Wednesday 15 October 2008

Migraines seem to mean reading

Except for Saturday, I have had migraines every day for the last week. I've had better weeks, and, although I know that they are partly related to the stressful week at work I had, they are starting to worry me. I think part of it is also that my brain is getting used to the decrease of meds: I just recently decreased my anti-anxiety medication, which is of the same family of meds as the medication I took a while back for migraine prevention.
I have an appointment with my doctor on Monday, so I will discuss this with her (ideally I'd like to find my copy of the neurologist report, just in case the one the NHS is meant to have has gotten lost in all my moves, but I don't think it's going to happen).


As a result, I've had lots of naps, lots of knitting and lots of reading, but not that much computer time, except for the 7.5 hours a day I have to put at work and brief email checks at home. The combination of sleep and painkillers is absolutely great, but I can't sleep all day. While the compute screen hurts my eyes, I can still read without extra pain, so that and knitting have kept me entertained when I have been awake.
I've started Olympos, and I have made quite a dent on Alex's socks and my Healing Jacket 2, so I'm quite pleased with that. I like reading, the problem is that there is not enough time in the day to do everything, so it's nice to just do it every once in a whle, even if for this reason.


There is no need for alarm, by the way: it's a fairly standard migraine, albeit a bit long than normal. One of my coworkers keeps looking at me and asking me how I feel as if I had the plague or was about to die, and it got annoying really quick.



I think my brain needs a reboot.

4 comments:

  1. I know all about migraines - you sound very positive despite them, I must ask you how you can handle that...
    they make me suicidal!

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  2. It's one of those things that when people fuss over you it can actually make you feel worse than if they just treated you normally or gave you a bit of space! I know I'm fortunate in that I rarely get migraines, and when I do the ocular bit comes on first and if I'm quick about it I can stop it from going any further by a large dose of caffeine (like chugging a soda or two) and then I just bounce off the walls for the next several hours.

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  3. Hi,
    I'm from Belgium, and found your blog.
    Migraine is a part of my life too, and now what it's means .
    I love to knit socks and love art and paint sometimes myself.
    Wish you all the best and courage with the migraine ....
    http://www.bloggen.be/redcolor/
    rita

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  4. @Morgan: Mmmmm, it probably helps that it's the only pain I get, so it's easier for me to deal with it. I've had migraines since puberty, so I think I just internalised them: migraines are just something I get, and I just adapted to them, as they happened when I was still growing up and adjusting to things. Having them constantly for a year also increased my pain tolerance, and I can put up with a lot more now. Migraines also still let me read, which is a life saver, as I can "hide" a bit from the pain there (I occassionally forget my head hurts when I'm reading, although it still hurts -sometimes more- when I stop).
    What has been helping recently is my "migraine stick". It's basically a menthol stick that you just rub on your forehead. It makes it feel cool, and I feel refreshed and awake, rather than half-asleep with pain.

    @Kath: unnecessary fussing always makes me really cranky.
    I, on the contrary, can't have caffeine with a migraine, it just makes it worse!

    @rita: Thanks for the wishes, and best wishes back.

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