Dan,
Do people in your family understand why you don't show up to events?

I'm sure some of them do. Others, like our son- and daughter-inlaws families might not know and might not even miss me.

I know how you feel. On the one hand we want to enjoy family celebrations and on the other we fear the consequences of all the noise and commotion. Maybe we were meant to be monks and Nuns cloistered away from all of life,s excitement.
Good luck,
Ali

I hear ya, I hear ya. I was asleep by maybe 8 and I didn't hear a thing. I also have hearing loss which was a plus, but I did get up once to go have a cigg, and went out back to check on the animals and our old dog, who is deaf, could hear it. He didn't like it, so I brought in the stinky old guy!! They do not like it, most of the cats were in or hiding somewhere outside, it probably really hurts their ears. Poor animals. But yeah, I haven't been to see firework since my daughter last visited, 5 years ago, since then, I have gone there. She doesn't like California. But back to events and such, for example, I went home to see the arrival of my granddaughter, and took a week to go to my "adopted daughter's" house and she has two boys--3 and 1. And her brother my "son" and his two kids, two more of "my kids" (everyone calls me mom or mumsy and when I come into town, it's like a huge celebration and they all can't wait to see me, which is great)but....the next two have 3 girls and 1 6month old boy, make that 8 kids under the age of 5, 7 kids all under the age of 22, and they all show up at 8 p.m. (my bedtime) they surprised me!! SURPRISE MOM!! WOW!! At firt, I think I was in shock when I kept seeing kid afer kid come in, and then I got up and started hugging and grabbing the babies that I hadn't yet seen. So, it was sooooooooo loud, omg, I got a migraine instantly and had to go and lay down in another room which we locked, from the inside.lol But...it didn't lock out the noise. When it was bedtime, the girls decided to cry and cry and cry, I was thinking OMG one of them has to pass out soon. It went on for an hour. The other "kids" of mine were playing quarters and drinking at the table, but they were being quiet because of me. But they couldn't do much about the kids, finally they fell asleep. When I got up, I was good until about noon, then the migraine came back. So they were all very disappointed that I got so sick and spent most of the weekend in bed, didn't stop them from getting $200 from me, ugh!! Krissy, (my adopted daughter) came and layed with me and massaged my head and slept with me and spent the most time with me. she has the biggest heart of anyone I know. She is a CNA and I don't know how she does it, but, I love them all, but I could not wait to get back to my daughters house!! But they all do understand. So, I def hear where your coming from Dan!! Gotta love the kids, but those kids need to learn their inside voices! HUGS!

Hi Nanakris! I have 6 granddaughters and sometimes it seems like there's only two things they like to do - cry and scream.

lol, I hear ya!! Even though we love them, it sure does seem like it huh?

If I get a migraine when a grandchild is here or we have a grandchild overnight and I get a migraine, my daughter rounds up kids and leaves the house immediately.

On the other hand, I got my worst migraine when we returned to my husband's mother's house when she passed away. Everyone was in the living room talking and my husband asked everyone to talk quietly and his sister just kept talking LOUD and cackleling. I just wanted to jump out of my skin.

totally understand. had mild migraine yesterday. Fireworks are illigal here. My poor dog is limping and exhausted. they are still shooting today. Like a war zone. We are hiding in the house.

OK....so this must be "migraine" normal!! I was so afraid I was becoming a mean old Grandma! Such a relief to hear others who go through my pain of sometimes not being able to handle "noise situations"
Whew! I'm not alone.....I'm not alone.....I'm not alone LOL

it wasn't until now that i realized that noise was an irritant for migraine sufferers. my son will hold his ears when alarms, screaming, and yelling take place. i will have to be more understanding of him even though i do need to help him work through it. any suggestions for a 7 year old boy with migraines and the effects of noise? there doesn't seem to be a problem when he makes the noise though. go figure.

Noise bothers me also, certain tones make my skin crawl. I don't even listen to the radio in my car anymore. But more so than the noise the light bothers me...I am sooo sooo light sensitive, I can't take it anymore. I hardly go outside, when the tv screen switches to a bright screen I have to look away because it peirces my eyes. This has been going on since January and I just want my life back, I'm tired of being in pain all of the time.

We are definitely on the same page. I didn't listen to the car radio for years, now I have begun listening to very calming music from Liquid Mind and Anugama. My son-in-law mows my yard for me because I let him park some of his lawn business equipment here, otherwise it would look even worse than it does. And light...I'm not going to say it's worse than noise, but the bad effects of getting a good glipse of sunlight reflecting off of something are immediate and long-lasting. In terms of getting my old life back, I'm not sure that's ever going to happen. The best I hope for is a new, more pain-free life with the adaptations and drugs that help me.