music: Paul Simon- Rhythm of the Saints
I have a headache. I get them a lot. It’s the first headache I’ve had in a while, and thankfully it’s not one of those apocolyptic icepick-repeatedly-pounding-at-your eyeball-from-the-inside headaches. The sirens outside aren’t making things any better though.
I have a bunch of theories why I get headaches. The easiest is that they are idiopathic migraines but I don’t buy it. I get headaches when certain chemicals are introduced into my system, even in trace amounts: decaf tea, secondhand smoke. Only the headaches don’t start until about 36 hours after the tea or the smoky bar. Which leads me to believe that it has to do with my body purging toxins. But then sometimes I get headache sans caffeine or nicotine. The general guideline I follow then is to pay close attention to my water intake and electrolyte balance. This basically amounts to me mainlining water or juice, sometimes downing half a teaspoon of salt and/or sugar. But usually that doesn’t do much. So I lie on my bed in the dark and relative quiet, begging the Gods to revoke my excruciating pennance for something I wasn’t aware I did in the first place, and apply pressure to my temples, sinuses, and eyes. This actually makes things better, and has developed into the most current theory: vascular pressure in my head.
I also get bloody noses fairly frequently, and I’ve noticed that when I get bloody noses I ususally don’t get headaches. a doctor told me that migraines are thought to be the swelling of blood vessels surrounding the brain and sinuses. Meaning more blood than usual is in these vessels. Meaning when my nose bleeds, the pressure is actually being released from the vessels and thus pain is diminished. This could be why I didn’t get headaches on my trip in Colorado and Utah; I had bloody noses almost every day due to the dryness of the desert.
Whatever the cause, it sucks. I really can’t do much but drink water and try to relax. Commercial pain killers don’t do much anymore so I stopped taking them. So I just wait and ride it out, hoping that the black cloud will pass quickly from inside my head so I can get on with my day. It’s even worse when there is a lot to do, as there is (was) today. Especially when that something I have to do involves reading. Reading with a headache is just a few degrees lower on the pain scale than putting tacks underneath one’s toenails and kicking a wall.
Of course, I’m sure one of the foremost causes of headaches is stress. Not that my day-to-day is stressful, but the behemoth of grad school on the horizon isn’t quite settling. Neither are the few scattered items that I have to resolve sooner than later, but of course later because now i have a headache. fuck.
It’s probably not the best thing to be staring at a computer screen in this state either. Yet another genius revelation from Yours Truly.
Posted by davidtaus at June 12, 2003 08:48 PM | TrackBackHi ,
Volker passed on this post on to me and I was wondering if you could pass any wise advice along to me regarding finding things that help or drugs that you have discovered. I have been suffering prolonged headaches and migraines for two years since I moved to NYC…figures the city air would do this to me. So finally, I am seeing a neurologist in two weeks, but I’m worried he won’t really know either. All I know is that I feel horrible and I don’t understand why I am in constant pain. I’m sorry, this is like, Dear Abby, but just wondering if you had any advice.
Thank you!
Scarlet