Nightly Experiment, Day 2

I caved last night and had 4 mini Cadbury Eggs around 9:00 or 10:00 last night, but I'd say that's a reasonable amount.

Today, I woke with a very minimal headache, and took half of one Excedrin TH. Here's hoping my body can wean off this crap like I want it to.

My next task will be to hydrate better, which isn't always easy at my job, considering I must have a doctor's note to drink water outside of my break :( Stupid...

Nightly Experiment, Day 1

Better late than never, right? :)

I was successful in cutting sweets after 8:00pm last night. This was comparatively easy since I worked until 10:00 last night. Then, I met the boyfriend and a friend at a bar and had some greasy pub grub, and noticed a headache, which had started earlier, getting stronger at the bar. I took one Excedrin Tension Headache, and went about life as usual, sans sweets.

I didn't wake up with much of a headache at all this morning, which is a great start. It's hard to say if it was just a fluke or actually because of diet changes, but we'll keep plugging away.

Unfortunately, I do not work tonight, and the mini Cadbury Eggs on the coffee table are calling my name. We'll see how long I can fight the fight... 

Nipping It in the Bud

After waking up this morning with yet another nasty headache, I think it's time to finally do something proactive. Waking up to take pain relievers every other morning is scary to me, and I'm not exactly sure what it's doing to things like my liver, kidneys, stomach, and heart. Granted, many of these headaches could be "rebound" headaches, and one of the best things I could do (though sickening and painful) would be to cut those a.m. pain relievers out. But I think there's more to it than just that.

It's Girl Scout Cookie Season, and I ate about half a box of Tagalongs yesterday, several of which were eaten right before bed. This isn't the first time I've woken up with a nasty headache or full-on migraine after eating too many naughty foods the day before. I think there may be a correlation between sugar / chocolate consumption and a.m. headaches / migraines the next day, and I'm about to try something to see if that's true.

I'd like to conduct my own form of an experiment, where I cut sugars and chocolates by a certain time each day, and watch my consumption as a whole. This will not only help with a.m. headaches and migraines (hopefully), but will also aid my health and body as a whole.

I think I will start by cutting sugars and chocolates after 8:00pm, and only eat fruits and veggies if I feel the need for a snack. Then, I will log if there were any headaches each morning, how severe the possible headaches are, what and how much I take to fight these headaches (if anything), and what I did the night before. This won't be easy: I love late night cookie, chip, and ice cream binges. But I know it will be good for me in the long run, even if it doesn't seem to affect my headaches, and it could be the first step in weaning off the scary morning meds.

I'll be logging everything on this blog, as a helpful way for me to keep track (and you, if you're really all that interested). If, after some time, cutting sweets doesn't seem to be having much effect, we'll move on to something else.

I go on vacation at the end of this week through most of next week (Key West!), so I can't say I'll want to focus and experiment on my headaches and their triggers. So we'll take a break, and experimenting will start full swing when I get back. In the meantime, I will continue to watch my sugar intake, and see where we can go from there. Maybe a little va-cay is all I need to kick these headaches to the curb! :)

I'd be happy to hear any suggestions you may have about my upcoming experiment, so let me have 'em :)

Hangovers

"Hangovers" are a big reason why I don't drink very often, although I don't think what you could call what I suffer from a hangover. If I drink a couple drinks over too short of a time, I wake up with debilitating migraines; if I drink too much over the span of the evening, I wake up with debilitating migraines and vomiting all day. Sometimes I get a migraine just within an hour of the first sip. I've always assumed this has something to do with my liver, and that it may be damaged after years of medication usage. But maybe my body has just learned to react to alcohol this way as I get older.

Then again, maybe I'm just not doing it right. This slideshow says I'm not the only one who may be unsafe when drinking, and maybe it's just all about hydrating better, and that's been my problem all along.

I'd like to be able to drink occasionally without the fear of feeling like death in the morning, and I'd like to go to a going-away party for a co-worker tomorrow. Maybe food before hand and more water is all it will take.

What are your hangover tricks? After looking at the slideshow, have you found if they're a safe and effective remedy all?

Transformed Migraine

Somewhere along the line I stumbled upon this article, which talks about a type of migraine that describes exactly what I've been going through over the past few years.

"Transformed Migraine" begins as episodic migraine attacks, which eventually become less frequent and intense, and eventually turn into daily or almost daily headaches. These headaches sometimes become migraine attacks, or are interrupted by migraine attacks. These headaches are often time tension-related (bingo), and often a result of medication overuse.

None of this article was really news to me; it's just nice to know that I can't be the only person going through these issues, since someone was writing an article on it. Now I just need to find a support group for people who need help stopping medication overuse.

