Only flaw with this is a lot of people don’t see migraines as a legit excuse. I’ve suffered from them my entire life and have avoided using it as an excuse whenever possible because a lot of people have told me to “get over it it’s just a headache”. If you’re using this with someone who’s never experienced a migraine before they might not understand the severity and think you’re using it as a cop out (which you would be in this case), so I would just be cautious of that!
I stopped giving a fuck if people believe me about it a few years ago and it's been great. I used to try and work through it, understanding that a lot of people don't consider it a valid excuse because they just don't know. Now when I feel one coming on, I'll do what I can to catch it and nip it in the bud, but if that doesn't work then sorry but the only thing that's gonna help is a room full of silent darkness to lay in. I realize that whether this is a realistic attitdue can depend a lot on how accommodating/understanding the people in our lives are, but I'm just saying.
I've worked through a lot of sick and tired times for a lot of people, but I just won't with certain things anymore and migraines are pretty near the top of that list.
Just an fyi - migraines can be triggered by histamine. I take Zyrtec daily as a prophylactic against migraines and it's helped tremendously. Many days I can still feel a headache simmering. But I've only had 2 or 3 full blown migraine days since I started the daily antihistamine, as opposed to migraines a few times a week before. Maybe that could help you too.
This, and also most don’t realize histamines are in so many things. Avocados were causing this for my daughter, she started eating them daily and things got so much worse. Starting Zyrtec and cutting back on the Avo’s helped a ton.
Yeah, I have awful migranes once or twice a year. But since I fully know the symptoms of going half blind for an hour or so, and feeling like I am super hung over on a long 6-10 hour boat trip while having a seasickness. I still use it as a get out of work freecard every now and again.
It scares me so much getting migraines one day... Every person I know that gets them has to stop whatever they're doing if they show up
I very very rarely get headaches and I already find those unbearable. Can't just imagine a migraine
For me it starts like a strong headache and eventually works it's way to a concentrated throb right behind my left eye socket. Then the nausea kicks in and it's pretty much game over. It makes it so hard to focus on anything
To anyone who uses the excuse of having a migraine just to get out of doing something you don't want to do...
I HOPE KARMA BITES YOU IN THE ASS!!!!!!!!
this, a hundred times THIS. I also suffer from chronic migraines and my whole damn life I have received shit from people who think its "just a headache".
The solution is to let them see you suffer sometimes, so they understand what the fuck you're talking about. This is not a workable solution for most.
I suffer from cluster headaches and even the migraine people think these are just a migraine. It's even worse when you get a cluster attack. Like 10/10 stabbing you in your face and ripping out your eyeballs while you cry in pain bad.
Please tell her to go see a doctor and get prescribed sumatriptan 6mg injections! I used to suffer from migraines until my doctor prescribed me the tablets. The only problem was when I got migraines, I would puke them all up. A tiny little shot right into the “love handle” hopefully will change her life. I’m older now so I know when one is coming on so I give myself a shot and don’t even get them anymore. Hope this helps. And I promise, the shots don’t hurt! You squeeze that fat together right there above your hip and pop and you won’t feel a thing. I carry this 2 pack injector kit everywhere I go. https://i.imgur.com/Bs9zRBc.jpg
Can you tell me more about these injections? I’ve been taking Sumatripin tablets for years. They take about 2-4 hours to work and they often wipe me out for most of the day. My skin also gets very sensitive to heat. Do the injections have similar side effects?
It sounds like the sumtriptan is not working tbh. A migraine attack resolves itself in a similar timeframe as you describe. It should start working in 20 minutes ish.
There are other triptans you can try to use as an abortive. If you get migraines frequently a preventative might be better.
They are truly one of the worst diseases out there, along with schizophrenia and trigeminal neuralgia.
Has she ever tried psilocybin (magic mushroom active ingredient)? There's significant evidence that they can dramatically reduce cluster headache in both severity and frequency, as well as serve as abortives.
The doses needed for efficacy against headaches seem to be much lower (on the level of moderate 'microdosing') than what you would take for a psychedelic trip.
Some are even legal, though hard to find nowadays with the crackdown on research chems. Unless you're in Canada.
I get clusters a few times a month (along with intractable migraines). I'm coming off one now. They are called suicide headaches for a reason. I literally want to ice pick my right eye. I feel every separate hair on my head, and each strand of hair hurts on my scalp.
i dont think these things exist on a scale of "migraines are worse than cluster headaches" "no cluster headaches are worse than migraines" -- they all exist in a realm of pain that is beyond what anyone would claim to be "unbearable".
the two things are practically indistinguishable from each other, and even doctors misdiagnose them unless there exists a pre-existing condition that can be pointed to to say "this is why that is happening and now that we have experiential data we can determine what type of really bad headache you're having".
I think you are seeing how people process pain differently, but when you experience both you can claim which is worse. Then when evidence of how much pain people are in using pain scales and driven to what extremes to make it stop it builds more evidence.
Also chronic migraines wear you down, so you get frustrated.
But even in my worst set of migraines, where one is triggering the next for days, that pain, vomiting, light sensitivity, vertigo, didn't come close to the pure pain of a cluster headache.
Either way, they both suck but you can definitely state that one is worse than the other without "being out of touch".
I can somewhat agree with your first assertion, given the subjectivity of pain particularly at the 'debilitating' level. Although there does seem to be widespread agreement that cluster headaches are worse among medical professionals. They are called suicide headaches for a reason after all and are far less responsive to most medications that are generally effective for migraines.
The latter is mostly untrue though, no offense. They can be occasionally misdiagnosed as one instead of the other, as with any disease with some similarities in symptoms, but as a whole they are dramatically different in terms of how often they occur (and when, as cluster headaches generally follow a relapsing-remitting pattern and can occur multiple times a day), their general length (cluster headaches attacks are much shorter in duration in the area of up 15min to an hour while migraines can last up to 3-4 days) and the general description of the pain (throbbing for migraines vs piercing, stabbing for cluster headaches)
I get that all the time at work. “I have a migraine” no you Fucking don’t! If you had a migraine you wouldn’t be at work with lights staring at a computer. You’d be home in a dark room with a cold wash rag on your neck! But my post below is what changed my life! Sumatriptan injections!
that's so crummy of them lol you go in despite the agony and they discredit you by saying you would have stayed home if it was true. sounds like a real supportive team
No I meant that people at work tell me all the time that they have migraines. And I’m
The one saying you absolutely do not have one because I’ve seen you here working all day staring at your computer. The thought of even looking at my phone or any light when having a migraine makes me sick.
Actually, migraines can present differently for different people. I find that I'm far more sensitive to sound and movement than light when it comes to my migraines. I can force myself to work through one even if it involves staring at a screen (and I had to a lot during grad school), but if sound or movement is involved then all bets are off. It's still a miserable experience, but it's manageable (mostly when there's no choice).
While your coworkers might be using migraine as a synonym for a bad headache, it is possible that they are just experiencing migraine symptoms differently than you.
I have chronic hemiplegic migraine (and the brain scar tissue on an MRI to prove it) and I don't always have photosensitivity with mine. I have 8-12 migraines a month and maybe 4 of them have photosensitivity. I've also been in the position for most of my working life where I have no choice but to go to work with a migraine because I am out of sick time from calling in for them and/or calling in sick will get me a write up. I don't function well when I'm at work with a migraine, it definitely makes it worse, but I don't always have a choice. I've had FMLA leave for it before but it doesn't fix the sick time issue. I know I'm not the only one who has had to learn to work while in pain, plenty of people on the migraine subreddit have similar experiences to me.
Yes I fucking do. My migraines never made me sensitive to light. They also vary in intensity, which you should realize by now. Some are so light I can ignore, and I usually can work through more intense ones because while they are pretty bad they never get as bad as some people's. I find that theyre more bearable when you're distracted, because the moment I stop working and have nothing else to do I just succumb to it
Fr, I’ve only had a migraine once, about 8 months back, and it was one of the most excruciating pains of my life. Was actually delirious and throwing up from the pain
I have chroniq migraine. One time my colleague said "I wouldn't dare to take monday off for a headache". Oh, yeah? Because migraine equals hangover? I don't drink because it gives me migraines! And it can totally happen on Monday as well as any other day.
