Before last year I never knew what it was like to experience a migraine. Keith has talked about the ones he has had, and I’ve heard about what others have encountered with theirs. I never imagined how painful migraines could actually be… One of the first times I got a migraine it lasted for two days and I had to take off work. I even laid in bed crying, looking up ways to get rid of it, or at least reduce the pain. Which made it even worse, I’m sure, because how else am I going to look up those ways aside from staring at a screen. My top suggestions to get rid of the pain are to be in a room of complete darkness, use a heating pad on the base of your neck, use an ice pack on your forehead, and essential oils on your temples. Maybe not all at the same exact time but I think you get the gist!

For those of you who can’t relate to the agonizing pain of migraines… 1. I am SO jealous, especially because I use to be like you 2. A migraine feels as if gravity is pushing ALL it’s force onto your head. I could just simply say that it feels like the worse headache you’ve ever experienced times a hundred but that does not justify it. Maybe even like someone is squeezing your head to make it pop but honestly it is hard to explain when you have not experienced it for yourself. I have gotten them in all areas of my head but the frontal for me is the MOST intense. Recently, I have actually been feeling it in the temporal, like around my ears… behind, under, how does that happen???

Lately, I feel like migraines are consuming my life. I have taken off work on a few different occasions due to them, and I don’t want to continue doing so. The last time I took off, I used essential oils for the first time to see if they would make some kind of a difference. Even just to make the pain more bearable would be a start. Peppermint and lavender are suppose to be good for headaches. I applied a drop of peppermint on each temple and just laid down. After a short while I fell asleep so I’m not exactly sure if it did the trick. I am not a very big fan of taking Advil or any pain relievers. I would rather hope for the pain to just go away naturally so the oils are a better alternative. I did try taking Advil migraine one night, which I didn’t even know that was a thing, but I figured it would be stronger and help… It didn’t.

I have been struggling and struggling, and I’ve finally had enough. I have FINALLY got to the doctor to see what they can do for me. There HAS to be something, right? Well, while I was there she asked me how often I get them, if they occur around my period, all that kind of stuff. I probably get them one to two times a month, which to me sounds like too much considering I have not gotten them EVER, before now. I haven’t considered the time around my period but I will take notice of this now. It’s amazing how many screwed up things occur because of a period… The doctor gave me some pills to take so she can see how I would feel in just the few minutes. She left me to take the pills and lay back in the room with the lights off. The pills made me feel worse but she prescribed them to me to take. I actually got to the pharmacy, heard the price and said, never mind. I felt bad for the girl helping me but I was not paying for pills that made me feel worse… I’ll deal with it.

I was advised to go to a neurologist to look further into this since the doctor didn’t take tests, or anything like that. That’s exactly what I planned to do SO I started looking into ones that took my insurance. I came across one that is five minutes from my job so I set an appointment. Not only was this office five mins from my job but the doctor has great reviews. I could agree with his online rating but one thing that stuck in my mind was that he didn’t ask about any allergies… This probably just stood out to me because I am allergic to a medication so if the prescription he gave me had that, that would’ve turned out wonderful… I asked so it wasn’t a big deal, just every doctor I’ve been to has asked. As I mentioned, I am not the person that likes to take medication so I hoped that he didn’t prescribe me something I have to take daily. I have a check up in five weeks so hopefully I have good news to report back with!

Go figure the day of, I woke up with a migraine. I suffered through work and stuck out the day to make it to my appointment and to not lose another day from work. The pills that I was prescribed are to take only when I have a migraine, which I am fine with. This actually really worked out because I got to try them out the day I got them. To my surprise they worked very well! It probably took about an hour and the migraine, nausea and all the pain was gone. Although the next morning when I got to work I started to get a migraine again… It seems that whenever I get a migraine I can’t shake the two day pain. Luckily, I did have the pills to take, and it didn’t come back that day.

Side note on something RANDOM thought that I took away from this visit was how crazy doctors notes are. Not the slips that they give to show you had an appointment but the notes they take when they ask questions. This guy is writing at the top right of the page, the bottom then back to the top and it’s always scribbles! I don’t take the best notes but that looked crazy! I just don’t get it but they can understand it, to each his own, lol.

Although I am relieved that I have a temporary solution to this problem, it would be great to have an actual diagnosis. I would like to know the reason behind these migraines, whether it be stress, my diet, or whatnot. Hopefully after sometime seeing the neurologist, he can do something for me to make it so that they will go away. Even if it has to be me to make the change, I’ll need his guidance to go in the right direction.

I hope that anyone reading this doesn’t have to experience what I am going through. If you can relate to this though I hope it makes it easier so that you know you aren’t the only one! Let me know if you have experiences, or what you have done to diminish your migraine aches and pains.

See ya,
Samm 🙂