I have three migraine triggers: not eating enough, not sleeping enough, and not exercising enough. My body basically demands that I make healthy choices. Most nights I have a small snack right before going to sleep.
Oh Thursday, I didn't.
I was so tired that night that I figured I was still full from dinner and didn't need to cram one more thing into my already-sharing-space belly. Besides, I wasn't ravenous, that meant I should be safe from the big scary migraine.
I shouldn't have been surprised on Friday morning when I realized I had a migraine coming on towards the end of breakfast. I medicated myself, cleaned-up from the meal, ushered the boys into their bedroom, and begged them to play nicely while I lay down on Peter's bed with my eyes closed. While it wasn't all smooth sailing, the boys did let me sleep for a whole hour, uninterrupted, in the same room. I don't think that's ever happened before. By the time Bryan came home from lunch I only had some phantom pain left. The boys and I were even able to play outside with friends in the afternoon. I was glad the migraine had run it's course quickly.
The next morning I woke up during the 4 am hour to run to the little girls' room (and by run, I mean try not to walk into the wall because my eyes are half open). While washing my hands I looked in the mirror and couldn't figure out what was wrong with my eyes. One looked higher than the other. After ten seconds of staring I realized what the problem was: I was having another migraine.
I get those totally awesome migraines where I loose part of my peripheral vision, then I get the funky flashing lights (which make things look odd and disjointed, i.e. my unbalanced eyes), then various body parts go numb, then the vice-like pain starts on one side of my head or the other. If the pain is on the left side, I can't speak, at least, I don't make sense. And reading feels like I'm trying to force my brain to comprehend a language it's never seen before. If the pain is on the right, then I fall down a lot and have no coordination.
I prefer falling to being unable to communicate.
I woke up on Sunday with another one. Then on Sunday afternoon I got a fourth one. At first I thought it might just be the same one coming back, but when it switched sides I knew that theory was blown.
Here's the thing that I don't understand: the first migraine followed my normal pattern (I could identify the trigger), but the other three have no discernible source. Bryan suggested they might be caused by pregnancy hormones. I think I would cry if that were the case, because I would have another nineteen-and-a-half weeks to go of crazy pain and an inability to function.
I keep telling myself that the migraines are done. However, due to the fact that most of them have started in the morning, I'm kind of afraid to go to sleep...
*Can anyone name the movie?
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6 comments:
What does your doctor say about your migraines?
Perhaps your growing child is drawing nourishment from you so that what you are eating is not enough.
I agree with Marc's theory. It would explain why the migraines are coming on in the middle of the night/morning since that is when you are most likely to be hungry.
Mary Poppins
Yeah, you could try setting an alarm and waking up in the middle of the night to have a snack so your blood sugar level and everything stays up.
I've never had a real migraine before, but with both pregnancies around 20ish weeks, I've had what is called an ocular migraine. There's no pain involved, but as it comes on gradually, the center of my field of vision slowly goes away. It'll start like a small dot and then grow into a bigger shimmery circle where my surroundings should be. It stay for 10-15 minutes, and then it slowly starts to subside. These are the only two of these I've ever had in my life.
I guess my point is that pregnancy does weird and crazy things to our bodies. It's possible that it's pregnancy hormone or whatever related, but I hope it's a simple fix with just eating more. I would definitely bring it up at your appointment though.
I'm really excited to find out if the kids will be getting another boy cousin or if the ratio is start to turn in Clara's favor with a girl cousin. :) There were 9 of us, cousins that is, and only 2 girls, so I know what it's like to be outnumbered. :p
Anyway, this is epic long, but I hope you get to feeling better!
I hope you get to the root of the problem soon and can do something about it. What does your doctor say? I'm happy the boys let you sleep for a bit. They pulled through when you needed them to entertain themselves. Small but wonderful blessings abound! We'll keep you in our prayers!
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