I know that I have written about headaches and migraines before, but never quite in the terms that the NY Times Migraine - Perspective on a Headache Blog has helped me to articulate and accept more readily.
Everyday I wake up with a headache. I have a headache everyday. Not "often" not "usually", but EVERYDAY. It is a rare and odd day that I don't. I have come to terms with this just being part of who I am. I am exhausted by it. It causes me not to sleep well, to be grumpy, to look like hell on a lot of days, but it is who I am.
Some things that have helped, have been the inclusion of a morning routine involving an icepack. I wake up about 15 minutes before I have to function, grab two ice packs from my freezer and crawl back into beg with one on my neck, one on my forehead and my sleep mask on. It is very sexy, I must say. I listen to the news for 15 minutes and decide whether or not I need some non-migraine, drugs (Advil Migraine, Alleve, Migraine Excedrin, Tension Excedrin, ecetera) I also decide whether I need Pepto Bismal to make it through the first few hours of the day. It is just so attractive this little routine of mine. Is it any wonder that I am alone????
Anyway, I am writing this to let others know that they are not alone. I get it. I understand when you tell your doctor that you have had a headache for 15 years and they look at you like you are crazy, when you want to cry because you are so done with it. I get it. I share the same darkness in your eyes that no one is sure why it is there. I understand the parent, friend, acquaintance who says to you as you sip on a glass of red wine "do you really think you should be drinking that? I thought that you got migraines?" and you respond "I have a headache all the time, what the HELL does it matter if I get some joy out of this little glass (or bottle, no ones judging) and it just continues on the headache tomorrow?" I am sending you hugs from a fellow headache sufferer.
I also have regular migraines, which are a whole different post for a whole different day......
The daily (or close to daily!) rants and raves of a self-proclaimed princess as she tries to find her way through life's twist and turns........
Thanks for stopping by,
Princess Steph
2 comments:
I like your ice pack routine. I think I'll give it a try. My husband is so used to my crazy headache-prevention rituals I know he won't even bat an eye.
I am on Topamax (which is just now being prescribed for migraines.) Changed. my. life. That is all I can say. Good luck!
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