WWQP Bulletin Board Chat

TUESDAY AM

Got up at 5:30 yesterday to make sure I got to guild early as I was on the hook for refreshments this month. Came straight home after lunch with pal and all I could think about was a nap. Got here and Shadow decided that since she had slept away the first half of the day she needed Mom to entertain her...end of nap. Went to bed at 10:30 and was oblivious to the world until about 3 and after an urgent trip to the loo was wide awake and had nagging ache in the shoulder...end of sleep. RATS!! Dontcha just hate it when that happens? I have almost nothing on the calendar for today so was going to finish the few remaining blocks for DD wedding quilt but I'm strung out. Guess I'll do it anyway. Need to take time today for serious exercise too. Fell of the Weight Watcher Wagon for another few days. I guess if I were living in Nashville right now I wouldn't have a lot of sympathy for me. Just pass the wine; I have the cheese.

Doris, I can relate to the 4 AM migraine. I used to get them at exactly the same time of day. It was usually preceded by a crippling tension headache during the previous day which can be as daunting as the migraine. Invariably that happened when I had a jury trial. Immediately after my closing argument during jury instructions I would realize that my head was about to explode. Added to the stress of the trial I often was too wound up or too busy researching for case law in the library to back me up in closing to have eaten anything at noon so low blood sugar contributed to the mix. While waiting for a verdict the prosecutor and I would often commiserate with each other with respect to our headaches. Win, lose or draw I would close the curtains in my bedroom and be in a fetal position in bed when Al got home. All that would be followed with the middle of the night dream about having brain surgery and I would wake with the sickening pounding over my left ear when the tension headache morphed into a migraine. The latter sometimes lasted for several days. This pattern existed long before the trial days of my life, starting in my teens but only a couple of times a year. The early birth control pills of high hormone dosage just about did me in with headaches lasting many days. That's when I did permanent damage to my stomach by taking huge quantities of aspirin in a vain attempt to bring it under control. Did I see a doctor for this? It never occurred to me. I don't think they had much for it in those days. That was considered of no medical consequence as it was primarily a problem affecting just women. Anyway, I had one whopper within a few weeks of retirement in '91 during a very serious marital crisis and haven't had one since then which landed me in an emergency room. Duh, does that tell us something children? I've read in the not too distant past that stress is not a migraine trigger. Yeah, right. For many it is chocolate, red wine or caffeine. For me the biggy is stress. I loved, all but reveled in the adrenalin rush of a trial, winner or loser and still miss it in a way. But, I sure don't miss the pain. I can't tell you how often the young prosecutor would approach me in the hall outside the courtroom while the jury was deliberating asking, "Hey, Jane, have you got some aspirin?" so obviously my reaction was not unique. Trouble was the aspirin was absolutely useless but you get so miserable you'd take cyanide if you thought it might help.

Hmm, I wonder if I could catch a few ZZZZZs now that it's 6:30. Think I'll give it another try.

Jane

posted by Jane in NC @ 4:46 AM