absent migraineur

Can't say why exactly I've not been writing on here. The obvious answers refer to my very busy bookstore life (I'm opening my own independent bookstore in Athens this year), my busy personal life, and my not wanting to be on the computer after a long day of work. I have been doing pretty well, migraine-wise, and I like that I don't think about attacks during pain-free days as much as I used to. That being said, I miss the community of health bloggers and must admit that nothing beats getting a warm email from a reader who says, "At last--someone who understands what I'm going through!"

I logged into my Blogger account this evening and found 43 unmoderated comments. Unbelievable. (And few of them were spam.) For those of you out there who noticed I've been gone, I'm sorry if I've disappointed you by disappearing!

Life is good. Had a 3-day migraine attack during my birthday weekend in Miami a few days ago, but I handled the pain well and was able to have a fulfilling, fun vacation all the same. I feel that, for the most part, I'm better at coping with migraine attacks than I used to be.

My primary care doctor put me on the birth control pill, which is really helping my migraine attack frequency but wreaking havoc on my menstrual cycle. Supposedly that will clear up soon, but man! 20 day periods are not my cup of tea. Maybe it's just menopause, a couple decades early. :)

Oh, and speaking of decades: I've wrapped up 3 of 'em now. Time to change my blog description at the top of this page, as I'm no longer a "20-something"!

Finally, I'll refer you to this month's How to Cope With Pain Blog Carnival. The moderator was kind enough to include me even though my posts have all but grinded to a halt.

Take care, be well, and let me know what's new with you.

I'm watching W the Women Show right now. A few days ago I mentioned their special on Women & Migraine before having watched it. I'm about halfway through right now and have mixed feelings about it.

A few minutes ago, Suzanne Simons (NHF Director) mentioned how oral contraceptives can help some migraineurs, while they worsen the condition for others. I was surprised she didn't mention the risk that accompanies birth control pills for female migraineurs (especially ones with aura). See a brief description of the risk here under the "risks" section.

Thus far they've heralded the advances of pharmaceuticals without noting that thousands upon thousands of people can't get relief from preventive or acute drugs. They mentioned the existence of "other therapies" but haven't gone into descriptions of those methods.

The pluses outweigh the minuses, of course. I think the episode is pretty good. Of course I'm most interested in the emotional, social, and psychological effects of Migraine disease, and they've touched on that but haven't gone into as much detail as I would've liked.

It's definitely worth a watch, though. I suppose it's good that I'm educated enough to know which parts of the disease they're not covering adequately, eh? It's hard to recap lifetimes of pain and frustration and education into a thirty minute show, eh?