1. The increased pain mixed with rage you feel when someone says: "Oh just drink some water, it'll go away."
2. The severe pain mixed with rage you feel when someone says: "I get headaches sometimes too."
3. The desire to punch someone when you hear: "I think I've had a migraine before." Trust me, you would definitely know if you had one before!
4. When you tell someone you have a migraine and they proceed to ask you a ton of questions about your migraines.
5. How immediately and viscerally upsetting totally innocent suggestions are from people who are trying to help.
6. Basically, people just speaking to you at all is not OK. (Also, why does a whisper sound like a yell? Please stop talking.)
7. The feeling of solidarity when you find people who also really suffer from migraines (though also being sure yours are the worst).
8. The horror of realizing one of your favorite foods or beverages is a trigger.
9. Sunny days can be your worst enemy because that little bit of sun peeping through the shades is unbearable. On the flip side, rainy days are definitely triggers.
10. Always walking around with the knowledge that at any random point, you could get one...sometimes for no real reason at all...
11. And then, all of a sudden, you feel one coming and know you only have a few minutes to make it back to your bed.
12. Having to curl up in an awkward, semi-hidden public space because the migraine hit too fast for you to get home.
13. THE AURA.
14. The horrible feeling when you know your migraine has peaked and there's no going back. Even with strong meds, you just have to ride it out.
15. When you finally find a dark enough room and someone walks in and turns on the lights!
16. The inability to look at any type of screen, EVEN YOUR PHONE. Actually, just opening your eyes to look at anything is out of the question.
17. Regardless of how many important things you have on your schedule the day one hits, you're down for many, many hours, if not days.
18. Starving because this migraine has been going on for 8 hours but being way too nauseous to eat anything.
19. Truly knowing the magical powers of caffeine and feeling there is not enough in the world for you to consume.
20. The mystery of why can't anyone else see things floating right over there.
21. Migraine spins.
22. Having to decide which you'd rather have during the workweek: migraine pain or medicine drowsiness? (Never the migraine pain but you do think about it for a second).
23. Knowing the Excedrin Migraine recall of 2012 was one of our nation's greatest disasters.
24. Forgetting whether you've gotten close to the dosage limit for ibuprofen/naproxen/etc but still needing more medicine.
25. Having to use the restroom but being literally unable to move.
26. The profound medical advance that is the idea of ice goggles. Also maybe the ice helmet.
27. Knowing what true claustrophobia feels like because this a special pain that you actually feel like you're living inside of.
28. Overcoming the migraine but being left with a migraine hangover for days.
29. But coming out of it and feeling like you can conquer anything now that you've conquered that!
