Cycles

One day I'm going to realize that what they say about "pain cycles" with NDPH are true. Those green days turn yellow, then red, then fade back to more tolerable levels. It seems that thunderstorms team up with my hormone cycles to really hit me hard. I think the mindfulness meditation exercises I've been practicing for my research study group have helped somewhat. But this afternoon I decided it was time for injections again. Actually, it's something I've been contemplating for days, but haven't forced myself to do. The anticipation of the shots puts my head through the roof! The other night I went to bed at 7:30pm to see if the extra sleep would do the trick without the needles. It seemed to work great, until I woke up to storms! Blah.

The nurse told me when she showed me how to give myself the shots that the first time would be the worst, and after that it would get easier. Not the case for me. The first time I didn't know any better! Now I know the stick is bad, injecting the medicine is bad, the cramping and sore muscles afterward are bad. The drowsiness (phenergan) is good, and the eventual headache relief (DHE) is good. The possibility of having to repeat injections for relief is bad, however.

Tonight it took me ages to work up the nerve to do the shots. And unfortunately, somewhere in the process, the needle of one wasn't screwed on tightly so I lost most of the medicine when I started to push the plunger. Based on the fact that I did it almost two hours ago and I'm still awake, I'm assuming the lost medicine was the phenergan. Ordinarily I would remember which syringe had which med, but I put them down and walked away so many times I lost track.

I keep thinking there has to be an easier way to get relief. Ice packs, rest, and meditation only go so far. Then I get desperate. I'm feeling better now - minus an ultra sore leg - and hoping that it continues for awhile. I'm going to the neurologist again on Tuesday. Not sure what to expect really. I'm not really interested in trying another preventative ("preventatives" for NDPH just aim at keeping your pain on the low end on a daily basis, for me that would be 5/10 or less) since my pain generally stays low on its own, and I have had so many bad reactions to meds. If there is anything I can do to avoid pain spikes during storms and my period though, I would gladly sign up for it! (As long as it doesn't involve needles!)