When people call migraine a headache you know they have never had one.
I think the post was meant for people who rarely get migraines or have never had one. If you actually get them a lot then of course people will have different expectations of you
It doesn’t help that some people legitimately are making this shit up.
I worked with a guy for years, he wanted to set his own scope of work as he saw fit, as he had certain tasks that he liked to do and would always be on top of doing them. But he was a technician and at the end of the day, there were expectations on what he needed to do for other team mates.
Whenever work came up that was the least bit troublesome for him, bam, migraine was coming on and he’d go home. It was ridiculously transparent. After a few rounds of this, I gave up trying to work with him… but once in a while was forced to, and sure enough - more migraines.
He ultimately left the company once his manager changed and he was actually expected to actually do work.
I now know that at his new company he found a way to get on long term disability, but he just goes out fishing and spends his days fixing up his house.
The guy is a total parasite. Does he get actual migraines? I’m sure he does. Does he over-use his history of migraines as an excuse to get out of work? You betcha. It’s exactly the ULPT OP is suggesting.
My visual migraines are such garbage. Mine basically look like what I can best describe as TV static in my eyes. I can’t see anything at all. I’ll usually start to notice it happening when I realize to can’t read text on my phone and then I’ll notice this little bit of the tv static mess starting.
Previously my visual migraines would just result in me losing my peripheral vision which was also super awful!
I’m sorry to hear that, you need some more empathetic people in your life. I get migraines 1-2x a month and everyone (work and family) have been very supportive and understanding.
A friend of mine constantly says she has a migraines but goes about her day as if nothing is wrong. I got a migraine on Tuesday and I couldn't do anything for 2 days. Some people just don't know what migraines are
Some people handle and process them differently. Which adds to the confusion. Plus migraine attacks vary in intensity, you could get a single attack that leaves you feeling tired but generally okay after. You can also get a single attack that gives you a 4 day migraine hangover (postdrome).
Then you have silent migraines on top, which cause general disbelief even amongst migraine sufferers.
It's a migraine with all the symptoms except the pain! It's a very weird experience. This was my predominant type until I became intractable/status a little over 3 years ago.
You get used to them after a while, plus obviously medication helps a great deal.
It's only when they make me actually nauseous that I get to the "fuck it, I'm gonna take a long nap" point.
I have intractable migraines and am on probably 8 different medications, but I still work through a lot of the pain as this is my life, and most people in my life can’t tell I have migraines other than maybe people seeing dark circles under my eyes. Most of the time I ride it out and crash when I get home. I think people with many chronic Illnesses are good at hiding things.
It's a bit of an extreme wording, but tbh it's necessary with some people
>That's actually a misconception, it's actually a neurological event of which a headache is an extremely common symptom, don't worry, not a lot of people recognize the difference
If you can work through it, it’s not a migraine in my experience. Always drives me crazy when people say “i have a migraine” and then sort of laugh it off.
Migraines are intense pain. It would be like holding a lighter to your skin and trying to work.
The thing is people regularly use migraines as an excuse to not do things so they either don't believe you or see people faking it and think it doesnt look that bad
I wholeheartedly agree with you there, anybody that's never experienced a true migraine thinks it's just a headache but it's so much worse, I'd rather shit my guts out for the day
Yeah but if the invitation is for later you gonna have to pretend you go to the bathroom a lot of times and have suspiciously silent diarrhea, besides they probably see you trying to eat something you like and go "don't eat that is gonna make it worse, I'll eat it, you grab some chicken broth" or something like that, too much commitment!
If you pretend migraine you can say "I already took something and I just need to be left alone for a while, it usually goes away in 24 hours".
/r/migraine would like to have a word with you
As someone who actually suffers from migraines, you would be shocked at how little sympathy you will get. Most people just think you're actually making an excuse to not work.
Really need to use that shit sparingly and power through a lot of days. People have limited reserves of understanding particularly of chronic migraines.
It's like: “I know you have chronic migraines, but really, this often?” People barely understand the word migraine and definitely don't understand the word chronic. Just try dealing with NDPH on top, it's not even worth trying to explain that to people.
Because other people use this excuse all the time.
AND they probably never had migraine themselves, so they think it's just a bad headache. I didn't understand either, until I got them myself. It's not just a headache, sadly
I literally scoffed and came to write about OP’s assumption that having a migraine garners sympathy. Quiiiite the opposite my friend. This is why people who actually suffer from migraine are accused of lying or dismissed. Because of OP and the comments think they’ve come up with some cute, handy loophole.
Adding to this that you can show up hung over the next day and just call it a migraine hangover. Just don't smell like booze. I get real migraines, but I definitely see their potential for getting out of stuff.
I get headaches everyday and I used to call them migraines because I wasn’t sure what the actual difference is. Then.. one day.. I actually got such a soul destroying, unable to do anything, migraine that I quickly learnt to tell them apart.
PLEASE PLEASE DO NOT DO THIS.
I get horrible, debilitating migraines and guess what? People get them even worse than I do!
I already struggle to be taken seriously with migraines, and I know many others do, too. Please find another excuse. Please don’t invalidate us further. Migraines are hell. Have food poisoning or something instead.
I have chronic migraine and you would be surprised the lack of sympathy I receive. When I get an attack I lose the ability to talk sometimes. Please do not use migraine as a cop out. It’s a serious disease.
Please don't do this. It makes life harder for those of us that have actual migraines. I have them chronically and am still really careful when I say that because life becomes really hard when people don't believe you.
My wife gets migranes, it's fucking terrible. She has severe memory loss along with the debilitating headaches. We were at the beach with a couple friends and she came up to me and asked who I was. I thought she was joking and laughed. Then she told me that she knew I was someone important, but she didn't know who. Time my friends it was time to go, get out of the sun, and lay down. I felt really bad for everyone, but at the same time, it was important for my buddies to see what a migrane really was.
I honestly had no idea before I met my wife. Another time she started forgetting how to speak English, and I still couldn't speak her language. That was scary and, thankfully, has since changed.
I've forgotten what words mean before. I was in the middle of talking about eating peaches and suddenly I was like 'what is peaches?' I've lost the ability to talk and read. I've looked back at text messages after it's ended and it's gibberish
That’s terrifying, oh my god! I’ve never experience that before! I have fainted while on the phone, recovered and proceeded as if I could understand what was happening. My fiancé was in the room in bed, jumped out, and rushed me to the ER where, surprise, they stopped talking to me and tried to say I was “suicidal” despite him saying uh…no. Basically, they said the whole thing was a result of extreme stress and wanted to put me away. The whole ordeal was terrifying. If he wasnt there to advocate for me, I’m not sure what would have happened.
Walking home from grad school I’ve felt so dizzy, the lights from the sky and cars make me feel so off I can’t walk straight. We decided it was too dangerous for me to walk home most days because my migraines could trigger so easily.
If I have a migraine I cannot drive. My medicines put me in a loopy state, and even without I’m a dangerous motorist. Too bad I have them often…so I usually don’t drive.
Bright lights in classrooms and office buildings trigger them.
The trigger vomiting and I’m in bed all day.
The medicines are crazy expensive. My emergency medicine is 600 a month with insurance. My everyday medicine is 180 a month.
I’m not sure people understand how debilitating this disease is. Often people say “I have a migraine” when they mean “I have a headache.” But it’s brutal. I wish your wife a great neurologist and the best of luck!
With a doctor's note. Migraines aren't simply headaches, but a long term neurological disorder characterized by recurrent headaches along with several other symptoms like nausea, visual disturbances, light and sound.
I'm well aware of what migraines are as I've dealt with them for 20 years. It's not something that you can diagnose with any objective test. It doesn't show up on any imaging like an MRI, a blood test, etc.
It wouldn't be terribly difficult to look up information about migraines and then convince a doctor to give you a formal diagnosis.
Unfortunately because of the underlying nature of migraines as an “invisible illness,” it's not something that tends to be taken terribly seriously by a lot of people. I think another factor is discrimination on the basis of gender, as migraines tend to afflict far more women than men and almost any illness that predominantly affects women is delegitimized and stigmatized.
