How Changing One Tablet Cured my Migraines

I've been a frequent suffer with headaches and migraines for longer than I can remember. Ever since I began my A-levels, my migraines seemed to have got a lot worse. I just put this down to stress and never really thought much else of it. I also suffer from bruxism (teeth grinding) which can also put pressure on the temples which as a result causes migraines.

As I went through sixth form, my migraines got progressively worse. They were always on the left side of my face, with the pain focused behind my left eye. I was extremely sensitive to light and sound, and the only real way of getting rid of them was to take some aspirin tablets and go to sleep no matter what time of day it was. This was all good until it was happening a couple of times a week and I was taking aspirin quite frequently. So in October 2017, I went to the doctors and they prescribed me sumatriptan (essentially all this does it widen the blood vessels within the brain to relieve migraine pain) and some anti-sickness tablets. I had never been sick with a migraine before but I always had nausea. I took one of these tablets within the first week of having them and I never experienced anything like it. I had jaw ache and cramp to the point where I felt like someone was pulling my jaw wide open. The tablet completely knocked me out and I slept for a good 14-15 hours straight without waking up. From that day, I never took another one of the tablets and went back to taking aspirin.

On the 5th October this year was when I had my worst migraine attack to date. Throughout the day, I had this dull pain in the left side of my forehead but I just ignored it hoping it would go away. But I started to feel more and more lethargic and tired and by 5pm, my body was shaking and was really weak. My left eye was so sensitive to light to the point where I just buried my head under a pillow trying not to cry from the agony. The whole left side of my face ending up going completely numb and I couldn't feel my left cheek at all. This was also the first time I was physically sick with a migraine. I became so scared and worried because I had never suffered from a migraine this bad in the years I had suffered from them. I had to take the Saturday off work and spend the weekend in bed recovering.


On the Monday, I booked a doctors appointment and told her exactly what happened and the first thing she asked is am I on the contraceptive pill, and I said yes I am, since I was 15. I suffer from extremely bad heavy periods so as soon as my periods started, I went straight on the pill to relieve me from the pain and the uncomfortableness of very heavy periods. So 4 years I had been on this pill and I had no problems with it - or so I thought. As soon as I explained my face went numb, she took me straight off it as the pill can increase your changes of a stroke. The combined pill I was on (Microgynon 30) contains both the hormones oestrogen and progesterone, but I have now been changed onto the mini pill (POP pill) called Cerelle. This pill only contains the hormone progesterone and a tablet has to be taken every single day, in comparison to the combined pill which is taken for 21 days and then a 7 day break where you have your period usually.

So far, I've been taking the mini pill since 17th October and touch wood, I haven't had a migraine since then. I've had the odd headache but nothing as extreme as I used to get. The pros to the mini pill are obviously its eliminated my migraines but the downsides are that I never really know when I'll get my period and the main side effect is acne which I've most definitely been suffering with since starting this new pill. I've always hd spots but this is a new level of acne!

Bit of a log-winded post but if you're suffering from something similar, get yourself checked as it may be something to do with the medication you're taking. I went from having a migraine everyday for 2 weeks at the end of September to not having one for nearly 3 weeks now.

Daisy x

Anti-depressants: An Update

Rewind back to July and I was on holiday. I’d known for a while that’s my sertraline tablets weren’t benefitting me in the way they were when I first started using them and I knew I needed to change the tablets. At this point, my mental health was deteriorating and I found myself slipping into old habits which were awful and something I never wish to happen again. I had accepted my tablet’s weren't working so I went back to the doctors and told her how low I felt again and how I felt the tablets were doing a lot more harm than good.

