One of the other, far more inconvenient, things I suffer from are chronic migraines. Starting in college, they tend to be significantly worse around "that time of the month," but I seem to have cluster and migraine headaches regardless of my cycle, and sinus headaches accompany many of my head colds.
It's especially irritating because I have varied warning that a migraine is coming. I rarely have an aura, but my neck becomes very stiff and I find myself stretching in from side to side frequently throughout the day without really thinking about it. As soon as I notice that, I know the migraine will be arriving soon. Similarly, once I am suffering, my neck is the one thing that sees no relief from my medications. Even once I've managed the pain in my head, my neck is still. It's not until my neck begins to feel normal, that I know I'm in the clear.
This morning, I have a particularly intense migraine. I had my coworkers over last night to celebrate the Giants being in the World Series, and we made tacos and did a potluck. Of course, with six girls socializing outside of work, we ended up hanging out and drinking margaritas more than watching the game. But that was okay. Sam was called in to operate, so I stayed up reading to wait for him. We finally went to bed around 11:00, and I passed out thanks to the sinus congestion that has been zapping my energy the past couple of days.
Well, around 4:50 a.m., Hunter woke me up pawing at his water dish in our bathroom. He does that to let me know when he's out of water and thirsty during the night. Sure enough, as soon as I came to consciousness, I was in pain. Deep, hemispheric pain that seemed to be radiating all the way down the left side of my extraordinarily stiff neck. Waves of nausea were washing over me.
I sat up and the pain intensified, making it to the bathroom, bracing myself against the counter as I leaned down to pick up the bowl and then down to put the full bowl on the floor. I reached into the medicine cabinet to find the Excedrin, my go-to over-the-counter method of relief. I may have gone back to sleep, but at 5:30, Hunter was scratching on the front door to be taken out to go to the bathroom, and I figured it was well enough that I got up anyway. My head didn't feel significantly better, which it usually does within half an hour after medicating myself.
Hunter and I headed downstairs and I was aware of the sensitivity I had to the lights on the buildings. When we came back upstairs, I dug into my purse and found my prescription strength migraine medication. Then I settled in on the couch to wait. Again, it takes about thirty minutes to kick in.
Around 6:00, Sam came out to find me sitting on the couch with my laptop and he inquired as to why I was up, and not in bed. We chatted a bit and he proceeded to get on with his day. Just before he left, he said that I didn't look well and he hoped I was feeling better by this evening. I doubt that will be the case. My head feels not quite right - not painful anymore, but not quite right, and my neck is still stiff. From experience, I know that even if this episode is over, there will be another one on the way.
