Warning: contains self pity

I have missed three days off work in the past fortnight due to migraines. That's migraines, not headaches. The words are not synonymous. It's like comparing a below the knee amputation with a broken toenail. Just not in the same category.

Symptoms vary from person to person but mine will include most of the following:

A headache so bad that I can't lift my head from the pillow because of the pain.
Disturbed vision, so that I can't focus properly.
Nausea/vomiting.
Loss of feeling in my hands.
Disturbed speech, in that I forget some words, and get word order wrong.
Sensitivity to light, sound and strong smells.

I've known for many years that one of my triggers is citrus fruits, to the point where just the thought of drinking orange juice makes me wince because of the association with pain. I have now discovered this week that I am so sensitive to citrus fruits now that I can't even tolerate a thin spread of houmous, because of the lemon juice content.

As my dentist will testify, suffering from migraines to the extent of one a week during my teens has left me the tooth enamel of a bulimic. I had to take yesterday off work, not because I still felt ill from the migraine, but because I still couldn't focus properly and therefore couldn't look at a VDU. I spent yesterday at home doing housework, as being unable to watch telly or read left me with few other options to fill the day. Even today, two days on from the actual attack, I'm still a little woozy and disorientated.

Each attack I've had in recent times has made me nervous, after somebody I know dismissed their symptoms as one of their usual migraines for days before being diagnosed with a brain haemorrhage. As I'm incapable of even putting a sentence together during an attack, rational thought doesn't even come into it.

So to prevent myself from getting migraines I have to avoid the following: citrus juice, cheese, red wine, caffeine, dehydration, too little sleep, too much sleep, stress, lack of stress ( you're more likely to get a migraine at the weekend or on holiday as you relax) or catching a virus (the Cosmic Joker decress that if I'm already off work and in bed anyway, I might as well have a migraine as well). Being a woman and having periods isn't much help either, adding another reason why me and my homones are not best of friends.

After going to see my doctor last night and stating "I told you those things don't work for me", I have now been given what I am assured to be much stronger drugs. I still have little faith in them, but have promised to at least try them before my doctor will give me the prescription I really want, which is for 1mg tablets of Sanomigran to stop me getting the bastard things in the first place...

OK, I'm done now.

No pity required. Just needed to get it off my chest.