Dealing With Headaches

Hello, Gentle Readers. My apologies for the absence of the last two weeks. This was due to the technical problems on the part of 451 Press, the network this blog is on. Having blogs go up and down like yo-yos is part of the nature of the beast we call Blogging For Pay. So, if you were thinking that perhaps a new blogger was needed for Dealing With Headache, forget it.

Dealing with Downed Web Sites

I’ve had quite a lot of physical and metaphorical headaches trying to get things worked out. In case you ever get into a situation where you feel your server/network/web whatever has abandoned you, here are a few tips:

• Email the advertising department of the site, network or ISP. It doesn’t matter if you have a tech problem, just bring it to the attention of advertising and magically your email will be forwarded to the correct pair of eyeballs.
• Be a bitch, no matter what your gender. Although it’s no fun being a bitch, sometimes it’s the only way to get things done.
• Give yourself a certain time frame to freak about your dead website and then THAT’S IT. Fifteen minutes is generally good enough. It’s not the sky falling in huge bloody chunks, here — it’s just a website (even if it does mean that your income will drop substantiably for a while). Stress is good only up to a point, and then it becomes really unhealthy. Also, the stress can make you prone to shopping online and watching celebrity gossip television shows.
• Keep taking the medicine.
• Complain, complian, complain (self explanatory).
• Eat ice cream. Okay, that’s not the most practical of advice and it won’t get your website back up, but it works for me and makes you feel as if you are doing domething productive. Just dont eat it fast enough to get ice cream headache.

How’s the Head, Rena?

My head hasn’t been that brilliant, but I have just started taking yet another high blood pressure medication called verapamil, which I affectionately call velociraptor (hense the image at the top). More on verapamil in a future blog post — especially when I have a good idea of what it does to me. Right now, your bet is as good as mine.

Also, I have to burn the midnight oil in trying to write enough blog posts in order to make my monthly quota. This will be a good time for any fans of this blog … whoever you may be. Let’s see how many spelling errors slips by me in my blog this week! I would offer a prize for the person who finds the most spelling errors for this week, but then again, I’m not that great with spelling to begin with, so I probably wouldn’t know how to judge.

Onwards! And, since this is a blog, upwards!

One of the things migraineurs live in constant fear of is having a migraine strike at the most awkward times in our lives. Like at our wedding.

This has just happened to Kim and James Fisher of Arizona. The day before the wedding (gee, no stress for Kim on that day, eh?) a migraine came calling. It was so severe that she had to go to the hospital.

Determined to get married “no matter what”, the couple changed the wedding plans at the last minute — to get married at the hospital. I wonder if the wedding guests were able to get opiod painkillers as a wedding present for the bride — and groom.

Yet Another Reason Not To Have A Big Wedding

The reports on this event are not clear on a few issues, such as whether this was Kim’s first migraine. If she was riushed to the hospital, then it does suggest that it probably was a first time occassion — which can be incredibly frightening. When I had my first “official” migraine, my doctor wondered if I had an aneurysm. Perhaps Kim’s doctor thought the same thing.

But this leads to a point — migraines are event crashers. You wind up becoming an unreliable friend because of the sudden cancellations you have to do if a migraine should unexpectedly strike.

All is not lost if you stubbornly insist on having a big wedding and know that migraines can come crashing. If you keep a headache journal, you get to learn what your body’s warning signs are that a migraine is on the way. This is usually slightly different for each person, but many warning signs include (but are not limited to):

• Shakiness or dizziness
• Sudden intense irritability for no reason
• Two or three days before your period
• Pressure behind or over your eyes (or eye)
• Auras

There have been cases where migraines have started and then were cured about an hour or so later with medication and a lie down in a dark room. This happened to Denver Bronco’s Terrel Davis in the Super Bowl (who went on to become MVP of the game), so it might happen for you on your wedding day. Arguably, there’s more pressure on you than Davis had for a mere Super Bowl, but the principle applies.

You could also have a Zombie Wedding, where wearing sunglasses, vomiting and covering the wedding venue in black curtains is normal. If you feel like the living dead, you might as well milk it for all it’s worth.

