It's All in Your Head, Dear

I hate taking sick days from work. It's boring to sit at home with nothing to do and feeling miserable. I don't want to be at work feeling ick, or sick for that matter so it's a no-win situation. Yesterday, on a Friday, I had to take a sick day because of a migraine. Today I'm dealing with some of the residual pain.

Migraine days are write-off days. Those are the days you lay in bed and wait for the day to end, here's how it all started.

I started getting migraines during my last year of university. It was horrible, they came out of nowhere and my first episode lasted on and off for roughly 2 weeks, mostly on. I didn't know what the heck was happening, just that XS acetaminophen wasn't working. My head throbbed, I was dizzy and nauseated, couldn't see clearly, nor do my readings because the words were literally floating around the pages. I had to drop out of a really interesting anatomy class because the microscope work was a crazy kaleidoscope of searing torture. I laid in my bed in the dark not sleeping, not eating, not moving. My mom went out and bought a case of those liquid meal replacements. She cracked open a can, stuck a straw in it and connected it to my mouth. Even though I had no appetite I knew I had to eat something and because it didn't require chewing (moving my head), I could handle the stuff.

I was finally granted an appointment with my doctor who prescribed some super drugs. They were just heavenly! The headaches went away, although the remnant migraine stayed. For several months afterwards my head felt really delicate, like it was made of glass. I couldn't move too fast, do anything strenuous, sit comfortably in Mr. Stinky's standard-transmission car or listen to music at a normal volume. Everything hurt my head and I felt any moment it would fall to pieces.

All that pain eventually went away and I celebrated the conquering of this head beast. Not so fast, my pretties. I was soon to be visited by the migraine fairy every month, on the first day of my period, it was a double whammy! On my doctor's orders I tried every kind of XS OTC pain relief and nothing worked. During this period we were living in a one-bedroom apartment. I barricaded myself in the bedroom during my episodes because I couldn't stand the smell of food, even if Mr. Stinky had cooked and eaten hours before I got home. My doctor finally prescribed me another kind of migraine drugs. Peace prevailed again.

Sometimes even those pills don't do the trick. When the little blue and yellows fail me, I turn to my super duper horse pills! They are just magical... of course they also leave me high as a kite and I'm not all that productive at work either but at least I'm mostly pain free. Ask my friends about it, I've fallen out of my chair at work and somehow managed to keep the bagel in my hand off the floor.

I don't get them quite as often or as regular as I used to which is a good thing because migraines are horrible to live with. I take my little bottles of magic wherever I go, I don't want to be caught without my safety nets.