// “Flash Migraine”//

On Friday night, I experienced what I’ve started to call a “Flash Migraine”.

I’m Interning as an Assistant Stage Manager with a professional theatre company about 20 minutes from my house. The show we’re working on opened on the 4th and runs through the 21st, Thursdays - Sundays. We had a performance Friday night.

On Thursday I went to the doctor because I was sick (see this post for the ridiculousness of that day). I’ve had this sinus/upper respiratory infection for awhile that I haven’t been able to kick. It gets better with antibiotics, but then it comes back with a vengeance. My GP was at a conference, so I saw the Nurse Practitioner who called in a prescription for a new antibiotic (bactrim) and a methylprednisolone pack to see if those two in conjunction would kick the bug.

So I was already feeling kind of crappish because I had this ridiculous experience with my job, was on antibiotics (which just run me down), and was tired. However, I made sure that I ate - even without an appetite - and stayed hydrated all day. Thursday night, we had a performance though, so I got myself to the theatre at call time in order to set props and check costumes. I’m in charge of all the quick changes during the show (and there’s a quick change almost EVERY scene. Sometimes there’s more than one.) so it’s not like I could just not show up.

On Friday, I was already starting to feel better, especially after getting to rest that day. However, around 10:00pm, I started to get a dull ache behind my eyes. The show was drawing to a close around this time, so I was ready to go home and just go to sleep. My vision started to get blurry and everything started to sound tinny… The aura had started and I was ready to rush home so that I could try to stave it off. During my 20 minute drive home though, the pain started to get worse. (And I didn’t want to take a rescue med before driving the 20 minutes back home!)

The intensity of my migraine increased rapidly and I was soon nauseous, dizzy, sensitive to light, sound, temperature, the whole nine yards. As soon as I got home, I grabbed a bottle of seltzer and took my fiorinal, along with a zofran to try to squelch the nausea. I got a quick bath. I took my hair out of the fishtail it was in, because it suddenly felt like it was tugging at my scalp. I crawled into bed with an ice pack and jammed my finger into my eye, because my supraorbital foramen is a big pressure point for me. The pain was still behind my eyes, but it had also moved to a band in the parietal section of my head. This pain felt tight and like pressure was being applied to my head.

I laid in bed and drifted in and out of consciousness for about an hour, never fully falling asleep, but not being fully conscious either. Finally around about 2AM, I jumped up out of bed and ran to the bathroom. I threw up just about everything I could remember eating during the latter half of the day.

After this, I - expectedly - got very tired, cold, and was shaking. I brushed my teeth and then put on a sweatshirt to climb back into bed. Immediately after (and during) throwing up my head felt like it was going to implode or explode or spontaneously combust or something to that degree. When I got back into bed, the pain that had been on the top of my head started to fade rapidly. The aching behind my eyes was still present though.

I kept the ice pack on my head, but applied it to my eyes. At some point, I drifted off to sleep, and when I woke up again at 4:30AM, my migraine was gone, although I was horribly thirsty.

After drinking nearly a whole bottle of seltzer, I flopped over and enjoyed my remaining two hours of sleep. When I woke up, I felt refreshed, and uncharacteristically awake for someone who isn’t much of a morning person - much less a 6:15AM wake up for work after limited sleep and a migraine kind of person.

These kinds of migraines have started to become characteristic of what happens to me in the days before my period. For some reason, my hormonal changes cause these quick and very intense migraines. I’ve taken to calling them “flash migraines” because they 1) tend to start with an aura, where I’ll see flashing before my eyes, but also, 2) they escalate very quickly, and disappear faster than any other kind of migraine I experience.

I’ve also noticed that these migraines tend to end by lysis, which is an idea that I read about in Migraine by Oliver Sacks:

“…it may resolve by ‘lysis’, a gradual abatement of the suffering accompanied by one or more secretory activities. As Calmeil wrote, almost 150 years ago: Vomiting sometimes terminates a Migraine. An abundant flow of tears does the same, or an abundant secretion of urine. Sometimes hemicrania is terminated by an abundant perspiration from the feet, hands, half of the face, or by a nose-bleeding, a spontaneous arterial haemorrhage, or a mucous flux from the nose.” (pg. 29)

There were so many times when I, or my mother, or one of my sisters would say, “I think I would feel better if I could just throw up…” And many times, that did help with the migraine. However, I never knew that this was a legitimate and accepted form of “resolution” to a migraine.