The Associated Press and CNN have reported on the rise in survivalists and Americans learning to farm vegeatbles, slaughter their own chickens and stockpile canned goods. In one sense, this is good planning. The future does look a tad bit bleak, what with skyrocketing food, fuel and health care costs and no corresponding rise in wages. Anyone can be forgiven to thik the days of the Revolution — or at least, a really funky riot with a lot of explosions — are soon to come.

Which got me to thinking — will migrainuers have more migraines or less migraines after Armageddon is over?

I Vote Less

I actually have been a survivalist by necessity and not by choice when I was homeless in England. I wasn’t a proper survivialist — I still used stores whenever I had money and begged what I could when I didn’t — but I still lived in the woods in a home I built myself. I used a converted iron stove to heat the place and also had an outdoor fire pit. So I know a little bit about what I speak.

I truly think that many migrainuers will have LESS migraines after then end of the world as we know it (and I feel fine). (In case you’re wondering why the REM clip is there below, now you do). I think this will happen even with the lack of access to modern medicines (even my beloved Excedrin Migraine).

We’ll feel so much better because of two reasons:

1) We won’t have any choice
2) A lot of the things that stress us out will be gone

Let Me Explain

When we say “we won’t have any choice”, I’m not implying that migraineurs choose to have migraines. 99.9% of the time, we don’t. However, our bodies seem to choose to go into rebellion mode whenever we run into the chipper and shredders of life like paying for health care costs, not getting a raise and having to deal with the evil dark shadow on civilization that is Tom Cruise.

We also might sleep better and get to shoot and eat the 1% of the super rich who thrive off the misery of the rest of us. My head feels better already just from thinking about it.

But until then, viva drugs. Sleep tight, kids.

Gee — guess what you think I’m going to say. Universal health insurance coverage is a big issue in America (where it doesn’t exist) and England (where it’s dying fast). Americans, especailly older generation Baby Boomers, have been conditioned to pay through the nose for health care. They have had it drilled into their heads that you only get what you pay for — so if it’s free, avoid it like the plague (sorry about the cliche and the pun).

And this attitude is killing them fast, as well as their children. There are more than 47 million uninsured Americans and who knows how many underinsured Americans. Underinsaured is actually about as worthless as not having insurance at all. Underinssured could mean that you have to pay a few hundred dollars of your own medical bills before the insurance will begin to cover it. Some means that they will cover emergency trips to the hopsital — but not prescription drugs or routinge office visits. The list of exclusions goes on.

What About Comunism?

I had this argument about universal health care coverage with my Dad (who is of the afore-mentioned generation) and he argued that socialized medicine could lead to Communism. He said that paying doctors more than in other countries encourages America to get the best doctors. They studied hard — they had the right to get paid more than other doctors.

This was before his wife (my stepmother) was dropped from her health insurance company. Now, he sings a slightly different tune.

But, you can see what proponents of universial health care coverage are up against.

What About Long Waiting Lists?

One of the biggest arguments against universal health care coverage is that the countries that have remnants of it (Canada, England) have long waiting lists for operations or to see specialists. This wouldn’t be the case if there were more doctors and dentists in the program. When given the choice of going into lucrative privitization practices or sticking with the NHS, are you really surprised that most English doctors and dentists remove themselves from the NHS progam?

Doctors, hospitals, Big Pharma and medical insurance companies have turned something that can save lives into big business. And, as we know, Big Business is sacred and not to be touched.

We deserve better than this. It’s our lives that are at stake. We don;t pay the police very well and we don’t pay firefighters anything (or next to nothing), and they save lives. Why should the health care business bleed us to death? If you insist on paying them fabulous sums of money, then we need at least a 40% rise in wages, free marijuana or free something to counterbalance these outrageous health care costs.

Perhaps if enough people die (or enough celelbrities, or politicians, which apparently count as more than one person), then maybe something will happen. Until then, we all suffer.

