Migraines, Part 1

I've been getting migraines once or twice a month for probably the past 6-8 months. On my list of "Most Not-Fun Things to Experience," migraines rank #3 (just below the week-long stomach flu of Christmas 2009 and getting your fingernail ripped out, circa 2003) For the past 3-4 weeks I've had stress/tension headaches pretty much every day.

Yesterday, around lunchtime, I started getting what I thought was one of my daily headaches. I took a couple Tylenol, like I always do, and waited for it to go away. 3 hours later, it had gone from a headache to the start of a migraine. Sidenote: I can tell when it's going to be a migraine. The pressure usually starts in the lower part of my forehead and moves pretty quickly to the back of my head and into my neck and shoulders. I'm sensitive to bright light, and I usually feel nauseous within an hour or two of it becoming a full-blown migraine. End sidenote. Generally, I take some extra-strength Tylenol, go to sleep, and it's gone but this time that wasn't even close to the case. I woke up a few different times during the early morning to get sick from this migraine, and when I got to school my principal sent me home after taking one look at me. Her exact words were "Arbaugh, you're pale and in pain. Go home."

I'm not sure if maybe this one was more extreme because it built off of these daily tension headaches, or if they are just starting to escalate. But no matter what it is, I do not want another one like this. So tomorrow after work I will be going to see the doctor and hopefully getting something to help out. I'll keep you updated.