A Personal Method To Differentiate Headaches
I have recently discovered that if my headache is tensions and/or sinus taking a pleasantly hot shower is a good way to knock it down to manageable size. This is not so for migraines. However, it's not impossible for me to have both types at once (because I've got skillz), and the shower usually does for the extra pain sources, leaving me with a well-identified migraine that will respond to migraine remedies (putting my head under a pillow for a few hours, taking the magic pills, consuming really cold things, etc).
This evening I have a migraine. There was an incipient tension headache, but I have done away with it (somewhat to my surprise). I've decided that having a migraine is very unpleasant, but if I can't keep from having them in general I may as well learn the symptomatology for later reference.
--a floaty, disconnected sensation I would liken to being stoned if I ever had been stoned
--temporal and supraorbital pain similar to the headaches I get from needing but not wearing glasses
--exhaustion (though I conceive of it more as a cause than a symptom)
--things hurt less if I close my eyes, particularly closing the eye on the same side as the headache
--sometimes I get these pre-headaches that are like very mild migraines about eighteen or so hours before I get the full force migraine
Sara, who is splitting the house-sitting job with me, inquired as to whether I would be able to do school if I get migraines, as I put it, "all the bloody time." This disturbing thought had not previously occurred to me. WTF can I do if I get a migraine I can't tamp down? I can't take the magic pills all the time because it's a sketchy enough balance with my serotonin levels as it is (plus the packaging info basically says that if you use it more than four times in a month the drug maker is not responsible for your subsequent after-effects). So far it seems that I'm guaranteed three days of migraine-free existence every time I take one of these pills, but discovering this seems to imply that the headache is only suspended and can/will return when the magic wears off.
When I talked to MEW and she prescribed the pills I told her that I'd had the same headache for a week. I've had this fucking headache for a fucking week. Ow. ow. ow. This headache has only just arrived today, but it's looking to be a big one.
This evening I have a migraine. There was an incipient tension headache, but I have done away with it (somewhat to my surprise). I've decided that having a migraine is very unpleasant, but if I can't keep from having them in general I may as well learn the symptomatology for later reference.
--a floaty, disconnected sensation I would liken to being stoned if I ever had been stoned
--temporal and supraorbital pain similar to the headaches I get from needing but not wearing glasses
--exhaustion (though I conceive of it more as a cause than a symptom)
--things hurt less if I close my eyes, particularly closing the eye on the same side as the headache
--sometimes I get these pre-headaches that are like very mild migraines about eighteen or so hours before I get the full force migraine
Sara, who is splitting the house-sitting job with me, inquired as to whether I would be able to do school if I get migraines, as I put it, "all the bloody time." This disturbing thought had not previously occurred to me. WTF can I do if I get a migraine I can't tamp down? I can't take the magic pills all the time because it's a sketchy enough balance with my serotonin levels as it is (plus the packaging info basically says that if you use it more than four times in a month the drug maker is not responsible for your subsequent after-effects). So far it seems that I'm guaranteed three days of migraine-free existence every time I take one of these pills, but discovering this seems to imply that the headache is only suspended and can/will return when the magic wears off.
When I talked to MEW and she prescribed the pills I told her that I'd had the same headache for a week. I've had this fucking headache for a fucking week. Ow. ow. ow. This headache has only just arrived today, but it's looking to be a big one.