No Pain Migraine

It is an odd feeling but sometimes migraine does not have any pain. Most of the time there will be but once in a while there will be a no pain migraine. When this happens at first it is even difficult to recognise you have it. This happened to me yesterday. While at work I could feel the usual tension build up and accompanied by tinnitus but no physical aura of pain arrived. Instead there was a dizzyness, which can be nauseating depending if you are sitting down or walking about. A gentle walk to the photocopier suddenly feels a bit like being on the rolling seas on a little tub boat. Of course all of this is going on in your head and it's not necessary to grab hold of the nearest hand hold to make sure I don't fall over the edge of the carpet.  It's at this time I say to myself "this is not real, the floor is not swaying, you can walk straight."  Fortunately it was near the end of the day and hopefully would mean the rest of my colleagues wouldn't have enough time to establish whether I was drunk and disorderly.

So I have been to bed and got up again, had breakfast and sat down for a quick BLOG writing to non existent readers.  As I sat down I can feel the dizziness again. I didn't eat breakfast, it could be momentary starvation which is brining it on but I know it's the dizzy migraine thing happening again. I'll just walk in a slow lea surely fashion and keep calm, calm always helps. The good thing is being too busy with your own problems usually means the problems of work take on little significance. Now if only this damn boat would keep still!

12 hours of TV

It was one of those days when sitting in front of a monitor seemed to be an easier option than actually getting up off my arse and doing something else. The walk for instance, which I had promised myself. Instead I sat there watching TV for 12 hours it continued and at the end of it a half migraine kicked in. It lasted through the night's slumber, into the next day and about 36 hours later began to dissipate. Sleep had kicked in twice in intermittent attacks through this period, I got used to it now, if I'm at home I go to bed and then feel better for it.  It's the theory of a neurotransmitter imbalance which has to right itself and sleep is just as good as any to do it.  As is not watching too many consecutive hours of TV.

A day on the western front of migraine land

The weather has been hot, very hot, nearly an entire week of hot. Which could be an additional factor to migraines. But it's not just the hot weather, it's bright sunshine, you just can't get away from it. So it has been about 4 days of intermittent migraine harassment.  It has not been so debilitation as to be unable to work but rather just above a headache.  And like suffering from a hangover, with the dizzy feeling, like any moment I am about to fall over in a staggering way.  Whether it's the weather or not, I walk everywhere slowly, dragging my feet because I feel tired all the time.  It doesn't help waking up at an unearthly hour of the morning and not being able to sleep. Then during the day as a migraine hits I can feel a need to close my eyes and sleep. While at my desk.  I fight it off.  Rubbing my temples, momentarily closing my eyes.  In the open plan office (a nightmare in itself) the sound of people chatting around me becomes an intolerable noise.  I put in ear plugs and then ear muffs on top. I can still hear their voices, I just wish there was a higher level noise suppression than these almost pitiful devices.  In an effort to ensure I am not dehydrated I drink copious amounts of water, I'm not sure if it helps but I do end up pissing a lot. Then again a few minutes away from the mad noise of the office floor is a godsend.

The evening comes and salvation begins by laying on a bed in a hot room closing my eyes and still with a half numb head sleep.  At least when sleeping I can't feel a thing, until that is waking at 3 a.m. for no apparent reason and fighting to sleep again.

Beyond a joke

This is the first post about migraines I get.  You get to a point where enough is enough and the thing is there is no personal choice over getting a migraine, it's like some invisible dark evil cloaked being has just swooped down from nowhere and decided it was time to taunt me. 

"Yes, it's you, it's your turn you silly little man. You wanted to have a week free migraine period, but oh no, not for you."

At which a silent thunderbolt strikes deep between the temples of my head and the constant unrelenting pain of the thing kicks in.  I don't think it would be any worse being on a torture table and a clamp was strapped and tightened.  Any movement becomes painful and disorientating. Sounds and smells are more than annoying little things they become annoying big things. Food and the smell of food becomes a diplomatic exercise of whether it will make things worse or not. Appetite goes.  Which isn't such a bad thing because it means losing weight.  You have to look on the bright side, unfortunately light appears incredibly intense.  Curtains have to be pulled, but too much light still gets through, this is worse in summer.  It's necessary to wrap an item of clothing around my head and over my eyes, this way it cuts down the light more.  Ear plugs are a necessity and then find a position not too hot to lay still and just let both intense waves of delirium come sleep flood in and out of consciousness. It becomes a constant sleep and weird dream like state.

So it is eight and a half hours later, I manage to get up, the pain and torture subsided enough to reasonably function.  I'm not completely out of the woods yet, the clamps have loosened enough to make me feel comfortable, but reminded they are still there.