Please Don't Call My Migraine 'Just A Headache'

LOADING ERROR LOADING The night before my wedding, the symptoms started to creep in: A dull throbbing behind my eye turned into a piercing pain in my temple and slowly started to move to the other side of my head. “It’s difficult to understand what a migraine is truly like without having one,” Kevin Weber, an assistant professor of neurology in the headache division of the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, told me. “It’s difficult to understand what a migraine is truly like without having one.” - Kevin Weber, assistant professor of neurology in the headache division of the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center About 12 percent of the American population experiences migraines, according to the Migraine Research Foundation. Though I had many headaches after that, I didn’t start having migraines again until a few years ago ― and they were more severe than the first one and became a frequent occurrence. “The most common ones I hear are weather changes/barometric pressure change, dehydration, lack of food, lack of sleep, stress, smells, foods, sounds and lights.” Alissa Scheller / HuffPost After dealing with frequent migraines for a few years now, I’ve changed my daily habits and behavior.