If you miss school, you can't go to the dance in the evening.

Growing up, I remember how excited we'd all get for those rare school dances. This started as early as third grade, I think--it wasn't 'til junior prom that I attended dances where people actually danced, but that's another story all together.

In the morning and afternoon announcements the days leading up to the Big Day, a teacher would consistently remind us that if we were absent the day of the dance, we would not be allowed on school property for the evening event. At the time, this rule bugged me a bit, but I couldn't put words to why it didn't seem fair. Always one for specifics, I could think of several different reasons why the school should make exceptions to this rule. (Truth be told, I did this any time there was a blanket, one-size-fits-all rule that was imposed on us.)

Today I feel crappy, plus Jim's doctor reinstated his bed rest prescription. (Jim had a tonsillectomy over a week ago and was on the mend but, after some un-scary bleeding, he had to go back to squishy foods and no exertion. This means I'm his nursemaid.) There's a lot going on in town today, too, things I don't want to miss. My migraine-plus-cold situation means no Indie Craftstravaganza for me, no neighborhood party, and no neighborhood association meeting at 4. Earlier I was feeling too blah to take my Maxalt, worried that maybe this was a "normal" headache associated with my cold and not a migraine (though time has shown that this is indeed a migraine; just have to convince myself to stand up and walk to the bathroom to fetch the meds). Then I thought, "Well, even if the Maxalt does work, I won't be allowed to go to the fundraiser party tonight. If I don't make it to the neighborhood association meeting in the afternoon, I can't go to the party in the evening."

You can see why I thought of my days in school, listening to the teacher as she told us in a scolding voice that missing the day of the dance meant no dance.

Of course I know that, when they work well, migraine-specific medications can wipe out the attack and render the migraineur able to function somewhat normally within hours. That if Maxalt works as it does 65% of the time for me, I could rest at home for a bit and end up at the fundraiser party at 7 in top form.

But my neighbors don't know that. I can't help but think, "What will they say if I email to cancel my participation at the meeting and then show up at a party hours later? They'll think I'm a faker!"

Of course this is an issue that's faced by many chronically ill folks like me. What have your experiences been? I am wary of overexplaining the ins and outs of my illness to people (close friends and strangers alike), but I don't feel comfortable showing up for a social function after having skipped the more boring duties earlier in the day.

perfect timing

I've mentioned before how grateful I am to have discovered the Partnership for Prescription Assistance (http://www.pparx.org/en/prescription_assistance_programs). I enrolled quite a while ago--with my doctor's prescription (and a low enough salary to make me a deserving candidate), I now pay less for drugs than I did when I had insurance. And when I say "I pay less," what I mean is I PAY NOTHING.

Yesterday and today I've had morning migraine attacks followed by druggy, semi-wasted afternoons. I love the quickness of Maxalt but not the ghost of a Janet it leaves behind. I've been working like a madwoman of late, so maybe this is a good chance to catch up on reading. (Today I finished three books!)

But taking Maxalt yesterday and today meant I was already halfway through with the samples my doctor gave me a few weeks ago. What to do if another migraine hit in the next week? Did PPARx ever get my application? Would I be approved for more prescription drugs through their service?

I checked the mail and voila: 5 packs of Imitrex just waiting for me. All it took was filling out the application, proving I am not rich, and getting my doctor to check me out and write a new prescription for triptans.

How my mind is eased when I know I have drugs if I need them. Sometimes just having them on hand makes me feel a million times better.

stuffy head or migraine?

I'm not sure if it's my freshly diagnosed autoimmune issue, my mucositis (yech), or just bad luck, but I've gotten lots more colds in the last couple of years than I ever had before. I don't mind them so much--sometimes I enjoy the scratchy, sultry voice (it allows me sing in lower registers as I belt along with the radio in my car--I'm amazing).

Perhaps it's not the frequency of colds but their duration that has changed in recent years. I used to get a cold for 2-3 days and then have little to no trace of it left. Nowadays it seems my cold develops slowly and takes a long time to leave. This one's been around for at least a week and a half. It started with sneezing and stuffy-headed-ness. Then it moved into my throat, where it settled in and made it hard for me to speak loudly enough for people to understand me well. After my voice started coming back early last week, I figured the cold was on its way out. WRONG. It moved back into my head, focusing mainly on the left side of my sinus cavity.

