READING TEST CHAPTER 3
Jimi’s Migraines
Almost everyone gets a headache from time to time, but not everyone gets a migraine. Migraines are severe headaches which can be extremely painful. When a migraine starts, the blood vessels in your head start to shrink and then swell. This causes the pain. They can last for a few hours to a few days. You often know when a migraine is coming because your body gives you warning signals. You may see flashing lights, or your vision may get blurry. This is the story of Jimi, 15, who suffered from migraines for a couple of years.
Jimi’s story
When I was 12, I started getting headaches, basically out of nowhere. I would get them once a week or so. Then, once summer began, I started getting them more often. Halfway through the summer I was having headaches every single day. On nice summer days, I would make plans to hang out with friends. However, the minute I would walk outside the door, I could walk right back indoors and go to sleep with another migraine. For an entire year I had no life whatsoever.
Feeling miserable
After a few weeks, I went to my doctor. He just told me to take some daily aspirin. I hated that advice, because those aspirins never helped a bit. I thought my life was pretty miserable. I had to sit in my room with towels or aluminium foil covering my windows, to keep it really dark there. The TV was always off, and all I could do was sleep. Eating, drinking, talking, seeing, hearing, smelling, moving… Everything just made my migraine throb harder.
Specialist help
One day I went to a neurological specialist. My mom and I had to fill out an information form, because it was the first time we went to this doctor. One of the questions on the form was about the pain of the migraine. I had to give the pain a grade from 1 to 10, and I remember writing down 20! Then the form gave a list of all the common causes of migraines. And there it was! The cause of my migraines was right in front of my eyes. I would walk from our cool house into the warm summer weather: the sudden change of temperature triggered my migraines! It suddenly made so much sense to me.
No problem
This new doctor prescribed me propranolol. There is only one downside to this drug: you have to take it for a year until it starts working. Now it has been a couple of years and I haven't had any problems with migraines yet. To anybody who suffers from migraines, trust me, it isn't worth trying to cope with them on your own. Get the help you need, and hopefully it works for you as well as it did for me and it gives you your life back.
Words to help
bloodvesselsbloedvaten
throbbonzen
neurological specialistneuroloog/zenuwarts
triggeredveroorzaakten