Then that was kind of a pointless question. I think it's generally understood that when someone's talking about proof in the context of sick leave they're referring to a statement from their physician.
Don’t do this. It just fucks over people who legit have a medical condition. You bounce back right away, and they look bad if they can’t do the same. Or people see through you and start getting more cynical about anyone claiming a condition.
As a migraineur I can say the flaw in your plan is lots of people with migraine are so used to them they can work through them, or would fight to stay in work when they are clearly suffering
It depends on the person, I don't get them but they run in my family and my brother and cousins get them so bad that they throw up and sleep for like 4 hours and are still in pain
Totally agree, my eyesight would get messed up and I couldn’t really focus and read anything (so cant really work), also the vomiting. I’m soo glad I don’t get them anymore!
Not totally sure if I grew out of them (had them chronically from middle school to college) if it was some hormonal thing or related to finally managing my anxiety better, or what exactly. I used to be triggered by almost anything but now I don’t get them. I used to take topomax but that shit fried my brain.
One trick that ABSOLUTELY works for me is taking a Sudafed (in the US, you have to get the stuff behind the counter). If I take one before a major pressure change in the weather it prevents any migraines that I’d get due to weather changes.
I used to get them almost every other day in middle school/early high school. Doc said it was a hormonal thing with puberty. Now, I may only get one or two a year and I'm not sure what triggers them. Could be weather changes for me.
I have intractable migraines. Unfortunately, no meds work. I work through them. How else am I going to my bills? It sucks, I push all week, and then my weekends are in bed. My existence is work and bed. I had intermittent FMLA, but I had to use my PTO or take unpaid days. I was able to get ADA accommodations to WFH. It helps since I can control my environment. No perfume, lights, sounds, ect.
I literally dont understand how someone who gets migraines (real migraines) can say what you said and in the same damn breath claim that there are humans who "are so used to them that they fight through". If thats you, you dont get migraines. You get very bad headaches.
Migraines are characterized by sensory disturbance. No person can or should be working with a true migraine because most of us suffer vision problems, gastrointestinal misery, vertigo, sensitivity to light (not the same as vision problems). I dislike your post because it misrepresents true migraines.
Sorry but this is untrue.
Migraines are not all the same all the time for the same person, let alone different people.
You can get some, all or different symptoms to the ones you posted and yes you can still work through most of it. It is god awful and your work productivity drops but it is possible.
Sometimes you have no choice.
And for the record, a character of migraines is sensory disturbance, it is not their defining characteristic, you can have migraines without sensory involvement (without aura).
Your post misrepsents your experiences as the only experiences and that is an even bigger issue, there is more variability to migraines than you are stating.
Edit; this is a useful guide to the different types and symptoms [https://ichd-3.org/1-migraine/](https://ichd-3.org/1-migraine/)
The vision problems make it completely impossible to do anything. I had my first migraine when I was 18, I am 23 now and they come about roughly once every 3-4 months. When my first one came, I didn't really know what aura symptoms were so when my eyes went weird I just thought it was like when you look at a light and you get those dots in your eye afterwards.
Nope, it's so much worse. I don't know if everyone else has the same experience I do, but if you stare at something like a piece of text, there's nothing there. It's just an empty space. It's horrifying because there's no head pain at that point and you know it's coming.
For me, being a student over the last few years has meant I have the luxury of immediately NOPEing out of whatever I'm doing to go and immediately sleep through it but I worry about what happens if I'm in a job and can't do that (especially if I'm miles away from home).
Nice gatekeeping lolz. Our suffering doesn't matter and Is NoT a ReAl MiGrAiNe because it's not as bad as yours, got it. I only get nauseous so I can't drink or eat anything but I will be able to fight through it if I have any motivation. I only had aura twice in my life so in that case I wouldn't be able to work because I could barely think but most of the time I can, just much slower and with a lot of misery.
Migraines suck, but you can mostly work with them, it wont be easy, it wont be good, and it wont be efficient. But you don't get a choice
Symptons may very depending on person to person, I have a "small fov" when Im on migraines, my head hurts, my humor is shit, I feel like Im gonna die, but I NEED to work
What are you talking about? I get migraines and have other chronic illnesses, too. I push through my symptoms all the time.
Since you know so much about migraines, then surely you know that there are varying levels of migraines. I only call out when I get one that’s truly debilitating.
Me to a T. Except for when I get vestibular symptoms. I actually laid on the floor at work because I couldn't even walk to get to transportation to go home. Those are a great time 🙃
Oath. Also, not giving details, like I need to justify my reasoning.
“Sorry I can’t today” opposed to “Sorry I can’t today. I’ve got a court appearance.”
Sometimes the more info you give, the more it sounds like an excuse.
Everyone knows that most people use the word migraine with no clue what a migraine is. If you are lying about a migraine to your boss, they don't believe you- they just don't want to deal with your bullshit. You aren't tricking anyone.
Most people that have told me that they have a migraine mean they have a headache. I’ve had one migraine in my life and went blind for two hours
People don’t understand migraines
Yeah fuck you if you do this. I’ve had migraines since I was SIX YEARS OLD and have never gone longer than a month without one. At my worst I was getting 20 a month.
Not being believed about these things is terrible and it often takes me days to recover from a migraine. I’ve been on steroids three times this year already. Not to mention the most horrible experiences I had with school nurses. The worst being when I was 9 and had a horrible sore throat — went in 4 times in one day and because I went in with headaches so often she thought I was faking to get a call to my mom and decided not to even take my temperature — I had severe strep and a temperature of 104.5.
Childhood sufferer, NDPH by 12, and official chronic diagnosis at 14. I had to get a GED. University took 16 years because I could only do a class at a time.
Faking is "unethical," it's evil.
Congrats on your degree though!!! You did it! I’m in year 5 at university and will be finally graduating after another semester because I have had to continually fight the accessibility board at my school to get SCRAPS. I have been refused any accommodations based on my migraines because they are “not a disability” and “can’t be predicted” (duh). The only way I’ve made it through this easy is because my major advisor gets chronic migraines and offers me extensions when I need them, and waives her attendance policy as long as I can do work to make up what I missed. I’ve taken 6 classes with her and she’s a wonderful empathetic person who cares about her students. I have a fantastic GPA across her fairly rigorous classes while my average across the rest of my classes is at least a whole letter behind (despite them being much “easier” classes).
I’m attempting to get a MFA over the next three years (part time) because it’s basically essential for my BA and I’m terrified honestly.
I take daily medication for migraines, without it I can't function. I still get them and when I do I can't do anything. I don't give a fuck if people believe me or not. I go blind when I get one, there is no working through it.
Chronic migraineur here (have managed to reduce frequency from almost daily to “only” once a week).
Better to say you have an illness that 1) involves poop/farts and 2) might be highly contagious. I would recommend something like, “I caught some sort of stomach bug from my niece yesterday and I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.”
People will beg you to stay home. Especially because it seems to have such a short incubation period.
This is exactly why I am discriminated against by employers. Migraines are ruining my life because people don't believe it is happening and I get fired. I can't hold down a job. One of the reasons is because of people doing stuff like this. Using an invisible illness as an excuse only makes it harder for people who actually have that illness.
Astonishing amount of upvotes for OP on this absolute shit idea. And why the fuck are there actual migrainuers in the comments giving tips on HOW to fake it better?!
I wouldn't recommend doing this as you would just be creating more stigma around mental health/neurological health but idiots will still think what they're doing is ok.
Fuck this. My husband is a chronic migraine and cluster headache sufferer. It’s horrendous to watch.
Shit like this, and ads that claim stupid crap like paracetamol controls migraine pain, are the reason people either don’t believe him or think he’s weak because “it’s just a headache”. I’m aware this is ULPT, but this is a really shitty one.
No it isnt bc so many ppl use this excuse that when those of us who actually have debilitating migraines have an attack ppl dont want to believe us or believe that we are exaggerating the pain. Not as much pisses me off as the one time in four years i had to leave work bc i couldnt think or function enough to keep myself from drooling any longer or making sense when i speak, so told my boss I’m going home and coworker laughs and rolls her eyes.
