“Ughs, I don’t want to get up. I don’t want to go to work. I don’t want to roll out of bed, face the day, muddle through the next 10 or so hours. I just want to lay here, bury my face under the pillow, try to block out the light and sound, and sleep.”
For the past few months, that’s been my daily mantra. I may as well have tattooed it across my forehead. Why, you ask? Because for the past few months I’ve had non-stop, neverending migraines. The kind that don’t really peak, don’t really go away.. they just go through this loop of minimizing then “exploding”. They generally start off as “minor” headaches as soon as I wake up. They cause my eyes to squint against the pain, and nothing really makes them go away. Over the course of the day they gradually intensify until, by the end of the night, my head is throbbing. I make it home, fall into bed, wake up a few times throughout the night from the pain, and the cycle starts all over again. This continues daily for a few weeks, gradually getting worse and worse until, finally, I’m in the Emergency Room getting my drug of choice, the lovely Toradol shot (or as I like to call it, liquid lava).
My doctor has been trying to discover the cause of the migraines for a while. Well, supposedly he has. Basically he’s just throwing medications at me. Sure, he did a few tests.. bloodwork: clean (okay, cholesterol a little high, blah blah blah..I’m 42. What do you expect?). CAT scan: clean (hey..there really IS a brain in there. Who knew?). But other than that, it’s “Let’s try this med, too.” I’m like a walking pharmacy these days. Well, unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your perspective), the drugs aren’t working. The last conversation I had with my doc went something like this:
Voodoo Doctor: “I wouldn’t mind trying this drug.”
Me: “What is it?”
Voodoo Doctor: “It’s called Topamax. It’s technically an anti-seizure medication, but it’s used to treat migraines. But it has some side effects.” (I found out later that it’s commonly referred to as “Stupomax”, for good reason)
Me, envisioning some pretty drastic stuff like cranial hemorrhaging or spontaneous appendage growth: “Umm, like what?”
Witch Doctor: “Well, some people say they lose weight.”
Me, looking down at my obviously overweight belly: “Umm, Doc, I wouldn’t mind trying it either, then.”
Doctor-obviously-in-league-with-the-drug-manufacturers: “I’m going to prescribe a second, emergency medication as well. Take it when you feel them getting bad, two hours apart, up to 3 times. If that doesn’t work then come in for your shot.”
This all sounded good to me. I mean, he’s a doctor, right? He’s there to ensure that my safety and health are maintained and my best interests are looked after, right? (Can you feel the sarcasm?)
This emergency medication, which I can’t even begin to pronounce, supposedly works by constricting the blood vessels going into the brain, or some such. It sounds scary to me. But, hey, I don’t really use the thing much anyway. Whatever. Sign me up.
What he DIDN’T tell me is that a couple week after starting the medications, and having the take the emergency medication two days in a row, my brain and I would become like distant acquaintances. You know, the ones that kinda know each other but really don’t communicate? Yeah. Picture leaving work, stopping for gas, starting to pull out of the parking lot, and having absolutely no clue which way you’re supposed to turn to go home. Or having to stop in the middle of your job, a job you’ve been doing for almost a year, and having to ask a co-worker for help because your mind just suddenly went blank. Fun stuff, right?
But wait, what about the title? You said there was relief? Ahhh, there it is.
I’ve been doing a little bit of research (between bouts of drug-induced Alzheimer’s). Turns out that prescription medication isn’t really the only option. There are other, albeit “unproven, unscientific” methods. Namely, a simple little piercing. Okay, I say simple. It wasn’t really that simple. It hurt. I won’t lie. It didn’t hurt quite the way I expected it to, though. It was more of an intense pressure-pop than a pain, really. There are many different spots one can get an ear piercing, but the one in particular that I’m referring to is the tragus.
Wikipedia definition: “The tragus is a small pointed eminence of the external ear, situated in front of the concha, and projecting backward over the meatus.
My definition: “The little flappy cartilage thing that points away from your face and sticks out over the ear hole.” (How’s that for scientific?)
I had it pierced three days ago. I left work for an hour and had it done. I was desperate. Nothing was working. Prescription meds were making me question my sanity, and the migraines were beginning to seriously affect my work and personal life. I had to do something. I had been tossing the idea around for a few weeks. The final straw, so to speak, was a stupid Facebook argument that went something like this:
Random person (RP): “You can’t believe everything you see on the Internet.”
Me: “Of course not, but I do believe the doctor when he says there’s no harm in trying it.”
RP: “I wouldn’t trust a doctor who told you to try something that’s not proven science.”
Of course, I started thinking. There are a LOT of things that aren’t actually scientifically proven, but do work. Things like aromatherapy, herbal remedies, essential oils, acupressure. Why not a piercing? After all, if pressure points are valid, that would make acupuncture valid, right? And if acupuncture is valid, then isn’t a piercing just a somewhat more permanent form? And when you’re dealing with something as intense as daily migraines, isn’t a somewhat permanent solution exactly what you want? So, my mind was made up. That day, when I got to work, I made some calls and found a place who could do it. I got the okay from “Boss Lady” and ran out to have a hole popped into the side of my face.
An hour later I was sitting back at work, feeling the migraine “fighting with itself.” That’s the best way I know to describe it. It felt like it wanted to go away, but it didn’t at the same time. For the rest of the night it hovered like that. I went home, and went to bed. The next morning I woke up, and my brain was confused.
‘Hmm. What’s going on? I don’t..wait…ohhhh. So THIS is what it feels like to not wake up in pain? I LIKE IT!” That evening at work, I’d go outside for breaks, and not want to go back inside. I wanted to sit outside and enjoy the birds chirping, the clouds slowly rolling through the sky..things I really haven’t done in forever because I simply haven’t felt like it. It felt great. People would stop me on the production floor and say things like “You look different” or “You’re not pale like you usually are” or “You look much better.”
Fast forward a few days and here I sit, late at night, in front of the laptop, typing away, pain free. I wish I had thought of it sooner. If you suffer from migraines, think about it. I can’t guarantee that it will work for you. I’m not a doctor. I’m just a guy who’s suffered from almost unbearable migraines for a very long time, and can say that, so far, it’s working for me.
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