This doesn’t always happen with my migraines. When the migraine is longer in duration, vomiting doesn’t usually get rid of it.

But that’s a story for another day.

Has anyone else ever experienced these kinds of quick onset migraines?

// Any chronic headache/migraine blogs out there?//

foginthefog:

Me! [and ditto]

allthegoodurlnamesaretaken:

I would like to follow you.

I’m a migraine blog!! I’ll be following some new people based on this post I think! :)

(via adoseofmichelle)

// Have I mentioned that I live in New Jersey?//

Because I do. And Hurricane Sandy is giving me a horrible headache.

I worked until 10 last night (That’s right. We were still open even though there was no one in the store for about 2 hours.) and came home with a horrible migraine. When I woke up this morning, I was feeling better, but my entire body hurt.

I’m not in as much pain, but it’s still pretty bad. The pressure is just going to continue to drop, so I’m not excited about this.

I should also mention that I live in a costal city. I don’t live down the shore, but I live in Elizabeth, which was originally known as Elizabethport and houses one of the biggest and busiest seaports in the world. I live about 5 blocks from the Arthur Kill and the Goethals Bridge.

AKA the water is right there.

They’ve already evacuated some of the downtown areas right by the waterfront of the port. I ran next door to the church with my sister and was battered by wind. I’m not looking forward to the havoc this would wreak on my head.

I love storms, but not the pain that they bring to my head!

// It’s getting to be about that time…//

which would explain the off and on pain I’ve had in my head for the past few days. And of course since I haven’t had to take my Fiorinal in awhile, I’m super woozy.

It started yesterday at work. I was supposed to work 10-5, but the girl who was supposed to be taking over customer service called and said she would be at least an hour late. I told our closing manager that I could stay for the hour with no problem.

At 6:20 he walked up and said he was going to call her and see where she was. There wasn’t an answer. Someone who was coming in at 6:30 said that she heard she wasn’t coming until 7. At about 6:40, the manager came up and said, “I feel really badly. Someone else will cover customer service. Go home, you’ve been here since 10AM and I feel really, really bad that you’re still here. I owe you and you’re awesome, but I know you’ve got to be exhausted and that you have a headache.”

So I came home.

I ate. I watched Dancing with the Stars (Team Apolo!) and then watched the Avengers. And then I slept like a small child. Until about 11:30. I’ve been working morning shifts, so I take all the sleep I can get. It also didn’t help that my head hurt, which just makes me want to roll over and go back to sleep.

I watched the two new episodes of New Girl that I missed last night because I forgot it premiered. (Whoops!) And am going to watch Supernatural and see if I can keep myself awake. Tomorrow I need to clean and will probably spend Friday doing the same until I go to work at 5.

But the point is, it’s getting to be around my period, which pretty much guarantees me a migraine.

It doesn’t help that I have added stress due to a financial situation that I didn’t know was going on. (aka the money I thought I had from my Grandfather saved up for Grad School had to be used for other things, so that bank account is apparently dry.) And the idea that I’m gonna need a second job. I just thank God that I’m not in school right now, because I know that would be a ridiculous combination of stressors that would probably cause a near-constant migraine.

So I need some motivation to start looking for a second job.

But before that, I need to get rid of this headache, and continue to keep it away from morphing into a migraine, or my day will become this:

Wishing you all a migraine- and pain-free (or at least low levels!) day!

// So I walked into work today…//

and my boss said “Well you look fantastic” in the most sarcastic voice he could muster. He asked me if I wanted to go home, but I said I could manage and would be fine.

I kept switching back and forth between having my hair up and down. I was getting warm so I’d pull it up, but then it would bother my head so I would let it back down.

I took ibuprofen before heading to work because I was in bed all day with a headache. I started to get one yesterday and it morphed into a migraine quite quickly. But then I had a hell of a time trying to sleep and so I slept for most of the day.

I still got my butt up to go to work at 3PM. Kohl’s is good to me. I knew I would be able to work through the bit of pain I still had around, so I sucked it up. I don’t want to call out of work unless I absolutely have to. And I didn’t absolutely have to today.

So now I’m in bed, watching Supernatural and getting ready to sleep. I think I may actually be able to sleep tonight which is awesome.