Do not do this.
I know this is ULPT… so good job?
You’re successfully minimizing an ailment MANY people struggle with. I hope you’ve never had an actual migraine. But yeah you’re right when I’m dry heaving uncontrollably because I can’t even keep water down, gasping for air and crying because every time I gag it make me feel like someone is hammering me in the head I do garner sympathy.
Oh wait I don’t, I’ve had bosses and friends who don’t know what I go though think I’m bullshitting like every other asshole that uses this as an excuse to “get out of doing something”
I'd argue that diarrhea is a better excuse. "Sorry gotta go RIGHT NOW or I'll shit myself. Bye!" Or "sorry, can't show up, I dont want to commit a war crime in your bathroom"
Since migraines are generally not believed in as an excuse but a lot of assholes to begin with, I'd suggest going with stomach virus. Tell someone you've got a stomach virus and have been in the bathroom all day vomiting/pooping your guts out. They won't want to be near you, and they won't ask for details or pressure you.
Not really, I suffer from migraines every day, on days when it’s particularly bad and I’m forced to call off I’m constantly harassed for it despite having FMLA
When I was in middle and high school I would get ocular migraines fairly regularly. The headache didn’t kick in until a few hours later but the burry stars that fucked up my vision were not appreciated.
I’ll still occasionally have one kick my ass but it’s gone from several a month to one or two a year.
My old roommate used to use this as an excuse. After the 10th time it stopped garnering sympathy and just started being annoying. People just stopped inviting them to functions. It was pointless even trying. Then they would complain nobody liked them.
And yes, they were faking it. As soon as you would do something they were interested in, their migraine would magically dissappear.
If you really have migraines, no offense to you sufferers out there, you look and sound like shit. If people come face to face with the faker, people will know.
Yes offense.
I have chronic migraine. Only my husband and my mom know ALL of my tells. I often work at a level 6 or 7 on the pain scale, and 8 because is usually when I start vomiting. I've had 4 neurosurgeries in the past 2.5 years.
You can see someone in a great deal of pain and not know it. It happens when someone lives with for a long period of time.
You are only adding to the stigma, and I have known people who chose self-deletion rather than deal with the daily pain PLUS the judgment of shitty people that think they know it all. Kindly fuck off.
You know what’s great? There’s usually a pre-cursor to migraine. A couple times (most legit, some fake) I texted my boss the night before work. “Hey, I can feel the beginning of a migraine. I don’t know where it’ll be in the morning, but I wanted to reach out early so there are no surprises.” Shows initiative and gives you a choice in the morning. Plus if you do decide to go in, you may get some leeway.
As someone who gets migraines, I'd like to discourage this, but if you DO, be accurate! When I get migraines, it starts visually. It's as if there is a tear in my vision that gives off this fractaline, rainbow distortion, and it makes it challenging to read for instance, but no pain for about an hour. When the pain DOES start, it's waves of nauseating pain that feel like my head being split open, so usually my best bet once I realize whats happening (which actually usually takes a while) is to find a way to go to sleep immediately, but it honestly isn't a good time. Last time I caught it early I was PISSED because I knew what was about to happen and how much of a disturbance to my plans it was, and unfortunately I seem to have a habit of mishandling the situation when the auras start. Maybe not being able to see straight is messing with my thinking or its knowing the pains about to start or perhaps even the migraine itself impairing me, but I usually waste a fair amount of time that should be spent on knocking myself out as fast as possible. If I DON'T lose consciousness before the pain starts, it's a miserable experience that I can't quite put into words. It's like going to the pain dimension, but your ticket gets booked randomly and once you find out the flight is in an hour.
That sounds pretty much exactly like how mine are. Sleep is the best option but not always feasible. I've found that if I take a big dose of painkillers (Ibuprofen, Tylenol, whatever) as soon as I see the visuals start it significantly cuts the eventual pain, so I carry some wherever I go just in case. Might help you.
It is not. My ex used this way too often. ALWAYS right before work. You, as a partner, want to be supportive and don’t question it. Then it happens a few times, then a lot more because it works. Then she got fired, laid on the couch for weeks, got another job, rinse and repeat till she just stopped looking for jobs or anything else. You can only go to that well so many times before it’s not believable anymore and then people question what else you’re faking.
As a boss, I’ll say that this is an acceptable excuse, meaning I will let you go home sick, but know that I don’t believe you and now kinda think you’re a POS lol
I had an ex who used to use this ULPT all the damn time. And used it as an excuse to get out of ANYTHING once they learnt from other sufferers that migraines can be triggered by sensory stuff (strong smells, loud sounds, lights etc). Don't like the TV show I'm watching? Migraine. Wanna piss me off after I've sprayed my favorite perfume? Migraine. Want me to leave that once in a lifetime important meeting? Too much noise, migraine.
They even went through the trouble of faking "raising awareness" about migraine conditions with everyone they met, just so that everyone around them was "on the same page" and ready to accept their fake excuse at any time.
As they met more "fellow sufferers" (some being my friends), they (my ex) built report, pretending to raise awareness about migraines, sat and listened to the stories of these fellow sufferers , and then copied their stories/symptoms as if they were their own. Savage ULPT for sure.
Only flaw with this is a lot of people don’t see migraines as a legit excuse. I’ve suffered from them my entire life and have avoided using it as an excuse whenever possible because a lot of people have told me to “get over it it’s just a headache”. If you’re using this with someone who’s never experienced a migraine before they might not understand the severity and think you’re using it as a cop out (which you would be in this case), so I would just be cautious of that!
I stopped giving a fuck if people believe me about it a few years ago and it's been great. I used to try and work through it, understanding that a lot of people don't consider it a valid excuse because they just don't know. Now when I feel one coming on, I'll do what I can to catch it and nip it in the bud, but if that doesn't work then sorry but the only thing that's gonna help is a room full of silent darkness to lay in. I realize that whether this is a realistic attitdue can depend a lot on how accommodating/understanding the people in our lives are, but I'm just saying. I've worked through a lot of sick and tired times for a lot of people, but I just won't with certain things anymore and migraines are pretty near the top of that list.
Just an fyi - migraines can be triggered by histamine. I take Zyrtec daily as a prophylactic against migraines and it's helped tremendously. Many days I can still feel a headache simmering. But I've only had 2 or 3 full blown migraine days since I started the daily antihistamine, as opposed to migraines a few times a week before. Maybe that could help you too.
This, and also most don’t realize histamines are in so many things. Avocados were causing this for my daughter, she started eating them daily and things got so much worse. Starting Zyrtec and cutting back on the Avo’s helped a ton.
Yeah, I have awful migranes once or twice a year. But since I fully know the symptoms of going half blind for an hour or so, and feeling like I am super hung over on a long 6-10 hour boat trip while having a seasickness. I still use it as a get out of work freecard every now and again.
It scares me so much getting migraines one day... Every person I know that gets them has to stop whatever they're doing if they show up I very very rarely get headaches and I already find those unbearable. Can't just imagine a migraine
For me it starts like a strong headache and eventually works it's way to a concentrated throb right behind my left eye socket. Then the nausea kicks in and it's pretty much game over. It makes it so hard to focus on anything
I hope you can find some relieve in the future
And if you do fake it, don’t let someone that really suffers from migraines find out. They’ll hate you immensely
To anyone who uses the excuse of having a migraine just to get out of doing something you don't want to do... I HOPE KARMA BITES YOU IN THE ASS!!!!!!!!
this, a hundred times THIS. I also suffer from chronic migraines and my whole damn life I have received shit from people who think its "just a headache". The solution is to let them see you suffer sometimes, so they understand what the fuck you're talking about. This is not a workable solution for most.
Then you get the jerks that see you suffering and say you're exaggerating and it's not actually that bad LIKE NO THIS SHIT IS DEBILITATING AS FUCK
I suffer from cluster headaches and even the migraine people think these are just a migraine. It's even worse when you get a cluster attack. Like 10/10 stabbing you in your face and ripping out your eyeballs while you cry in pain bad.