Here's the rub: I can't always tell the difference between the beginning stages of a migraine and sinus congestion. From what I understand, a lot of migraineurs confuse the two. (Let's not rehash the sinus headache issue here, though.) This past Wednesday, I went to bed early with a congested head; I woke in the middle of the night a couple of times because my head was so heavy and it was hard to breathe. After awaking Thursday and walking around the house a bit, I realized I was not suffering from just sinus congestion: I had a migraine that was rapidly progressing. I kicked myself for not having taken a triptan in the middle of the night.

But it had been so hard to tell the difference between sinus pressure & the early stages of migraine!

This morning I awoke with so much sinus congestion on the left that I immediately opened my bedside table drawer to get a Maxalt tab. There was no such tab in the drawer, so, favoring another hour in bed over getting up to look for my triptan pill, I took a nasal decongestent (I have an emergency drug arsenal next to my bed, of course). Upon waking in earnest, I dared to try my neti pot again. (Months ago I had a strange experience wherein using my neti pot led to an immediate and severe migraine--not sure how I screwed up, but I did and it HURT. I've been scared to try the pot again ever since despite its having worked wonders pre-pain-incident.) I can't claim that any one thing cured today's head issues, but the decongestent + neti pot flush rid me of the migrainey feeling I had. Interesting.

Do any migraineurs (or folks with sinus problems like me) have any tips as to how to know when to use a triptan and when to focus on the sinuses? How do you tell the difference between the beginning of a migraine and a side effect of sinus problems?

the streak is over

After 22(ish) days of no migraine, I had to take a Maxalt today. In recent weeks I've felt very heavy-headed and icky upon waking; when I move about the house and get ready for the day, the feeling dissipates and I start to feel a-okay. This morning my head felt heavier than it has in a while, and something just didn't feel right. I made coffee and, after messing around the house for awhile, walked to meet some friends for lunch. To my surprise, my stomach was really upset within minutes of eating the meal. I hadn't had anything on my forbidden list, so I was a bit confused.

After my post-lunch long walk, I returned home and felt that cool, airy pain beginning on the left side of my forehead. There's a particular type of discomfort that accompanies my initial PMS symptoms, and this was it. "No way!" thought I, "I just had my period!" One look at a calendar showed me that my menstrual-related migraine was right on time. D'oh!

I took a Naproxen tablet in the hopes it could stave off the real migraine to come, but this afternoon I could feel the symptoms worsening and took my Maxalt. Now I feel airy and tired and a bit out of it--good ol' Maxalt + PMS will do that every time.

I'm proud of my streak and not surprised that my period has helped trigger this migraine episode. I'll deal. When my period's over, maybe I can start a new tally and get higher than 22! And maybe not. Either way, I'm cool. I thought I'd be really disappointed and discouraged when the streak ended, but I'm not. I'm pretty confident I'll have another pain-free stretch coming up soon.

Panama week 1

As some of you know, I went to Central America for a couple of weeks; I got back this past Saturday. Before getting there, I looked up reviews on our hotel on TripAdvisor.com and was alarmed to note that customers had problems with the service, the mold, the humidity, and the dirtiness of the hotel. Great. Before leaving for Panama City, I emailed the hotel and requested a clean, dry room with incandescent bulbs. Got no response.

Oh, the room was even worse than I'd expected! The pages of the novel I brought were wrinkly within fifteen minutes of my taking it out of my bag--that's how humid the room was. I asked for incandescent light bulbs at the front desk TWICE. I'd understand if they didn't have any, but what I didn't understand was the fact that there was utterly no response to my request. Nothing. No "I'm sorry, we don't have them," or "We'll see what we can do." Nothing. My friend/roommate/coworker was in the midst of a horrific sinus infection, so the humid and dirty room made her sick, too. The hotel problems go on and on, my friends. On and on. The second night onward we stayed in another hotel (as arranged by our very understanding boss).

The entire first week of the Panama trip had us in a conference room for up to eight hours a day looking at a projected Power Point presentation talking about editing. The sessions were informative but tedious. My coworkers were kind enough to turn off the fluorescent lights much of the time, but sitting in a desk chair looking at, in essence, a gigantic flickering computer screen on a white wall helped intensify my Migraine. Combine those workplace triggers with stress, daily thunderstorms (shifts in barometric pressure), having my period, having stayed in a mold-infested room, and really loud construction & traffic noises whenever I stepped out doors and you have a week-long Migraine attack! Ugh.

