Just thinking

Began having a daily headache about a month ago -- when i say daily headache, i mean a debilitating headache, not just a little pain in my head. i'm having trouble thinking, working, slurring my words, etc. i have had headaches all my life, i remember being in junior high (back when they called it that) and having zigzaggy lines in front of my eyes one day in study hall. went home b/c i knew i was getting a headache. and i did. and from then on, i had them pretty much every day, just sometimes worse than others. sometimes i get an aura, apparently -- a smell of an orange or burning rubber. clearly smelling the orange is more pleasant. but i do not always get an aura. in fact, most of the time i don't. unless i'm just not paying attention. lately, i'm paying a lot more attention. sorry, i'm sort of stream of consciousness right now.

i usually just self-treat with advil, excedrin, or vicodin. about 3 times a year, i get a headache that's bad enough that i wake up with it and drag myself to the urgent care clinic to get a shot of phenergan and toradol or some other pain killer, then i sleep it off. i'm usually sore the next day. which is why i always thought that what i had was tension headaches. and that's what i had always been told. my neck is just as tight as can be.

but with the month-long headache this past month, i finally went to a headache specialist last friday. and even tho i only get the smell some of the time, and am sensitive to light and sick to my stomach only some of the time, they diagnosed me with migraine. i was very surprised and asked for an explanation, and the doc said it's classic. do you agree? i don't know. we'll see. what i have going on after researching online is probably migraine that has transformed into a constant daily headache, one that's rebound from the meds. i've been self-medicating with vicodin, fioricet, muscle relaxers, pretty much anything i can get my hands on to make the pain go away.

so doc said no more meds! he gave me baclofen, a muscle relaxer to help me get thru the worst of it right now, and i'm starting topamax to try to prevent these. last night i was really sick to my stomach and layed on the floor in the bathroom -- it was dark and quiet and cool. finally the nausea passed. what's interesting is that for the past 4 days, not only have i had the headache, but i've also had a LOT of pain in my arms and back. could be from the muscles tensing up? do you tense up when you get a migraine? i guess.

i'm going back in 2 weeks for trigger point injections in my neck. doc said about 20. i'm actually looking forward to that, hoping the tension in my head and neck will go away. at this point, i'll try just about anything.

i also got a wake-up call at the doctor. i was told that i MUST lose 120 pounds (yeah, i knew i was overweight, but no one has every layed it on the line for me like this before) or i WILL have a stroke. he went on to explain that i'm at such a high risk with the migraines, the high blood pressure, the overweight, and something else that i can't remember right now. so he's referred me to a nutritionist to help out. i WILL do this. i CAN do this. i don't want to die at 37.