The past few weeks I’ve been havinga lotof trouble sleeping. Can’t get comfortable, can’t relax enough, can’t get my brain to shut off. Whatever. In any case, it doesn’t help that I worked over 33 hours last week. That’s reason enough to get my butt into gear with a sleep schedule. Especially because I’ve been working in the morning and this Saturday I have to be in at 9. Next week I have to be in at 8AM for unloading and freight.

So migraines, I’d really appreciate you backing off and letting me get back into the groove of work. That way, I can go to a nutritionist and see if I have any food sensitivities or dietary changes I can make in order to help you go away.

// Okay, so here’s the deal//

If you read my text posts (and God bless your soul if you do) you’ll know that I’m kind of at a crossroads in my life.

I wasn’t accepted to any graduate programs last spring, so I have to reapply and hope that I have a place to start in the Fall of 2013. In the meantime, I’m working and will be spending some time doing things that I was always too busy to do (read: I have a degree in Speech & Hearing Sciences. I was usually too busy for most things) and work to save up money for Grad School. I can ALSO use the time to take some more control over my health and be proactive.

There are three classes that I plan on taking/starting to take in the next few weeks that will be a key element in working toward a goal of better managing my health.

1) Adult & Pediatric First Aid/CPR/AED

Okay, so this one is a bit less in line with the other two I’ll list. However, I’ve been CPR/AED certified for the past two years, and my certification expired in July. I haven’t had time to have it renewed, and want to have that certification. Adding the First Aid in isn’t a bad idea, because it’s good to know. I’ve worked as a camp counselor for 5 years (and am hoping to return for one last year before starting Grad school) and with class number two, having those certifications will certainly come in handy. Plus, I plan on working withpeopleso it will be nice to be training in First Aid, CPR, and AED.

2) Zumba Basics 1

That’s right. I plan on getting certified as a Zumba instructor. I’ve taken some classes and love it, and I figure it’s in demand enough that I might be able to get hired at a local place to teach a class once a week. Other than that, it’s a great way for me to make sure that I’m exercising and am on top of taking care of myself. If I’m teaching a class and am making sure I stay in the loop about new music and new steps, then I have no excuse to be sedentary.

After a few months, I’d love to take the class “Zumbatomic” which takes Zumba and teaches you how to adapt it for children. It’s a fun way for kids to stay fit and active. I love working with kids, and I think that I’d really love the opportunity to work with them in this way.

I mean, I also plan on going away for Grad school. It’ll be good to have a skill that I can take with me in order to earn money. Maybe the college I go to will want to have Zumba classes. Who knows? Point is, it’s a ton of fun, I love to do it, it gives me a really good excuse to work out, and if I can make some money off of it, that’s even better.

3) Yoga

I took a yoga class at college last semester, and really liked it. It was one of the first holistic approaches that helped ease the frequency and severity of my migraines. Because of this, I’ve been looking into places to take yoga classes.

I know that I can do yoga at home without much of a hassle, and it’s much cheaper to pay for a DVD (not to mention the wealth of free resources online) than to pay for classes, but I’d use classes as more of a supplement. And I’m mostly referring to Hot Yoga here. I know that I have some real muscle tension which not only makes it more of a hassle for me to exercise sometimes, but can also contribute to my migraines (can you say neck and shoulder tightness?)

I’m really looking forward to all of these things and hope that they’re going to help me in the long run.

Do any of you do Zumba or Yoga? What have your experiences been like? Have you found that physical activity helps your migraines or other chronic pain?

// Today had the potential to be eventful…//

then a migraine struck.

I woke up early this morning because I had a phone interview for a job. I’m hoping to get a job as an on-the-road admissions recruiter for East Stroudsburg University. I was recommended for the job, but still have to go through the interview process.

I had my phone interview this morning, and I think it went pretty well. I had answers to all the questions, made sure that I thought about what I was saying first, and restated their question in all of my answers. I find out on Friday if I’m invited to the campus for an in person interview or not. And that interview would probably take place next week. So I’ll be in the car on my way to Johnstown, PA for the Convention when I’ll (hopefully) get the call about an in person interview.

However, after that, instead of heading next door to help make pirohi, I immediately went back to sleep. I took a Relpax moments before I answered the phone for my interview because my head was killing me. I fell asleep with my thumb in my eye and an icepack on my head.

I asked my brother to bring me an icepack, and he sent my niece up with it. She said “Here you go Aunt Rachel!” and then proceeded to hug me and give me a kiss on my forehead and say “Now go away headache! I want Aunt Rachel to play with me!”

When I have a migraine, adorable things like the love of a 5 year old can really make you feel better.

