One Lovely Blog Award

Thank You WinnyNinny PooPoo at No Extended Warranty

This was such a surprise for being nominated for this the One Lovely Blog Award. Thank you so much for the encouragement and the award.

Here are the rules:

- Accept the award and post it on your blog with the name of the person who has granted the award and his or her blog link.

- Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you’ve newly discovered. (if possible)

- Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

Please visit the blogs that I've chosen to pass the award on to. They are all great!

1) Abi's Migrainous Wanderings by Abigail Addison
2) Adventures in Occipital Nerve Stimulation by Banner
3) A Rewoven Life by Susan
4) Chronic Warrior by admin
5) Final Trick by dyspatient
6) Free My Brain From Migraine Pain by admin
7) God Whispers by God Whispers
8) How to Cope with Pain by How to Cope with Pain
9) jasmine's cove by jasminepw
10) Migraine 365 by Jen
11) MigrainePuppet by Migraine Puppet
12) Migrainista by Migrainista
13) Mom Migraine by Mindy
14) Painfully Speaking by Jessica
15) Through the Words of Chronic Pain by A FIGHTER

The Hangover

I've been away with a bad migraine attack. Yesterday, as I was all medicated up with migraine meds, I watched the movie, The Hangover. Today, I'm living the migraine attack hangover. The headache pain has come and gone all day. I'm irritable, unbalanced, indecisive, and feel like I'm living in a fog. I'm hoping that this is just the postdrome, rather than the start of yet another migraine attack.

Treatment Options

A friend of mine, who I haven't spoken to in years, emailed me about my migraines today. Her husband had chronic migraines for years, and his pain was dramatically improved by getting a spinal cord stimulator (http://www.poweroveryourpain.com/sb/learn_about).

Another friend of mine, another whom I haven't spoken to in years, asked me if I had heard about neurostimulators (http://nomigrainepain.com/).

So, of course, I started looking into all sorts of different things online. There's so much information about spinal cord stimulation, occipital nerve stimulation, neurostimulators, etc...

There are sooo many different options. Does anyone have any insight into any of these (or other) treatment options for chronic migraines???

Rant and Rave

Better understanding of the phases typically involved in a migraine attack seem pretty useless to me, at this point... Prodrome... Aura... Headache... Postdrome... I have symptoms of all of these phases all of the time. I don't know where one migraine ends and another begins!

© 2009 David Madden Photography.

This is (and has been) taking a huge toll on me, as well as my husband. I am truly blessed to have a wonderful husband. He doesn't understand any of what I'm experiencing (he doesn't even get headaches, much less migraines); and, yet, he's there by my side to take care of me. It breaks my heart that this disease affects my moods (we're talking big-time irritability) and weight (a lot of weight loss, which I can't afford to lose), and causes him to worry about me. But I'm so grateful that he loves me, and that he tries to help me in any way that he can. I thank God every day for my husband.

Phases of a Migraine

There are 4 distinct phases in classic migraine:

1)  Prodrome
The symptoms of the prodrome phase typically occurs hours or days prior to the actual onset of headache pain. Prodrome symptoms can include:

• Fatigue or excessive sleepiness
• Frequent yawning
• Altered mood
• Irritability
• Depression or euphoria
• Muscle stiffness (especially in the neck, back and face)
• Food cravings
• Difficulty concentrating

2)  Aura
Not all migraineurs experience an aura preceding or accompanying the actual headache pain. The aura phase typically begins minutes or hours prior to the onset of headache pain. Aura can be visual, sensory, or motor in nature. Visual symptoms include:

• Blurred vision
• Appearance of floaters (tiny specks that float before the eyes)
• Flashes of light or color
• A blind spot or even complete blindness in one eye
• Double vision

Sensory and motor symptoms include:

• Numbness or tingling of the hands, feet, and/or face
• Stiff neck
• Weakness
• Vertigo or Dizziness
• Loss of balance
• Ringing in the ears
• Difficulty talking
• Slow thinking or confusion
• Problems with concentration
• Changes in mood and activity level
• Hypersensitivity to touch

3)  Headache
This phase is the experience of the headache pain. For some, the pain is a one-sided,  throbbing or pounding pain. For others, the pain is all over the head. The migraine pain typically lasts between 4 to 72 hours. "Status migrainosus" are headaches that last longer than 72 hours, and require immediate medical attention. This is the most disruptive of the phases, and migraineurs often stop all activity and remove themselves from certain triggers (light, sound, odors). The headache phase often includes the pulsing / throbbing head pain, as well as some other symptoms, including:

• Extreme sensitivity to light, sound, and smell (photophobia, phonophobia, osmosphobia)
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Increased pain with physical activity (such as walking or going up or down stairs)
• Blurred vision
• Scalp tenderness
• Stiffness and tenderness of the neck
• Problems with concentration
• Mood changes
• Vertigo, hotheadedness, and/or faintness
• Extremities feel cold and moist

4)  Postdrome
Some migraineurs experience symptoms after the headache pain has subsided. The postdrome symptoms may continue for several hours or even days. Symptoms of this phase can include:

• Fatigue
• Weakness
• Irritability
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Scalp tenderness
• Cognitive difficulties (difficulty concentrating)
• Mood changes
• Feeling "hungover"
• Head pain

Headache Care Center

This video is very informative about migraine and its treatment. I believe that a interdisciplinary approach to treating chronic pain is the best possible option. Migraine is a very complex disease that is very misunderstood and under-treated.