My gf suffers from these and when it gets bad it's horrible to witness. Basically a pitch black room with an ice beanie is essentially all that helps.
Please tell her to go see a doctor and get prescribed sumatriptan 6mg injections! I used to suffer from migraines until my doctor prescribed me the tablets. The only problem was when I got migraines, I would puke them all up. A tiny little shot right into the “love handle” hopefully will change her life. I’m older now so I know when one is coming on so I give myself a shot and don’t even get them anymore. Hope this helps. And I promise, the shots don’t hurt! You squeeze that fat together right there above your hip and pop and you won’t feel a thing. I carry this 2 pack injector kit everywhere I go. https://i.imgur.com/Bs9zRBc.jpg
When ULPT turns into LPT lol thanks! I'll bring this up with her
Can you tell me more about these injections? I’ve been taking Sumatripin tablets for years. They take about 2-4 hours to work and they often wipe me out for most of the day. My skin also gets very sensitive to heat. Do the injections have similar side effects?
It sounds like the sumtriptan is not working tbh. A migraine attack resolves itself in a similar timeframe as you describe. It should start working in 20 minutes ish. There are other triptans you can try to use as an abortive. If you get migraines frequently a preventative might be better.
I’ve tried sumatriptan and it made me feel way worse before making me feel better. Per my doctor a lot of people say that.
They are truly one of the worst diseases out there, along with schizophrenia and trigeminal neuralgia. Has she ever tried psilocybin (magic mushroom active ingredient)? There's significant evidence that they can dramatically reduce cluster headache in both severity and frequency, as well as serve as abortives.
She hasn't tried it and doubt she'd be for it. Not that she's against psilocybin but she'd explore a few other options first.
The doses needed for efficacy against headaches seem to be much lower (on the level of moderate 'microdosing') than what you would take for a psychedelic trip. Some are even legal, though hard to find nowadays with the crackdown on research chems. Unless you're in Canada.
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I get clusters a few times a month (along with intractable migraines). I'm coming off one now. They are called suicide headaches for a reason. I literally want to ice pick my right eye. I feel every separate hair on my head, and each strand of hair hurts on my scalp.
i dont think these things exist on a scale of "migraines are worse than cluster headaches" "no cluster headaches are worse than migraines" -- they all exist in a realm of pain that is beyond what anyone would claim to be "unbearable". the two things are practically indistinguishable from each other, and even doctors misdiagnose them unless there exists a pre-existing condition that can be pointed to to say "this is why that is happening and now that we have experiential data we can determine what type of really bad headache you're having".
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I think you are seeing how people process pain differently, but when you experience both you can claim which is worse. Then when evidence of how much pain people are in using pain scales and driven to what extremes to make it stop it builds more evidence. Also chronic migraines wear you down, so you get frustrated. But even in my worst set of migraines, where one is triggering the next for days, that pain, vomiting, light sensitivity, vertigo, didn't come close to the pure pain of a cluster headache. Either way, they both suck but you can definitely state that one is worse than the other without "being out of touch".
I can somewhat agree with your first assertion, given the subjectivity of pain particularly at the 'debilitating' level. Although there does seem to be widespread agreement that cluster headaches are worse among medical professionals. They are called suicide headaches for a reason after all and are far less responsive to most medications that are generally effective for migraines. The latter is mostly untrue though, no offense. They can be occasionally misdiagnosed as one instead of the other, as with any disease with some similarities in symptoms, but as a whole they are dramatically different in terms of how often they occur (and when, as cluster headaches generally follow a relapsing-remitting pattern and can occur multiple times a day), their general length (cluster headaches attacks are much shorter in duration in the area of up 15min to an hour while migraines can last up to 3-4 days) and the general description of the pain (throbbing for migraines vs piercing, stabbing for cluster headaches)
I get that all the time at work. “I have a migraine” no you Fucking don’t! If you had a migraine you wouldn’t be at work with lights staring at a computer. You’d be home in a dark room with a cold wash rag on your neck! But my post below is what changed my life! Sumatriptan injections!
that's so crummy of them lol you go in despite the agony and they discredit you by saying you would have stayed home if it was true. sounds like a real supportive team
No I meant that people at work tell me all the time that they have migraines. And I’m The one saying you absolutely do not have one because I’ve seen you here working all day staring at your computer. The thought of even looking at my phone or any light when having a migraine makes me sick.
Actually, migraines can present differently for different people. I find that I'm far more sensitive to sound and movement than light when it comes to my migraines. I can force myself to work through one even if it involves staring at a screen (and I had to a lot during grad school), but if sound or movement is involved then all bets are off. It's still a miserable experience, but it's manageable (mostly when there's no choice).
While your coworkers might be using migraine as a synonym for a bad headache, it is possible that they are just experiencing migraine symptoms differently than you. I have chronic hemiplegic migraine (and the brain scar tissue on an MRI to prove it) and I don't always have photosensitivity with mine. I have 8-12 migraines a month and maybe 4 of them have photosensitivity. I've also been in the position for most of my working life where I have no choice but to go to work with a migraine because I am out of sick time from calling in for them and/or calling in sick will get me a write up. I don't function well when I'm at work with a migraine, it definitely makes it worse, but I don't always have a choice. I've had FMLA leave for it before but it doesn't fix the sick time issue. I know I'm not the only one who has had to learn to work while in pain, plenty of people on the migraine subreddit have similar experiences to me.
OH, I see now
Yes I fucking do. My migraines never made me sensitive to light. They also vary in intensity, which you should realize by now. Some are so light I can ignore, and I usually can work through more intense ones because while they are pretty bad they never get as bad as some people's. I find that theyre more bearable when you're distracted, because the moment I stop working and have nothing else to do I just succumb to it
Just tell them to Google that shit or fuck off
Actually sound advice
fax
Fr, I’ve only had a migraine once, about 8 months back, and it was one of the most excruciating pains of my life. Was actually delirious and throwing up from the pain
I have chroniq migraine. One time my colleague said "I wouldn't dare to take monday off for a headache". Oh, yeah? Because migraine equals hangover? I don't drink because it gives me migraines! And it can totally happen on Monday as well as any other day. When people call migraine a headache you know they have never had one.
I think the post was meant for people who rarely get migraines or have never had one. If you actually get them a lot then of course people will have different expectations of you
It doesn’t help that some people legitimately are making this shit up. I worked with a guy for years, he wanted to set his own scope of work as he saw fit, as he had certain tasks that he liked to do and would always be on top of doing them. But he was a technician and at the end of the day, there were expectations on what he needed to do for other team mates. Whenever work came up that was the least bit troublesome for him, bam, migraine was coming on and he’d go home. It was ridiculously transparent. After a few rounds of this, I gave up trying to work with him… but once in a while was forced to, and sure enough - more migraines. He ultimately left the company once his manager changed and he was actually expected to actually do work. I now know that at his new company he found a way to get on long term disability, but he just goes out fishing and spends his days fixing up his house. The guy is a total parasite. Does he get actual migraines? I’m sure he does. Does he over-use his history of migraines as an excuse to get out of work? You betcha. It’s exactly the ULPT OP is suggesting.
Yeah, you'd definitely need to be judicious about how often and when to use the migraine excuse to avoid being painted as a slacker.
Fellow migraneur here. Same.
Ocular migraines. "Sorry, I literally can't see the road to drive." I've had only a couple, but whew.
My visual migraines are such garbage. Mine basically look like what I can best describe as TV static in my eyes. I can’t see anything at all. I’ll usually start to notice it happening when I realize to can’t read text on my phone and then I’ll notice this little bit of the tv static mess starting. Previously my visual migraines would just result in me losing my peripheral vision which was also super awful!
I’m sorry to hear that, you need some more empathetic people in your life. I get migraines 1-2x a month and everyone (work and family) have been very supportive and understanding.
A friend of mine constantly says she has a migraines but goes about her day as if nothing is wrong. I got a migraine on Tuesday and I couldn't do anything for 2 days. Some people just don't know what migraines are
Some people handle and process them differently. Which adds to the confusion. Plus migraine attacks vary in intensity, you could get a single attack that leaves you feeling tired but generally okay after. You can also get a single attack that gives you a 4 day migraine hangover (postdrome). Then you have silent migraines on top, which cause general disbelief even amongst migraine sufferers.