Most days I was run-down but felt better with my triptan therapy. Once I ran out of chances to take my Maxalt, I had to drug up with Lortab and hope for the best. Wednesday we left the workshop around 3:30 to take a city tour. The tour guide was a Panamanian coworker who is, indeed, a professional tour guide. Too bad I felt HORRIFIC and ended up with my head between my legs in the back of the van for the last hour of the trip. My roommate (who's also one of my very best friends) guided me up to the hotel room and brought me some sushi in bed--first time for everything!

Here's a photo of me after receiving my food tray in bed. Look how nicely the chef arranged and packed the sushi for transit after hearing that the diner was ill! (In the photo, I am making an extra-sick face for show. All the same, you can see how pale I am--it's rare that I see photos of myself taken during a migraine attack. I think they're kind of scary.

the big chop

I've mentioned before how sensitive I am when it comes to my scalp. My hair has been growing longer and longer, perhaps longer than it's ever been before. On its best days, it looks tousled and pretty. On its worst (read: average) days, it's slightly frizzy and unkempt. Invariably, wearing it down means I soon try to pull it back away from my face in a casual, loopy bun. The weight of the bun has increased over time, making it so I have to obsessively redo the bun every few minutes to see if I can minimize the pulling on my scalp.

When I wear my hair up--even with lots of support from pins and so-called "scrunchies," it starts to yank on my head and I soon must take it down. In May, I was a bridesmaid who had to wear her hair up. There was enough the drama/trauma brought into my life that day just from the bun-making process alone--suffice to to say I can't create an up-do to save my life. But as the hours ticked on, the bun felt tighter and pulled more and more on my scalp, especially at the crown. The moment I was done with all the photographic obligations, you can bet I yanked all those bobbypins and ponytail holders out and popped a Maxalt. Ow.

It's August in Georgia. Do any of you know what that means? August. In Georgia. 100 degree heat, very high humidity. I'm not wearing my hair down to save my life, but wearing it up means a Migraine attack.

So what did I go and do today? I chopped it.

Even if I end up not liking how the cut looks, at least I know I love the weightlessness of it!

The end.

once upon a mattress

I can't wait to go to bed tonight. And no, this desire is not directly connected to the constant tiredness I've been feeling lately. (Yes, I'll call my neurologist about this. Maybe even as soon as tomorrow!)

You see, I bought a new bed today. Miracle of miracles: you can't feel the springs in it when you lie down! AMAZING. It's soft yet firm. And inches wider than the full-sized, hard bed I've had for seven years. To top it all off, it was one of the less expensive models the store had to offer--and (surprise of surprises) I BARGAINED WITH THE SALESMAN. True story, folks: you can haggle over mattress sales. I got the thing for $80+ less than I would have had I not asked the guy to strike me a deal. (A few months ago in Boston, my friend got a deal on a mattress by staging a walk out. The salesman, really wanting a sale, called her back as she was exiting and offered her a deal. We are awesome.)

So that's the story. I've been waking up with back aches for many a week now, knowing I had to purchase a new, supportive mattress soon. And today I bit the bullet as soon as the Maxalt kicked my menstrual migraine out of the picture. Maybe tomorrow I'll feel stupendous!

I'm on the verge...

I can well imagine myself having caffeine this weekend if I don't start feeling better. My head is about 5 times worse than when I wrote earlier this morning, and I can actually smell that polleny, grassy smell pouring out from my air conditioning vents thanks to the lawn dudes and all they stirred up with their fancy equipment. The yard looks great. I do not.

I'm bending the Maxalt rules a bit, too. You know how it says not to take the drug more than three days a week? Well, I took it last weekend and decided that Monday would start a new week. So even though I had a Maxalt on the 17th, 18th, 21st, and 22nd, I'm only counting the second pair of days because...well...because I feel HORRIFIC and cannot function. So Let's pretend the week started on Monday and not Sunday. Work for you? I hope it works for me. I should not risk MOH but feel crippled without being able to help myself through this.

Now that people actually read this blog, I feel sort of ashamed when I admit that I'm not fulfilling promises to myself (i.e., don't take too many triptans in too short a time, Janet!). But I also have a sneaking suspicion that I'm not alone in this struggle and think that, for those of you who read this, hearing that someone else is on the cusp of doing the forbidden in terms of drug treatment might resonate with you.

Wah.

Overcast, pollinated day
Why don't you just go away?!

an out of the blue attack

Usually I can feel the discomfort in my head building as the minutes pass. I have time to decide whether or not to take anything for the attack.