Saturday Night Sobfest

I miss drinking. Really. I do.

Mostly I just miss the social aspect of it, and at least being able to be buzzed enough to tolerate everyone else's drunkenness.

I never used to have an issue drinking. I never noticed a headache forming within an hour of the first sip, or being deathly ill the next day. Those issues either weren't happening, or I was just a lot better at ignoring them.

But now, thanks to something I can't quite put my finger on (liver, kidneys, brain, who knows), alcohol has become the bane of my existence. It's very hit or miss, but often times within an hour of the first sip, my head will be throbbing and it will be time to go home. If I happen to get carried away (which doesn't happen anymore), I put a bucket next to my bed and don't move for at least a day. Not healthy or worthwhile, so I just don't do it.

It's hard to keep coming up with excuses when people ask me to go out with them. "I have to work in the morning" or "Sorry I have a date with my computer screen" don't work forever. And then people feel dejected and don't invite me out anymore.

When on the rare occasion I do decide to go out, I'm bored and stuck babysitting, and saying "I'll get a migraine" doesn't seem to justify why I'm not drinking. "Excuses, excuses. Don't be such a baby."

This is whiny and pathetic, I know. But it's hard to admit that headaches and migraine take a huge toll on my social life, especially in a college town, with so many peers that are primarily my age. I know I have bigger things in life ahead of me, with people who will share more of my interests, but that doesn't help that fact that I'm sitting home alone now.

On a positive note: Drunk people are often annoying, so at least I know I'm not annoying :)

How has migraine or chronic illness affected your social life?

Constant Fatigue

While I realize that a constant feeling of fatigue is often a symptom of (guys close your eyes) PMS, but uggggghhhhh. It is sooo irritating. My brain is in a constant fog and I just don't function the way I should. Point in case: I just got distracted by the TV for 10 minutes halfway through the last sentence... and again just now.

Sometimes, you can't really seem to do much about the fatigue. No time for a nap, caffeine has done all it can do (or made things worse), what's left?

After doing a little research, I think I've come up with a list of fool-proof fatigue-fighters that can be tried anytime of day:

• Hydrate - drink water regularly throughout the day
• Do stretches and take walks every few hours to air out your brain
• Eat several small meals throughout the day (rather than three large ones) to avoid major lull periods in between meals
• Snack on foods like fruit, yogurt, whole-wheat bagels with cheese or peanut butter, and eggs to get an energy boost
• 20 minute power naps (these work magical wonders)
• Find something to laugh at for a few minutes - it'll perk you up and make you pay attention to something :)
• If you must have caffeine, choose green tea over coffee or pop. It has a little caffeine, but also lots of antioxidants 
• Pull on your hair. Gently. This can encourage a little more blood flow into your skull and brain

And here's a fun fact (but not really): If you're having issues with fatigue for an extended period of time, get checked for a UTI. In some cases, fatigue can be the only sign of an urinary tract infection.

So, that's my list, but what I have I missed? What do you do to fight that midday fatigue?

Sleeping Personalities

I found this video on WebMD about how our sleeping positions may be correlated with our personalities. It's kind of interesting.

http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/video/sleep-personality?ecd=wnl_lbt_013013&ctr=wnl-lbt-013013_ld-stry&mb=cZ9pkhWUenx05H1LQQckaOHnVev1imbCTyD2SkK3pU4%3d

I'm fairly certain I sleep primarily in the fetal position, but I match more of the personality traits listed with the "soldier" position. So I'm not entirely sure if I buy this idea yet, but it's interesting nonetheless.

What position to do you sleep in? Does your personality match your sleeping position according to the video?

Road Trips

I often find myself getting a headache after I've been driving for a couple hours or so, which is sad because I love driving and road trips. I'm not really sure why this is, but I have a couple ideas.

I'm far-sighted, and not very much so, so I only have reading glasses that I usually only use at night. When I try wearing them while walking or driving, I get a little dizzy and get some motion sickness. It's hard for my eyes to process things that are far away while I'm moving and wearing my glasses, which inevitably gives me a headache. But maybe my eyes just have a hard time adjusting to the constant objects moving while driving?

I've also noticed that my head slightly tilts forward when pointed forward for a long period of time, like when I'm at my computer, watching tv, or driving. After a while, this creates a kink in my neck, which can become a tension headache. But I don't always notice the kink before the headache, so I'm not sure if that's what's causing these headaches either.

It's hard to say. It could be a combination of these two issues or something else entirely. Either way, it makes the drive home to Iowa a little tough, and hard to enjoy my first nights back home.

If you've got any suggestions or ideas, I'd love to hear them! :)