I have become a stranger to my own blog this semester. Soon after my last post, I started to have migraine attacks each day. Normally when I get a headache, I take some ibuprofen, take a nap, and I am fine when I wake up. Soon, it wasn't working anymore. When I woke up, the headache would be worse. One weekend, I couldn't take the pain anymore and a friend took me to the emergency room. They got the migraine to calm down and put me on muscle relaxers because my neck was tense from reading and being on the computer constantly for school. The muscle relaxers helped keep the migraines down, but I felt quite loopy sitting in class. One day my literature professor seemed more interesting than normal. The next day, I went to bed and woke up at 3 a.m. with a splitting migraine. I had to go back to the hospital and this time they gave me a strong narcotic. I did not drive home and after emailing my professor I couldn't take the exam, I went to bed.
I did a checkup later in the week with the student clinic on campus and the doctor officially diagnosed me as a sufferer of migraines. She gave me a prescription to try for migraines; a month's supply (9 pills). I followed the instructions on the box, but I went through them in a week. I was then referred to a Neurologist. Ever since then, I have done blood work about four times, a MRI, and taking a different prescription. This past week I have been feeling like myself than I ever have since October. I had two weeks of break and the first week I spent most of my time taking two to three showers a day with a cloth over my head to stop my head from throbbing. My parents became extremely worried when they would find me in the shower. I became extremely frustrated. I just wanted to feel normal again, but I know the main cause of them: stress.
I have had 3 years of stress toppled on me. This past semester was the roughest I have ever experienced. Not only did I have 17 books to read between 5 classes, but I fought with the university about graduation requirements to graduate after next semester, the GRE test for graduate school, graduate school applications, a 20 page paper for my Charles Dickens Independent Study, two jobs (one of which had a project deadline looming), two scholarship protocols, and all the other assignments for my courses. My body finally had enough and decided to tell me so with migraines. I wasn't even finished with the semester like most of the students. Tracy and I worked on my 20 pager the week after finals, two of my applications were due, and I had that project for my job deadline too.
I am glad I am starting to feel like myself and can recognize when I am about to get a migraine. I have also been drinking more water, and did some research about migraines. Some food and drinks can be triggers: chocolate, coffee, alcohol, aspartame, aged cheese, nuts, etc... Caffeine, such as in chocolate, coffee, or soda is a double edged sword. While it is a trigger, it also helps to relieve migraines. That's why in each Excedrin Migraine pill there is an equivalent of one cup of coffee. There are also environmental factors like the weather. When the barometric pressure is low, headaches and migraines are more likely. Another factor is extreme weather changes like being warm and then it being cold in a short amount of time. This has been the case for Mount Pleasant all fall and winter. Also, I should have mentioned migraines are especially different from headaches. While headaches can be very painful, migraines usually have specific symptoms and are much more painful. For me, the light, whether from the sun, lamp, or technological device, makes them more painful. This is also true for noise and things that make me stressed, like reading or writing for class.
Anyways, I am feeling much better and doing whatever I can to figure out my triggers. After all the pain, I didn't realize it nor was I working towards it, but I made the Dean's List this semester with a 3.8. My parents said I seemed stressed about my grades, but I was actually stressed about finishing everything with the little amount of time I had. The Dean's List is not worth all those migraines, but I am pretty proud.
Restless Thoughts,
Andreah
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