After having been asked many questions, I eventually walked out with a depression helpline leaflet in one hand, and a prescription for 14 days worth of new antidepressants in the other - fluoxetine. I had been started off on 20mg a day of fluoxetine for 2 weeks to see how they went and then I would go back for a review. If you’re not aware, fluoxetine is also known as Prozac. It’s most commonly used to treat depression but also obsessive compulsive disorder and bulimia. I stopped taking my sertraline for 3 days and then started on the fluoxetine. Within days, I noticed the effects of the new tablets kicking in. I was so lucky in the fact that I had absolutely no side effects with fluoxetine, unlike sertraline which I seemed to have, what felt like, every single side effect possible. I could feel the tablets working and I felt 110% better than what I felt whilst taking sertraline. When I started taking sertraline, I read many people had lost their emotions and become very ‘flat’ whilst taking them, something I didn’t feel at first but eventually after around 6 mon5s, I began feeling the same as everyone else had said.

I’ve now been taking fluoxetine for almost 2 months and I’ve never felt better. I’ve had hardly any bad and suicidal thoughts, and haven’t felt half as anxious and nervous as I used to feel on a daily basis. I now get up everyday and don’t spend the whole day in the house, worried and scared to go out. My relationships have become a lot better and my confidence has grown, especially at work, as I now feel a lot better about myself and my health.

If you feel something is not right, always do your best to fix it. Changing my tablets has done wonder so for me, my mental health and my confidence. My happiness has improved greatly too. Don’t settle for an average life, make sure it’s the best for you. Be selfish sometimes.

Daisy x

My Experience at Sixth Form

My time at sixth form was horrendous. It was the biggest regret of my life and such a waste of two years. I already know that I’ve left with only 2 A-levels having been told the marks for my coursework and exam piece; a D and an E grade. This is from the teacher who gave me absolutely no support regarding my mental health and well-being, put me down for the work I had completed and told me to “get on with it” when I was crying my eyes out about my mental state. My other two teachers were amazing, so understanding and helped me so much with school work and my personal problems. These two teachers were about the only reason I kept going throughout year 13. If I’d had known I would’ve left with only 2 A-levels, I would’ve have gone through the two years of absolute hell. The sixth form then put the reason down to my failing my A-level in that particular subject because I didn’t attend Saturday classes due to working weekends in a chain retail store. This was their reasoning. School isn’t on a Saturday answer because of this, I failed. A pathetic and invalid reason. The support I had for my mental health was average. I had a lot of support when I started my anti-depressants (maybe because this seemed much more legitimate to the school), but I had hardly any support when I was having panic attacks or crying over nerves and exams and pressure. When I started my tablets, everyone seemed to have taken me a lot more seriously which makes me angry. Why should tablets legitimise my mental illness?

Throughout the two years, I managed to leave with no friends whatsoever - making me feel like I had no option but to sit on my own constantly, lose all of my confidence and not go to the leavers ball. I’ve left being diagnosed with depression (I’m not surprised from being there) and my anxiety has gone to the worst it’s ever been. I’ve left with 2 A-levels; not even enough to get onto a university course. The way the sixth form have been and how I’ve ended up has left me no confidence or hope for starting university in September (thank god for unconditional offers). There was no preparation for mental stability - just support for getting an A*, something which was impossible for me. If you didn’t get an A*, you were basically shit. I was predicted BBB, but I’m leaving with BCD at most, possibly even CCD. So now I’m in the category of people who left with D, E or U grades because of the lack of support.

I didn’t fail my A-level(s) due to my intelligence as I was achieving A and B grades in year 12. I failed due to the crap staff, the lack of understanding of mental illnesses and the way I wasn’t taken seriously at school. The past two years of my life have been a complete waste of time and have left me with low, suicidal thoughts of worthlessness and not being good enough for university level education. I’ve been left doubting my own abilities even though I started sixth form having gained majority As and Bs in my GCSEs.

Obviously everyone’s experiences are completely different. You will get dome people saying sixth form were the best days of their lives. For me, sixth form resulted in me crying nearly every morning because I didn’t want to go and tried to stay off for as many days as possible. But please don’t take this as everyone’s experience will be like this but this is my reality. It was horrendous and a nightmare and I couldn’t wait to leave.

Daisy x

Why We Need to Stop Glamourising Depression

It seems that recently being diagnosed with a mental illness is something people want. Phrases using the word “depressed” get thrown around left, right and centre without any thought behind them. No real thoughts towards the people who are actually depressed and are struggling to live a proper life.

