Carleen
On Friday, I wrote
And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to watching the new documentaries I got for my birthday, tomorrow my plans include catching up on the laundry, and Sunday, I want to see what happens!
I often wonder how I maintain a sense of optimism, of making plans for things to do in a few days because no matter what I want to do, The Brain has a habit of getting in my way.

The early part of last week was dominated by seizures, those pesky electrical jolts that The Brain uses to let me know who is boss. I should have known that headaches would soon follow, as the two are best buds. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday found me crumpled up on the couch in a feeble attempt to sleep off the pain without much success.

Because I never got headaches in my younger days, I had no way of sympathizing with my friends who did. My attitude was that you take an aspirin or a Tylenol and get on with life. But that was before I experienced one! The Mayo Clinic has an online migraine self-assessment test that I took yesterday, during a period when the headaches were on vacation. Here's my result:
Your answers indicate that you're currently experiencing a severe level of disability as a result of your migraines.
It's important to talk to your doctor about strategies for coping with your migraines. Because your level of disability is severe, it's likely that your doctor will recommend a combination of acute and preventive medications to help you cope. Preventive therapy can help you control migraines before they happen. Acute treatment involves taking medicine to stop the pain as soon as a headache begins.
Yep, been there and done that. I have a cornucopia of medications at my disposal and use them when necessary. Between migraines, ice pick, cluster, and pressure headaches, it's often challenging to determine which medication to take. And because I don't want to rely on the medications, I always start with Ibuprofen. If I catch it early enough, 800mg of Ibuprofen will usually take care of the ice pick, cluster, and pressure headaches, but the darn migraines are a completely different story! For those, I have a pill to take as soon as the pain begins. Most of the time, it works like magic; for the times when it doesn't, I can take a different pill to help bring it under control.

So, despite the plan to watch my new documentaries, catch up with the laundry, and see what exciting things I could do on Sunday, I spent the weekend at war with The Brain. Again.


Labels: , , , Bookmark and Share | edit post
3 Responses
  1. Anonymous Says:

    I'm so sorry to hear about the headaches. I hope this week is off to a better start and you have some days when you can do what you want to do.


  2. RA Says:

    I'm so sorry to read about your headaches. Hopefully you are feeling better very soon, Carleen. Optimism is always good in life. Syafakillah, my dear.


  3. Anonymous Says:

    My friend I wish there was something that I could do to relieve you of those. I know there isn't but know that if there was I would do it in an instant. It makes me sad that you have to suffer through these but I do believe with a positive attitude, like I know you have, you can and will beat these. Where is Samantha when you need her :) Aloha my friend and your documentaries and all will always be there...you have a lifetime to view them...Do you put your Phantom music on during these? Maybe that would help sooth it or help you take the pain away if you could think of something you so enjoy :)


Post a Comment

What's on your mind?