Hi, Gracie,
Currently my husband is in a medication induced remission. It has only been about three months. Prior to his remission, he suffered from a unilateral (one-sided) headache 24/7. This is a very rare disorder (though there are two other people on this forum who have it). It was only in the last six months that he was correctly diagnosed.
My husband's headache was accompanied by a loud buzzing behind his left ear, and at night he would wake up irritated because he thought someone was out mowing the lawn in the middle of the night. We suffered through many diagnosis' and many drug treatment plans, many side effects and withdrawls. The withdrawls for me were the worst, because during that time he would become verbally agressive. We also struggled through perscribed drug overdoses that caused him to make some pretty stupid decisions.
During all this time, my husband was able to continue working, but only because his job was quite flexible. He also has a great boss. But the times when he was home, he was largely out of commision. For me, this meant I had to be a single parent to our four kids. I prayed about it a lot and just decided to be the best single parent I could be, and I leaned heavily on a lot of people for help.
I did seek counseling, and for me it was quite helpful. In addition to my husband's illness, I suffer from Post Traumatic Stress disorder. Currently I have it under control. It was at its worst when my husband was at his sickest. The combination of the two illnesses drove me to get help.
My husband still struggles with some things.....and me too. But thing are better for us...in part, because I got help, learned to lay boundaries.
I hope this helps.