It has been so long since this subject popped up, but the other day I had a close call with an old enemy. I call him Misery, the textbooks call him Headache.
It is no secret that I hate headaches. I have struggled some with them and have done some rambling about Misery in the past (see here, here, and here). But honestly, for quite some time now, the little nuisances have been largely out of mind (no pun intended). I went through a patch a while back where I was getting a headache just about every day and was fighting off a migraine a few times a month. Then, I got pregnant and like magic, they were gone! Sweet bliss! I had one pretty bad migraine (read: absolutely the worst of my life, horrific pain, vomiting, the works, lets not go there) during my first trimester. But aside from the occasional lack of sleep or not enough water type buggers, since then I have been mostly Misery free! :) I had hoped this would happen. Sometime around my 34 week mark my OB asked me how my headaches were. When I told him it had been several months since I last had one, he seemed very un-surprised. He said I probably had hormonal migraines, a fairly common side-kick for women who suffer from excessively miserable monthly feminine stuff... me to a tee. I had speculated about hormonal headaches before, but had had migraines that were so sporadic (or seemed to be anyway) that I had just logged the thought away. He suggested that after the baby came to keep a headache journal, watch for trends, and if the headaches and times of the month did indeed seem to match up to let him know. Apparently this kind of migraine is very treatable. Well, the baby came, I got back on schedule, and apparently the doctor was right. They do seem to match up. Not only has the monthly stuff been way less punishing (SO happy for that), but the headaches have not really come back at all. Paradise! If hormonal headaches really are easily treatable I wouldn't know, I never needed it.
Needless to say I have a very empty headache journal.
The close call the other night I've decided to write off as a fluke. It was a super busy night at work and the bugger was scared away easily. I have had little ones like that more consistently here and there. But again, they've been hardly noticeable and nothing like they used to be. Mostly they've just served as reminders that I haven't seen Misery for a while... not that I am complaining about that at all.
My conclusion for now: pregnancy is magic! Though I'm sure some women wouldn't agree, for me it seemed to do the trick. I have happily retired the type writer as far as the definitive work on headaches goes, and I am hoping to keep letting the dust collect.
Now... having penned this all out I've probably doomed myself to a bout with bad headaches. Isn't that how things go?
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