Today I woke up migraine-free and it was wonderful! Early morning migraines are rough because if I wake up with the headache it already has a hold on me. Each morning for the past week I dragged myself into the bathroom with my eyes half closed, holding my head to keep it from falling off and at the same time shielding my eyes from the light. I tore open the little packet that hold a tiny little pain pill and downed it with a big swallow of water. Then I dragged myself back into my bed and prayed for the pain to go away. Even though I dealt with the pain, it usually took a good chunk of the morning to feel like myself again. I hate migraines and I have battled them for years. They come in clusters and now that this siege is over, I probably won't see another for at least a couple of weeks. Thank the Good Lord for that!
When I first started getting migraines there weren't any magic little pills that took the agony away. A migraine meant hours of excruciating pain, nausea, and digestive upset. I would lock myself in a dark room and curl into a ball waiting for it to go away. I have tried pulling at big chunks of my hair to ease the pain, hot compresses, cold compresses and as many pills as my body could tolerate, to rid myself of the hammering and pulsing in my head. My eyes would tear, my nose run and I felt like standing up required an act of congress. Then came a new class of drugs that could manage my pain. If I caught my migraine in the first thirty minutes, I could feel better within an hour. I grew to both love and respect those drugs. They saved me from the migraine torture I had experienced for well more than a decade.
There have been times (but no more) when I have been caught without my prescription meds. Once I was on a trip to Iowa to do a presentation. Flying was just beginning to be identified as a guaranteed migraine and I got off my flight with a whopper and no pills. I took over-the-counter pain relievers (before the days of over-the-counter migraine meds) and they did nothing. I did my three hour presentation, giving assignments and breaks so I could go into the bathroom to vomit. Friends from Nebraska rescued me after my workshop and took me back to their hotel. Six hours later they put me on a plane to go back to New Jersey. I barely made it. I look back at some of my migraine dramas and wonder how I flew, drove or walked feeling the way I did, let alone take care of my kids, teach or do a meeting. Now I take better care of myself. If I feel a migraine coming on I immediately take my meds and by doctor's orders add an over-the counter med on top of that. It usually stops my headache and I can continue my day. Feeling that I have at least some control over this pain is no small thing.
This post reminds me of a frantic phone call I got from a friend. She was hosting a pianist that was scheduled to perform that night. This poor woman had a raging migraine and had forgotten to pack her imitrex. There was no way she would be able to perform unless she got this under control. Would I possibly be able to spare an imitrex for her? I know that this is not a good idea to share meds but the friend that called was also my doc's nurse so she knew my medical history. She couldn't reach her boss, the doc to get the imitrex. Also, this is not a controlled substance. I was just helping out a fellow victim. I hope that if the same thing happened to me, someone would give me one of their tablets.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your story. Those migraine meds are worth their weight in gold. I think you did the right thing. My sister and I have shared meds in an emergency. Sometimes you just gotta do what ya gotta do!
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