Migraines - week four

I don't talk much about my neurological fun and games in this blog as I've got a separate stroke diary for that but today I'm in the mood for a whine.

Over three weeks ago on Saturday I had a bad migraine. Now migraines are not triggered by a single event, it's a combination of things which together take you above a certain level, but in this case I would point the finger at one of our hosting ISPs who didn't do a good job on a server move on Thursday night leaving me coping with the fall out on Friday.

Migraines are the biggest problem I'm left with after my stroke. I don't often get the "aura", the lightshow which precedes it, and often I don't even get the headache - something which confuses non-sufferers for whom the word "migraine equals "bad headache". It's not. The headache is just one part of the whole package. It's also something which for me and for many migraines sufferers these days is the least of the issues as there is a family of good drugs called triptans which sort out the headache. It's the "resolution and recovery" phase that screws me up and there's no drugs for that.

There's an excellent leaflet online from the City of London Migraine Clinic that explains about migraines and their phases. Required reading if you're a sufferer or you know someone who is and in particular I refer you to the diagram on page two.

Anyway since then I've had a migraine at least every other day, probably more like two in three. Sometimes full blown, sometimes without a headache, sometimes starting late in the day rather than when I wake up (the latter being better as I'm usually at least vaguely normal by the evening). I've spent hours in bed sleeping them off, I lost most of the weekend before last (we were going to go walking, instead I was in bed while Beth tiptoed about trying not to disturb me). At the risk of "over sharing" I've also been constipated which is a common side effect as migraines tend to make you wee a lot so you get a bit dehydrated.

I think the one which really pissed me off most was on Thursday last week. By then I'd got to the point where I'd stopped working completely, I'd pretty much done nothing all week except watch DVDs, read and sleep. Anyway it was a very nice day for mid November with bright sunshine and I was feeling OK so I decided to go for a walk in the country park and fill in some gaps in the photos we had for our new Milton Country Park web site. So I did that and I took some decent photos. There's a report online here. What it doesn't tell you is what happened as I was taking the last photo.

When I was furthest away from home I suddenly noticed I couldn't see all the indicators in the viewfinder. Yup, it was an aura. The first one I've had for about six months. I had to find my way to a park bench and wait for it to wear off before I could see clearly enough to weave my way home. The only good news was that I did have the right drugs on me (I always carry them) so I popped that immediately and the headache wasn't too bad. It still took me out for the rest of the day mind you.

Friday was worse and I spent more time in bed.

But then it was over. Saturday was great. We went and walked around the Grafham Water perimeter path. Sunday I pottered about. Monday was fine. Monday night I went to see Andy Hamilton live in Cambridge at a Red2Green charity gig.

And then today I woke up with another bloody migraine. Growl.