Headaches

At one point in my life, I used to have terrible migraines.

For those of you who haven't had them, you may think of a migraine as a rather nasty headache. Which is a bit like saying the way Bush has run the war in Iraq has had a couple of unforeseen snags.

When I first got them as a teenager, we had no idea what they were. I would wake up and part of my vision would simply be gone, and a couple of hours later, it would feel as if the pressure and pain behind my eye was so bad that it would explode out of my head. Any light or sound would cause it to get worse, and I would spend the day in my windowless bedroom, trying hard to sleep through it. As I got older, we discovered what it was, but had no idea what caused it. It got worse (if you can believe it) and would be accompanied with nausea.

They came upon me almost randomly, and I remember through my last year of college and first few years on my own, they would come in clusters of three or four times a month, and then not happen for a couple of months. I was on HEAVY pain meds that I would take when one came on, and while it would lessen the pain, I would still have to be hidden away in a dark room with no sound until it went away. Then, for the next couple of days, I would feel weak, and vaguely sick until the whole feeling passed.

I feared them.

The first sign of the "halo effect" (which is when your vision gets a bit wonky), I would slam pain meds and do everything I could to get home and into bed, because I knew if I didn't, I'd have to suffer the worst pain I had ever felt.

Then, about 1998, I figured out it was mostly a food allergy, and it was brought on by runny cheese. I still miss ricotta and cottage cheese, but I'd give up just about anything never to have another migraine again.

I quit having them soon afterwards, and a year or so later no longer needed the pain meds. Luckily, someone else found a good use for them.

I had the Halo Effect back when I was working a 36 hour shift at the group home (because we didn't have enough staff, and the CEO said I HAD to cover all of the empty shifts), and I freaked out. Thankfully, it was at about 3 AM, and I was able to just sit and let it pass. No pain, just the Halo Effect.

Tonight, the same thing happened.

I didn't panic, but just took a large dose of Tylenol (the dose that used to be my major pain meds, although I didn't have any codeine. And instead of going to the gym, I laid down ont he futon and waited for it to pass. I have a VERY mild headache, with a bit of pressure, but it's nothing like the crippling pain I used to have.

I'm taking it as a reminder that my life used to be MUCH worse, and every day, I'm moving forward a little bit.