Around Five Months Ago I Finally Got Diagnosed With Chronic Migraines. Which Was After A Year Of Suffering

Around five months ago I finally got diagnosed with Chronic Migraines. Which was after a year of suffering and six months of waiting to be seen for a consultation.

I did a lot of talking with people who I know suffer from or know someone who does suffer from chronic migraines.

I got prescribed rizotriptan (i hope I spelled that right) as a rescue med, on top of my botox treatments.

I was curious if anyone else who’s taken rizotriptan has gotten a similar sensation of rug burn inside their skull? I’ve also had intense muscle tension and burning located in my jaw and it makes my teeth ache.

Was just wondering if this was just me? Or if anyone has had a similar experience/reaction?

If I see one more fic where the Bats absolutely refuse to take any painkillers even though they're in agony because "they need their head clear", I am actively going to wish you suffer debilitating, chronic, inescapable pain just once in your life so you can see what kind of blithering moron you sound like, and can imagine what life is like for those of us who have to live and work with chronic pain. See how fucking clear your head is working through the fire alarm in your brain screaming.

Making painkillers and sleeping pills bogeymen adds to a pervasive stigma that is violent and oppressive to disabled and chronically ill people. Not being in pain is not an addiction! Restricting access to pain medication destroys more lives than addiction ever does! Substance abuse is a consequence of depression, stress and systemic issues!

And don't even get me started about them refusing to use crutches or canes because they "don't want it to become a crutch" (???? THAT'S WHAT THEY'RE FOR). Do you know what happens when you don't use your mobility aid?? You aggravate your injuries, increase the abnormal stress on your muscles and joints, do terrible long-term damage to your body and oh yeah, subject you to a WORLD OF PAIN. Do you know how many people, whose quality of life would massively improve with mobility aids, are too ashamed to freely use them because of exactly this kind of rhetoric??

If you want to make your heroes self-harming paragons of toxic masculinity and hustle culture (having needs is weak, suffering is a virtue, subjecting yourself to useless tests of endurance is the triumph of mind over matter) that's your own lookout. Personally I think having the discipline to force down food, sleep even when you're stressed and giving your body the care owed to your primary weapon and tool is much more impressive form of ruthless utilitarianism. But reinforcing this ableist narrative around aids and painkillers is a very real systemic violence. Please trash these tropes and write with more imagination.

One of my favorite complaints that *those* white readers, movie, and tv watchers have is that there is too much represnetation in media now. That they don’t see themselves in media anymore, and therefore cannot relate.

(Which is such a load bc white ppl have literally created a system where it’s just them, them, them. You can find a full white casted movie, tv show, and book much easier than you can with marginalized group rep. At least rep that is truthful to our lives and not romanticized and dramatized to spare white feelings.)

And this complaint is so funny to me as if I, a black girl in america, didn’t grow up watching and reading white stories over and over again. Stories I didn’t relate to or see myself in.

Now that’s not to say there wasn’t any representation. Of course there were the token poc characters that got three lines if they were lucky. And those token poc characters were written only to help the main white characters realize that the world isn’t as it seems. And “yes Jennifer, my skin color does in fact affect the way people perceive and treat me. Even you!”

The point isn’t about relatability. It is about the lesson. That’s what stories are. But with actually casting, hiring writers, directors, and producers who are from marginalized groups the lessons become life and it makes it real.

i don't trust healthy people. everything in your body is working like its supposed to? suspicious.

I can't believe that I didn't do this already but,

Happy Black History Month to disabled, chronically ill and/or neurodivergent black people

We don't get enough appreciation.

Chronic Daily Headches Pride Flag

Chronic daily headache (CDH): experiencing fifteen or more days with a headache per month. Chronic daily headaches is an umbrella term which consist of different sub-groups, primarily categorized as chronic tension-type headaches and chronic migraine headaches.

The flag is inspired by this chronic migraine flag, this chronic tension type headaches flag and this chronic pain flag.

Flag meanings:

Dark teal: migraine and headaches

Muted teal: all the types of CDH (cluster, hemicrania continua, idiopathic intracranial hypotension, migraine, tension-type, mixture of types, etc)

Greyish teal: other chronic pains and disabilities

Red/Maroon: chronic head pain

Muted purple: sleep problems and fatigue

Lavender: varying levels and types of pain

Purple: chronic pain

[Image ID: A flag with seven horizontal lines of the same size. Their colors are, from top to bottom, dark teal, muted teal, greyish teal, red, muted purple, lavender and dark purple. END ID]