Well, I was especailly prepared for my first doctor appointment in a few years — at nine this morning, while still in bed (hey, I’ve had a hard life), I began a migraine. Sometimes, I’m able to sleep it off. Not this time. I staggered out of the bed, made myself slurp down a Yoplait and popped an Excedrin Migraine. (If you can avoid it, try not to take Excedrin Migraine on an empty stomach. Otherwise, you might not have the Excedrin Migraine in your body long enough to do any good.)

Things had calmed to a dull roar by the time of my appointment at 11:30. I still had to wear sunglasses until the light reduced to a tolerable level. (My senses magnify painfully when I get a migraine. For most people, this is sensitivity to light and sound, but I also can be sensitive to taste. My Mom gets sensitive skin.)

Meeting Dr H (Again)

I used to see Dr H when I was a teenager. Of course, niether Dr. H’s staff nor me thought I was ever going to return to Clifton Heights (ha ha) so my medical records were trashed. Since Dr H sees thousands of patients a month/year/hour/whatever, I was like a brand new patient.

I sat down on the couch thingy with the really big roll of toilet paper over it and got my first good look at Dr. H in 20 years.

And, darn it — he had the indecency to look JUST THE SAME. Me, I’ve got wrinkles, I’m growing hair in strange places, I’ve put on weight — and he looks just the same (except for a couple of streaks of iron grey.) What the heck does Dr. H know that I don’t? Next time, I have to remember to ask him if he’s related to Dick (”Fountain of Youth Face”) Clark. Of course, he probably never spent five years being homeless in another country like I did — but that’s still no excuse.

Anyway, one of the first things he did was realize how uncomfortable I was and sat me in a real chair for adults. We could look at each other eye to eye. That did a lot to help my nerves.

Practical upshot is that I have to fast from 10pm tonight to do massive amounts of bloodwork in the moring. Then we proceed from there. I supposse I should start stuffing my face now to make sure I have enough calories to get through tomorrow morning.

Dr. H also mentioned that he might want me to start a daily abortive medication to prevent migraines instead of just relying on Excedrin Migraine. I gripped the chair arms when he said that. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Money!” I said. (Imitrex, for example, can probably be exchanged for gold nuggets in some cities.)

“You do have a prescription plan with your insurance.”

“Oh — yeah,” I said. I keep forgetting I have insurance now, although the monthly bills are a reminder as sublte as a kick in the groin. After spending so many years uninsured, I just automatically assume if it’s good for me, I can’t afford it.

Have to go now and get in my daily quota of Cheez Its before the 10 pm deadline.

I see Dr. H again in 2 weeks. I wonder if he’ll grow even younger.

Ok, truth be told, I didn’t make the appointment — I chickened out so my Mom made the appointment for me. I have a phobia of doctors that are nearly as bad as my phobia of dentists. If you find you keep putting off making an appointment with a doctor for whatever reason, mention this to someone who cares about you. They may make the appointment for you. My date with destiny is May 8.

What’s Old Is New Again

My Mom made the appointment with my new doctor — who turns out to be the doctor I went to twenty years ago. I remember him being the first person to write a prescription for me ofr a brand new medcine “said to be the bees’ knees” for menstrual cramps. This new wonder drug was called ibuprofen.

(Yes — that’s how old I am, folks.)

Now I’m worried that when I meet my old doctor again that he’s going to look a heck of a lot better than I am. I also wonder if I’ll wind up being the “example case” for every other patient. “My God - eat your vegatables or you’ll wind up like Sherwood!”

I Have Health Insurance Now

The only reason I can complain about my old/new doctor is that I have to shell out $250 per month for health insurance. I’ve had to take on three more clients just to cover the health insurance premiums. I’m working about ten hours a day. I’m beginning to wonder if I was better off among the ranks of America’s 47 million uninsured.

Well, back to work. I have to go write scads of articles about relaxing from stress, hedge clippers and treadmills (not all in the same article, though). I also am still trying to track down one client who seems to have skipped this planet after I delievered my articles. I’m working so hard because it’s good for my health.

