Tuesday, May 13, 2008
gah
i officially have a sleep PROBLEM. yesterday i was able to take a 2 hour nap. awesome, right?right.
not like i had a lot of other stuff to do or something...
so you'd *think* i'd have slept like a baby last night, right? for hours and hours. i wish. the tragic truth is that i slept soundly until 4 a.m., when for some reason which is not apparent *to ME*, i woke up and couldn't get back to sleep.
so sad.
has anyone else had experience with insomnia and an MAOI? i'm hoping against hope that my doc will get back to me soon and he'll help me improve this situation. seriously, this sleep thing stinks.
i'll be back with less complaining soon. :)
Labels: irritation, nonsense, sleep
link | posted by Emily at 2:13 PM
Monday, May 12, 2008
Pain -- expands the Time -- by Emily Dickinson
Pain -- expands the Time --Ages coil within
The minute Circumference
Of a single Brain --
Pain contracts -- the Time --
Occupied with Shot
Gamuts with Eternities
Are as they were not --
I didn't sleep last night. not just didn't sleep much....i didn't sleep at all. d'oh. we went to bed at midnight, and then by 2 i hadn't gotten to sleep. i felt like it was too late then to take a sleeping pill, i didn't want to 'throw off my sleeping schedule'. ha! if i could tell me then when what me now is facing! i'm hoping to take a 4 hour nap and still get to sleep tonight....my sleeping schedule is down the tubes. ah well. you do what you can. i'm sure all of you who have been new mothers are just chuckling right now thinking, ah it's just been one night...get over yourself...
i feel like i'm moving in slow motion -- and i'm nauseous and good heavens it does not do good things for my migraine, that's for sure. they say the relationship between sleep and migraines is not well understood, but let me tell you; i understand it well enough. if i don't get 8 hours - things are getting ugly. ;-) that's just the (unfortunate) way of things.
my dear husband made me some pancakes for breakfast to settle my stomach, and went off to work. so i'm going to try and get a little bit of sleep! we'll see how it goes. :)
Labels: migraines, nonsense, pain issues, sleep
link | posted by Emily at 8:54 AM
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Coping with headaches and migraines
so i thought i would write a little bit about coping with migraines -- what i see as the major facets of coping with chronic migraines. my current situation is a bit different (for me) than it was when i was having episodic migraines, once every month or two. now i am in pain every day, all day. i wake up with a headache, and it's there all day till i go to sleep at night. hopefully some of this will apply to those of you reading here, i know my situation is somewhat (thank goodness!) unique.to me, there are 4 different parts of coping with migraines. they are the pain, nausea, discouragement, and sleep difficulties that come with migraines. here are my ideas on each topic.
1.Pain
resting in a quiet, dark room -- kind of a given. but for those who haven't experienced migraines, i thought i'd give you the full scope, even things that seem obvious.
i like a cold pack on my forehead -- some people like heat. some people like the cold or heat on the back of their neck. some find a hot shower or bath helpful.
of course there are medications for treating the pain - i'm no expert by any means, so i will link to a few articles that are helpful. here is a list of preventative medications that can be used for migraines. usually preventatives are considered if you are having several migraines a month. i'm not sure what the actual # is -- i'm sure it varies from doctor to doctor anyway. and here is an article about the medications used for treating migraines. and while we're on the topic of using medication, we'd better mention medication overuse (rebound) headaches. don't use your abortive medication too often!
2. Nausea/vomiting
this can be a huge problem or a small part of your situation, depending. i have some nausea, but rarely does it progress to vomiting. i'm lucky. but nevertheless, who likes to be nauseated? so here's my tips and tricks for nausea, in the order i usually try them:
a) mint gum (could also be mint tea or mint candies)
b) 7up or club soda -- i'm leaning towards the club soda lately because i don't like the idea of drinking so much sugar
c) ginger tea
d) emetrol
e) reglan -- my prescription anti-nausea pill
f) from here it's just rinse and repeat -- i try to continue eating bland food, skipping meals will only make the nausea worse and the migraine pain much worse
3. Discouragement
like nausea, this can range from a small problem to full-on depression. i'm sure that having a good support system helps prevent a lot of discouragement, but i also think that even with the best, kindest, and most supportive family (which i believe i have), a person is bound to get discouraged and upset at times if she's in pain all the time.
one of the best things i've found to combat my emotional pain is this idea: This pain is bad, but i've been through pain like this before, and I can get through this too.
it helps keep me from catastrophizing the situation and making it seem harder than it is or like i'm somehow not going to make it through. there are also numerous scriptures that have helped me through difficult times -- i'll share one here "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." Philipians 4:13. i realize that not everyone is religious, but for me, religion is something i can lean on when things get hard, and has helped me make it through.
4. Sleep difficulties
sleep is hugely important for migraineurs. too little (or too much, they say) and you are bound to suffer the next day. but it can be difficult to get good sleep when you are having regular migraines. it helped me to make it a priority with my doctors to 'fix' my sleep -- if i wasn't regularly able to get to sleep and stay asleep, i let them know and made sure we found solutions. thankfully this problem was easily remedied for me. until i was getting reasonable amounts of sleep (when the migraines first began to be chronic), the entire situation was worse and more difficult to deal with because of the poor quality and lack of sleep i was getting. i guess i just want to point out the importance of a good night's sleep. it's worth the trouble of keeping regular hours and doing all you can to rest well.
hopefully this is helpful for someone -- or even just a reminder that you're not along in your migraine pain. :-)
Labels: headaches, migraines, nausea, pain, pain issues, sleep
link | posted by Emily at 6:03 PM