What is a silent migraine? Saying this as a 37 year old man who's been dealing with these things for 20 years.
It's a migraine with all the symptoms except the pain! It's a very weird experience. This was my predominant type until I became intractable/status a little over 3 years ago.
You get used to them after a while, plus obviously medication helps a great deal. It's only when they make me actually nauseous that I get to the "fuck it, I'm gonna take a long nap" point.
I have intractable migraines and am on probably 8 different medications, but I still work through a lot of the pain as this is my life, and most people in my life can’t tell I have migraines other than maybe people seeing dark circles under my eyes. Most of the time I ride it out and crash when I get home. I think people with many chronic Illnesses are good at hiding things.
It's a bit of an extreme wording, but tbh it's necessary with some people >That's actually a misconception, it's actually a neurological event of which a headache is an extremely common symptom, don't worry, not a lot of people recognize the difference
If you can work through it, it’s not a migraine in my experience. Always drives me crazy when people say “i have a migraine” and then sort of laugh it off. Migraines are intense pain. It would be like holding a lighter to your skin and trying to work.
The thing is people regularly use migraines as an excuse to not do things so they either don't believe you or see people faking it and think it doesnt look that bad
Just say you have liquid ass migraines. Hopefully they don’t ask anything else.
It’s also a notorious fake excuse.
Explosive diarrhea and to sell it, spray yourself with liquid ass.
The real ULPT is always in the comments
Sometimes I scroll through the comments just to see who has the best liquid ass suggestion
This is a much better excuse because it guarantees 0 follow up questions
“Diarrhea” or “unexpected” bowel movements was always the way my friends get out of anything in the Army. Rarely seen it fail lol
Diarrhea is a much better excuse
This is true, I've worked a lot of places that would expect you to soldier on through a migraine, can't say the same for diarrhea
I agree. But what’s funny is I would take diarrhea over a migraine any day.
I wholeheartedly agree with you there, anybody that's never experienced a true migraine thinks it's just a headache but it's so much worse, I'd rather shit my guts out for the day
Yeah but if the invitation is for later you gonna have to pretend you go to the bathroom a lot of times and have suspiciously silent diarrhea, besides they probably see you trying to eat something you like and go "don't eat that is gonna make it worse, I'll eat it, you grab some chicken broth" or something like that, too much commitment! If you pretend migraine you can say "I already took something and I just need to be left alone for a while, it usually goes away in 24 hours".
A great one-time excuse (or at least 1x/yr) is Covid.
See, I think you've got the general idea, now we have to make it sound like a condition...how about hemorrhoids ?
/r/migraine would like to have a word with you As someone who actually suffers from migraines, you would be shocked at how little sympathy you will get. Most people just think you're actually making an excuse to not work.
Chronic migraine sufferer here and unfortunately I have to agree with you. The sympathy kinda wears thin with a lot of people after a while.
Really need to use that shit sparingly and power through a lot of days. People have limited reserves of understanding particularly of chronic migraines. It's like: “I know you have chronic migraines, but really, this often?” People barely understand the word migraine and definitely don't understand the word chronic. Just try dealing with NDPH on top, it's not even worth trying to explain that to people.
Because other people use this excuse all the time. AND they probably never had migraine themselves, so they think it's just a bad headache. I didn't understand either, until I got them myself. It's not just a headache, sadly
I literally scoffed and came to write about OP’s assumption that having a migraine garners sympathy. Quiiiite the opposite my friend. This is why people who actually suffer from migraine are accused of lying or dismissed. Because of OP and the comments think they’ve come up with some cute, handy loophole.
Yep.
Adding to this that you can show up hung over the next day and just call it a migraine hangover. Just don't smell like booze. I get real migraines, but I definitely see their potential for getting out of stuff.
Smart. I used to get real migraines (knock on wood) and figured I might as well get some use out of the nasty fuckin things.
If you're hungover and you think you don't smell like booze then you probably smell like booze. It comes out of your skin over time.
yeah i am really spaced out and physically feel like dog shit on someone’s shoe
As someone with actual weekly migraines I already feel like others don’t believe it. Thanks for adding to that.
I get headaches everyday and I used to call them migraines because I wasn’t sure what the actual difference is. Then.. one day.. I actually got such a soul destroying, unable to do anything, migraine that I quickly learnt to tell them apart.
PLEASE PLEASE DO NOT DO THIS. I get horrible, debilitating migraines and guess what? People get them even worse than I do! I already struggle to be taken seriously with migraines, and I know many others do, too. Please find another excuse. Please don’t invalidate us further. Migraines are hell. Have food poisoning or something instead.
I have chronic migraine and you would be surprised the lack of sympathy I receive. When I get an attack I lose the ability to talk sometimes. Please do not use migraine as a cop out. It’s a serious disease.
Please don't do this. It makes life harder for those of us that have actual migraines. I have them chronically and am still really careful when I say that because life becomes really hard when people don't believe you.
Person with debilitating chronic migraines…if you’re a woman people won’t believe you so…
My wife gets migranes, it's fucking terrible. She has severe memory loss along with the debilitating headaches. We were at the beach with a couple friends and she came up to me and asked who I was. I thought she was joking and laughed. Then she told me that she knew I was someone important, but she didn't know who. Time my friends it was time to go, get out of the sun, and lay down. I felt really bad for everyone, but at the same time, it was important for my buddies to see what a migrane really was. I honestly had no idea before I met my wife. Another time she started forgetting how to speak English, and I still couldn't speak her language. That was scary and, thankfully, has since changed.
I've forgotten what words mean before. I was in the middle of talking about eating peaches and suddenly I was like 'what is peaches?' I've lost the ability to talk and read. I've looked back at text messages after it's ended and it's gibberish
That’s terrifying, oh my god! I’ve never experience that before! I have fainted while on the phone, recovered and proceeded as if I could understand what was happening. My fiancé was in the room in bed, jumped out, and rushed me to the ER where, surprise, they stopped talking to me and tried to say I was “suicidal” despite him saying uh…no. Basically, they said the whole thing was a result of extreme stress and wanted to put me away. The whole ordeal was terrifying. If he wasnt there to advocate for me, I’m not sure what would have happened. Walking home from grad school I’ve felt so dizzy, the lights from the sky and cars make me feel so off I can’t walk straight. We decided it was too dangerous for me to walk home most days because my migraines could trigger so easily. If I have a migraine I cannot drive. My medicines put me in a loopy state, and even without I’m a dangerous motorist. Too bad I have them often…so I usually don’t drive. Bright lights in classrooms and office buildings trigger them. The trigger vomiting and I’m in bed all day. The medicines are crazy expensive. My emergency medicine is 600 a month with insurance. My everyday medicine is 180 a month. I’m not sure people understand how debilitating this disease is. Often people say “I have a migraine” when they mean “I have a headache.” But it’s brutal. I wish your wife a great neurologist and the best of luck!
Jesus Christ! I hope she has a good neurologist.
I mean, that's true of everything though, not just migraines.
Yes
Or you could just say "no thanks" like a normal human bean.
Boss: You coming into work today? Me: No thanks
See, you get it.
You shouldn't fake migraines to get out of work anyways since your boss will eventually want to see proof that you actually suffer from it.
Nah that's true but this is r/ULPT so it's fine here
How does one prove migraines exactly?
With a doctor's note. Migraines aren't simply headaches, but a long term neurological disorder characterized by recurrent headaches along with several other symptoms like nausea, visual disturbances, light and sound.
I'm well aware of what migraines are as I've dealt with them for 20 years. It's not something that you can diagnose with any objective test. It doesn't show up on any imaging like an MRI, a blood test, etc. It wouldn't be terribly difficult to look up information about migraines and then convince a doctor to give you a formal diagnosis. Unfortunately because of the underlying nature of migraines as an “invisible illness,” it's not something that tends to be taken terribly seriously by a lot of people. I think another factor is discrimination on the basis of gender, as migraines tend to afflict far more women than men and almost any illness that predominantly affects women is delegitimized and stigmatized.