Ever get an question in your head that you can’t find the answer to and it starts to drive you crazier than if you had “Achey Breaky Heart” stuck in your head for a week? (Can you tell I’m still taking the mystery generic allergy medicine I taked about yesterday?) Well, as you can probably guess from this post’s title, the question emblazoned on my brain is about the existence or non-extistence of herniated disc migraines (A herniated disc is also known as a “slipped disc” It’s not a lot of fun).

Blame My Client

As a freelance writer, I get a lot of strange topics assigned to me. Mostly what I write is web content, which relies on SEO tricks in order to have it place well in the SERPs (Search Engine Page Ranking). For a long article, I get a list of keywords the client wants me to incorporate “naturally and conversationally” into the article.

Last night, I had an assignment about “Living with a Herniated Disc”. One of the keywords I had to use was “herniated disc migraine”.

Now, open up another window on your browser and enter “herniated disc migraine” into your favorite search engine. I’ll wait.

Welcome Back

There’s nothing there, is there? (Except for some chiropractor ads and questions in health forums). Now, for the client, I treated the herniated disc migraine as a secondary ailment derived from the herniated disc. If you have the stress and pain of a herniated disc, you are bound to get migraines or serious headaches. A doctor would probaly (emphasize probably) treat the migraines seperately from the herniated disc pain. (As always, please don’t use this blog as a substitution for a doctor visit.) However, about 90% of herniated discs do not need surgery in order for the pain to go away. I couldn’t find any information on whether surgery for a herniated disc would also help get rid of migraines (that’s too much to hope for, I guess).

That’s all I could find. Not a lot of help, sorry.

So I’m putting the question out to the blogosphere — is there such thing as a herniated disc migraine?

I bear the scars of many injuries from my years at Kmart, most of them emotional. Most people have nightmares about monsters and gruesome deaths — I have nightmares about Kmart. I also have a physical injury that also didn’t left a scar but quite a lot of pain.

About fiteen or sixteen years ago, I as working two retail jobs in order to make rent and my student loan payments. One of those two jobs was (as you’ve probably guessed) at the Sporting Goods department at the local Kmart. I was exhausted and business was slow. When I could, I slipped upstairs to the stock room for a nap. (We had piles of sleping bags back then.

And idiot me managed strike the back of my head against a steel shelf.

Sometimes months go by in between reminders, but every now and then the pain in the back of my head flares to remind my of my own stupidity — and to never work at a Kmart again, even if it means certain death.

What I Should Have Done

Because I was sleeping on the job (literally), I never reported my injury. (Back in my youth, I wasn’t nearly as good a liar as I am today. “Rena, how’d you manage to strike the back of your head against a steel shelf?” “Um, getting up from my knees thanking God that I was able to get a job at Kmart.” Naaah — I don’t think it would’ve worked, either.)

However, I was young and stupid. If you get your head clonked at work REPORT IT IMMEDIATELY. And then, depending on how bad you feel, get your superivor or human resources person to call an ambulance. In the meantime, treat as a concussion.

Sometimes, it takes time for the symptoms of a head injury to develop. Fortunately for me, my future painful flare-ups in the back of my back could be managed with over the counter medication.

When you do get a minor head injury like a blow to the back of your head with a Kmart steel shelf, let someone you trust know about your injury. At the time, my then boyfriend was able to keep an eye on me. Signs that you don’t just have a minor blow to the head inlude still having the head pains after six weeks, your symptoms get worse a few days later, you have trouble talking or are more easily confused than usual.

Ice bags and cold packs are great ways to help turn down the pain into a dull roar. If over the counter medication isn’t helping, than that’s another sign that’s it’s time to go see a doctor. Don’t self-medicate with alcohol, because that leads to other health care risks. Also, if you get drunk, you could fall and hit your head again. Your employer definately won’t cover that, especially not Kmart.

I haven’t been having a good week, head-wise. I’ve lost track of whether I have had a series of migraines or one long migraine that just has been waxing and waning like the moon. I’m even having migraine pain in my dreams. Sleep used to be a haven for my head pains, but not anymore, I guess.

