seeking joy in a life with chronic migraine, chronic daily headache and chronic illness
Along with the Seattle sunshine, I’m rejoining the world after a long hibernation. It was another terrible spring for nausea, but my migraines and headaches have been relatively mild. (More on that in a moment.) Whenever I have felt decent, I’ve been getting ready to sell our house and move to Boston. That’s right, we’re… Continue reading Why, Hello There!
The blood patch to treat the headache that followed my spinal tap required an emergency room visit, so I waited until it became absolutely necessary. It didn’t! I skipped it altogether and felt better on Sunday. Then the hormones from the birth control pills I started Sunday morning kicked in and triggered a massive migraine.… Continue reading Spinal Headache Gone… Migraine in Full Force
New Headache Specialist I saw the headache specialist several readers have recommended and really liked him. After more than two hours with me (we had to schedule a second appointment to fit it all in!) he speculated that some of my headaches are actually caused by new daily persistent headache. In the past, my chronic… Continue reading What’s With My Head: New Headache Specialist, Menstrual Migraine, Allergies & Reading
As the frequency of my migraine episodes has reduced this year, I was finally able to tell that I always get a migraine the first and second or third day of my period. Today once again provided confirmation. My plan was to try hormonal birth control, like the pill, as a preventive. Researching this post… Continue reading Sorting Out My Hormonal/Menstrually Associated Migraines
Lybrel, a continuous birth control pill that stops menstruation recently approved by the FDA, may help prevent menstrually associated migraines for some women. Hormonal birth control is often used as a migraine preventive. Many doctors prescribe that patients replace the sugar pills with active pills to suppress menstruation, thus lessening hormonal fluctuations. Taken each day,… Continue reading Managing Your Period to Manage Migraine