Tonight I was having a perfectly nice evening outdoors, working my job as a storyteller (glorified name for a book reader and literacy advocate) at an area homeless shelter. I got up, put my book bag and blanket in the car, and signed out. When I got in my car to leave, BOOM! My head was not quite right.

Could it be that I was so engrossed in the tasks at hand I didn't feel the pain until I was back in relaxed mode, ready to go home? That happens sometimes, but I don't think that was the case tonight. The last few minutes outside were very relaxed and remarkably non-worky. I just sat talking with one of the moms at the residence and didn't feel I still had to be "on."

What is happening with me these last several weeks? I'm so frustrated!

Here's a sneaking suspicion I have: something's up with my back. My sciatica? I still don't know what that is, exactly, but I know it involves the lower back and can mean a pinched nerve or tendon or muscle that triggers pain in other parts of the body. This is what I think is happening--that'd certainly explain the back pain, neck pain, and leg pain I've been having the last few days. I am waiting on a call back from my massage therapist.

Despite not feeling my best tonight, I decided to be social. Taking a cue from people I know (or whose blogs I read) with New Daily Persistent Headache and/or chronic daily headache, I am trying to still do things I enjoy despite the pain, trying not to shut out the outside world and the things I love in it in favor of lying in bed feeling bad. It worked okay tonight, and I won't be pushing myself to socialize all the times I am not up to par. Tonight I went to my friend C.'s house to eat some hamburgers, chit-chat about my eventual bookstore, and watch the obnoxiously addictive show Top Chef. I left at eleven and decided then to take Maxalt--food and relaxation didn't help curb the attack, so I drugged myself up.

Now I'm in the waiting period, hoping it works, hoping I won't have another headache soon.

Goodnight!

medication overuse headache fear alert!

Today I woke with yet another migraine--perhaps it's the same one I've had since Friday and it keeps coming to the surface whenever I'm not under the influence of various drugs.

Suspecting I'd be outside much of the day in the super-pollinated air, I took an allergy pill--this sometimes helps stave off the Migraine attack. This time around it didn't help. I was tired, had that same pain in my lower back that's been haunting me for days, and had to give in and take a Maxalt when the headache kicked in in earnest in the afternoon. Wah!

Now I'm scared. What happens if I get another migraine tomorrow? I've taken the maximum amount of Maxalt I can take--three days' worth. A fourth day is a no-no because of the risk of medication overuse headache. And tomorrow and Tuesday are my last days of my tutoring job, so I can't skip out!

Here's to hoping today was the last day for a migraine this week.

an atypical Saturday

I woke up at 8:30 this morning after seven hours of sleep. Last night I did some bookstore business duties with Amy, and by midnight we both had sleepy eyes that were crossing as we looked at our computer screens. A sign of a successful day?

It was so nice to go to bed exhausted from something other than a Migraine attack. Granted, I had to take two Maxalts yesterday to battle an obnoxious headache with uncomfortable side effects of dizziness. The Maxalt wasn't a lifesaver as usual but did take the edge off. I'm straying from my point: I got to work until I was tired! I didn't go to bed because it was time or because I felt sick. In the last month or so, this has only been the case about 1/3 of the time, so it's cause for comment.

When I awoke, my friend A. was still here. We talked a few minutes before she had to hit the road. I then had the energy to sweep the pollen-covered walkway and porch, trim back some trees that constantly encroach on my walk, and do a little bit of light housework. This is not like me, I tell you. The fun only ended after I swept part of an ant pile and then, by accident, ran the broom over my toes (which were bare in flip flops). The displaced ants sprinkled my toes, a fact I was only aware of once my right foot got intensely itchy.

It's a beautiful day outside. Not a cloud in the sky, I tell you, and the temperature is just right. (With Georgia weather, this could change any second--I'm sure by the afternoon I'll think it's sweltering. But I love it.)

Hope everyone else has a day as good as this morning has been!

a package only a migraineur could love

Let us once again herald the glories of The Partnership for Prescription Assistance and the goods it has brought unto me!

Just yesterday afternoon I received a package simply brimming with Maxalt. 36 pills, in fact! These babies usually cost a little over $20 a PIECE, marking the value of my mail at over $700.

And how much did I pay for 'em? NOTHING.

