1 hour ago
4
My frustrated husband, Drew, screeched the car to a halt and deployed maine connected a ngo to find the Guest Relations entrance, truthful our 9-year-old lad and his best friend could “Take the Field” astatine Dodger Stadium. As I hustled retired the door, I glanced into the backseat and waved goodbye to the excited boys, who were gripping the baseballs they’d brought with them. I knew that if I didn’t find Guest Relations successful the adjacent 15 minutes, the boys wouldn’t beryllium capable to bash the pre-game tally onto the tract to find their favourite Dodger and person him motion their balls. I desperately did not privation to fto anyone down.
A sizzling midday sun, courtesy of a late-May heatwave, pounded down connected my bare shoulders, and vigor whooshed up my achromatic fabric sundress from the pavement below. As I rushed toward a formation of cement stairs, I knocked disconnected my sunglasses. Blinding sunlight deed maine consecutive successful the eyes, portion nausea roseate up wrong me.
Don’t panic, don’t panic, don’t panic, I thought, arsenic I grabbed the handrail to dependable myself. Just arsenic I arrived astatine the entrance, the crushed beneath maine began to sway. I held my enactment arsenic a question of dizziness spun maine around, and then, arsenic they accidental successful the movies, everything faded to black.
I woke up arsenic 2 EMTs were hoisting maine onto a gurney. Drew’s look appeared supra mine, present speechmaking anxious alternatively of annoyed. I shooed him and the boys away.
“Find Guest Relations and past travel back,” I said.
“Are you definite you’re alright?” Drew asked with brushed concern.
I wasn’t sure, but I looked him successful the oculus and smiled bravely.
“I’m fine, you go,” I called, arsenic the gallant EMTs whisked maine into an elevator and up to the Dodger exigency attraction suite.
I felt overmuch amended there, lying connected a crisp, achromatic infirmary furniture with the aerial conditioning cranked connected high. The good-looking Dodger doc approached the bed, asked maine a artillery of questions, and told maine it was my hypoglycemia, coupled with the heat, that had caused maine to faint.
If only.
The dizziness and nausea continued into the adjacent weeks and past months. Vertigo pursued maine similar a hormonal lad with his archetypal large crush. Its favourite spot to onslaught was astatine the market store, wherever I would propulsion my cart bravely successful and statesman shopping, lone to soon rotation into unconsciousness. I would aftermath up connected the floor, eye-to-eye with the frozen peas.
That August, portion inactive successful hunt of a diagnosis, I had my archetypal unmedicated, tsunami-like migraine attack, which went connected for 11 days and stopped lone erstwhile a household friend, who was a neurologist, prescribed a people of steroids to interruption its cycle. He besides informed maine that my erstwhile fainting episodes were apt vestibular migraine attacks without the caput pain.
It wasn’t agelong until my migraine information morphed into chronic migraine, which meant I suffered much than 15 attacks each month, arsenic good arsenic a dull squeezing headache connected the days successful between. I learned that migraine affects astir 1 successful 6 people and the information is simply a leading cause of planetary disability. Over 40 million Americans endure from migraine, with 7.7% of those suffering from chronic migraine.
Eventually, I mislaid my highly palmy vocation successful PR due to the fact that I couldn’t regularly amusement up for my clients.
In short, I was disabled.
About 3 years into my invisible unwellness journey, I overheard my hubby successful our chamber talking to his ma connected the telephone conscionable arsenic I was astir to enter.
“She’s doing a small better, Mom,” Drew said, his dependable infused with an optimism I knew helium was feigning.
I pulled my manus disconnected the doorknob. My tummy churned and my look flushed with anger. How situation helium prevarication for me? This was our family, and they deserved to cognize the information astir what I was going through.
As soon arsenic Drew hung up the phone, I strode into our chamber to present a crisp rebuke and past request implicit familial transparency for the involvement of my ain intelligence health. But, erstwhile I opened my mouth, thing came out. Instead, my pharynx constricted and I had to swallow backmost tears. I silently cursed myself for being weak.
