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Angie

How Can I Get Disability for Chronic Migraines? Tips for Approval

A few mornings ago, I was sipping coffee and taking care of bills online when I noticed a large sum deposited into my checking account. My foggy brain dismissed it as a banking mistake and I went on with my day. Hours later it hit me that the deposit had the abbreviation “Soc Sec” next to it .  I had been approved for disability and was awarded back pay!

Can I get disability for chronic migraines?

I applied for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) four months ago and was not optimistic.  I was not expecting to get news so quickly, and I was really not expecting to be approved. The lady from my local Social Security office told me that it would take at least 6 months for me to get an initial answer. The horror stories I came across online  told me that the initial answer would most likely be a refusal. Only 30-35% of applicants are approved on the first try, and the appeals process can take years.

Getting disability for my condition, chronic migraines, is tough. Every migraine sufferer knows all too well how disabling migraines can be. On top of the severe head pain, migraines bring a lot of fun symptoms like nausea, vomiting, light sensitivity, sound sensitivity, vertigo, cognitive impairment, and many, many more.  Even so, the Social Security Administration does not include chronic migraines on the list of conditions automatically awarded benefits.

Why, then, was I approved so quickly?

I’m sure luck had something to do it, but I also did my research and worked hard to ensure that my application included everything the Disability Determination Office requires  for an approval.

 Most people who apply for disability are eventually approved, even if they were initially rejected. The following tips helped me get approved on the first try, eliminating the need for a lawyer and a lengthy appeal process.

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The Healing Power of Self-Compassion

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On Monday morning, I experienced the simple bliss of waking up without a headache. Over a year ago, my neurologist told me that waking up every morning with a headache is a sign that I am over-using medication (triptans and Ibuprofen in my case) causing rebound headaches. Though I rarely treat my headaches and migraines with any medication that can cause rebound, my head is still wracked with pain most mornings before I even open my eyes.

Monday morning was different, though. I woke up pain-free and ecstatic to spend the day with my boyfriend who is visiting me after a long summer apart. We enjoyed coffee and breakfast together, and the pleasure of spending a pain free morning with the person I love the most made me giddy with gratitude and relief.

Image: Festoon House Lighting

These moments of respite from pain are bittersweet and always too short-lived. Shortly after breakfast, I was hit with extreme fatigue. Nausea, light sensitivity, and eventually throbbing pain soon followed until I was fully immersed in a migraine. I went from a happy young woman ready for a beautiful day to an exhausted, brain-dead dark-dweller. In my pain and disappointment, I cried and raged and internally bashed my body for being useless for little more than misery or pain. Even after two years of chronic migraines, every single migraine feels like a betrayal.

My body deserves my compassion, not my rage.

I know this but have to remind myself of it daily. I expect a level of compassion from my family, friends, partner, and doctors that I have trouble giving myself. When a migraine sets in my emotional strength is drained, and my mind wanders easily to negative, self-critical thinking patterns. There is nothing unhealthy about complaining externally or internally when you’re in pain, but when you’re in pain for so much of your life those thinking patterns can take over and lead to isolation and a further diminished quality of life.

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Finding Fulfillment Despite Pain

I’m sitting at the base of a Jeffrey pine tree on the north shore of Big Bear Lake watching the light change. Nuthatches, phoebes, northern flickers, and bluebirds flit around the tops of surrounding trees catching as many insects as they can before nightfall. There must be close to a hundred birds in my line of sight – more than I’ve ever seen in such a small space.

After spending more than three weeks in bed with nonstop migraines, the quiet peacefulness of this moment is overwhelming. My brain is still foggy and slow, and I’m still queasy enough to make eating hard. But the sun on my legs and the energy of the birds nourish me more than any amount of rest or medication. For the first time in almost a month, I feel like myself rather than a migraine with the shadow of a person attached. Moments like these are what keep me going.

Chronic illness is a thankless and demanding partner that forces the sufferer to make sacrifice after sacrifice.

It is completely normal for those of us with chronic illness to wrestle with feelings of inadequacy and a diminished self-worth. I have no career or children or social life to offer fulfillment, so I must seek it elsewhere. Every day I put effort into appreciating the small and beautiful moments, but sometimes it just isn’t enough. Read More »Finding Fulfillment Despite Pain

My Chronic Migraine Story

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Like most chronic pain patients, I can tell you the exact date and time that divided my life into two segments: Before Pain and After Pain.  There was no dramatic moment, no accident or violent event; I simply woke up three days after my 24th birthday with a migraine aura. The aura turned into an intractable migraine that I would spend the next two years (and counting) trying to defeat.

Before Pain

My first day in uniform. This photo was taken one week before my migraines became chronic
One week before my migraines became chronic. Photo by Eric Smith

My boyfriend Eric and I had recently moved into a tent cabin in Yosemite National Park where we would spend the summer as park rangers.

Our new home had a splintery wooden floor and canvas roof that billowed and breathed with the wind.  We had no internet, no TV, and no attached bathroom. (During extra cold nights we implemented a “pee bucket” to spare ourselves the chilly walk to the bathroom). Our bed was two paper thin mattresses that we pushed together and piled high with memory foam. It was rustic to the point of shabbiness, and I loved every inch of it.

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