I am so very close to being out of the woods. I am in my "aftershock" cycle where they are winding down in frequency, although they can still be as intense. This will be her second experience with this, the first time was pretty terrifying for her with a few trips to the ER, and I was caught a few times with zero medication. This time around, I was better prepared. I had an ample...what I thought was ample...stash of triptans, and better understanding of how they "worked" on me.

Most of the month, she slept on the couch. I would "sleep" upstairs in the bedroom. I tried to shelter her from it as much as possible, I know deep down inside that there is really little to nothing that can be done once I am in the middle of one. I asked her how much she had to endure through this one, and for the most part, she had no clue other than me telling her it was happening, and I would quickly disappear upstairs.

She did say occasionally she could hear me, and it did sound bad to her. I tell her I'm sorry to have to put her through it, she tells me she's sorry I have to go through it. It frustrates her not being able to help. It frustrates me knowing that there really isn't that much she can do to alleviate my pain.

I broke down the other night and asked her to come upstairs and hold me. I held it together pretty well I think, considering. I get overwhelmed sometimes and feel very alone in my suffering. This is hard for me to put my brain around. In one sense I want to be comforted, even though I know most of the time, no amount of comforting makes any difference whatsoever....in another I just want to shelter her from having to go through this ordeal with me, it's bad enough one of us has to go through it.

She really isn't big on forums, so I thought I'd pose the question myself, and relay some information back to her. As I said I'm almost in the clear now, and wanted to better prepare myself, and her, for the next time.

I too start to smile during a hit as soon as I can tell that the oxygen is starting to work and the pain levels are starting to ease off. My supporter knows that it is the sign that she can relax knowing the worst is over.

*claps*  Good for you to be proactive before the next cycle starts!

I'm actually AubanBird's supporter, so I'm only going to add a few bits to what he has already said.

The smiling part is definitely true.  In the beginning I was really scared for him because of some of the things he would try to do during a hit.  Then he started coming out of the bedroom smiling to me, and it just became this "ritual" of ours to reassure ourselves that at least for the next little bit, everything was going to be ok.

Something that might do your girlfriend some good, is to give her a task to do during a hit.  Women, for the most part by nature, are nurturer's, we want to help and make things "right".  I've gotten quite adept at setting up Auban's Trex injectables, and I can easily fend off other people to give him some privacy if he has a hit while we are out in public.  Maybe having her set up something soothing for when the hit is over with, or grabbing you a drink...it will make her feel like she is doing something that IS going to help you, just not DURING the hit.

The other thing I'd like to say is that you don't hide the hits from her.  If there are warning signs, let her know them so she can watch out for them with you. Sometimes I'll see a sign that Auban is about to get a hit, but he hasn't picked up on it yet.

I hope some of these suggestions help you and your gf out.  She deserves a good dinner and a date for being there for you.