So I've always had headaches. From the time I was in 4th grade to after I graduated high school, I had a headache. That's not that I only had one headache in all that time, it was that that one headache lasted 10+ years. I sort of got used to it, so that "having a headache" came to mean that it got bad enough that I actually wanted to take something for it. The rest of the time, I just learned to deal.
After high school, I had some chiropractic help and the headaches actually went away for the majority of the time. I still got them frequently, but it was no longer constant. Also, about 2 years ago, I began to see "migraine fuzz" (those of you who have migraines know that starting to see this stuff is *bad news* and means a whopper is coming on) in my periferal vision. However, I never got the headache. That would seem great, but the downside was that the fuzz never went away. I didn't see it as much in certain circumstances, such as rooms with colored walls, or where there was darker space to my sides. But for the most part, I could see it. I had an MRI, and nothing was found that could be causing the fuzz. So again, I got used to it. It was always there; I just tuned it out.
Lately, I've only had one a week or so. (Interestingly, while I was pregnant, both my headaches and motion sickness were nonexistant) However, a few months ago, I had a whopper of a migraine, with the fuzzy spots in the front of my vision and all.
Then, this past Monday, during Step class at Gold's Gym, a headache hit me all of a sudden like a freight train. And it stayed, Monday afternoon, Tuesday, Wednesday...and finally when I woke up on Thursday and it was so bad I felt like beating my head on the wall, just so the pain would change, I made a doctor's appointment.
There's this genetic aversion to doctors in my family; at least, the women in my family. We bully our loved ones into going to the doctor all the time, but when it comes to *us*, well, we hem, we haw, we procrastinate, and we wait until it's so bad we can't stand it to go. So I went. And the doctor stared at me and said "you have headaches HOW often, and you haven't been treated before?!!" So she gave me Maxalt. It's the medication you're supposed to take at the first sign of a migraine to prevent it from forming. Since I'd had the headache for 4 days, there was not a great chance it was going to work, but 30 minutes later...HALELUJAH, it started to work! Woohoo! 2 hours later, I still had a slight headache, so I took the other dose, and wonder of wonders, it worked.
I feel good. I feel *really* good, despite the fact that I woke up at 1 and 3 am this morning with a raging sore throat. I am sort of shocked at how good I feel. Score one more for modern medicine. Who knew getting on the right treatment could help so much? Amazing, I know.
The doctor also prescribed Imipramine, which used to be used as an antidepressant, but is now used as a medication to promote healthy sleep and to prevent migraines. However, I will be starting that tonight since today I need to be alert for my Biology exam today. I'll do my "trial run" on it over the weekend to see how it affects me.
So speaking of Biology, if I want to keep my 98% in this class, I need to go study. I'm not doing as well in 202 as I did in 201. (got a 99.7% in that class) I'm off to study Kingdom Animalia, memorize a fluke and a roundworm life cycle, and to try to absorb the last 2 class lectures on nerves and muscles. Wish me luck!
