I created this post as part of a campaign by Teva Pharmaceuticals. I received an American Express gift card for participating.
Going Blind and Losing my Mind?
Last Fall, my family went through a lot of stress when my daughter was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. Now both of our children are Type 1 Diabetics and require around the clock monitoring and care. They are doing well. My husband and I do our best to allow them to live normal, healthy lives.
I feel like it is an honor to take care of my children, however it is tiring and never ending. We are constantly checking blood sugar numbers, counting carbs, making judgements on the amount of insulin each child needs, changing pump sites, giving shots, and evaluating what is working or not working daily for each child. My husband and I work as a team caring for them and it literally takes us both.
I started getting intense headaches after my daughter was diagnosed. I attributed it to stress and less sleep, after all, I was getting up at 2am with two children every night for sometimes an hour at a time. I usually do weeknights while my husband does weekends – my choice since he works full time and I work part-time.
I started having headaches all of the time. Then, I started having visual disturbances and feared I was going blind. I went to my optometrist to find that my vision was 20/20. I felt like I was losing my mind, how could my vision be messing up and the doctor says I have 20/20?! He then diagnosed with migraines. He said I needed to reduce the stress in my life and get more sleep, two triggers of migraines.
My Life with Migraines
I have never had a migraine before but have had several over the past 9 months. They usually last a couple days. Not only do my migraines cause visual disturbances but I also feel nauseous and can’t work, especially not on my computer with a bright computer screen. I literally shut down and can’t work, or take care of my kids the way they need me.
At least I know what triggers my migraines, stress and fatigue. Everyone is different, maybe your triggers are one of the following:
I’m glad that I now know that what I suffer from are migraines and that I am not going blind or losing my mind. I try not to be supermom as much either, allowing my husband to take over some of the weekly middle-of-the-night blood sugar checks so that my body doesn’t get to the state of fatigue that causes my migraines.
More to Migraines
I’ve learned a lot on the More To Migraine website about migraines. Did you know that 36 million Americans suffer from migraines about 18% of American Women and 6% of American Men?! There is a lot more to migraines than the intense, unrelenting headaches. They usually last been 4 – 72 hours and have additional components to the actual headache including nausea, vomiting, sensitivity to light or sound, and visual disturbances.
If you also suffer from migraines or think you might, check More to Migraine website out for more important information including tips, common triggers and how to avoid them, treatment options, how to talk to your doctor about migraines, and lifestyle tips.
