8th Headache Anniversary

So my headache anniversary was actually April 5th (And today is June 18th). It's taken me a little while to feel motivated enough to write this post. I'm not exactly sure why. It's not the most painful one, for sure. Maybe I just care less. Or maybe after 8 years what new things can I have to say about it.

How Two Kittens Helped My Infertility Journey

I had a plan for my life. (Like everyone does). Graduate. Marriage. House. Baby. Baby. Dog. Happily Ever After. But as we all have learned. Life never ever goes by our plan.

It's really hard to want a baby and not have one yet. Each month seems like a million years. You try during peak days and then wait.... And then you take a test and another and then your period comes and you wait again to just to wait again... After a while it gets to you.

I'm not proud of this. But it's true. It's torture to see everyone else getting pregnant and having babies and then more babies. People start to pester you as to why you don't have kids yet. It's hard.

Baby fever is all consuming. You dream about having kids and holding them and loving them. And the emptiness of your arms in the morning is almost unbearable. Movies and books about orphans and children who just want mothers is an addiction and a poison. 

My dream come true was Overboard. A woman just wakes up from a concussion and is suddenly the mother to four beautiful boys.

And as always...

Pro Tip: Dyeing you hair different colors helps with all the feelings. Especially is you are a middle child.

How posture and migraine affect migraine- Migraine World Summit Blog Review

Another great couple days at Migraine World Summit 2019. Background information: my neck hurts all the time. All day every day. It's just a piece of my New Daily Persistent Headache. And I've tried sooo many things to make the neck pain ease, just a little (to no avail). So I found this talk FASCINATING.

The day 4 talk was discouraging. I get that neck pain does not create migraine or new daily persistent headache but I need some help managing it. His main point was treating the migraine will treat the neck pain because neck pain is just a symptom of the migraine. BUT what about those of us that can't treat our disorders because they are chronic or intractable. I would LOVE to just treat my headaches but nothing works. Nothing treats them. So in this guy's opinion I'm just stuck.  

But day 5's talk!!!! So so wonderful. Here are all my takeaways.

Introducing Headache Girl! Her powers include:

Nausea (the ability to want to hurl all night while you rock back and forth)

Light sensitivity (the ability to be annoyed by light leak from under a closed door)

Weakness and Fatigue (the ability to sit for hours and not feel rested)

Headache (the ability to look like you are trying to read minds while you trying to rip your own skull off by the temples)

These are by far the most fun/awesome/amazing pictures I have drawn in a while!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dodging False Promises and Treatment Claims- Migraine World Summit 2019 Day One

Wooho!!!!! I love Migraine World Summit time! So much information and learning and community. Here are my thoughts on Dodging False Promises and Treatment Claims with Elizabeth Leroux MD. So I don't have migraines. I have New Daily Persistent Headache but for the sake of Migraine World Summit posts I'll use Migraine and NDPH interchangeable. We are one big family and a lot of things apply to both disorders. Like trying to decided on which treatment to try next and keeping up hope in the mean time.

She started by says that it's natural to want to believe that we will get better. To Hope. I think about hope a lot. She then talked about the history of migraine treatments and how "natural" and "long-standing" treatments aren't always best.

Oh and don't forget leeches! Leeches stand the test of time! Side note: Matt was not impressed with my crocodile drawing but he did like my ducks (spoilers)

Man, I've fallen for a couple of these. It just sounds so good. But I'm always that 5% lol

Repeat this over and over. 

Doctors don't know why one medicine works on one person and not another. What factors are inhibiting relief? What is different about person A's migraine and person B's migraine? who knows. Migraine (and headaches) are weird.

So here is the awesome advice for the talk. Memorize this, Current Megan. And remind Future Megan of this.

Can't wait to listen to Day 2's talks!

If my chronic headaches were a... MOVIE!

If you know me in real life then you'll know that I 

L-O-V-E the movie Groundhog Day. I don't know how many times I've seen it. Something about it is just so rewatchable to me. (I guess that's ironic?) I've talked about how my headache disorder, New Daily Persistent Headache, is the Groundhog Day of headaches. 

But my shot post last spring has not emptied my headache+groundhog day reservoir in my soul. So here is MORE!

Flashback to April 5th 2011.

(I think you should be singing "I've got you babe" for the next couple minutes. Just to put you in the right mental space.😜)

Pro Tip: Changing your hair color often helps keep the crazies away. It's nice to be able to change things. Even small things.

As I like to say "It's a fine, fine life."