[Superman]

I'm fifty, and have had occasional migraine episodes virtually all my life. Perhaps a few times per year. I don't get much of a headache, though. It starts as a swirly, flashy part of my vision. I get a certain 'feeling' also, so there's no mistaking the onset. I know what's going to happen shortly. The swirly, flashy thing grows and over perhaps ten minutes it covers my vision. I cannot see. Then perhaps twenty minutes later, it goes away. When it does, I am left with a dull headache that is not debilitating. It has always happened this way. Always this way.

I have a sister who suffers from the full blown variety. She has tried many things. She takes medications as soon as she senses one starting. If that does not work, she has other medications. Some fairly serious ones. If they don't work, then her headache becomes so severe that she's nearly uncommunicative. If all fails, and she's in this kind of pain, she might go the ER. Because of the seriousness of the drugs she needs at that point, she has a note from her doctor that starts out "If you are reading this..........." The hope is that the ER physician is alerted that a couple of aspirin....followed by a codeine Tylenol an hour later.....followed by.......is useless. If my sister goes into the ER with one of these migraines, it's time to shut the brain down.