The truth about depression isn’t glamourous. It sucks. It’s horrible and it tears your life apart. Depression isn’t a girl who dresses in black, listens to sad music and argues with their family every now and again. Depression isn’t a trend that people should desire, it definitely isn’t cool or the ‘in thing’.

Depression is lying in the pitch black at 3am in the morning, struggling to find the good in your life. It’s pushing people away closest to you, feeling that you’ll never been good enough for anyone. It’s wondering how anyone can ever love you when you can’t even love yourself. It’s the feeling that you’ve been awake for 5 years straight and no amount of sleep will ever be able to cure the exhaustion you have. Depression steals your life, your future ambitions, your happiness, friends and your family. It takes over every aspect of your life and eventually steals life all together.

There isn’t anything beautiful or poetic about being depressed. Depression is painful, it tears your
life apart and makes you feel worthless. Depression isn’t just as simple as taking a pill everyday and everything turns out ok - depression stays with you for the whole of your life and although we can have good days, the bad days are still a struggle where you can’t find anything good to look forward to and be happy about.

I’ve been suffering from depression now since autumn last year and right now, I am at my all time worst. I’ve switched tablets from Sertraline to Fluoxetine which I start on Monday. I cry constantly about life being easier if I wasn’t here. I can’t remember the last time I had a good nights sleep. I hardly leave the house unless I really have to. There is absolutely nothing glamourous or desirable about having depression, anxiety or any other mental illness.

Romanticising and glamourising the idea of depression and other mental illnesses makes me feel ill, especially as it’s the twenty-first century; proving there is still a stigma surrounding mental illnesses. Mental illnesses are heartingbreaking. Depression is life shattering. Anxiety is horrid. There is nothing desirable. The next time that you go to say the phrase “I’m so depressed” because you didn’t get the grade you wanted in a test or because the top you wanted for ages is sold out, please think again about what it is to be depressed and choose a different phrase and different wording.

Let’s start seeing mental illnesses for what they are, and not the latest fashion trend. Approximately 1 in 4 people in the UK will experience a mental health problem each year. So let’s try and see mental illness for what it truly is, an illness.

Daisy x


Mental health helplines;
Anxiety UK - 03444775774
Bipolar - www.bipolaruk.org.uk
CALM (men aged 15-35) - www.thecalmzone.net
Mind - 03001233393
No Panic - 08449674848
OCD Action - 08453906232
OCD UK - 08451203778
PAPYRUS (young suicide) - 08000684141
Rethink Mental Illness - 03005000927
Samaritans - 116123
SANE - 03003047000
Young Minds (parents helpline) - 08088025544

My Honest Experience with Sertraline

I've been on Sertraline now for around 6 months and I've definitely had a love/hate relationship with it. When I initially went to the doctors, I was determined to start tablets. I had already had many sessions of CBT which hadn't worked over the previous two years, so I was adament I wasn't leaving the doctors until they offered me medication. The doctor talked me through the options and told me that from looking at my self-assessment sheet from when I had my CBT, that I had filled it in as someone who was very depressed. This was something I couldn't accept at first, as it's something I never thought I'd be.

When talking through the different options for medication, the doctor suggested a few different tablets, but in the end suggeted that sertraline would be the best for me as it treats both depression and anxiety. By definition on the NHS website, sertraline is a type of antidepressant often used to treat depression, and also sometimes panic attacks, OCD and PTSD. I was told the tablets would take between 2 to 6 weeks to take effect so I started them just before Christmas (18th Dec) to let them kick in over the holidays before I went back to school. At first I didn't notice many side effects but in the second week of taking them I suffered quite a lot. I was sent home from school as I was completely spaced out and couldn't concentrate at all. My pupils were enlarged and they stayed like this for about 1 and a half weeks and it was something that many people noticed which made me feel really self conscious in the end. I also had many of the common side effects of being sleepy, feeling sick and being unable to sleep. For about 2 weeks, I was clenching my jaw horrendously which gave me really bad migraines. This has eased off now but I wear a splint overnight because I naturally grind my teeth (not because of the meds). But when I was clenching my jaw due to the medication, my jaw socket kept popping out of place due to the pressure and I was in agony.

