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AMY SMITH LINTON

Migraine, O Queen of Pain

12/10/2019

4 Comments

 
Who could do better than Joan Dideon on the topic of migraine?

Nobody.

​And yet here I am, sharing my thoughts.

First, migraine. It's a headache, yes, but it encompasses a largish category of neurological symptoms and takes a variety of devilishly unpleasant forms. 
"That no one dies of migraine seems,
to someone deep into an attack,
an ambiguous blessing."
​
– Joan Dideon
It starts, often, with a visual disturbance.  Flashes or jaggedy streaks of light, tunnel vision, or small blind spots.  

​Followed by perhaps a period of violent sensitivity to light or sound or smell. 

Alarming stroke-like symptoms sometimes show up: surred speech, vomiting, dizziness, for instance. Or weakness or tingling on one side of the whole body. 
Picture
And –– o joy! –– migraines can last for days. 

Migraines arrive as a
 result of some weird blip of electrical impulses and vascular spasms (or something) in the brain.

​The mechanism is "not completely understood," though there is a strong genetic component. Every few years there's a breakthrough in understanding. I used to keep up.

via GIPHY

My father and his mother and her grandmother all suffered from migraines. My first came to me as yet another unwelcome side-effect of being a girl.

Age 13: here you go, missy, a bouquet of body changes that usher in decades of unwelcome public commentary and oh, bonus!  a debilitating headache on either side of this other physical indignity that seems like an illness. 


​Gah.

For years, medical consultation usually ended with, "Well, you can look forward to having them diminish as you get older."
I am officially no longer a spring chicken.

​I remember how it happened, actually, but the point is that I have waited patiently but the migraine train is still damn running on my tracks.  

Oy.

Recently I found myself a new doctor. A young one, whom I can only hope to outlast. 

And so begins the search for effective treatment.  I am happy to report that the MRI reveals that my brain is right where I left it. Even better -- no inappropriate growths are evident.

Young doc and I have embarked on a series of prescription medications. We are steering away from the ones that make me numb, tingly, or which impel me ask Jeff to keep a close watch on me.  

Young doc has updates and a handful of suggestions to try. Which we discuss by e-mail. Brave new world. We have high hopes and a neurologist to visit. 
 ​
4 Comments
George A
12/15/2019 10:46:59 am

Don't know if this is blarney or not. No mechanism is offered. You may already be aware of this but in the off chance you're not, here t'is:

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/12/15/787138928/researchers-explore-a-drug-free-idea-to-relieve-chronic-pain-green-light?utm_campaign=npr&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_term=nprnews&fbclid=IwAR0ryiSL67dqvAGk7tRjZugF2pWLOARG7yzErsnRRvjHsMtsZljPljcD18M

Reply
Amy
12/18/2019 07:13:47 pm

Hey George!
At $15 with zero medication and no scalpels--! I am on this like white on rice. Amazon is sending me the lo tech experiment I hope to conduct starting Saturday!
Thanks!

Reply
George A.
12/18/2019 08:19:12 pm

Fingers crossed! Sometimes an experiment of one produces useful data.

Reply
George A.
12/20/2019 08:48:59 pm

Please keep me updated either here or PM as to the outcome. Hoping for the best.

Reply



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