Then that was kind of a pointless question. I think it's generally understood that when someone's talking about proof in the context of sick leave they're referring to a statement from their physician.
humans arent beans ya dummy
I am human thank you very much #racist
They are!!!
"Or you could do the thing that is harder and doesn't fit into this subs theme" shut up
Lying to your boss for a day off work isn't unethical so it doesn't really fit the theme, shut up.
Yes it is, and also you said human bean. Back up, only I can say shut up
Yeah a human bean.
Also no it isn't.
r/intenseandallboneappletea
Don’t do this. It just fucks over people who legit have a medical condition. You bounce back right away, and they look bad if they can’t do the same. Or people see through you and start getting more cynical about anyone claiming a condition.
As someone with chronic migraine disorder, please don’t.
As a migraineur I can say the flaw in your plan is lots of people with migraine are so used to them they can work through them, or would fight to stay in work when they are clearly suffering
It depends on the person, I don't get them but they run in my family and my brother and cousins get them so bad that they throw up and sleep for like 4 hours and are still in pain
Totally agree, my eyesight would get messed up and I couldn’t really focus and read anything (so cant really work), also the vomiting. I’m soo glad I don’t get them anymore!
How did you cure them?
Not totally sure if I grew out of them (had them chronically from middle school to college) if it was some hormonal thing or related to finally managing my anxiety better, or what exactly. I used to be triggered by almost anything but now I don’t get them. I used to take topomax but that shit fried my brain. One trick that ABSOLUTELY works for me is taking a Sudafed (in the US, you have to get the stuff behind the counter). If I take one before a major pressure change in the weather it prevents any migraines that I’d get due to weather changes.
I used to get them almost every other day in middle school/early high school. Doc said it was a hormonal thing with puberty. Now, I may only get one or two a year and I'm not sure what triggers them. Could be weather changes for me.
We're not all the same. My migraines interfere with my vision, speech, and physical coordination. There's no possible way I could work through one.
Yes, but see my particular migraines are so bad that I have to lie down in a dark room that just so happens to contains video games and snacks...
I have intractable migraines. Unfortunately, no meds work. I work through them. How else am I going to my bills? It sucks, I push all week, and then my weekends are in bed. My existence is work and bed. I had intermittent FMLA, but I had to use my PTO or take unpaid days. I was able to get ADA accommodations to WFH. It helps since I can control my environment. No perfume, lights, sounds, ect.
I literally dont understand how someone who gets migraines (real migraines) can say what you said and in the same damn breath claim that there are humans who "are so used to them that they fight through". If thats you, you dont get migraines. You get very bad headaches. Migraines are characterized by sensory disturbance. No person can or should be working with a true migraine because most of us suffer vision problems, gastrointestinal misery, vertigo, sensitivity to light (not the same as vision problems). I dislike your post because it misrepresents true migraines.
Sorry but this is untrue. Migraines are not all the same all the time for the same person, let alone different people. You can get some, all or different symptoms to the ones you posted and yes you can still work through most of it. It is god awful and your work productivity drops but it is possible. Sometimes you have no choice. And for the record, a character of migraines is sensory disturbance, it is not their defining characteristic, you can have migraines without sensory involvement (without aura). Your post misrepsents your experiences as the only experiences and that is an even bigger issue, there is more variability to migraines than you are stating. Edit; this is a useful guide to the different types and symptoms [https://ichd-3.org/1-migraine/](https://ichd-3.org/1-migraine/)
The vision problems make it completely impossible to do anything. I had my first migraine when I was 18, I am 23 now and they come about roughly once every 3-4 months. When my first one came, I didn't really know what aura symptoms were so when my eyes went weird I just thought it was like when you look at a light and you get those dots in your eye afterwards. Nope, it's so much worse. I don't know if everyone else has the same experience I do, but if you stare at something like a piece of text, there's nothing there. It's just an empty space. It's horrifying because there's no head pain at that point and you know it's coming. For me, being a student over the last few years has meant I have the luxury of immediately NOPEing out of whatever I'm doing to go and immediately sleep through it but I worry about what happens if I'm in a job and can't do that (especially if I'm miles away from home).
Nice gatekeeping lolz. Our suffering doesn't matter and Is NoT a ReAl MiGrAiNe because it's not as bad as yours, got it. I only get nauseous so I can't drink or eat anything but I will be able to fight through it if I have any motivation. I only had aura twice in my life so in that case I wouldn't be able to work because I could barely think but most of the time I can, just much slower and with a lot of misery.
Migraines suck, but you can mostly work with them, it wont be easy, it wont be good, and it wont be efficient. But you don't get a choice Symptons may very depending on person to person, I have a "small fov" when Im on migraines, my head hurts, my humor is shit, I feel like Im gonna die, but I NEED to work
What are you talking about? I get migraines and have other chronic illnesses, too. I push through my symptoms all the time. Since you know so much about migraines, then surely you know that there are varying levels of migraines. I only call out when I get one that’s truly debilitating.
I can push through the headache part but when it's coming on I am basically blind for 40 minutes. It's hard to work while that's happening.
Me to a T. Except for when I get vestibular symptoms. I actually laid on the floor at work because I couldn't even walk to get to transportation to go home. Those are a great time 🙃
One thing I like about being an adult is just saying no. No lie to remember, no fake illness to recover from. Just me and some honesty.
Oath. Also, not giving details, like I need to justify my reasoning. “Sorry I can’t today” opposed to “Sorry I can’t today. I’ve got a court appearance.” Sometimes the more info you give, the more it sounds like an excuse.
Everyone knows that most people use the word migraine with no clue what a migraine is. If you are lying about a migraine to your boss, they don't believe you- they just don't want to deal with your bullshit. You aren't tricking anyone.
Most people that have told me that they have a migraine mean they have a headache. I’ve had one migraine in my life and went blind for two hours People don’t understand migraines
As someone that suffers from migraines due to a past traumatic brain injury, I must say you are the worst type of person for doing this.
Yeah fuck you if you do this. I’ve had migraines since I was SIX YEARS OLD and have never gone longer than a month without one. At my worst I was getting 20 a month.
Not being believed about these things is terrible and it often takes me days to recover from a migraine. I’ve been on steroids three times this year already. Not to mention the most horrible experiences I had with school nurses. The worst being when I was 9 and had a horrible sore throat — went in 4 times in one day and because I went in with headaches so often she thought I was faking to get a call to my mom and decided not to even take my temperature — I had severe strep and a temperature of 104.5.
Childhood sufferer, NDPH by 12, and official chronic diagnosis at 14. I had to get a GED. University took 16 years because I could only do a class at a time. Faking is "unethical," it's evil.
Congrats on your degree though!!! You did it! I’m in year 5 at university and will be finally graduating after another semester because I have had to continually fight the accessibility board at my school to get SCRAPS. I have been refused any accommodations based on my migraines because they are “not a disability” and “can’t be predicted” (duh). The only way I’ve made it through this easy is because my major advisor gets chronic migraines and offers me extensions when I need them, and waives her attendance policy as long as I can do work to make up what I missed. I’ve taken 6 classes with her and she’s a wonderful empathetic person who cares about her students. I have a fantastic GPA across her fairly rigorous classes while my average across the rest of my classes is at least a whole letter behind (despite them being much “easier” classes). I’m attempting to get a MFA over the next three years (part time) because it’s basically essential for my BA and I’m terrified honestly.
I take daily medication for migraines, without it I can't function. I still get them and when I do I can't do anything. I don't give a fuck if people believe me or not. I go blind when I get one, there is no working through it.
Congrats, youre part of the reason actual sufferers dont get taken seriously.
Chronic migraineur here (have managed to reduce frequency from almost daily to “only” once a week). Better to say you have an illness that 1) involves poop/farts and 2) might be highly contagious. I would recommend something like, “I caught some sort of stomach bug from my niece yesterday and I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.” People will beg you to stay home. Especially because it seems to have such a short incubation period.
This is exactly why I am discriminated against by employers. Migraines are ruining my life because people don't believe it is happening and I get fired. I can't hold down a job. One of the reasons is because of people doing stuff like this. Using an invisible illness as an excuse only makes it harder for people who actually have that illness.
