Migraine - keeping track

I have been getting more migraines, in the last several months. So I think it prudent to at least try to keep a record of them. If I can at least make a note each time I have one, the next time I'm asked about frequency, I'll have something better to say than; 'I can't say for sure.'

Anyway, I woke up today with the start of a migraine. Before taking my usual migraine cocktail  (1 Naproxen and 1 Midol), I tried manually adjusting my neck. It helped a little, but not enough. And after just a few minutes, it started getting worse again. It's accompanied by the usual light and sound sensitivity. So I went ahead and medicated.

As for possible triggers, I can't imagine much that I did, could have been exposed to, ate or drank that could be responsible.  I am chronically sleep-deprived, as well as possibly a bit dehydrated, in spite of my best. And there's always the chance that my next-door-neighbor's efforts to work on other people's vehicles in his driveway may have exposed me to some chemicals I'm not aware of. I eat and drink much of the same things, every day.  And that consists almost entirely of real food, as "clean" as possible, that I cook for myself.

I'm a big label reader. Even on my minuscule budget, I go out of my way to buy food and other products without risky additives. And I do my best to keep up with the hazardous additives/chemicals, that may effect my environment or get into my food. Having already had cancer, I'm extremely keen to prevent a recurrence! And I think it reasonable to expect that my precautions, to that end, should reduce my migraine risk as well.

For the record, this small update has taken me close to 2 hours, most of it needing to be typed (my tablet no longer seems capable of efficient speech to text). This is part of why I post so rarely. It is also why I have difficulty keeping up with any food journal attempts.

What I'm Thankful For Today

 Mostly it's the people that I love and that love me, that I'm the most grateful for;

• My "Bonus-Mom", who continues to make my life possible, in spite of the hardship it causes to her own.
• My dear sister and her family who, besides occasionally providing much needed food for my precious fur baby when I can't, are among the most special people in my life.
• My precious fur baby, who keeps me as centered and sane as anyone can, and without whom I could not bear to continue.
• My "boyfriends", who are there for me in a myriad of ways, in spite of my own shortcomings.
• More other family and friends than I can easily count, let alone have the 'hands' left to praise nearly as highly as they deserve.
• My home and what possessions I still have.
• My own highly developed ability to "make do" with what I have. I've been doing it for more years than I care to count.
  
• And in spite of the recently imposed restrictions, my Food Stamps and Disability benefits, without which I could not even feed myself.
• Medicaid, without which it's extremely likely that I'd be dead already or dying a slow and horrible death.

I'm sure there is more that I'm grateful for but this covers the vast majority.

Make no mistake, there is much that I wish for, to make my life better and possibly even allow me to make a small living for myself. However that is another post entirely.

I will say that the greatest thing I wish for is to live a small and relatively simple life, with enough money to support myself and my fur baby for the rest of our shared life. I'd prefer to stop being dependent on those who love me most. I've found it to be contrary to my own good self-image and mental health.

Never Ask "How Much Worse Can Things Get?" ...

 ... or "What Else Could Happen?" or anything like that.

About a weak ago, I started my day with a niggling migraine. And this was a weird one. It started inside my right eye socket and felt like that location was being "stabbed" with a narrow blunt instrument. Still, as usual, I tried various methods to reduce the effect. Eventually I wound up giving in and taking my full migraine cocktail (1 naproxen, 1 Midol and 7.5mg BuSpar). Most of my migraines are eliminated by this "cocktail", in one shot.

Unfortunately, though my pain abated for a while, I was forced to take the same as often as each could be taken safely (naproxen is a 1 per 12 hour pain reliever). I managed to get some sleep and had high hopes of waking migraine free. You may be familiar with the adage; "wish in one hand and c--p in the other and see which fills up first. Well the same goes for hoping, more often than we want to admit.

And if that's not bad enough, while still dealing with the migraine, only minutes before heading to bed, I realized that my home heat had stopped working. So I went downstairs and did everything I could think of. My efforts concluded with my HVAC off at the thermostat as well as at the connected breaker (to ensure no additional damage to the unit).

So I cranked up the electric heater, in my bedroom, put on an extra blanket and went to bed hoping for the best.

I awoke the next day in pretty much the same condition, having shivered my way through the night. Same procedures (omitting the hopeful attempts to stave off taking med's) and same outcome. I had little hope left in me, as I bunked down in my office that night, as my bedroom windows would work better as sieves. The ones in my office at least keep heat/ac in. And I have another heater in my office. So, uncomfortable as it was, I managed a few hours sleep.

To my amazement I woke with only a little migraine "residue", even though I was quite tired still. So I went about the extremely tedious and taxing procedure of getting the heat fixed. For me that has the added complexity of needing to ask for help. I haven't nearly enough money to even begin to cover those sort of costs.

So anyway, two more uncomfortable nights later, my heat got fixed. And I'm still doing my very best to keep utility costs to a minimum, per normal.

Under the heading of "Insult to Injury", somewhere in all that, I had to do my SNAP interview for the year. While it was technically "successful", my monthly amount got shredded. I was "... getting the Max ... of $280 a month", before I had to report that I finally got my Disability, even though my total was well below the poverty line. Now I only get $109 a month.

* What finally prompted me to make this post is that, only about two days later, I just spent another whole day dealing with yet another migraine. So I've spent the last 12+ hours medicating and drinking a LOT of warm or hot tea, in an attempt to keep my pain to a minimum. Being cold is one of my worst enemies, when I have a migraine.

I'm so very tired of feeling like the ball, in an exciting soccer game. ... My own physiology. ... Cancer! ... "The System." ... and so on.  So may things kicking me when I'm already down and making my head spin.

All I really want is to live a quiet, reasonably comfortable life, in better health and less pain. Obviously that takes money. More than I can get through The System. That is unless there's a lot I don't know. At this point, I'd be happy to take such information as tips or a sign of appreciation. Alternately, donations are welcome at the following link:

Thank LilMischif