If you've never had a migraine before, count yourself lucky. I started experiencing them as a freshman in college, and I've spent the last seven years trying to learn my triggers and figure out how to cope with the symptoms.
A migraine is a debilitating headache that usually affects one side of the head, but can migrate from one area to another. It can be associated with photosensitivity, phono-sensitivity, nausea, and sensitivity to movement.
For me, migraines seem to be primarily related to my hormones and they give a whole new meaning to the idea of PMS. During my senior year of college I had migraines almost every month, and my college roommate had to take me to the ER the morning of Super Bowl Sunday because I was unable to function. I had some success treating my migraines with Excedrin and Excedrin Migraine, but eventually I found myself having a more and more difficult time with my headaches.
Red wine has also been known to trigger migraines for me. I do tend to be very sensitive to alcohol- especially red wine- during migraines and have had rebound headaches after a glass of wine with dinner. Now, I try to avoid drinking around the time I am most susceptible to migraines and also if I have been having headaches recently.
While living in Southern California after graduation, I had another episode with a horrible migraine that I could not get rid of with over the counter medicines. Just like in college, the migraine set in at night, and I decided I would ride it out over night and reevaluate my situation in the morning. Unfortunately, the situation hadn't improved by morning and I was in the doctor's office bright and early. Just like on Super Bowl Sunday, I was given a high dose of medication via injection (those were the only two times I have been happy to get a shot!) and asked to wait a few minutes to be sure the drugs were working. After a few minutes, my doctor returned and was happy to hear that I was improving. She prescribed me some migraine medication to take at the onset of a headache, and also some anti-nausea medication.
Through trial and error I have found a drug that works well for me, and I continue to take it at the onset of migraines. Luckily, I haven't had as many of them lately as I have in the past. I now find that more often that not, some Excedrin and sleep will take care of any minor headaches at the onset. My problems start to get more serious when I don't have access to medication and the headache starts to progress.
Two days ago, I felt a stiffness in my neck which I associated with an odd sleeping position. By that evening, I had a headache in my left temple and the back of my neck was sore. I drank a lot of water and went to bed, hoping to sleep it off. When Sam got up at 5:00 yesterday morning, I was experiencing a full-fledged migraine. I took one of my migraine pills and hoped for the best- laying there in bed trying not to throw up while counting the minutes. After a half hour I had no relief and I took a second pill along with one of my anti-nausea pills. That did the trick. Within 30 minutes from the second pill my neck relaxed and the throbbing in my temple subsided. A disappointing side effect of the nausea medicine is that it causes drowsiness. I was passed out cold from 6-10:30 yesterday morning. Though I did wake up once or twice during that time, I could not get out of bed or focus my thoughts before falling back asleep. I had forgotten how potent those are!
During class last night I came down with a second migraine... and enough is enough. I came home from class and took another pill before bed. Sam was sweet enough to rub my sore neck and help me relax a bit.
I have been running errands all morning today, and I've been plagued by a dull aching and stiffness in my neck. I would like to hope for the best, but my recent track record isn't that great.
- Migraine on the way home from Chile (Nov. 15-16) that went untreated because I couldn't find my medicine.
- Headaches the mornings of Nov. 17 & 18 that were treated with Excedrin
- Migraine Thursday, Nov. 20
- Migraine Tuesday night through today (Nov. 25-27)
Looks like I have a little too much stress with all the job searching lately!
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