Migraine

Two weeks, just two more weeks. I can do this.

I am hanging in there. My pain levels have mostly stayed below 6, except for earlier this week. Overall I have been feeling better this week than I have in the past few weeks, though my nights have still been pretty cruddy.

The good things about my trip next week - my family lives in the Boston area, so I'll get to see them while I'm there. DBF will be meeting me in Virginia, and I'll see some friends there I haven't seen in about a year and a half, along with DBF's family. Laura, the wedding is in Lynchburg and DBF's family lives outside of Harrisonburg, so we'll be on that side of the state. I've never actually been to Lynchburg, though I've been to much of the rest of Virginia.

I only have three more days of work before I leave. That in itself is good news!

I'm trying to think positive. I'm going to pack as many comfort measures as I can into my carry-on. And once I get back home, it'll only be a few days until my appointment with my new doc.

*sigh* Today definitely qualified as another crummy day. My pain has been a little higher than it was the rest of the week - but more than that, I've been extremely dizzy and nauseous all day, and my stomach has felt kind of upset all day. The constipation from the nortriptyline does seem to be a lot better, though, between titrating off of it and the GlycoLax (generic Miralax) the RN at my PCP's office prescribed for me.

I took some promethazine this afternoon, which took care of the worst of the nausea, but I'm still feeling somewhat awful.

Tomorrow, at our morning staff meeting, one of the team leads is doing a fashion show-type presentation that he wanted to be very "flashy", so they're using a strobe light. My desk is on the same floor as the large meeting area we use for our staff meetings (my office is 300 people, so we need a big space), so I happened to walk past them when they were practicing for the presentation this afternoon. The strobe was pretty awful. I'm going to have to excuse myself from the meeting before they decide to fire this thing up. As if sitting under fluorescents all day isn't bad enough, now I have to worry about strobe lights too??

Ugh, I'm just so sick of having to worry about encountering triggers everywhere. It seems that anything and everything makes me feel worse and nothing really makes me feel better. I realized today that with my recent troubles with both the Topa and nortriptyline, that makes five out of five preventives I've tried that I've had intolerable side effects from. I'm still taking 50 mg of Topa but I'll be discussing with my new doc if I should stay on it or if it's time to try something new.

I just don't want to feel this sick any more.

MJ,

First, here's a much needed for you! I'm sorry you felt so crummy yesterday, I hope today is a better day for you. You deserve some relief from your pain and nausea!!

Wow, a strobe light at work?! What will they think of next? I'm glad you can excuse yourself from that situation and you were aware of it and didn't get caught by surprise. That would have been awful.

Did you go to the wedding yet? If not, have lots of fun in Virginia.

Just 12 more days, MJ!! Your doctor's appointment is just a stone throw away

Aw, MJ, my heart goes out to you.... Strobe light at work. Yikes!

Sorry you are back to feeling so crummy too... I really hope you feel better today, and that your trip and wedding go well.

Hey MJ - so sorry you're feeling so rotten! I hope the trip is a welcome break!

- megs

MJ,

I hear you on the exhaustion from being sick for so long. You have been such a warrior.

But even warriors need breaks from the battle. I am hoping that relief is just around the corner for you. At least some sort of break that lasts.

When do you leave for your trip?

&

Kelly

I hope you avoided the strobe light. Are they trying to win a contest for workplace migraine triggers? Tell them that's one contest you DON'T want to win.

Have a great trip. That should also help pass the time til your appointment.

Have a great trip MJ

Valerie

I did survive this morning's meeting, strobe light and all. I sat far enough to the side of the room, positioned behind enough people that the strobing didn't even reach me. (Though if it did I would have left.) Unfortunately I didn't avoid some other triggers as successfully so my head is pounding a bit right now.

I leave for my trip next Monday night. I'm flying the red eye to Boston on Monday for the conference, then down to Virginia for the wedding next Saturday, then home the following Monday afternoon. It should be a good trip. I am looking forward to it. The conference promises to be a good one, and I'll get to see my family, DBF's family and a big group of college friends at various points throughout the trip.

I am very happy that it's the weekend now. I've got some shopping I need to do before my trip, but I'm really going to try to take it easy.

Thanks for your thoughts today, everyone.

Well, I leave tonight for my trip. I'm excited about the trip, but also quite a bit nervous about it. I have a lot of traveling packed into a week - flying from here to Boston tonight, then Boston to Virginia on Saturday, then Virginia back here the following Monday - and flying is a big trigger for me. Plus there are the inevitable other triggers I'll encounter, fluorescent lighting being the big one, and the long days full of activity. I'm worried about wearing myself out. I'm also worried about trying to stick to my strict diet while I'm gone. And all this without DBF's moral support until I see him in Virginia on Saturday.

I feel like it shouldn't be such a big deal to travel, especially for something I'm excited to do. In fact, I really do love to travel. But with my health as bad as it is right now, everything is a struggle. And when I have a limited amount of energy as it is, it's hard to make it through a regular day, let alone all this extra stuff that comes along with traveling.

The good news is that I will get to see my family when I go to Boston. They don't live too far out of the city so I'll get to spend some time with them. And I'll see some good friends and DBF's family in Virginia. My family understands very much my current health condition, but my friends and DBF's family for the most part do not. I won't hesitate to back out of plans if I need to, but it's hard when I can go months or a year or two without seeing some of these people. They don't understand why I can't go out with them, or spend time with them, or hang out at someone's apartment who has all CFL bulbs (can we say big trigger??).

I'm trying not to get myself too wound up about this. I get nervous when I travel anyway, but the combination of being sick away from home without DBF there to comfort me for most of the week is just going to be hard. I will have my laptop at least, and internet access, so I can easily check in here or email him. But that's not the same as a hug.

Ugh. At least I'll get to see my new specialist just two days after I get back from this trip.

, MJ! Have a wonderful, healthy trip!

jenny

MJ
I hope all goes very well for you. I think sometimes the change of scencery is good for us.

Take care and enjoy,

Cindy

Hey MJ,

Sol and I wanted to check in on you and see how the flight to Boston went. If I remember right you are near us in the PNW so flying to Boston is quite the trip!!!

It really can be a huge drain to travel when you aren't feeling well and/or living with chronic pain and health issues. We are facing a few trips this summer all of which should be fun and relaxing but before any of that can happen we have a lot of planning to do so that Sol can manage her health while vacationing. The big one is setting up for her thrice weekly kidney treatments and making sure we have all her meds ready. She packs what we call her "health protocol folder" that contains all her emergency contact info, her med schedule,and a list of her health issues. The folder includes a section about her migraines such as the symptoms of HM attacks and how to go about treating them.

Like I said it takes a lot of planning ahead which I am sure you can relate too but in the end it is well worth it to see my wife's face light up when she spends time with family and friends.

Sol and I have been reading the boards together this morning and right before she went to rest she asked me to post and tell you that we are thinking of you and hope that you have a good week. We know it will be hard with out your loving DBF there until the wedding on Saturday so we are sending you EXTRA prayers and support your way.

Peace,

Dave and Sol

I hope your flights don't trigger a migraine for you! I want you to be able to enjoy your family, the wedding, DBF's family and your friends. Try to sneak in as much rest as possible throughout your trip, k?

Have fun and take care!

MJ--

By now you've started your wonderful trip and I hope all is going well. If you are having a hard time, continue to focus on your appointment. If the new doctor is good, you'll end up having a plan for how to handle the extra stress of traveling. I am so praying for you MJ that you can get back some of the control in your life that I have. It's certainly not perfect. But I now longer have to live like you are now, in absolute terror of the next trigger waiting to ambush me!

Tracie