What a 'Vampire Day' Feels Like for a Person With Migraine

When I woke up this morning, I just knew it was going to be a vampire day. My head felt like an oversized, blown-up hot air balloon. And even though it was dark in my bedroom, I could sense the sun streaming in from outside. So I grab a migraine preventive and my Kindle and head downstairs for my daily breakfast of oatmeal.

As I stand in front of the sink doing dishes, I wish I had sunglasses on, as the sun from the window blinds me. When I finally walk away, I still see light. My eyes haven’t adjusted to the change from bright sunshine to regular room light.

When I sit on the couch, the sound of voices moving around my house makes me cringe. Everyone is talking so loud even though they are barely audible. I decide to take a shower. The water running gently over my head feels like nails. It’s time for a pain pill. The preventive is not working.

I take my pill. Sit on the couch and settle in to read my book. My dogs want attention and won’t leave me alone. With every poke of the nose, I jerk. I don’t want to be touched or moved in any way. The movement makes me dizzy which makes me queasy.

It’s a Saturday, and I want to catch up with the family. Saturday is one of the few days that I get to see my kids and catch up on their week. And as much as I want to, today my head won’t let me. The rugby team running around up there has gone into overtime. Now it’s time for me to get horizontal until the next scheduled pill swallow.

Once upstairs I want to cry. The one day that I get to see what the family is up to I can’t, because of a little pain in my head that is not so little. I feel like a failure. Weekends are for family fun. We should be talking about grilling and swimming. Instead, they will do their thing, and I will lock myself up in the bedroom where it’s so dark a vampire could live there. And that’s just what I am today.