Tag: Migraine

bookmark_borderMigraine Mania

Posted on by PaulaO

“Ah, a good day,” she said as she slumped in her seat, eyes closed, her hand rubbing her temple.

I got up this morning with a slight headache. Usual stuff. I was intent on eating a good breakfast and getting some work done. Ha.

I have headaches and migraines. Yay. Today I first tried drinking a Coke and took Tylenol and ibruprfen (my “cocktail”). Often, that’s all I need to nip it before it grows but it didn’t work and I ‘sploded. I also took a cool shower (needed one anyway, ya know?). The sensation of the water on my head feels sooo good during a migraine.

Fun fact: touch sensation travels faster to the brain than pain sensation. It is why we rub our elbow or knee or whatever when we bump against something. So the pounding of the water on my head drowns out the pain. Neat, huh?

After that, I went straight for the Big Gun (Relpax), ate some Ritz, drank water, and tried another Coke. It didn’t stop it. By this time, Lorna was home and we discussed options. I took Bacolfen and Skelaxin (muscle stuff since it is definitely neck related) and some more of the cocktail (minus the Coke). Two hours later, I took a second Relpax. Then I tried a decongestant as my eyeballs are sore. The second Relpax made me goofy (well, worse than usual). I tilted back in my chair, put on some Robin Bullock music, and chilled out.

Finally, after umpteen pills, 12hrs after it started, it is finally backing off. My eyes hurt like someone is pressing in with their thumbs and it feels like someone else is behind me pressing against the base of my skull. And a third person (getting crowded in here) is squeezing my head in a vise. Yeah, need some schizophrenia meds, too, eh?

I see the Headache Doc in a few weeks. I take amitriptyline to prevent the every day just because I am Me headaches. It seemed to be working at first but the last several months they are coming back. We added Baclofen to try and get my neck (and the rest of me) to loosen up. Then we added the Relpax to stop the Big Kahuna ones (yes, I name everything. Have to. Else it gets too heavy).

And that was just today.

I’ve tried some homeopathic remedies in the past but could never seem to find the right one. The headaches are related to my neck issues. They won’t do surgery because my arms don’t have any loss of sensation. I have several neck braces but I hate them all for vanity reasons mostly. The Headmaster Collar is the one I go to the most. Still hate it though.

So…if anyone has any ideas, I am open to suggestions. And no, Lorna won’t let me cut my head off. I’ve asked. She’s so picky.

bookmark_borderWriting Again, Headaches Again

Posted on by PaulaO

Now that I am writing more, the headaches have returned. They never truly went away but now they are nearly every day with varying intensities.

A recent study has kinda sorta figured out how light and migraines are connected. The light didn’t cause the migraine but instead made it a lot worse. Light always bothers me and I don’t see it as being much different when I have a headache. For me, it is sound that is hypersensitive and will push me from nausea to vomiting.

I did, though, find the light study to be interesting. What they discovered was the light caused electrons on the outside of the nerve fibers to get excited. This excitement lasted even after the light source was removed.

They traced the path of the melanopsin retinal cells through the optic nerve to the brain where they found a group of neurons that become electrically active during a migraine.

“When small electrodes were inserted into these ‘migraine neurons’, we discovered that light was triggering a flow of electrical signals that was converging on these very cells,” said Professor Burstein.

Even when the light was removed these neurons remained activated.

“This helps explain why patients say that their headache intensifies within seconds after exposure to light, and improves 20 to 30 minutes after being in the dark.”

Dr Sue Lipscombe, a GP from Brighton with a special interest in headaches, said: “It suggests that an external source is contributing to the migraine condition and it is not just a contained brain disorder that just takes its cycle but that there are outside modifying factors.”

(source)

It is quite possible that my headaches are not migraines but a form of tension headache. I don’t always feel nausea but I don’t lean that way anyway. The longer the headache lasts, the more likely I will start to get the nausea. My headaches will often back off with Tylenol, ibuprofen, and a can of soda if I catch it soon enough. They don’t go away completely and within 3 hrs or less, it will rise back up. Ice on my head can help, too, when it gets really bad. What helps the most is a cool shower where I do nothing but sit there with the water hitting my scalp. The touch sensation and the coolness will back it off enough that I can drug myself some more and go to sleep.

The headaches are definitely linked to my neck issues. Which is why I think there is some sort of posture change I do from when I am playing a game to when I am writing. The main outright difference is that my right hand is on the keyboard vs the mouse. If anything, I tend to sit straighter when I am typing than when I am involved in a game.