I remember it was years ago when I finally learned that the headaches I get are migranes. My immpression of migranes were that they were very serious and that women who got them couldn't do anything while they had them. (My headaches vary, but usually they are just bad enough to annoy me; I can still do stuff if I have to.) Then I saw or heard some program about headaches and saw the symptom list for migranes. My headaches are generally on one side only, I am sensitive to both light and noise when I'm having them, and sometimes I get nausea. Then doctor on the program mentioned the one symptom that generally decided it for her... she'd ask the patient if they would ever consider exercising while they had one of their headaches, and if they looked at her like she was a crazy person for even suggesting it, then she knew the headaches were migranes.
This morning I was feeling better. Foolishly thinking that my second dose of Advil Migrane forumla last night had finally killed the beast I decided to head for the gym for the first time in a week to get some much-needed cardio in. This was a bad plan. Nothing will make one of these headaches worse like getting your heart rate up will. A simple short jog will boost a headache that was a tolerable 2 or 3 on the pain scale all the way up to 11, the point at which you feel exactly like someone is driving a nail through your temple. Or in this case, there is nothing like a little treadmill time to make a headache so light that I failed to notice it and turn it into something that will ruin my day. Sigh.
I've tried everything I can think of to be rid of this thing: tylenol, advil, special migrane advil, more water, more caffine, less caffine, earlier bedtime, less time in front of the computer, less warcraft and more salt. Even the lovely headache massages that
psychohist gives me only make things better temporarily. At this point I'm sure that some of you are thinking the headache must be caused by stress, and I should just relax. Well, that's brilliant, but how exactly does one just relax? Its like telling someone not to think about elephants. I'm sure the headache does have something to do with stress, but I don't 'just relax'. In fact, I don't believe it can be done, though maybe if I got to hit the next person who suggested that I should 'just relax' and I would get pregnant I would find that relaxing. In the mean time I need to think of somethime more practical to try. 