I’m feeling better now, but not fantastic. Hopefully when I wake up tomorrow I’ll feel even better. I’ve taken my Fiorinal and am hoping that will be the end of it.

I’m going to watch another episode of Supernatural before I go to bed. I’ve gotten sucked into this show. I’m only on the second season, but I love it. Why have I not been watching this all along?

Here’s to hoping you all had migraine free days! :)

// Who else is awesome?//

Valued Friend #3: Will B.

So first, I have to say that the greatest thing Will brings into my life is laughter. Yes, there are times that I want to smack him upside the head. Yes, there have been times when actually have smacked him upside the head; but in my defense, he almost always deserves it.

Will was the Athletic Director this summer, and was one of the counselors of the oldest boys’ cabin (along with Andy. While K-Rex & I were the counselors of the oldest girls’ cabin), so we hung out a lot. I guess I should also include the information that Will and I used to date. Although it was difficult to get used to at the beginning of the summer, we were able to get over any residual awkwardness very quickly. That’s really fortunate for me, because I consider Will one of my best friends.

How can I describe Will being concerned for me? Well, it’s like Bill, plus more teasing, and being able to see through my “tough girl” act and call me out on it without anyone else knowing. The fact that we both know ASL (though he’s much more fluent than I am) probably helps this situation. Though it irritates other people sometimes. Whoops.

Will was another one of those people who always made sure I got a cup of coffee in the morning. And besides that, he was a good person to vent to and to bounce ideas off of when it came to programming and counseling. Since I wasn’t as familiar with the dynamics of the boys cabins and the counselor interaction and the kinds of issues at each stage, I had a few discussions with Will and relied on a lot of the information he gave me about personality types of the counselors working (especially considering that two of the other male counselors were relatives of his).

When it came to my migraines, next to K-Rex, Will was probably the most supportive and helpful. One day when we were sitting in the office doing work - me with my sunglasses on - he walked out and returned in a few moments with a cup of iced coffee he made me because he “could tell [I] need[ed] it.”

I did tell him that he was giving me a headache though the first two Fridays. After Cabin Clean-Up, we went right to the Olympic Relays, and as AD, that was one of his events and something for him to run. Those first to weeks they started super late and we had to cut out another programming element (which was okay and not a big deal), and had to hold our staff meeting during Lunch. He drove me NUTS with that. The third week though, we somehow finished right on time which led to excessive celebration.

Although I joke about such things, he got me coffee, gave me his sunglasses for awhile the one time I forgot mine, let me sneak 15 minute naps in the back office, he drove my car when we were all going out to the Chinese Buffet over the weekend but I had already taken meds, and various other little things like checking to make sure I was drinking enough water or gatorade. One night he even offered to do rounds for me. I would have taken him up on the offer if I wasn’t sure he would have stayed out past curfew. (He was the only counselor I had to tell to go into their cabin because it was after 1 AM. He told me “I figured that if you came down here, I would go inside, but I was hoping that you wouldn’t make the trek down to 8 at the bottom of the hill from A at the very top”. Needless to say, I sent him inside.)

When we had a problem camper situation, we worked out a solution together and he volunteered to split up patrol sweeps during evening activities with me so I wouldn’t have to do them by myself.

This summer was just more of the same. Two summers ago, I was sick one morning and stayed in bed through breakfast. When I came out of my room, There was a bowl of strawberries on the floor (apparently Father had sprung for a load of fresh strawberries that morning) with a note that he wanted to make sure I got some of them. Last summer when I was super stressed because I was running the Friday Activity and had very little assistance in setting it up and was basically having a meltdown, he literally picked me up, put me in my car, handed me his gatorade and turned the air up at full blast. Chances are there was heat stroke involved (and last summer was really an awful summer for a multitude of reasons).

When I had the horrible migraine day during the third week, Will was the first one to tell me to go back to bed. I told him I would be fine, and then during the meeting I had to walk away because I got super nauseous and knew I wasn’t gonna be able to make it through the whole meeting. However, I just excused myself and tried to leave the meeting in a nonchalant way while Will went over sports. Katherine & Will were the only ones to call me out on it later. They both knew I was sick and prooooobably had something to do with Father sending me to sleep for the afternoon.