The information my hubby was trying to fell was that not lone was my chronic information not improving, it was really getting worse — contempt each I’d tried. I had radically changed my fare by giving up dairy and wheat and cutting retired each different nutrient that mightiness beryllium considered a trigger, including coffee, chocolate, cheese, onions, bananas, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, thing aged oregon fermented, and immoderate benignant of vino oregon spirit. I besides kept my slumber rhythm accordant and avoided precocious altitudes, strenuous exercise, swimming pools and immoderate benignant of symptom reliever, which immoderate people judge tin pb to rebound headaches.
I took plentifulness of medications, prescribed by aggregate neurologists, including immoderate I had to regularly inject. I had aggregate MRIs, each of which showed nothing. I besides experimented with earthy therapies similar massage, acupuncture and biofeedback, but they seemed to trigger migraine attacks alternatively of preventing them.
“It’s the bootstrap thing,” I said to Drew, describing this astir beloved of American ideals — that we tin execute thing if we conscionable propulsion ourselves together. The unfortunate hitch is that if an idiosyncratic “takes excessively long” to “just get implicit it,” helium oregon she is judged arsenic weak, oregon worse.
“I cognize you’re conscionable trying to support me,” I told him. “But erstwhile you prevarication astir my information to our family, I consciousness ashamed. Worthless.”
My husband’s look contorted with emotion. “Diana, you cognize that’s not—”
“It’s what Brene Brown said … successful that … you cognize … successful that code she gave,” I sputtered inarticulately, waving my arms to someway implicit the sentence. The unit of tears was starting to physique down my eyes. Because crying was different migraine trigger, I laid down connected our furniture successful hopes of self-soothing.
Fortunately, Drew understood what I was referring to, arsenic we’d watched Brown’s Ted Talk, “The Power of Vulnerability,” connected YouTube together. We some knew that shame cannot past empathy, and that’s precisely what Drew offered maine that night, arsenic helium laid down beside maine and mildly took maine successful his arms.
It would beryllium different 2 years until a ma astatine my daughter’s schoolhouse suggested I effort an ancient, alternate attraction called hirudotherapy, aka leech therapy. I initially balked, arsenic my precise constricted cognition of leeches was from humanities novels, wherever bloodletting really harmed the diligent successful question. However, I did immoderate online probe and discovered that hirudotherapy is FDA-approved for relieving venous congestion (blood pooling) aft surgery. Leeches are besides employed by immoderate aesculapian practitioners to assistance with things similar chronic symptom and inflammatory conditions; however, the FDA has not evaluated oregon approved their usage successful these instances.
Because I’m a combatant by nature, due to the fact that I’d ne'er privation to springiness up connected myself, and due to the fact that I didn’t truly person thing to lose, I decided to effort it.
“My leeches volition spell heeeere,” Irina, my charming Slavic hirudotherapist said. She explained that the placement of the leeches connected my assemblage would correspond with important organs, similar my liver, which she claimed was cardinal to the treatment. I inactive wasn’t convinced that these small worms were really going to bash anything, but I was truthful desperate, I didn’t care.
“There volition beryllium leeetle pain,” Irina said dramatically, holding up the archetypal brown, flat, slimy creature. I sensed she was trying to gauge immoderate trepidation, but I waved her informing distant with the bravado of a idiosyncratic who would bash immoderate it took to extremity her intimate, relentless narration with pain.
Irina placed 5 of the leeches connected my torso: 2 beneath the ribs, 2 connected my tummy and 1 nether my bikini line. I was taken by astonishment erstwhile they started to squirm and determination atop me. It really tickled, and I stifled a laughter arsenic 1 of the leeches coiled itself wrong my belly button. Irina past lowered the lights and near maine lying connected her exam array for astir 30 minutes.
“Time to wrapper you up,” Irina chirped, arsenic she came backmost into the country and removed each sucking, clinging leech. They had transformed into plump, caterpillar-type shapes.
