Such A Pain

Well, as a couple of you know, I've been suffering from migraine-like headaches for about a week and a half now. Considering that in the past I rarely got headaches, they came as quite a surprise, and have been the worst I've ever had! The pain is basically centered on the right side at the back of my head, and it feels like my head is pulsating and pounding, following a swift hit with a baseball bat or something. I've never had headaches like this, and they're starting to complicate things. I read that migraines can make you feel "dull and slow witted," and I can definitely attest to that fact. They've turned me into an idiot. It's hard to think sometimes, through the pounding pain in my head. I was doing things like forgetting to take a call that was on hold for me at work and forgetting to get a guy's name and phone number that we needed to call about a computer purchase; little things that would be second nature usually, but which have become ever increasingly difficult to focus on.

I went to the doctor the other day, and they hooked me up to an EKG machine. It took 2 different people a couple tries to get a reading (and even then they said it was a little odd looking), but the doctor informed me that the EKG was normal, and that nothing was wrong with my heart (as far as they could tell anyway.) They took my blood pressure, and it was a little elevated/borderline (130/90), but the doctor was like "It's not high enough to seriously worry about, and you're too young to go on blood pressure medication, because once you start on it, you have to take it for the rest of your life." She prescribed a diuretic to try and flush my system, which will hopefully lower my blood pressure somewhat because it will push salt out of my body. She also told me the obvious (eat less fat and salt, and get more exercise), and suggested that I get an eye exam in case it was a problem with my eyes that was causing the headaches. She also prescribed some headache medicine (Fiorocet) that had a pain killer, APAP, and caffeine in it, and that was supposed to be good for headache pain (I don't think it's been that helpful yet.) She told me to schedule a full physical sometime in the near future, and to come back in 2 weeks to have my blood pressure checked again. She said if the headaches were still around at that time, then they'd send me for a CT scan, and visit with a neurologist.

Well, I decided that the pain killers they gave me weren't working very well, and asked the pharmacist at the local Wal-Mart if there was anything I could take at the same time, that wouldn't cause problems with the medication I was already on. He suggested a couple OTC pain killers, and I decided to go with Excedrin Migraine. I took 2 tablets this morning, before work, and I was basically headache free until the last hour or so of my shift, when the headache came back with a vengeance! It hurt to move, to talk, to even think, and was some of the worst pain I've experienced yet. When I came home, I decided to take a Fiorcet again, and I also took a Flexeril, a muscle relaxer they prescribed to me when I was having back problems again several months ago. The doctor told me to take that to help with any pain and tightness in my neck that might be caused by the headaches.

So right now, the pain is more or less gone, but on the drive home it was basically making the whole right side of my head throb and ache, and just feel "weird." I really do not like having these migraines (or whatever they are), and I can definitely sympathize now with anyone who suffers from chronic migraines. They are horrible, and I wouldn't wish them on anyone. They just make life and every day simple activities miserable and difficult to accomplish, and as I mentioned earlier, they're starting to affect my work.

So I have Friday off this week, and I may return to the doctor, if my head is still hurting (and I expect it to be, unfortunately) and set up a time and place to get a CT scan (or MRI...whatever they decide would work best.) Hopefully the headaches are being caused by something simple that once it's discovered can be easily remedied. But there are too many other things that could be causing this pain, and most of them are not good. I'll keep everyone posted on the situation as I find out more.

Oh, as a side note, I went to get my eyes checked after the doctor visit (something I haven't done in at least 10 or 15 years), and the doctor said that while I have perfect vision (10-20 basically, about the best you can get), I have about a 1/4 astigmatism in each eye, my left eye is a little stronger than my right eye, and I'm somewhat far sighted. He said that in 5-10 years I'll have trouble focusing on things up close (of course I'll be middle aged at that time, so I'd expect that sort of thing anyway! lol) He also told me something that explained why my eyes always feel tired. He said that my eyes are in a "constant state of focus," kind of like on a camera that has autofocus which you activate by pushing the shutter button half way down. The lenses of the camera move in and out, continually focusing on the object they're pointed at. That's basically what my eyes are doing...constantly adjusting to keep things in perfect focus. This is turn is tiring my eyes out, and making them sore. He said that if I got glasses, I wouldn't notice any change in the clarity of what I was looking at (because my vision is still extremely good), but that the lenses would help to relax my eyes, and make it easier to focus on stuff, alleviating some of the strain that's being placed on them now. So that's just one more thing to think about in the near future.

Right now I just want to get rid of these headaches, and try to get back to some semblance of a normal life. Lots of changes are happening at work, and with OfficeMax as a whole, and I can't afford to miss any days due to severe headaches during a time when a lot of people are losing their jobs because the company is downsizing. So hopefully I'll get the situation taken care of soon, and will get back to enjoying a headache free existence! I'll post more as I know more. Sorry this is so long; I guess I just needed to ramble again. :)