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The Upside of Migraine Headaches
I suffer from migraine headaches. Bad ones. Sometimes I wake up with them. Sometimes they hit me in the middle of the day. I never see them coming. When they strike they can last for hours. Or days.
My headaches started when I was 16. I used to call them “basketball headaches” since I got them after playing basketball. It started with tightness in the back of my neck. I would feel a throbbing on one side of my head. One of my eyes would dilate and I’d find myself squinting. Sometimes I’d see stars or floating colors. I’d become dizzy and nauseous and sometimes throw up.
The headaches increased in frequency during college. Typically, they came after I completed a mid-term or final exam. Lack of sleep was a factor. So was poor diet and too much coffee. For some reason, I remained headache-free during periods of stress. It was only after the stress dissipated that the migraine occurred.
Most headaches are caused by constriction of arteries reducing blood flow to the head. Migraines are different. They’re considered dilation headaches and occur when arteries dilate and too much blood flows to the head. Post-stress relaxation increases blood flow and can trigger a headache.
After I graduated college, the migraines diminished in frequency. But they increased in severity. I was working on film sets and the long days…