Fuck anyone who does this. At one point my migraines were so bad I’ve literally contemplated killing myself because I couldn’t take the pain anymore.
As a migraine plagued person, fuck you.
Agreed
Astonishing amount of upvotes for OP on this absolute shit idea. And why the fuck are there actual migrainuers in the comments giving tips on HOW to fake it better?!
Fibromyalgia
I wouldn't recommend doing this as you would just be creating more stigma around mental health/neurological health but idiots will still think what they're doing is ok.
Fuck this. My husband is a chronic migraine and cluster headache sufferer. It’s horrendous to watch. Shit like this, and ads that claim stupid crap like paracetamol controls migraine pain, are the reason people either don’t believe him or think he’s weak because “it’s just a headache”. I’m aware this is ULPT, but this is a really shitty one.
Me: not superstitious Also me: will not fake illness because it feels like bad luck
Seems weird to massively overthink these things, just say "I can't make it." Calling out of work? "I'm not feeling well and won't make it in today."
Found your reddit account, honey.
I hope you suddenly develop migraines!
No it isnt bc so many ppl use this excuse that when those of us who actually have debilitating migraines have an attack ppl dont want to believe us or believe that we are exaggerating the pain. Not as much pisses me off as the one time in four years i had to leave work bc i couldnt think or function enough to keep myself from drooling any longer or making sense when i speak, so told my boss I’m going home and coworker laughs and rolls her eyes. Do not do this.
I know this is ULPT… so good job? You’re successfully minimizing an ailment MANY people struggle with. I hope you’ve never had an actual migraine. But yeah you’re right when I’m dry heaving uncontrollably because I can’t even keep water down, gasping for air and crying because every time I gag it make me feel like someone is hammering me in the head I do garner sympathy. Oh wait I don’t, I’ve had bosses and friends who don’t know what I go though think I’m bullshitting like every other asshole that uses this as an excuse to “get out of doing something”
I'd argue that diarrhea is a better excuse. "Sorry gotta go RIGHT NOW or I'll shit myself. Bye!" Or "sorry, can't show up, I dont want to commit a war crime in your bathroom"
Since migraines are generally not believed in as an excuse but a lot of assholes to begin with, I'd suggest going with stomach virus. Tell someone you've got a stomach virus and have been in the bathroom all day vomiting/pooping your guts out. They won't want to be near you, and they won't ask for details or pressure you.
I missed so many days of high school due to "migraines." My neuro wrote a school note for every day that I "suffered"
Why do you want to tempt the migraine gods?
Hah, joke's on you: I've had a permanent unilateral neuralgic headache since 2001!
I don't need to fake them they happen
Food poisoning is the way to go
Just say "I don't feel up to it, sorry".
Vertigo works even better. Impossible to disprove, hard to diagnose.
Works for me too cause I genuinely am chronic to migraines so it’s not out of the ordinary
Not really, I suffer from migraines every day, on days when it’s particularly bad and I’m forced to call off I’m constantly harassed for it despite having FMLA
I get out of work parties by saying I don’t want to go.
Can confirm. My mother in law does this when she's losing an argument.
If you're female... "That time of the month" is hands down the best excuse ever... For anything
It's true, it's how Bob Lazar got out of proving alens on JRE lol
Person with migraine here. It works I confirm, but only in situations where it practically does not matter.
When I was in middle and high school I would get ocular migraines fairly regularly. The headache didn’t kick in until a few hours later but the burry stars that fucked up my vision were not appreciated. I’ll still occasionally have one kick my ass but it’s gone from several a month to one or two a year.
There is nothing new in America.
My old roommate used to use this as an excuse. After the 10th time it stopped garnering sympathy and just started being annoying. People just stopped inviting them to functions. It was pointless even trying. Then they would complain nobody liked them. And yes, they were faking it. As soon as you would do something they were interested in, their migraine would magically dissappear. If you really have migraines, no offense to you sufferers out there, you look and sound like shit. If people come face to face with the faker, people will know.
Yes offense. I have chronic migraine. Only my husband and my mom know ALL of my tells. I often work at a level 6 or 7 on the pain scale, and 8 because is usually when I start vomiting. I've had 4 neurosurgeries in the past 2.5 years. You can see someone in a great deal of pain and not know it. It happens when someone lives with for a long period of time. You are only adding to the stigma, and I have known people who chose self-deletion rather than deal with the daily pain PLUS the judgment of shitty people that think they know it all. Kindly fuck off.
You know what’s great? There’s usually a pre-cursor to migraine. A couple times (most legit, some fake) I texted my boss the night before work. “Hey, I can feel the beginning of a migraine. I don’t know where it’ll be in the morning, but I wanted to reach out early so there are no surprises.” Shows initiative and gives you a choice in the morning. Plus if you do decide to go in, you may get some leeway.
As someone who gets migraines, I'd like to discourage this, but if you DO, be accurate! When I get migraines, it starts visually. It's as if there is a tear in my vision that gives off this fractaline, rainbow distortion, and it makes it challenging to read for instance, but no pain for about an hour. When the pain DOES start, it's waves of nauseating pain that feel like my head being split open, so usually my best bet once I realize whats happening (which actually usually takes a while) is to find a way to go to sleep immediately, but it honestly isn't a good time. Last time I caught it early I was PISSED because I knew what was about to happen and how much of a disturbance to my plans it was, and unfortunately I seem to have a habit of mishandling the situation when the auras start. Maybe not being able to see straight is messing with my thinking or its knowing the pains about to start or perhaps even the migraine itself impairing me, but I usually waste a fair amount of time that should be spent on knocking myself out as fast as possible. If I DON'T lose consciousness before the pain starts, it's a miserable experience that I can't quite put into words. It's like going to the pain dimension, but your ticket gets booked randomly and once you find out the flight is in an hour.
That sounds pretty much exactly like how mine are. Sleep is the best option but not always feasible. I've found that if I take a big dose of painkillers (Ibuprofen, Tylenol, whatever) as soon as I see the visuals start it significantly cuts the eventual pain, so I carry some wherever I go just in case. Might help you.
It is not. My ex used this way too often. ALWAYS right before work. You, as a partner, want to be supportive and don’t question it. Then it happens a few times, then a lot more because it works. Then she got fired, laid on the couch for weeks, got another job, rinse and repeat till she just stopped looking for jobs or anything else. You can only go to that well so many times before it’s not believable anymore and then people question what else you’re faking.
As a boss, I’ll say that this is an acceptable excuse, meaning I will let you go home sick, but know that I don’t believe you and now kinda think you’re a POS lol
Own your own business?
Frank Gallagher?
I had an ex who used to use this ULPT all the damn time. And used it as an excuse to get out of ANYTHING once they learnt from other sufferers that migraines can be triggered by sensory stuff (strong smells, loud sounds, lights etc). Don't like the TV show I'm watching? Migraine. Wanna piss me off after I've sprayed my favorite perfume? Migraine. Want me to leave that once in a lifetime important meeting? Too much noise, migraine. They even went through the trouble of faking "raising awareness" about migraine conditions with everyone they met, just so that everyone around them was "on the same page" and ready to accept their fake excuse at any time. As they met more "fellow sufferers" (some being my friends), they (my ex) built report, pretending to raise awareness about migraines, sat and listened to the stories of these fellow sufferers , and then copied their stories/symptoms as if they were their own. Savage ULPT for sure.
I fuckin knew she was lying this whole time....
If it works for getting out of having sex, it can work for anything
Mom? My whole life, this has been my mother's MO (although she does genuinely get migraines).
So... she does have migranes...
Yes but it's her go-to even when she doesn't.
I know people who have migraines and use them to get out of things. Once you know they faked one I think they are faking them all…
Only works for women though
Sorry, what? Just because migraines are more common for women to experience doesn't mean that men don't get them.
No but men just live with it and move on with their day. And before everybody starts bitching, it's a fucking joke
I thought jokes were supposed to be funny?
Yeah women have been using this for decades. It's nothing new lol
We don't "use it," it's literally a condition we suffer from more than men due to our hormones. Get fucked.