Anatomy of a Migraine
It started Saturday, with rampant binge-eating/food cravings. Should have known something was up; that’s been a precursor to an evil migraine before. I did manage to get most of what I wanted to do done on Saturday, but by late afternoon, I was feeling rather seedy.
Woke up Sunday with the “uh-oh, I have a headache” problem. The kids an I had planned to go to Brother Juniper’s for breakfast before church. When we got to Brother Juniper’s, though, the place was packed and had a line running round the corner. So we decided to go to a little coffee shop around the corner instead. By the time our food came, I was definitely sick. I had it boxed up and we took it home. Mine is still in the fridge. Because by the time we got home, I was definitely in the throes of the evil headache. I told the kids to stay inside, play nicely, and be good; I took a Maxalt and went to bed. That was about 11:00. I woke up sometime around 2 and got some water and another Maxalt. Couldn’t get back to sleep. The kids were fine, by the way, having a blast with unlimited Playstation day and snacking on string cheese, graham crackers, and grapes. I dozed off and on until 6, when I got up, took an Advil, and ordered Steak Out for dinner. I actually ate about half of my steak tips and potato.
I was starting to feel a little better, and I read a chapter from A Wrinkle in Time to the kids before tucking them into bed at 9:00. Then my older son (11), who sleeps on the top bunk, somehow fell out of bed (despite the safety bar that’s on the top bunk to prevent him falling). He was screaming, had a lump on his head the size of a red plum, and was holding his hip. His leg didn’t move right, and his pupils were different sizes. Well, that scared me! So I called 9-1-1 and had an ambulance sent over. By the time they arrived, I had gotten the child calm and his pupils were right-sized and equal again. And his leg was moving normally. So they advised against transport and told me to make sure to wake him two or three times during the night, to make sure he was okay.
By now it was nearly 10:30, so I tucked them in, cleaned up the supper mess, and took a HOT bath with lavender epsom salts. Feeling somewhat more relaxed, I woke the kidlet, who was groggy but knew his name, where he was, and who I was. That was reassuring.
I went back to bed at 11, hoping I’d sleep off the last of the migraine. When the alarm went off at 6:30, I snoozed it until 7. When I got up, I wondered if I ought to get up. I still had a slight ache at the back of my neck, which usually tells me that the migraine is just lying in wait, ready to pounce again if I make any injudicioius moves. But I have a firm and fast rule that I do not miss work on Mondays, and especially not on a Monday before a long weekend. So I showered, dressed, and transported the kids to my mother’s house. I stopped by the convenience store and grabbed some soup for breakfast — which may sound weird, but I can usually handle soup when all other foods simply won’t go down, and with a vicious migraine waiting, soup is the safest bet. Also, the heat of soup has been known to ease a migraine right on out of the back of my skull and into oblivion. So I was hoping.
Well, I got to work and realized that I was probably in trouble. Still, I thought, I have an appointment with the headache specialist at 1, so maybe I can at least make it through a half-day at work. Especially since I don’t have any sick leave remaining. I dragged myself through my morning routine — check the executive fridge and stock it with beverages, bring in the papers and distribute them, get my cup of tea (and make the soup), check voice-mail, check e-mail, etc. By 9:00, I was starting to have aura again — the nasty, half-circle, broken-glass aura that makes it hard to see. I took a Maxalt. And worked on projects that didn’t require computer work. I turned off the lights in my area. At 9:45, I took an Advil. My co-worker came up and said, “You look like hell; why are you here?” (She suffers from migraine, too, so she totally knew what I was up against.) At 10:00, I started feeling sick to my stomach and dizzy. When that happens, I need to get horizontal immediately. So I e-mailed my supervisor that I was sick and left.
I went straight to my mom’s (closer than home) and crawled into the guest bed, after asking her to wake me at noon so I could go to my doctor’s appointment. (I wasn’t about to miss this one!) I slept until noon, when she woke me, which helped. I was able to safely drive myself to and from my appointment, where my doctor gave me a new medicine, Migranal, to try. It was a nose spray (yuck!) but it did work. And fast. Within an hour of taking the second half of the dose, I was feeling much better, though still weak and shaky. The kids had finished their schoolwork, so I took them home about 3:30, and we repeated Sunday. I went to bed, they played games and watched a movie. I told them to wake me at 6, and then I ordered Garibaldi’s for supper. Baths, another chapter in our book, and bed by 8:30. For everyone. I slept like a rock and woke this morning feeling about 90 percent better.
I’m still weak and shaky, and I feel profoundly tired, but I’m functioning again. I’ve managed the morning at work, and ate some soup for breakfast. I probably won’t be back at 100 percent until sometime tomorrow, but at least the pain, aura, and nausea are gone. And I can get a few simple tasks done. And maybe do some work on the two editing projects I have going at the moment. But I’m going to bed at the same time as the boys for the rest of the week. Just to be safe.