“They are filled with your blood, of course,” Irina said, answering my unasked question.
The symptom of their suction cups detaching was minimal, but humor — my humor — started pouring retired of each puncture spread near down astatine what seemed similar an alarming rate. Irina swiftly arranged respective Kotex pads astir my torso to sorb the blood. Then she wrapped my waist successful cling wrap, precise snugly, to support the pads successful place. I pulled my sweater connected and practiced breathing successful my makeshift, post-leech corset.
When I awoke the adjacent morning, the archetypal happening I noticed was that my caput was clear, and escaped from pain. I could not judge it. As the time went on, I remained migraine-free. I was perfectly gobsmacked. I felt truthful bully that aft picking up my kids from school, I was inspired to marque guacamole to astonishment my food-is-love hubby erstwhile helium got location from enactment — thing I had not been capable to bash for years.
“This is delicious,” Drew said enthusiastically, dipping different spot into the guac. He looked astatine maine adoringly, encircling my waist with 1 limb and pulling maine close. He wants me, I thought, kissing him hard connected the lips. How terrible, however not amusive it indispensable beryllium to beryllium joined to idiosyncratic perpetually successful the throes of agony. I pushed the bittersweet thought away. I was surviving successful the moment, and this infinitesimal was migraine-less.
As each caller time came and went without different attack, I allowed myself to judge I mightiness beryllium breaking escaped from much than 5 years of changeless migraine cycling. I continued to cheque my head, advertisement infinitum, and religiously attended my play leech therapy sessions with Irina. Then, 1 day, she told maine it was clip to springiness my assemblage a rest.
I was terrified that without the treatment, I mightiness acquisition different attack, but, miraculously, it ne'er happened. I adjacent stopped going to spot my neurologist, who, portion wishing maine well, expressed sedate doubts astir my nontraditional healing method. Still, I’m blessed to study that a decennary later, I americium inactive migraine-free.
While determination is some probe that shows leech therapy whitethorn successful information assistance mitigate headache pain, the results I achieved look supernatural. I cannot accidental precisely what happened to maine oregon why. There’s evidently a bully accidental others whitethorn not person the aforesaid absorption — and everyone should ever cheque with a aesculapian nonrecreational astir their ain circumstantial conditions and concern — but who knows? We request much studies to recognize these small leeches’ potential. However, immoderate happened, I yet person my beingness back.
Once I realized I had escaped my situation of pain, I was anxious to permission my years of invisible unwellness down me. Happy to yet beryllium escaped of the stigma and judgment, I vowed to ne'er talk of it again. However, I soon realized that by staying silent, I’d go portion of the problem. How volition thing alteration for those who are inactive warring for their lives if I don’t archer my ain story? Despite my blessed ending, excessively galore others are inactive suffering and I cannot and volition not wantonness them.
Today, I usage my dependable — present strong, clear, and not strangled by tears — to archer the information astir the disablement I suffered, and truthful does my husband. I’m grateful for the unwavering emotion and enactment helium gave me, erstwhile truthful galore others had disappeared from my life. That has been the top acquisition of all.
Diana Foutz Daniele is simply a writer and publicist surviving successful Los Angeles. She is presently querying her debut memoir, “OUT OF THE DARK: My Journey Through Motherhood, Migraine and Madness,” astir her clip disabled by archetypal chronic migraine and past treatment-resistant depression, and the unsocial — and seemingly miraculous — ways successful which she was healed from both. Daniele, whose publication manuscript was precocious long-listed successful the Tall Poppy Writers Pitch Contest, serves connected the planetary nonprofit committee of the Advancement for Clinical TMS (FACTMS) and is an advocator for termination prevention. A Phi Beta Kappa postgraduate of UCLA, Diana earned her M.A. successful journalism astatine the Annenberg School for Communications and Journalism astatine USC. For much information, spell to dianadanielepr.com.
This nonfiction primitively appeared connected HuffPost in June 2026.
English (US) ·