After giving the tablets 6 weeks to kick in, on about week 8 I decided I needed to increase the dosage of the tablets. I started off on 50mg which is where most people start but most people don't stay on this dosage as it's quite low and many people need a stronger dosage for the tablets to take effect. So I went back to the doctors and I was given a monthly dosage of 100mg and this was probably the worst mistake of my life (but I'm not saying this is the same for everyone). My tiny 5ft body just couldn't handle the extra 50mg of tablets that my body wasn't used to and I ended up losing all my appetite, feeling sick constantly and not being able to sleep. I think in the first week of taking these tablets I slept for about 3-4 hours a night, and I ended up being completely drained and exhausted which affected my life massively, especially doing school work and doing my weekend job. So eventually I went back to 50mg tablets after about 3 weeks on the 100mg.

I've been on the 50mg now for about 3 months and it's really made a huge difference to me. I still have the odd panic attack every now and again but that's obvious as the tablets aren't going to get rid of my anxiety/depression completely. I eventually want to come off these tablets as I hate the idea of having to depend on them for a long period of time but for now, it's whats working so I'm going to keep on them.

Daisy x

My Mental Health Experience

*trigger warning - suicide talk*

Since around the age of 11, I have always noticed that I was a lot more shy, anxious and emotional than all the other children my ages at school. I would cry hysterically before going to school, whilst being at school at the age of 8 and got incredibly nervous and anxious over situations that to others would seem easy.

My time at school was never easy, and to be truthful they have been the worst days of my life. I have 3 months left of sixth form and I honestly cannot wait to leave. I've always struggled making friends and socialising with them because of how anxious I always was. I was bullied in year 7 which impacted me mentally and emotionally. School has most definitely been one of the biggest impacts on my mental health, but by no means am I saying this will be the same for everyone.

After about 2 years at secondary school in year 9, I began experiencing panic attacks. They started off quite spaced out and I was only having one in a couple of months, but as I got to my GCSEs and the start of sixth form, they became very frequent and the symptoms of them were worsening. In May  2016, before my English language exam, I was up the whole night having several panic attacks and vomitting, and couldn't stop crying and hyperventilating before the exam - I was a mess. Thankfully, these panic attacks have become less frequent but when they do happen, they are very suddden and very debilitating.

Throughout sixth form, I have found myself not socialising with anyone and isolating myself from everyone. I usually sit on my own and get on with my work, which I suppose does have its benefits. About a year ago, I felt myself going into a state of low mood and my attention span was completely gone. I couldn't concentrate at all, my grades at school were dropping, I felt so low that I went through a state of being incredibly suicidal. For about a period of 3 months, I don't think there was a day when I didn't think about killing myself. There were so many bad thoughts going through my head on a daily basis that I never thought I'd make it out of the dark place I was in. Thankfully, I didn't do anything to put myself at risk.

Last December, I decided it was time for me to get help. I needed something to get me out of this dark, suicidal mindset I was in. It was impacting my school work, my mood on a daily basis and the relationships with my family and boyfriend. So, in Dec 2017, I was diagnosed with severe depression as well as generalised anxiety disorder and was put on an anti-depressant called sertraline. Sertraline is a medication to treat primarily depression but also anxiety, OCD and a few others. Since being on sertraline, I have seen an amazing improvement in myself. I'm a lot happier, I'm socialising a lot more and I'm finding going to work and socialising with the public a lot easier. Obviously, I still have my blips as anti-depressants aren't going to remove my mental health issues completely but they are definitely helping.

Depression isn't something I thought I'd come to terms with or ever think of having. When the doctor said I had depression, I didn't believe him. I felt like explaining to people I have depression would make me look weak, but I've learnt to embrace my mental health disorders and accept them as a part of me.

My anxiety is definitely going to a long-term thing, and maybe depression but the more I learn to live with them, the easier they are to talk about and to cope with.

Daisy x