62. May 10th, 2011 Picture.

I was at a happy hour after work, celebrating one of my co-workers new positions, when I got hit with a migraine.  They come out of nowhere typically, sometimes I can feel one coming on, but that's rare.  It starts with a spot of blurry lights in the center of my vision, almost as if I looked at a car's headlight, like that spot you have when someone takes a picture with flash.  The blob is moving, almost pulsating and has jagged, brightly lit edges.  Honestly, it's so bizarre that the first time I got a migraine my mom thought I was having a stroke.  I get these auras right before the headache comes on, and they last for about 30 minutes.  They start at the center of my vision and it slowly grows, eventually wiping out my entire line of sight.  It appears to only happen in my right eye, which means the headache will be on the left side of my head - this sounds crazy right?  Right.  Totally thought it was a stroke.

Once I can't see anymore, the blurry blob starts to move out to the edges of my eye, I can actually see and feel it moving behind my eye, into my head.  Once I can finally see again I get smacked with a dull painful headache at the base of my head, and an insatiable hunger.  No honestly, I do.  I left the happy hour last night, stopped off at Tasty Burger, got a bacon cheeseburger and onion rings, for the record I don't even LIKE onion rings, ate the entire thing while sitting on my bed in a hoodie and was STILL hungry.  So I ate 3 mini Krackles.  I could have easily eaten another order of onion rings, and maybe but definitely a frappé, but I wasn't totally sure my heart would make it.

Now, here's the weird thing.  Even though migraines are totally miserable and usually debilitating, though they've gotten better, I used to have to go to sleep for at least 3 hours every time I got one, I don't like to take medication for them.  I don't have a prescription and I probably wouldn't use it even if I did.  Usually you can't take medications until the migraine hits, and there is no treatment for auras, which are usually the worst part, plus I hate how drowsy they make me feel.  I pretty much always have Excedrin Migraine on me, which is a delicious cocktail of acetaminophen, Ibuprofen and caffeine, but I only like to take those if I get a migraine while I'm at work, or out doing something.  Since this time around I knew I'd be heading home shortly, I opted to skip the meds.

Am I the only one that is wary of pills?  I don't like taking painkillers unless absolutely necessary, I had a visceral reaction to percocets once and don't even get me started on cold medicine, plus I don't like and/or really believe in vaccines and have stopped getting flu shots.  My mom thinks I'm crazy, but I just don't like the idea of over medicating.  If I'm honestly sick, of course I'm going to take something.  If I have to get on a boat, plane or bus I'm popping a Dramamine, maybe even 2, so I'm not totally insane.  I'd just rather take something when I'm really sick, rather when I just feel blah.  I think our bodies can handle a lot more than we give it credit, so if I can get by without taking 3 Advil at a time, I'm gonna do it.  That doesn't make me nuts, right?