Explore the profound journey of Crystal, a 33-year-old mother battling severe chronic migraine. In this heartfelt video, Crystal bravely shares her daily struggle with migraine, describing it as if the world’s volume and brightness are intensely amplified. Her poignant account delves into the physical and emotional toll, likening it to a relentless brain freeze that doesn’t fade. From countless emergency room visits since childhood to navigating everyday decisions around triggers, Crystal sheds light on the misunderstood realities of living with chronic pain. Join us as we delve into her story, offering insights and empathy to those who face similar challenges. Subscribe for more empowering narratives and insights on managing migraine.
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0:02 it’s hard to explain
0:03 it really is hard to explain it’s like
0:06 the volume on the world
0:08 and the brightness on the world has just
0:10 been cranked up
0:13 my house needs to be so shut up if i
0:14 have a migraine we we close everything
0:17 your senses are just like they’re
0:19 they’re
0:20 just so heightened as if the
0:23 sound or even the smell someone my
0:26 husband knows not to cook
0:27 in the house when i have a migraine it’s
0:29 like the smell is gonna travel
0:30 up my nose into my brain
0:34 and that sounds silly but it’s like it’s
0:37 a it’s a
0:38 physical it takes on a physical shape
0:41 my name is crystal i’m 33 years old i
0:44 have a beautiful six month old
0:46 and i suffer from severe chronic
0:49 migraines
0:51 the best i can explain is when you get a
0:53 brain freeze
0:54 so if you take a big big quick drink of
0:57 something
0:58 really cold and that pain comes up and
1:00 almost makes you hold your breath and
1:01 close your eyes and
1:03 it’s so intense but that goes away in
1:06 like two seconds
1:07 if that didn’t go and just stayed
1:11 and stayed and stayed the anxiety that
1:14 you feel with it not going away you
1:15 start to panic of it not going away and
1:17 that’s sort of the intensity when i have
1:19 a bad migraine
1:22 so i’ve had thousands and hundreds of
1:25 thousands of migraines i feel like
1:27 and there are still times with a
1:29 migraine where i’m genuinely concerned
1:32 that i might be having a stroke and
1:33 dying you know
1:35 and you’d think by now i would know this
1:37 is just a migraine and but it’s such an
1:39 unnatural and intense feeling that
1:43 that i get concerned i’m worried
1:45 sometimes i lay there being like
1:46 this could this might be it
1:50 i’ve been in and out of emergency rooms
1:53 since i was four years old probably
1:57 at its worst every one to two weeks in
2:01 the emergency room for
2:02 you know eight to twelve hours to
2:06 generally kind of at its best yearly
2:09 yearly now
2:11 i’ve tried everything under the sun to
2:13 treat
2:14 and manage my migraines there’s there’s
2:17 nothing there’s nothing in my life that
2:19 it doesn’t touch
2:20 every decision that i make is is based
2:23 on
2:24 um avoiding triggers and how i’m feeling
2:28 i’m constantly throughout my day i’m
2:31 checking in with myself how is it where
2:33 is it i’m assessing
2:34 i sort of have things that i try that
2:36 have worked for me
2:37 um whether that be like over-the-counter
2:39 meds
2:41 or coffee caffeine’s a good one for me
2:43 to make it go away
2:56 a very serious thing serious business my
2:59 my ice packs
3:01 i really do feel like i appreciate
3:06 what others perceive as a normal day
3:09 as a really great day i really do every
3:13 day sort of wake up
3:14 give myself a check and when it is a
3:16 good day i take a minute and i’m
3:18 grateful
3:18 as heck
3:22 i think it’s getting better but i mean i
3:24 want people to know that
3:26 the severity that i’m not ducking out of
3:28 things
3:29 and i think that’s hard for people to
3:31 understand that today i’m okay
3:33 and yesterday i wasn’t and that’s hard
3:35 in the workplace for people to
3:36 understand
3:37 that’s hard for employees because i
3:39 might have called in sick yesterday
3:42 and tomorrow i look fine i don’t want to
3:45 be
3:46 absent um i’m not just complaining
3:50 it hurts like it really it really really
3:58 hurts
4:00 [Music]
