Migraines are fun

If by fun you mean something totally unrelated to fun, then the migraine I am having right now is oh-so-fun! Like a Fun-O-Rama!

Have you ever had the kind of migraine that is foreshadowed with partial temporary blindness? Those are the best. For me, at first I’ll see a little patch somewhere in my vision of what looks at first like the “burn” from looking at a light too long, except that it’s flashing quickly through a variety of colors… Then that patch starts to grow, and as it grows I realize that I’m not so much seeing a patch of something fill my vision as much as my brain is trying to fill in the increasingly large lack of vision I am experiencing… Usually it effects both sides of my vision, but today I managed to lose 90% of the vision in my left eye and just a tiny patch of the vision (just above center) from the right eye.

The blindness usually doesn’t last longer than 30-60 minutes, and during that period, I usually don’t experience pain in my head. I do sometimes experience problems with coordination and with standing or walking without help. Then, as my vision clears up, the “blindingly” painful headache creeps in. I become more sensitive (in a pain way) to bright lights and sounds seem magnified. I have trouble concentrating. The pain is nearly overwhelming.

I know the problem is due to blood-flow restriction followed by the release of toxins when the blood-flow becomes unrestricted, so the only thing I could do is try to take plenty of deep breaths from the moment I relaize I’m losing my vision, to try to get oxygen to where it needs to be to keep my brain functioning and maybe help reduce the effects of the migraine. Now, I have a pretty good tolerance to pain, so even when experiencing something as sever as this, I am still able to function on some levels. Like, I can sit up, and I can still read and think (though slower than normal, and again, sometimes confused). I’m not sure I’d trust me to ride a bike at the height of one of these headaches, since I usually have trouble keeping my balance just standing. I found a hat to cover my eyes, but they still feel like they’re bleeding. Trying to take tech support calls is almost ridiculous. The glow of the CRT hurst my eyes; I have to type with my eyes closed.

FYI, the blindness cleared up around 11:30, and the headache is stll roaring. I’m hoping that it has cleared up or reduced acceptably before I am supposed to get on my bike at 3. Typing this has been a slow-going chore, but has distracted me from the headache a little.