daylight savings time and the dentist

The past two weeks have been particularly bad, head-wise. My pain has been above a 5 almost every day, and the vertigo and nausea have returned with a vengeance. For the most part, I haven't been able to pin down any real reason or pattern to it.

That is, except for the first three days of this week. I can now add a new trigger to my list: the dentist.

Okay, that isn't entirely fair. It's not really *the dentist* that triggers me. It's a combination of triggers that do me in: fluorescent lighting, high-pitched dental instruments in my mouth, and even just keeping my mouth open that long. I had my 6-month cleaning first thing on Monday morning, and while I got the good news that I don't need to go back until my next cleaning in September, by the time I left I could feel the beastie stretching his claws and getting ready to throw a party, above and beyond his daily beastly activities.

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday all followed a similar pattern: I felt passable in the morning, so I went to work; felt less well around lunchtime when my pain became bilateral (usually a sign of my severe migraines); and felt like absolute road kill by the time I went home for the day. This migraine brought a long list of seemingly all of my usual symptoms: nausea, vertigo, upset stomach, chills, photophobia, phonophobia, sensitive skin, and of course the severe pain.

I will be seeing my headache specialist for a follow-up appointment in just under two weeks. I have a long list of questions and concerns I plan to discuss with her. In particular, I am really not happy with the level of daily pain I'm currently dealing with, and want to find some better options to get me out of this pain cycle. She initially wanted to try me on Botox, which I was willing to do. Unfortunately, my insurance denied it. I'm in the process of appealing it but it may take some time. And meanwhile, I'm stuck with the daily pain. And the longer it's there, the harder it will be to get rid of.

So for now I'm just trying to cope the best I can. This has been a tough week for me, between the awful migraine, super busy work and trying to adjust from daylight savings time. (Am I the only one who has such trouble adjusting to the time change?) I'm ready to just get through tomorrow and put the worst of this week behind me.