A Double Dose of Migraines

I've had migraine headaches since I was nine years old. Up until three years ago, I would get several a week most of the time. As you might imagine, over the years, I've learned to live with them and how to handle one when it occurs. I know what meds work for me and what don't; I know what can trigger a migraine and how to avoid those triggers.

So, my migraines, while unpleasant, have been manageable for the most part throughout my life.

(And on a positive note, it was because of my migraines that we discovered my brain tumor in 2000. While not the source of the migraines, it is still good to know about it in case it begins to grow and cause problems.)

One of my migraine triggers is stress, which is awfully hard to avoid. So, with my mother having broken her arm and wrist coupled with it being parent/teacher conference week, it was no surprise to feel one coming on at 5:30 this morning.

What was a surprise was its severity. It was the miserable type where I lose my vision in addition to having the searing headache. Those are extremely rare for me - not even once a year do I get those. I just had one of them only a month or so ago, so having another this soon afterward was an unexpected (and unwelcome) surprise.

And an even bigger surprise was to have a second loss of vision an hour later. Despite having taken my medication and gone to bed in a quiet, darkened room.

That has NEVER happened.

I don't know quite what to make of it and am wondering if I ought to let my doctor know. Because of the brain tumor, I am supposed to report any unusual headaches, vision problems, dizziness, or loss of balance. (Those could indicate that the tumor is growing or pressing on something.) I would definitely call today's double loss of vision highly unusual!

Luckily Craig was home and was able to administer  a priesthood blessing. That plus the meds enabled me to get through the day and attend my before and after school conferences.

One of those conferences was with the mother who had sent the blistering email a few weeks ago, threatening to pull her son out of my class. I was not looking forward to my conference with her, and now suspect that subconsciously I was more stressed over it than I realized. And that that was the trigger for the double migraine I had.

Fifteen hours later I am still feeling the effects with pain in my right temple and at the base of my skull. The conference with that unhappy mother is over (and it went surprisingly well) and, even though I have six conferences tomorrow and another eight on Thursday, I am not dreading any of them like I was hers.

Here's hoping that any remaining stress from conferences will not lead to another migraine.

Or two.