a tiny hiccup

Last night I was talking to my husband and mid-sentence was interrupted suddenly with subtle dizziness and nausea. It only lasted a few seconds and then went away, but was followed with a little bit of ringing in my ear and then a dull headache. (My migraines generally start with severe vertigo. I get the visual auras only a few times a year. Though sometimes I have no aura at all.)

It felt like the beginning of vertigo. I usually have a minute before I can't walk and I begin throwing up. It's nice because it helps me be prepared and have time to get to a toilet or at least get a bowl. Then after I calm down from throwing up and the vertigo subsides, I take my migranal spray. I wait an hour and if I still have a headache and nausea, I take three aspirin and my anti-nausea drug. Though sometimes (and this was when I would have an average of five migraines a week) I wouldn't take the spray and just risk it, saving the spray for a more important day of that week.

But that life was three months ago. And when I had that flash of vertigo and nausea last night it was so gloomy to me. I can handle the pain. It's not fun, but that was my life for a full year and a half and I have survived, and survived very well. It was the thought of having these three months off only to go back to that chronic life that revolved around my migraines...I just didn't want to go there.

I didn't take any drugs last night. It didn't bloom into full blown vertigo though my head started hurting a bit after. It was bedtime, anyway. I have never usually taken anything before bedtime for my migraines. I reserve those heavy abortive treatments for when I really need it: during the day with my children.

I'm tired today. So I took it easy today. I ran a few errands and did laundry, then took a nap with my three year old this afternoon. I know it's just my monthly cycle starting up in a few days or so, and I've decided to start taking alieve every twelve hours starting tonight. It's what my neurologist suggested once and I hope it will help as a buffer. We'll see.

I've found a migraineur's life is all about experimentation, moderation, and flexibility.