This is the first time I have ever posted one of my Dates of Note after the week in question has actually started. The reason for that is simple: I have had migraine on and off for the past fortnight and didn’t remember to check my sources in time. Ironic, huh? This week (1st to the 7th) is Migraine Education – Migraine Awareness Week. I like to think I’m reasonably organised, or at least that I give you the impression I am, and this really does prove the point about how debilitating migraine can be – on a sample of one, admittedly.

Unfortunately, I know how she feels

I’m not going to make this a long piece, as I’m sure many of you have experience of migraine, either yourself or in someone close to you. I was first diagnosed when I was 15 – to save you the maths, that was around 45 years ago. Since then I’ve had several migraines a year apart from one blissful period in my 20s when I went three years without one, and foolishly hoped I was somehow ‘cured.’ Not so. And the older I get, the more migraines I have and the longer they seem to last! Five or six a year isn’t uncommon, and they now linger for up to three days instead of just the one when they first started.

I hope you follow the link above, which takes you to the Migraine Trust’s website. The Trust organises this week as a means of educating people about migraine, and their website has a lot of helpful information and links. In particular, it might help those who say they have a migraine when it is actually a bad headache: believe me, there is a difference and you’ll know it if you suffer migraine!

And I always give you a link to the NHS website which is also a very good source of information.

Please support the week if you can, or at least take a little time to understand more about migraine and its effects on people.

A neighbour

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go and explain to the people in the flat above why I don’t appreciate them ignoring their dog when it is barking incessantly.