Migraines and unrelated future plans.

[miss_invisible]

I've had a nasty spate of migraines lately– needless to say, I am not happy about it. Mine are usually quite spaced out, but these have all been within a few days of each other and even more brutal than usual. They keep slamming into me right before bedtime, and I can't figure out what might be triggering them– none of my usual migraine triggers seem applicable. Sigh. I'm not on any migraine medication because the risks associated with it terrify me and I've gotten sort of used to them– I had my first migraine at age 5. However, I also usually don't have more than one every month or two to tough out (OTC painkillers pretty much do nothing), instead of one every two or three days. Gah.

In brighter news, however, I've been very carefully saving my money for some time now to pay for a certification course in teaching English as a foreign language. It's not on the order of paying for graduate studies, but it's not cheap either, and the limited hours I work mean I don't make very much right now. Today, though, I was checking my finances and it looks like I have enough for tuition. Exciting! I need to hold off a bit longer so I can pay for other incidental expenses, plane flights, ect, but it's really nice to actually have my goal within sight.

Comments

[elialshadowpine]

Not sure if this will be any help, but common migraine triggers are scents and foods. I had to change out my kitty litter to a brand called Swheat Scoop (wheat-based) because the powder from the clay litter, even in unscented, was giving me migraines. I can use basically no cleaning chemicals. Shampoos and conditioners have to be very neutral scents; I actually went to an organic home-made shampoo because my husband is even more sensitive than I am and all the commercial brands were bothering him.

Foods are not so much an issue for me but my ex-housemate got them from MSG so we had to check labels for everything. And you would not believe some of the things they put MSG in -- we found it in tea, ffs.

Just curious, is it the abortive or preventative migraine meds that bother you risk-wise?

[miss_invisible]

Mine are usually stress-triggered, I've never found any food or scent triggers to mine and haven't changed anything, so I don't know what the deal is.

Abortives mainly, but both. I'm one of those people who gets side effects from EVERYTHING, so with my luck I would be one of those who gets something life-threatening. Plus I just have a thing about taking a ton of pills all the time, I try to keep the amount of medication I take to a minimum when possible.

[elialshadowpine]

Yeah, between my husband and myself, we've been on a lot. Mine turned out to be mostly hormonal; once I got on a form of birth control that has continuous hormones (nuva ring), they only happen around the time of the month when I swap out the ring or when I have my period, so it's bearable.

Feverfew is an herb that is supposed to be reasonably good at acting as a migraine preventative. I believe there were studies that found it up there with some of the conventional preventatives, and a lot of people react a bit better to herbs... might be something to look into?

[miss_invisible]

Ooh, that sounds like something to check out, especially if this keeps up. I'll look into it, thanks!