WARNING!
This is going to be something of a whiny post…turn back now if you don’t wish to read my griping.
Ok…but don’t say I didn’t warn you…
Yesterday (Wednesday) I had my 7th migraine in 2 months. The pain in my head was severe, as usual, and it started the way it usually does, with the aura and general weird feeling. But this time in addition to the headache/nausea/numbness/auras/sensitivities, I also had EXTREME, all-over body aches. My neck, shoulders, back, hips, knees…you name it hurt. A lot.
I realize pain is subjective, but I have always had a rather high pain tolerance so, the fact that the pain in my muscles and joints brought me to tears is really saying something. I have no idea what caused it, but it scared me. There were no positions that didn’t hurt. I tried a heating pad, didn’t help. I tried a hot bath, didn’t help. I tried ibuprofen, didn’t help. The only time I was not in pain…was when I was asleep. Which, I’ll grant you was a lot of the day yesterday…but I haven’t had that kind of pain in a really long time, and I’ve never experienced it during a migraine.
It still hasn’t gone away yet, I’m still extremely achy today. My back and hips especially. Perhaps I was sleeping in some weird positions, and that’s what’s causing it now…who knows. But It’s still pretty bad. All day sitting in a terrible chair at work probably hasn’t helped either…
Anyway…whining over….
In other news, I went to see the vampires today. Had a fairly decent blood draw. Only down side really was she had to dig around for the vein, and did blow thru it…but everything else went smoothly. Hopefully my numbers are looking good 🙂
As always, be assertive, proactive and persistent.
Lina
The Life of a Vaguely Neurotic MPN Patient 
My daughter also had severe migraines when she was a teenager and newly diagnosed with ET. I too had them and figured out they were hormonal in nature. We couldn’t always be sure what caused hers but since she is in remission from ET, she hasn’t had any migraines. I hope yours go away as they are so debilitating.
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I’ve actually had migrains since I was 10 years old, had my first one during standardized testing in the 5th grade…terrified me. But my mother and sister both have migraines as well, so they were able to convince me I wasn’t dying at the time lol.
As far as migraines now, since my ET diagnosis I have had many, many migraines…and it has been explained to me that one of the common triggers for migraines can be serotonin. Serotonin is carried by platelets, and with large numbers of platelets running around in your brain, that’s a LOT of extra serotonin. So my doc has actually prescribed me an SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) to try and work as a preventative, along with topamax). I can’t tell if that really does anything, to be honest…but it hasn’t made them any worse, that I’ve noticed. lol
I hope your daughter is doing well!
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My major headaches, which I think are hormonal, not yet caused by my ET, have been less painful and occur less often after I started to take daily magnesium supplements. I read a book, the magnesium miracle that stated most people are low of this important Minerials. It’s something to look into to.
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Thanks for the suggestion, Kelly! I have actually had migraines since I was 10 years old, unfortunately. So I’ve been on just about every treatment imaginable. You name it, we’ve tried it. Most recently, what seems to be working best is my SSRI. Platelets are carriers of serotonin. Serotonin is strongly associated with migraines. With such high numbers of platelets, there is a lot more serotonin milling around in my system than usual. So taking a selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitor, can help alleviate the migraines. It’s probably all in my head (bad pun…) but it seems to have worked. I have been having fewer migraines over the last several weeks than usual.
Hope you are well 🙂
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