Nightmares

When I was a little kid, I’d have nightmares about aliens ripping me from limb to limb, being trapped in a driverless car that’s heading for a cliff or being chased by the Wolfman.

Man, I miss those days (or nights, as the case was).

Now I have blood-chilling nightmares about the years I worked at Kmart. Oh my God, they could make Stephen King look like Mother Goose. The nightmares are always set in December, of course, and there are a million customers and I’m the only employee in the entire store.

On top of that, I now dream that I have a migraine when in this retail hell and cannot get out of the store to go home and take care of the pain.

Man, I’m breaking out into goosebumps even now.

Am I the Only One?

I can’t be the only one who dreams they have migraines or chronic headaches, can I?

No, I’m not. Physical pain of many kinds can be experienced in dreams, whether you wake up still having the pain or not. Many times people dream of getting pain and wake up to discover something is indeed physically wrong with them. For example, one time when I was a pre-teen, I dreamt I got shot in the belly and was dying. When I woke up, I discovered I was having the worst gas attack of my life.

There are many anectodal accounts of people dreaming about having a migraine to discover that either they are experienceing a migraine in the waking world — or that they get an attack that day.

If you dream of having a migraine, perhaps that could be a warning of an immenent attack and that you should take preventative medicine (note the emphasis on perhaps). Migraineurs are often thought to have a lot of nightmares, although the nightmares don;t necessarily have to do with migraines.

There was a small study on nightmares as predicting a migraine attack back in 1996. This was published in Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics vol 65, number 4. This only interviews 37 migraineurs, so no earht shattering conclusions could be reached.

Yet another thing to keep track of in your headache journal – do you ususally have nightmares right before a migraine attack? Can’t hurt to keep track of it.

Hope this helps. Sweet dreams.

I recieved word last week that I have been dropped from Medicare, with added overtones that they thought I was trying to pull one over on them. I know I shouldn’t take it personally (the workers are overworked and underpaid), but OWIE.

Big confession time — I make $425 a MONTH as a freelance writer (before taxes). That’s it. (And yes, it’s the best job I can get — if you don’t believe me, just try to get a job in the Philadelphia area when you have only a mere two college degrees and can’t drive). It if wasn’t for the fact that I live with my Mom, I’d be long dead and cremated by now. Mom wants me to go on Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance. It’s $300 a month. My Prozac will be $100 per month (I have to be on Prozac or I become suicidal). Lord only knows what my monthly Excedrin bills are.

That means my entire earnings would have to go to paying for medical stuff. (Oh, excuse me — I’ll still have a whopping $25 per month before taxes to live on.)

In other words — I’m screwed.

At least I’m in good company.

Hello To The Other 47 Million Uninsured Americans

According to the US Census, about 47 million Americans do not have medical insurance of any kind. There is some general quibbling as to how accurate this number is — there may only be 30 million without any health insurance whatsoever while another 17 million have the barest minimum health insurance that still does not adequately get anywhere near meeting their health needs.

Could this be one reason why there are more than 29 million migraineurs in America?

My Propsed Health Plan

If the government is going to kowtow to the outrageous price tags on even basic health care, then they should at least send us free ice cream every week. I’m not even asking for Rocky Road or Moose Tracks — vanilla or Neopolitan will do. Preferably, they should make their own brand of marijuana ice cream and send it to all 47 million of us to keep us in line. Sure, we still get sick and miss days off of work, but who cares? We’ve got marijuana ice cream!!! Not only has the pain been reduced, but we get the munchies taken cared of, too.

This is a much more sensible universal health care plan than anything propsed so far by just about anybody running for President. (As if they would actually do a damn thing about health care no matter who gets elected. Yes, I’m still going to vote, but I have very low expectations from any of the canidates when it comes to affordable health care). Sure, there will still be 47 million of us in agony and poverty, but we won’t care so much.

Off to bang my head against a brick wall so it will feel so much better when I stop.