Yippee. If you haven't already, check out the website to see if you are eligible--even if you don't feel as monetarily poor as I do and even if you already have insurance, there may still be plans that can help.

yippee for prescription assistance programs!!!, or, FREE DRUGS

I've been enrolled with success in the GlaxoSmithKline's Bridges to Access Program. There's information on it here: http://www.bridgestoaccess.com/

I can get my Imitrex for free from them (as I understand it) after I send in the bulk of my paperwork, which my advocate (an assistant at my neurologist's office) helped me fill out. For now, I'm enrolled for two months and can go into my favorite retail pharmacy (my local Kroger, where I love the people) and get a 60-day supply. The initial 60-day supply is accompanied by a $10 copay per fill, but that's about 1/10 as much as the Imitrex would cost me normally!

Already I'm in the Together Rx Access program. That's the program with the least amount of hassle, but it's just a discount program that offers cuts but not ones as big as 90% off the regular price. It'd be of more use to me if I didn't belong to Bridges to Access already, as the only drug I'm currently taking that is on the Together Rx Access list is Imitrex--and I can get that for [almost] free!

Finally, I applied for my free trial of Maxalt. All it takes is a printer and a couple of stamps--one so you can mail the form to your doctor to request a prescription for 3 Maxalt pills, and one so you can include a self-addressed, stamped envelope for your doctor to send you the prescription and forms back!

In the works is a plan for me to get free (or cheap) Maxalt, too. I forget which program covers that, but my doctor has sent in the paperwork to the proper recipient by now, I'm sure. I can't say enough about The Partnership for Prescription Assistance Program (PPARx). I'm so much more calm when it comes time to take a triptan, not nearly as stressed as I usually am for fear of wasting my money.

Go sign up! I make very little money, but you can make a fair amount (not a HUGE amount) and still qualify for these programs.

what gives?

I'm nearing my second day of the steroids. Granted, I took my first set of pills last evening around 8:30, so really the first and second days' worth of 'roids have only been in my system for a little over 24 hours. (Gross--did I really just write "'roids"?) But still--what gives!?

There's so much pressure in my sinuses, neck, and head. My neurologist (or rather, the assistant who always calls on his behalf) instructed me to not take any of my regular acute or rescue meds, so I feel screwed right now. It's been years since I've had to suffer through a Migraine attack this long.

I must have become more wimpy over the years, cause I just can't take it anymore. In high school and college (especially college), I pretty much went triptan-free. (I was diagnosed and given Imitrex when I was 21, about to start my senior year at college.) Before the diagnosis, I would have to muddle through the pain and side effects for up to days at a time. Now I can't let one go one for long before reaching for my emergency kit. Perhaps having an official name for my disease made it more real for me--I realized I wasn't just nursing a recurring, frustrating headache--instead, I was treating symptoms of a serious, life-altering disease.

This afternoon my beau and his friend dropped by for a bit, and I had a good hour or so of feeling okay--no major pains, but still a general sense of uneasiness and weakness. I made sandwiches and cut up fruit for dinner, but that seemed to be the last straw--as soon as I took my last bite, I was ready to lie down again despite my utter boredom with my bedroom at this point. A few hours later, I reemerged from my room for a warm bath. Using this pain-relieving ointment I got recently on my neck and upper back proved to feel amazing when combined with the warm bath water--I felt as if my neck was both chilled and warm at the same time as the hot water splashed on the ointment. It felt goooood. But the respite the bath allowed me was brief, and I got up and tried to do a couple of things before feeling bad again. Had a nice conversation on the phone with one of my best friends, but the last ten minutes or so became a struggle as I tried to sound chipper despite my head's throbbing.

I'm not sleepy. I've been sleeping so much. Sitting up hurts; lying down hurts. I can't take medication other than the steroids I'm on for three more days or the daily meds I pop. No Imitrex. No Maxalt. No mind-numbing Lortab.

When will this kick in? Am I continuing to get new Migraine attacks because of stress and the omnipresent Georgia pollen, or is this the same Migraine continuing its awful journey?

I guess I'll try to convince myself I'm tired again. The last few nights I've fallen asleep listening to guided visualization tapes and/or NPR podcasts (This American Life, Radio Lab, and Selected Shorts are my favorites).

Goodnight.

I can't make it--I have a migraine.

I cancel plans. I cancel plans a lot. One of my least favorite things about having migraine disease is my need for lots of quiet alone time, even if I don't want it. I love being social; I love spending time with friends, going to shows, grabbing a beer, or sitting around having craft night. But the migraines often get me down.

Sometimes I just don't commit to something I would love to attend. That late-night party down the street, the one that's sure to be fun and full of dancing and friends? "Maybe--if I don't feel bad." The movie I've been wanting to see is playing the night before my period is to arrive--most likely I'll have a migraine then, so going to a movie is just ruled out before I even consider making plans.

