Well, it looks like the migraines are connected to my menstrual cycle.
Mad props to Mom for figuring this out first -- I tend not to pay attention to these things. But last time it came on the tail end of my cycle, like an evil Superman riding the backlash of Haley's Comet, and that was just a few weeks ago. Now I've finished up another monthly and "it's baaaaaack!"
Like it's not painful and inconvenient enough having the red visitor anyway. (One of my college friends, obviously a guy, once said, "I don't get why you girls always complain about cramps. You'd think if it happens once a month you'd get used to it." I looked at him and said, "Hey idiot. If you slam your hand in a door once a month, it still hurts.") I call it The Silent Curse. The one God put between the lines in Chapter 3 of Genesis. The unspoken one. "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing [and everything connected with fertility]..."
And the thing about migraines is that any kind of change in body chemistry -- ANY -- can trigger one. Chronic migraine sufferers have to be careful about their diets, their sleep schedules, their emotional states. Getting up an hour earlier can mean a few days of lying in a darkened room (makes Daylight Savings Time a bitch). Late night out drinking? Dumb. Skipping meds? Stupid. Getting ridiculously stressed out? Beware.
Unfortunately there's not much a girl can do about being a twenty-something fertile woman, and Here Come the Headaches. But thankfully, due to modern medicine, there are ways to get around even that. Looks like I'm going back on The Pill. I don't want to. I prefer the Natural State. And I really don't want to mess with the hormones and scale it back to only three or four cycles a year. But if it staves off a monthly migraine, I'll take it.
I put in a call to the doc's office this morning, and I'm waiting for a callback.
Le sigh. It would be nice if I knew what started all this. I've always been a headachey kind of person, but it was never anything that a couple of Ibuprofen wouldn't handle. Now I'm on so many meds I have trouble remembering to take them all, and none of that started until December. But hey; it happens, and you roll with it. I have a fabulous doctor and great insurance, and very understanding bosses who love me to pieces, so I'm well taken care of. And maybe one day the migraines will be gone for good. In the meantime, God is faithful, and I'll keep on keeping on. Even if I have to wear sunglasses indoors for a few days.
5 comments:
was it Joshua who said that? It sounds like something he would say. hehehe.
My mom and sister get migraines with their periods. My mom said hers didn't start until she was about 26...so, wouldn't you know, I've had one or two this past year. I hope it doesn't become a regular thing.
Hahahaha, it was actually our dear Brandon, whose wedding you just attended! Joshua never said anything quite that insensitive, at least not without that sly "watch me get your goat" grin on his face. ;) Brandon was actually in earnest.
Oh dear, I hope you don't start getting them regularly. It SUCKS, as you know. The hardest thing about adapting to having them is learning to call the doctor right away. My tendency is to think, "I'll just power through it, and it'll go away eventually." So by the time Day Five rolls around I'm dizzy and having trouble breathing. I keep thinking, "Maybe it's just a headache"; but it's never just a headache -- not anymore.
But my doctor is a migraine sufferer himself (poor guy), so he knows everything about them and how to treat them.
Here's hoping you stay migraine free!
My sister has the same problem with her period. She gets migraines from stress too -- often on Sunday evenings when she's dreading a busy week at work. I hope you're able to find a workable solution.
I've been getting terrible headaches lately, but they don't feel like I would expect migraines to feel like, after learning about types of headaches (yay med school) -- but I had a tensiony headache so bad recently, I thought my head would explode. Hmmm.... maybe I should get that checked out. :)
Hahahaha, yes, Miss Medical Profession, that might be worth looking into. ;)
I wouldn't stress about wondering why you're getting migraines now and not before. Most people don't develop migraines until they're in their twenties, anyway.
Also, I heard that reducing your periods to only a few (or even one) a year isn't all that bad for you body. Considering that in a "natural state" the female body would be pregnant for 9 months of the year, have a baby, maybe take a month or two off, and then plug out another baby.
But I'm hardly an expert. Just some guy who reads MSNBC.
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