Nothing can ruin the prospects of a new day like waking to something akin to the northern lights obscuring your vision in one eye.  And if that's not bad enough, you know in moments your stomach will be churning and soon a freight train will be rolling through your head. That's what waking with a migraine headache is like for me.  As a young girl I could lose several pounds in a week just from the nausea of it all.  Oh, what a way to spend the day. 

As I get older, I find a little something to chuckle about. I'm probably one of the few women looking forward to menopause. The headaches are subsiding and I don't live life on eggshells as I did for 40-plus years.  For years however, there were endless headache diaries, brain scans, food logs, medication trial and errors, doctors who told me to just quit work and they'd go away (I told those doctors to give me my files and go away) and countless cancelled appointments, dates and speaking engagements, not to mention employers who wondered why this former television anchor looked a little funny while reading a teleprompter when I could only see out of one eye.

I am a firm believer in the old adage: "enough is enough."  The 28 million Americans who have migraines need not suffer alone. Yes, there are medications that can help abort a migraine once you have one or at least diminish the symptoms. However, that wasn't enough for me. I wanted to take control of my life.  Keeping a headache and food log to learn when, where and what was happening when I got a headache helped me learn a lot.  Visiting a neurologist who knew about current medications that could help prevent a migraine in the first place was just what the doctor ordered.  I went three years migraine free for the first time in my life!  (Open heart surgery brought them back, but starting back on medication has gotten them back under control again.)

A MedWatch viewer stopped me at the grocery store a few weeks back.  I could see it in her face that she was having a migraine.  She started asking me if I knew anything about migraine headaches and if we could do anything about them on the show.  We bonded immediately (there's camaraderie among true migraine sufferers) and she shared how debilitating her headaches can be.  After we talked I knew it was time to update our previous MedWatch segment on migraines, so that viewers can learn that they don't have to suffer in silence. You just have to take charge, do your homework and visit a neurologist who will work with you until you can look forward to waking up in the morning too!

For more information about Community neuro services click here

To view updated MedWatch segment on Migraine headaches:

Thanks for visiting my first blog! Did you visit because of the MedWatch TV show trivia question? The first to answer correctly will receive a Community sun visor for their car.  Here's the question again:

What Valley place is making baby dreams come true?  (If you watched the show last week you'll know!)

Leave me your contact information so I can let you know if you won!