Other times, I bail in fear of a migraine. Big events like weddings, funerals, holidays, and other much-anticipated events are almost sure to be accompanied by an attack. A couple of years ago, I got an invitation to a good friend's wedding. I took some factors into consideration: 1, most weddings entail my pretending to have fun and socialize when really I have throbbing pain behind my eyes; 2, going to an old friend's wedding doesn't guarantee you'll actually get to talk to that person; 3, The venue was nearly two hours from my home--and I didn't have the inclination or money to spend the night in the same town as the wedding--that means I would have a long drive there and back--more triggers.

Out of fear, I wrote a sweet note to my friend and declined the invitation. Turns out she was hurt and disappointed--she'd really wanted me there; I was one of the first friends she'd met as a seventh grader in a new town. So I went. And I had fun. And I got a migraine on the way home.

Mostly I cancel plans at the last minute when I have an attack coming on. Even if the meds I take do work, the postdrome means I'll be sleepy and out of it and not in the mood to socialize. A few years ago, I'd pop Imitrex or Relpax while at a busy rock show at midnight, sure the headache would be gone in a few minutes so I could continue dancing and rocking out. I was usually right in my judgment then and ended up back up to par an hour or so later, ready to continue to the night. I don't feel that way anymore. Now I skip out when I feel the migraine coming on and head straight home, realizing that if I push myself I'll feel worse.

Canceling plans makes me feel terrible; my guilt merely compounds the pain and nausea I'm feeling, and that simply doesn't help anyone, the friends I've canceled on or myself. My friends and family are extremely understanding: they know of my health condition and their first priority (and usually mine) is to take care of me. But I still cannot get over the feeling that maybe, just maybe, they think I'm flaky. That I've let them down. That I can't be counted on. And I can't seem to figure out how to get over that.

I read others' blogs, read mantras about taking care of myself, read stories about people going through similar things. Maybe one day soon all that will click. Logically, I know the the choice I make to go home and try to relax is the only healthy choice I can make. Emotionally, I continue to feel like I'm undependable, and that feels pretty rotten.

a sudden cloudy feeling; relief

When I awoke this morning, I heard rain outside my window. Great. This is the day each week I do my traveling-and-loading-and-carrying-indoors-and-out job, and doing all that in the rain didn't sound like the most amazing situation. Rainy days have been triggering fewer migraines for me of late, and I was happy to notice that this pattern seemed to be continuing: upon waking and hearing the rain, my first thought was, "Oh no! Headache day?" Sitting up and having a sip of water or three with my morning Petadolex rid me of my fear--no headache, not even the dull, stubborn, moderate pain that was affecting my neck and head as I tried to sleep.

The ever-helpful beau traveled with me today to deliver food boxes. (One of my gigs involves delivering food to kids in need every Friday, food that will allow them enough snacks and meals to last them all weekend until the school week begins again.) The migraine didn't attack until we were all done and sitting in a Peruvian restaurant having chips, salsa, black bean soup, and tacos. Unlike the majority of episodes I've had in the last several months, this one escalated rapidly--I was unable to tolerate the noise of the kids two tables away all of a sudden, when just twenty minutes before I hadn't much noticed their babbling and yelping.

"I have to get out of here," I must have said five separate times. The waiter seemed to be moving in slow motion. Would it be better to go outside to the car for my meds or just wait until we'd paid the check? Should I cover my ears to block out those whining kids or should I lean back and rub that space between my thumb and forefinger that seems to dull my head pain?

I placed a dissolving Maxalt tablet on my tongue, expecting quick relief.
Two hours later, I lay in my bed and had a Naprosyn sodium tablet and another Maxalt.
Fifty minutes later, I decided to grab my laptop and see if I'd missed any important emails while working or lying down. I put the laptop on the bed, half-lay next to it, and suddenly felt this refreshing cool, cloudy feeling rise from my chest all the way to the space behind my eyes. Waves of this cool fog came through my body over and over, even more intensely as I bothered to take note of them.

It's been a while since I last was awake and fully conscious during the sudden relief of a headache. My trusty Relpax slowly began to be less and less effective, so I usually ended up falling asleep until a couple hours later, waking to find I was no longer in pain.

This time I was aware. Awake. Grateful.

That doesn't mean I'm not going to sneak in a nap for an hour or so. Goodnight.