:: Rant Mode On ::

Right up front, let me say that I’m not for drug addiction of any kind. But it does seem very hypocritical of Those In Charge (whoever they might actually be) to be so blind as to the causes of drug addiction (and I’m including alcohlism with drug addicts, as well). According to a recently released report by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), by 2017, one out every five dollars spent in America will be on health care.

And Those In Charge wonder why there is a rise in drug addiction. Could it be because getting street drugs or alcohol is a hell of a lot cheaper than going to the doctor? Naaaahhh, couldn’t be. Must be those terrorists and left-wingers, eh?

Why Are We Not Rioting In The Streets?

Well, we aren’t rioting in the streets because of this insanity because we are too tired, in too much pain and are mainly too drugged up to do much of anything constructive. Believe me, you don’t want to ever try to organize a Million Migraineur March. You’ll be lucky if a baker’s dozen show up in dark sunglasses vomiting into buckets. Well, that definately would make somebody in Washington scared.

And yes, there are people who become drug addicts in an attempt to medicate chronic pain conditions such as migraines and severe chronic headaches. That’s kind of why I’m banging on about this. When you get into such chronic pain and discover that you cannot afford to go get treatment, you can wind up feeling so helpless that drug addiction sounds like a good deal.

Here’s a Thought

Hey, if we could lower the cost of stuff — mainly health care — do you think that might be a good incentive for people not to turn to illegal (and legal) drugs in the first place?

For example, there’s program for homeless alcoholics in Seattle that has decided to give housing first and THEN give rehabilitation. The effects have been that alcoholics drink a lot less — and has saved the city some two to three million dollars.

Health care is a basic need, just like housing and food. We should be able to get it legally through doctors instead of having no choice BUT to turn to addiction as a way to kill the pain.

:: Rant mode off ::

Yesterday’s post gave us a basic look at the two types of hemiplegic migraines (migraines with partial bodily paralysis, usually only on one side of the body). The cause of call migraines are mostly mysterious, but it is thought that genetics play a big part in hemiplegic migraines. A link from one of our readers touches on a theory that familiar hemiplegic migraines might be linked to cortisiol spredaing depression.

Obviously, something is going on in the brain that is darn uncomfortable. Since the brain doesn’t feel pain, the pain just merrily travels along the rest of the body in order to express itself.

No matter what causes hemiplegic migraines, the big question is — is it treatable?

Yes

Although it may take a little while to diagnose. The symptoms look and feel a lot like a stroke or epliepsy, so you will most likely be tested for those conditions before hemiplegic migraine. If other members in your family have hemiplegic migraine, then your doctor really needs to know this. This could be familial hemiplegic migraine.

The other kind — sporatic hemiplegic migraine — is a little more difficult to diagnose, but there is treatment for when it is finally diagnosed. Odds are, your regular doctor will have to send you to a specialist like a neurologist who will be able to help you better and quicker.

Both kinds tend to be treated with preventative medicines. These medicines are called abortive medicines, but don’t let the name get your worried — it has nothing to do with abortions. It just means stopping a migraine before it starts. These families of abortive medicines are called triptans and ergotomines. You might have to have regular heart tests to be sure that you’re not getting a bad reaction to the medicine.

There are also some pain medications which can help once the pain hits — however, if you are already taking the abortive medicines, then your choice of pain relief is more limited. Best go over your options with your doctor or specialist to be sure there won’t be any medicines that react badly to your preventatives.

Other preventatives getting some buzz are called a calcium channel blockers. The most recognizeable drug of calcium channel blockers is verapamil. There are a lot of precaustions with verapamil, so it’s not a drug your specialist will lightly let you take.

There is also a possiblilty that your neurologist or migraine specialist will put you on a combination of drugs, not just one or the other. Depending on yor circumstances, you may also be put on an anti-depressant, whether or not you are diagnosed with depression.

There Is Hope

Although I do not have hemiplegic migraines (knock on wood), from my research, it sounds like a pain that comes and goes, rather than a continuous pain. So, there are rest spells in between attacks. (Please feel free to reprimand me if I’m wrong!) The knowledge that my migraine attacks do have ending points does help me from aggravating the pain I’m currenly in. I survived one attack — I can survive another.