After the camping weeks were over, a few of us stuck around for awhile. On the last Sunday we were all around, we were having Vespers because (New Calendar) Transfiguration was on Monday the 6th. I started to get another headache and took my Fiorinal. I then headed over to the staff cabin where we were all watching the Olympics. I fell asleep with my head on Will’s leg, as most of us were napping until Vespers. I was woken up by him carefully trying to not wake me up as he slid a couch cushion under my head where his leg was and covered me up with the blanket he had been using. I slept for a bit longer and then went to Vespers. He was not all that happy with me for waking up to go to Vespers instead of continuing to sleep since I had a headache, but oh well.

Although he lives about 300 miles away from me (he’s in Seminary in Johnstown, PA) he’s conscious of the fact that my migraines happen during the year on a consistent basis. For example, he sent me a text message yesterday morning and when I said something at one point about taking something for my headache and trying to find a place to lie down, he told me to get an ice pack and more rest. When he knows I have a migraine, he’ll check in on me every few hours. He’s done the same thing when I was having kidney stone issues about 2 years ago.

I also give him a hard time about/have finally gotten him to take some proactive action about his shoulder (He dislocated it while in HS [I believe] and subluxes it on a regular basis because the muscles around the shoulder are just too loose. For instance, he once dove into a pool and subluxed. He also did it twice during one of the staff/camper basketball games this summer and was miserably in a sling for about 2 hours. I’m pretty sure he would have buried that sling if it weren’t from the nurse’s station.)

Point I’m trying to make here is that we both give each other a hard time about our injuries/sicknesses, but in the end really just want the other to take care of themselves. But neither of us does it in a way that makes the other person feel babied. More of in a “Will, if you find a way to sublux your shoulder again I’m gonna pop it out the whole way and smack you with it.” or “Rachel, you have a migraine? If I step on your foot or hit you in the kneecap with something hard, will it take the focus off of that pain?” kind of way. We function by giving each other a hard time and mocking each other.

Have I mentioned that we have a weird relationship? Especially for people who used to date? And we have upfront discussions about such things? haha

Okay, that turned into more of a personal thing at the end rather than why he’s such a great person to have around with my migraines, but I think it all ties in. Having that rapport with him makes it easier for him to remind me that I have limits and need to sit back and take a breather every once in awhile. Especially when I’m in a stressful position and don’t need a migraine.

I really do love my friends.

…And thankfully for me, Fr. Stephen, the Camp Director is a preeeeeetty sweet boss to have when you have migraines…

// Today was… okay.//

I woke up with a pretty horrible headache today.

Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to move back into my room since I got home from camp. There were tools all over my room and bed, and I hadn’t finished my cleaning before I left for camp. As a result, most of my stuff is still in crates and bags down in the living room and I’ve been sleeping on the family room couch. I’m pretty sure that’s not helping the situation.

However, tonight I’m sleeping in my brother’s room since he’s down the shore. Tomorrow I plan on starting to go through my closet and my things so I can get rid of/donate lots of stuff. I need to get my room cleaned before I (hopefully) get this ESU job and will be traveling all the time.

So today I woke up with a headache that was making me nauseous. Thankfully, it didn’t turn into a full on migraine, but I had a pretty difficult time dealing with it. I moved from the couch to my parent’s room to sleep there for awhile. I eventually moved again because I knew my parents wanted to clean their room (my mom had to go to the dentist, so I had the opportunity to use their room for awhile)

I moved back down to the couch for a bit, but then ended up moving to my brother’s room since he’s gone. And I’ve been watching Supernatural and stretching and staying hydrated ever since.

My ITB has really been acting up lately and my lower back has as well. They’re really all interconnected, so I kind of have to tackle a few different problems at once.

I do have some spots of good news though!

1) My mom agreed to start doing yoga with me. It helped with my migraines, so I’m hoping it might have some effect on hers. Even if the yoga doesn’t help, maybe it’ll open her up to wanting to be more proactive about things.

2) While rummaging through things, I found a pair of sweatpants and two pair of yoga pants I thought I had lost (or one of my sisters had stolen). YAY!

3) If I get the ESU job, I’ll be able to use the ESU track and fitness center to exercise, as well as just walk around the area of my sister’s house like I did last year when I worked there. I can also make sure that there are fitness centers in any of the hotels I stay in so that I never miss my exercising (which helps my migraines immensely).

4) I had my lower back, glutes, and ITB covered in Bengay on my left side (aka my problem side)

5) I’m on Episode 18 of the first season of Supernatural and I’m loving it.

6) I have a bed to sleep in tonight!