Saturday, April 19, 2014

Electric-Fire Visegrips

     No, that was just how it felt.  I woke up having somehow worked up a nasty headache; woke again not too much later and fed the cats, trying to not open my eyes too far or make too much noise, fled back to bed and tried to run away from it.

     Doesn't work.  If you make your migraine chase you down, it's just that much more angry once Slumberland kicks your vagrant, furtive self protesting out into the daylight where it can get at you once again.

     And so it went for me.  I'm up now, coffee brewed, two slices of toast made, one eaten, two ibuprofen, working on the next slice of toast (with butter and, o wonder of wonders, grape jelly), and the hammering of my fingers on the keys is like unto the hammering of hammers on my skull.

     I'll be back later, when my life has less resemblance to a bad acid trip as described by Dante or possibly Spider Robinson.*
________________________________________________
* "[...] in the distance, a toad farted ominously."  S. Robinson.

10 comments:

Bubblehead Les. said...

Oooh, not a Spider Reality. That's GOTTA be Painful.

John A said...

Migraines are a common thing in my family: but perhaps you could ask your doctor next visit about Effexor (aka Venlafaxine). As far as I know that is not what it is supposed to be for (I take it for depression) but a couple of nieces have had success with it.

Larry said...

Zomig or Imitrex nasal sprays are a lifesaver for my wife and I. But you need to take them at the first sign for best effectiveness. Tablets didn't work for us because the first thing that happens for us with a migraine is that our stomachs shut down. Sometimes most violently.

Roberta X said...

I have had bad reactions to just about everything they hand out for migraines, including plenty of prescribed "off-label" drugs. I would rather tough it out with Vitamin I than suffer the side effects to get no better relief. But I do like to complain.

B said...

For me, the biggest contributing factor is electrolytes.

Try drinking half a pint of Gatorade every day...religiously.

While this hasn't entirely stopped my migraines, it has greatly reduced their frequency and amplitude. I still get them (and the side issues)but much less often and when I do, I can actually (most of the time) function.


They make some interesting flavors of Gatorade these days.

Roberta X said...

In all frankness, I'm not sure I could do that. Something about the texture of the stuff... OTOH, if it'd stop the headaches, well.

B said...

The red and the purple and the orange aren't bad glavors. If you can find it, "Frost riptide Rush" is kinda like not too sweet grape koolaid.

The yellow? Euch. I'd rather have the headaches.

Try some. Try it for 2 weeks. 8 oz per day. Cut mine by about 70% and not as bat either.

There are MANY reasons we get migraines this is one of the issues with mine..... This might not work for you, but if it does, yer golden. and it won't cost a lot.

LCB said...

My latest neuro doc (supposed to be the MAN in Cincy for migraine releif) has made me stop ALL pain meds. Been 8 weeks now...and no, it hasn't helped a bit. I think it's the latest flavor of experiment with the neuro types since they can't figure out what causes migraines.

The idea is that we weak types that need pain meds for migraines are making them worse because of a "rebound" effect. I tried to explain that I could go weeks without taking anything (including ibuprophen, tylenol, etc.) and that I still got hammered by the migraines. Do dice. "If you want me to help you, you have to go off of everything." !@#$!_#$)+_!@(#)$*#@

I have to stick with him because i miss too much work. I have to show I'm trying to get this figured out.

He also sent me to an ENT that tested me for food sensitivities. Not allergies...sensitivities. I'm supposed to go on a two week diet eating pretty much only freshly fixed proteins and certain veggies. Then she'll add stuff back gradually to see if they trigger the migraines. If this work (and I'll be shocked if it does) I'll let you know Roberta.

wrm said...

Where's the Spider quote from? Reason being, I'm a big fan of his, dating back to when his books were... not banned... but seriously discouraged here*. First trip to the states I bought every book of his I could lay my hand on. And I have not come across that quote, so now I'm wondering about unknown-to-me treats still lurking.

* The starstuff was OK. Callahan was out.

Roberta X said...

H'mm, Callahan too egalitarian for the former .za gov, perhaps?

It's not from a Callahan story, AFAIK, and the next sentence, I think, is "I was really high." An early anthology. "Antimony?" Maybe. But I'll have to dig.