I remember having my first migraine when I was just five years old. Of course, I didn't know what to call them back then. I would sometimes get these intense headaches that ended with me throwing up when my brother and I would make the long trek back to our grandfather's house on foot from our elementary school. My mother was convinced that it was heat stroke and so she made me wear a trucker hat to keep the blazing Florida sun off my head. I hated being seen in it and it didn't do me much good. I continued to have migraines all throughout elementary school and junior high.
I happened to have a one of my headaches while I was hanging out over at a friend's house. Her mother asked me what was wrong, I told her, and she said it sounded like I was describing a migraine. I explained that my mother had long told me that it was heat stroke. She considered that for a moment and disagreed. She confided with me that she was also afflicted with this type of headache, too. She taught me how to ease the symptoms by either squeezing the pressure point located deep in the web between the thumb and index finger or running really hot water over it. Doing that helped a little, but throwing up was still the only thing that could make the migraine completely go away. It was enough for me to have a fitting name for my headaches and I relayed the information to my mother who didn't think it was possible for me to be having migraines. She said that she *has* migraines and that there was no way that I could be having them, too. I was so certain that if I could only convince her that she would take me to a doctor and he would in turn, prescribe something to make my migraines go away. That never happened.
For whatever reason, my migraines came with less frequency during the time I was in high school. Sometime after graduation I went through a partiularly stressful period when I was living on my own with two roommates. I had quit my job and didn't have another one lined up. I had a migraine that lasted a full two weeks. I got to a point where I just couldn't take it anymore and I went to a free walk-in clinic that was in close proximity to my apartment. The doctor I saw confirmed that I was and had all along been experiencing migraines and gave me some Imitrex. The drug would only work for me if I took it within twenty minutes after seeing an initial aura. I continued to have migraines intermittently, but I soon ran out of my supply of Imitrex.
For a time I didn't have very many migraines. Then they abruptly started back up in the fall of 2003, my second year at George Mason. I was under tremendous pressure at the time. I was taking 15 credits and it was midterms. One migraine last nearly a whole weekend. I had to do something to get rid of it so I could complete a take-home exam and study for my others. I went to a walk-in clinic where I received an injection of Imitrix. I remember that the doctor was rather upset that I didn't already have a neurologist I could see about this problem. She wrote out prescriptions for a very limited supply of Imitrex, a pill for the accompanying nausea, and an antidepressant (Pamelor, aka Nortriptyline). I couldn't understand why she thought I should be taking an antidepressant. At the time, I did not associate stress as being a precursor for my migraines. The doctor also provided me with the name and number of a neurologist that I was to make an appointment with and obtain prescriptions for further medicine from. I did so, and I have been on Pamelor ever since. I experience stress quite differently now.
The occurance for my migraines has thus been greatly reduced. In the last year and a half I have had just two. Earlier this afternoon I experienced one of them. At the first sign of the impending migraine, I took two Esgic Plus pills and when I failed to see immediate results I used one of my new Imitrex nasal sprays. My doctor had suggested I switch to that form of the medicine at my last check up. He said that I would see faster results with it. I think he was right about that. However, he did not warn me that the medicine would drain down the back of my sinuses and I would get some into my mouth. I can only describe the taste by saying it was similar to what I imagine Tilex as tasting like. Drinking copious amounts of water helped wash it down my throat.
If you think you might be experiencing migraines you don't have to suffer. I wrote this entry to emphasize the importance of seeking the assistance of a trained neurologist.
-- CrystalShiloh @ 04:30 PM