the joys of being a woman!

some of my favorite things to bring my headachey self some relief:
delicious cafe, reading, and my rose-tinted, anti-fluorescent glasses

Each blessed month, I am so proud to be graced with an entire week of cramps, headaches, exaggerated achiness, remarkably spectacular swings in mood, irritability with the people I love most, and--best of all--I get to deal with my Feminine Products nearly every hour on the hour for a couple of days! IT'S AWESOME.

But the migraine that accompanies this monthly extravaganza of womanhood is probably the best part of it. It's so great that after a couple days of using triptans I'm not allowed to use any more. That means I get to take ineffective rescue meds and just bask in the glory of my brain chemistry, thinking of how every action I take brings me pain and there's relatively little I can do about it until my period is gone.

Today we are on day one of not being able to use triptans. Luckily I have a two p.m. deadline and a 2:30 PM doctor's appointment.

It is bothering me that I wrote the time in two distinctly different formats just then. But to show how casual and carefree I am nowadays, I am just going to LEAVE IT AS IS!

A bit stressed and headachey but chipper enough to drive you crazy,
Janet

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.

Migraine & Headache Poetry Contest

For all you wordsmiths (or even those of you who haven't tried your hand at it before), check out this contest! Entries are due VERY soon--April 21, this Monday.

Give it a shot--you've got nothing to lose but a little bit of stress. (Writing helps a lot, you know.)

have meds, can travel

I'm about to embark on a relatively lengthy trip. It's certainly going to be a taxing one, but one full of fun and surprises and friends and tourism, tourism, tourism. Can't escape that when one goes to Europe.

But I'm nervous. I'm nervous about getting a Migraine when I'm traveling. In the past, my pattern has been that I get a Migraine the day of travel, especially during long car trips or plane rides. This pattern's been broken up a bit in recent years, perhaps because of Zonegran--perhaps not. I can't be sure. Once I'm in a new country, however, I tend to do pretty well for awhile. A few years ago, I lived in Costa Rica for 6 weeks and had one significant Migraine the entire time I was there. The lifestyle, the lack of "regular life" stress, the diet, the routine--all of these things probably contributed to my overall well-being.

I'm hoping this good fortune comes back for the next three weeks of my life as I venture to some European countries. I'll be armed with Relpax and Naproxen, of course, but we know I can't take those more than a couple days in a row due to the ever-looming MOH (medication overuse headache).

Fingers crossed.

Bon voyage (to me!)

owwwww....

I've been quite under the weather lately, trying REALLY (I mean really!) hard to resist taking my Relpax + Naproxen combo when headachey since the pain has been so consistent. I can't tell if I'm suffering from the much-researched, much-talked-about medication overuse headache (MOH), spring weather trigger overload, or just a particularly bad Migraine bout. I haven't had daily headache battles in quite awhile, and I feel pretty upset about their sudden return in the last few weeks. It's gotten me pretty down.

If I don't take Relpax right away, then I sit around feeling awful and am horrible company for others and, most notably, myself.

If I do take it, I worry that the next day my pain will be worse and I won't be *allowed* to take any more since I have to limit myself to two triptans a week.

Ay. Woe is me.
Sad hours seem long.

The end.

ten days and counting

I'm used to having a minor headache every morning and evening, but a full-blown Migraine headache each and every day for the last ten days? Give me a break! I called my neurologist a few days ago and asked for even more Relpax--my prescription ran out a bit ago but I keep having to order more to fill in the gap of time until I can go see him for my appointment in four weeks. Usually eighteen pills (three boxes at ungodly prices per box) would last me awhile. The first of the eighteen I asked for a few weeks ago. The most recent batch of six I bought from the pharmacy just three days ago--there are only two left, and I have 32 days until my appointment.

I'm going to have to call and beg for more.

I'm going to have to get the seasons to stop changing so that the weather doesn't aggravate my head.

I'm going to have to get the rain to stop coming and going as it does so that the barometric pressure doesn't wreak havoc on my brain.

I'm going to have to find something to do before I become a drugged-up hermit forever.