My name is Dana and I suffer from chronic migraines. 

Frequently, these migraines cripple me from doing the things that I really love or the things that I simply have to do. It's hard to get to class when the lights in classrooms are so bright I may as well roll over and hide under my desk. I can't get to my volunteer positions like at the animal shelter because working in harsh lights with dogs barking is not ideal for a migraine. Then there's the thing I love to do that keeps me going day to day but when I am experiencing migraines I cannot drive. That prevents me from going to the barn. Even if the barn was within walking distance, it probably wouldn't be the smartest idea to get on my big anglo-arab gelding while my brain is only partly functional and attempt to jump. I might actually cause serious brain damage there. 

My point is that if you suffer from chronic migraines, like I do, it is important to talk to your primary physician about it. For a while I just took Excedrin but then I learned my migraines were getting worse because of what is called a "rebound headache" which comes from taking medicines like Excedrin over long periods of time. It got to the point where I had to speak to my doctor and I also have stomach problems which made some treatments not possible for me. 

I just sat there and let it get really bad the first time I had a chronic migraine. It caused me to cause a car accident and fail a midterm for a class that I ended up acing every other assignment. I knew something was wrong but my parents were convinced it would go away, I was new to college so they weren't seeing me everyday, but my roommate saw my craziness and I think I may have scared her out of any head pain. I was hallucinating towards the end. Finally, my roommate took a stand and told me, "Dana, you have to go to the hospital. This is out of control. You can't go to class. You can't do anything." I knew she was right and despite her offer to drive me to the hospital, I made the incredibly stupid choice of driving myself to the hospital. I fainted a few feet into the doorway. 

A word to the wise: DON'T LET IT EVER GET THIS BAD! Not even morphine could take the edge off the pain. TV hurt to watch and listen to. It's pretty hard to read and all sound is hard to bear. Besides that, migraines are a BLAST! 

Make sure that if you suffer from chronic migraines you figure out the trigger, my trigger is stress and I take anti-anxiety medication to try to minimize this risk, and talk to your doctor. Sometimes a general practitioner is not enough, if migraines control your life, you need a neurologist. If you're not into Western medicine, there have been some success stories with acupuncture. 

Whatever the migraine is, don't let it fester and grow!