Do what I do - tell them to go f*ck themselves and find yourself with a lot fewer friends to have to please.

Honest to God, the older I get, the more of a hermit I become. And I'm liking it a lot.

Send them link to this site, and maybe they will understand.

First off - to really make them understand, don't refer to it as a headache.
If you call it a neurological condition they start to grasp it better.
Explain it as I do, tell them that in an attack, the blood vessels on the affected side of your head swell dramatically crushing the nerves. Your brain is encased in a skull so there is no room to expand and it becomes excruciating.
Prof Goadsby tells a story of a man he knew who was well educated but who gouged his eye out with a knife because the pain was so intense.

It's been compared to surgery without anaesthesia. They are called suicide headaches because people HAVE committed suicide. They didn't acquire that name because fluffy bunny rabbit syndrome was taken already!

It becomes hard to communicate when you feel an attack coming on. The dread is indescribable as is how sub human it makes us feel.

It's no wonder we withdraw into ourselves and no, it isn't fair or easy for those who love us. Its tough for them when we're uncommunicative but they need to understand it isn't them, it's us. It's fear.

If they can't understand after you explain all that well, I wouldn't worry. Their own heads are so far up their own.. orifices  - that they won't ever need ear muffs to keep warm in winter!

Good luck - and don't forget, you've always got us!!

Helen

I know what you mean about some friends with migraine are unsympathetic. They may have a med that works for 8 hours but they don't understand that during 8 hours we may have 3 separate headaches & the 8 hour med only would cover the 1st one. 

I know we all get tired & tired of it, but we can only do our best.

If someone really cares about you, they find a way to enjoy your company - headaches or not, and the rest of them are on the B list.

I'm chronic & I have some painting buddies who go on day trips with me, and they give me room when I get hit & then get closer again when it's over. I treasure them. They take it right in stride.

Charlotte

Brew lol, Are you ever too young to be old before your time?

I look forward to meeting you at the next covention.

Jeannie,

Send them to Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or ;

This is a story about a lady with Lupus and how she explains it.  I know we don't have Lupus, but there are several things that cross over for us, namely the exhaustion, the inability to function at the level we like, and the ability to deal with multiple stresses when getting hit hard. 

My wife has used it for explaining her MS, although people understand that a bit better because the can see some of the symptoms.  I have used it with some effect explaining why I had to pass on some things due to knowing I would be hit during them.  It merely gives them a visual idea to explain what you can and cannot deal with.

Hope it helps.

Jerry