How migraine affects my finances isn't something I've talked about before and isn't something that generally gets discussed in this country; money matters seems to be something which is a cultural taboo although I break this taboo myself a lot as I find it a strange thing to not talk about when it impacts our lives so much.
My chronic migraines have had a fairly substantial impact on my finances.
By far the biggest part of that has been with regards to employment. At the job I was in for a few years before my migraine condition started and was with until this time last year, I was earning a very good wage but the stress of the people I was working for and the role itself just made my migraines worse and worse. When I parted company with that employer, I decided that I wouldn't be able to go into a similar level job at another company as my body just wouldn't allow me to deal with that stress anymore. I therefore am now working for an employer, and most importantly, a manager who understands my condition and is on my side, which is worth the more than 50% pay cut I took compared to my old job for me to be happy working there and therefore getting far less migraines and far less days off work than at my old work.
As well as this very large cut in our household income, there are other financial impacts of having chronic migraine.
Although we have an excellent thing of the National Health Service in this country, we still have to pay a fixed amount per prescription and when you're getting a lot of prescriptions that can really add up at nearly £8 each. Thankfully the NHS also offer a pre-payment card but that costs me £30 every 3 months still - a lot cheaper than paying for each prescription but still an amount not to be sniffed at.
The other major financial impact of my migraines is on food. The episodic nature of migraines means they're impossible to plan for. Each week I make a food plan for the week ahead and we do a supermarket shop. When migraine strikes though, that food usually ends up being wasted, costing us money, and as my husband doesn't cook then we end up having fast food or takeaway food whilst I'm unable to cook, all of which isn't cheap!
Add onto that the cost of tickets or activities booked and paid for that I've then not been able to attend because of migraines and having to account for rest time holiday days off work whenever a journey or activity is planned for a weekend and it really had added up to an awful lot by now.
June, Migraine and Headache Awareness Month, is dedicated to Unmasking the Mystery of Chronic Headache Disorders. The Migraine and Headache Awareness Month Blog Challenge is issued by FightingHeadacheDisorders.com.
Photo by BabeWithABackpack on Flickr
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