle in its right temple. My pain ridden body and mind insisted that there could be no explanation for the pain I was being forced to endure.

Needless to say, this imagery was something that followed me in subsequent years each time I had a migraine attack. I know it sounds silly, and I'm fairly certain that there was no one actually manipulating a voodoo doll of me, but still, when you're in the throes of so much pain, your mind often runs rampant with memories and visions of things you do not normally consider.

I am very thankful that I no longer suffer such horrific attacks now that I am much older. I am sure that anyone who suffers from a type of chronic pain can easily relate to the use of vivid imagery. Either way, the truth is that voodoo doll or no voodoo doll, migraines are an incredible evil all on their own.