Fear and stress certainly can aggravate any migraine attack. Staying as calm as you can, with deep breathing, meditation, trying to think happy thoughts, mild massage — if it helps your body to relax, go for it. I find the sounds of my goldfish tank very relaxing, as well as the smell of peppermint. If you want to take herbs to help you relax, please discuss it with your doctor first to be sure the herbs won’t react badly with your vital prescription medicines. Relaxing your body and not panicing can help you float through a migraine attack rather than be dragged under with panic.

That being said, if you ever get a migraine that results in you being uncoordinalted or partialy paralysed, please call an ambulance or have somebody drive you to an emergency room, just on the off chance that you might be having stroke or an epliepsy attack.

These two posts only scratches the surface of a very complicated and rare form of migraines. Still, I hope it helps.

Have you ever thought this when you get a migraine or another kind of headache? “I have a headache — it’s bad — I must have done something bad in order to deserve this headache.” Well, you are not alone. It’s very common for people to associate any kind of chronic pain with some sort of fault in their own characters. This fear that we are somehow deficient or bad can keep many people from seeking help for their headaches.

Myth: The Migraine Personality

Stewart Tepper, MD, associate clinical professer of neurology at Yale University of Medicine, talks in the latest issue of Better Health & Living about the myth that only wimps or the morally defcient get migraines:

>”The idea that there’s a “migraine personality”-that people who get them are worriers or have some kind of mental or physical weakness — is a myth. Migraines don’t hit just one type of person. And they are truly debilitating: The World Health Organization counts them among the 12 most disabling illnesses for women.”

So, there you have it. Although headaches and migraines might drive a person crazy and make them not too much fun to be around, having head pains does not mean you are mentally ill or somehow a wimp. Yes, technically I have a mental illness (endogenous recurring depression) and am “haedache prone”, but don’t let me scare you from seeking proper medical attention for your chronic head pains.

It’s Not Your Fault

The vast majority of chronic head pains are not from the results of anything done by the patient (or anything not done by the patient). They can happen because of the weather, because of your genes or even from glare of a light making a bright spot on your computer. They also can be signs of other medical conditions that need attention.

Now, if you picked a fight with a gorilla by insulting his mother, and the gorilla punches you in the head, giving you a headache, then in that case you DID do something to deserve that headache. But those cases are usually rare.

Lots of times, you get headaches and migraines for no other reason than life is not fair. That doesn’t mean you have to suffer.

You Have Powers

Although your head may be the cause of a lot of your pain, your head can also be the source of managing the pain. There are many things you can do to help yourself. You also should pair these suggestions with a visit to your doctor.

• Keep a headache journal. Let your doctor read it. This can greatly help identify the triggers for your pain.
• Get regular sleep of about seven hours a night. Lack of sleep can aggravate any pain. Who knows — lack of sleep could be the major trigger for your pain.
• Get regular exercise, which also helps you get regular sleep.
• Learn how to better manage stress, such as with meditation, aromatherapy or massage.
• Cut back on caffeine in both your beverages and your painkillers.
• Learn all you can about headaches, migraines and alternative therapies to help you help yourself.

Remember what the third Dr. Who said: “Where there’s life, there’s hope.”

Last time I mentioned dentalwork headaches, I also mentioned that I had about two weeks before my dreaded dental appointment.

Didn’t work out that way.

A few hours after that post, the pain came back so bad, I thought my face was having labor contractions. And, that being Thursday, I of course could not get an appointment to see the dentist until Monday. His office put me on antibiotics and acetominophen for the pain.

And so I only had the weekend to stew. The tension of wondering how much it would hurt and how much it would cost gave me a dentalwork headache.

Today’s Dental Trip

My goodness — I made it to the dentist’s chair and back still alive. Turns out the labor contractions in my face was an abscess. So, I had my first (and hopefully last) root canal. And you know what? It wasn’t as bad as my family told me it would be. Yes, it was bad, but I’ve had worse.

I took Excedrin before the dentist appointment, to help counteract the splitting headache I usually get after my skull has vibrated a while because of the drill…and because of the panic I put myself through. Constant fear can greatly magnify any pain, including headaches…and toothaches.

In oder to deal with the panic and dentalwork headache (which is really a tension headache with the word “dentist” as a trigger), I did a few things:

• My Mom drove me there and back. That was one less thing to worry about.
• This time, I actually turned around to look at all of the instruments laid out on my dentist’s tray. Usually, I just scrunch my eyes shut and grip the armrests throught the entire visit. Being able to see the small size of the hooks, scrapers and the needle helped, oddly enough. I guess these torture chamber instruments didn’t quite live up to my imagination.
• I periodically made myself breathe deeply. This helped to relax some bodily tension, which contributes to headaches.

Dentalwork headaches are a symptom of dental phobia. In order to help ease the dentalwork headache, I had to work on my dental phobia. And now I’ve faced the fire-breathing dragon called Going To The Dentist and he didn’t even singe my eyebrows.

Until I got the bill, anyway. Ouch! Still, it was cheaper paying for work now than if I delayed until the whole tooth decayed (not just the nerve) and needed a crown (which averages about $1500 where I live).

Hope this helps others who get dentalwork headaches because of dental phobia.

Now, chances are the thought of mixing Prozac and Percoset for migraine pain has never crossed your mind. First off, you need a perscription for both. Secondly, neither Prozac nor Percoset has been made to treat migraine pain. Prozac is the medicine of the Gods, in my opinion. I have had terrible depression all of this life and probably in my past lives, too , and if it wasn’t for Prozac I’d probably be in the loony bin, jail or the morgue by now. Percoset is for severe pain, such as for those with spinal arthritis.

Secondly, mixing perscription medicines is just plain BAD. It could kill you. It can even do WORSE things to you than kill you. I mean, looked what happened to Tammy Faye Bakker. Not only has that scared me off most perscription medications, but off of mascara and Protestantism, as well. So, normally, I would never seriously think of mixing Prozac and Percoset.

However, life’s circumstances never seem to fit into predictable categories. And even the risk of winding up like Tammy Faye Bakker can pale in comparison to migraine pain.

Yes, I Was Tempted

I had a really bad migraine today and no way to get out of the freelance writing assignments that were due. So, I had to just bite the bullet and go to work. I’m not entirely sure why I got this particular mnigraine, since I have had them long enough to try and avoid my triggers (caffeine withdrawal, 48 hours to my period, lack of sleep…or, forgetting to take my Prozac. However, I had taken my Prozac today).

Now, my Mom has a bottle of Percoset (legally. She had spinal surgery last year and is still recovering). Since I live with my Mom (ALL HAIL SAINT MOM) and have to pick up her perscriptions, I couldn’t help but notice that she’s on Percoset.

Percoset…the pain killer…what one comedian once described as, “doesn’t get you high, but makes the furniture really comfortable.”

And I was in pain.

And I knew where the Persoset was.

And Mom was having a good day and was out of the house visiting friends.

While I was in pain.

And Mom is getting to that age where she can’t remember how many pills she has left in a bottle.

While I was having blinding migraine pain.

Ooohhh, yeah — I was tempted.

What Did You Do, Rena?

I wound up resisting mixing Prozac and Percoset. Sorry if that disappoints all of you who wanted to read about my brain going loop-de-loop while this mixture coursed through my bloodstream. But I resisted.

How? Partially by complaining to myself, partially by taking an Excedrin, partially by deciding to take an hour out to rest, no matter how behind I was with work, and partially by being absolutley terrified of being haunted by Tammy Faye Bakker.

So, when the pain eased off a bit, I got back to work and decided to share this bit of personal insight with you about not mixing Prozac and Percoset. Sometimes it does help to write things down in order to distract you from chronic pain. But mostly, it helps to know what you are most afraid of. In my case, Tammy Faye Bakker is far more frightening than migraine pain.