Thursday, January 21, 2021

My Two Week Headache

*Update:

Husband cooked himself a steak on high heat using a coated pan. I think you can guess what happened, but the doors and windows are all open now and thankfully we don't have any pets or they would almost certainly be dead. My plants that were in the kitchen window that I've lovingly cared for are definitely now dead. I don't *think* this was a passive aggressive message for me to get back to work, but rather the sheer ignorance of someone that doesn't know their way around the kitchen. He could have had a sandwich for lunch, but steak it was. Sigh.


 I've been struggling with a gradually worsening headache for two weeks now. Yesterday, when I woke to the sound of my heart beating loudly in my ear with a thunk thunk thunk reminiscent of the washing machine in the spin cycle, I gave up, made an appointment to be seen by a medical professional. What I got was someone still in their residency that was only a few years older than Danny. He told me he's seen a lot of migraines the past two weeks (no shocker there) and gave me a medicine that was supposed to constrict the blood vessels in my head to knock out the headache. OK, cool. 

About an hour after popping this one-dose miracle pill I'm cooking dinner when I start feeling like maybe I'm going to at long last astral project the hell out of my body. No such luck, so I sat on the floor and talked my husband through finishing cooking dinner before I crawled up to bed and slept for something like 14 hours, got up, had a piss and a cup of tea and then went back to sleep for another 8 hours. I still have the headache and the ear nonsense, but now I'm dizzy and nauseated as well. The dreams were wild though! 

I don't have Covid as far as I know as I was recently tested, and haven't been around anyone, but if this is what I have to look forward to with post-menopausal migraines...I really hope I'm just having a bad episode. Everything else checked out fine with me, so I'm not really worried about anything serious. The young doctor took a listen to my carotid artery to make sure there wasn't a blockage, so in the very worst case the polyp that's been living rent-free in my sinus for several years now has built on a room addition and needs to be evicted. That would explain a lot, and I guess that's the next thing to look at. Sinus surgery in a pandemic isn't very appealing though. 

The timing is bad as my husband starts going back to his office in 3 week rotations with other departments on Monday. This had a year to happen, but shows up when I have to take care of it myself-which let's be realistic, I would be anyway. Maybe someone will run a load of laundry to help out. And maybe hell will freeze over and I will at long last astral project out of my body. When there's standing water in the sink that means you need to run the garbage disposal...the switch is on the wall by the sink...

I did enjoy the inauguration though! As sick as I was, it was a joy to watch. And when I woke up today, for the first time in four years I didn't need to wonder what horrible thing the president did while we were all asleep. That's such a relief, and now I can focus my attention closer to home on the things that really define me like providing cleaning and meal service. 

Here's hoping Biden has a successful presidency, though the bar is so low now, just being merely competent would be fantastic. 



12 comments:

Emily said...

I'm sorry to hear that this headache has been plaguing you for two weeks and that the medication you were given had such strong side effects. It really would be nice if someone at home could help you out with little things like laundry and meal prep while you recover. These "little things" add up to many hours of work over the course of a week, as any homemaker knows.

I was doing my own math the other day, and I was astonished to realize I spend nearly 20 hours a week on laundry, meal prep, dishwashing, and grocery shopping. On some level, breadwinner spouses and children know this, and on some level they don't, just because they're too busy doing their own thing to accurately imagine just how time-consuming these deceptively easy-looking chores can be. If you can think of a way to be a little more assertive in the coming days, maybe the menfolk can pitch in and lighten the load so you can rest. You totally deserve that.

The return to American normalcy feels slow but sure, now that Trump has been sent packing from the White House. I love the idea of having a President who has a basic level of human decency, a healthy respect for science, and many years of political experience on his resume.

Beth Waltz said...

As the little man behind the potted palm used to say: "Verrry interesting. But not funny." My doctor suspects I had the plague back in March. There was a week of feeling unwell, a week of sleeping 12-18 hours/day, and a week of aches and angst. I took Tylenol and stayed home, simply because there was nothing else to be done then.

What sounds familiar about your symptoms is the remark about the dreams during those long sleeps. Remember the Northern Exposure episode wherein the townspeople were having others' dreams? My dreams were lengthy, vivid and featured story lines with returning characters! When awake, I had brain fog and ringing ears. These symptoms dissipated slowly over a few weeks.

I join you in celebrating the deep clean at the White House. There are new brooms -- and there are new brooms. Perhaps now is the time for that tall, sturdy teen in your household to practice his own householder skills? Nothing like on-the-job training from an expert/mom!


Bibi Maizoon said...

Sorry you have been suffering with that miserable headache for so long. I have heard some people suffer the mother of all headaches prior to coming down with the plague. Hope it’s something more benign. I just had mild aches and fever for 3 days then loss of smell for 3 weeks. The hub was the superspreader with the dry hacking and continuous cough for 2weeks (he brought it home from distributing emergency food and supplies donated by the Indian government, thought he would be safe because he wore mask, shield and gloves and stayed in the SUV). The household youngsters had no symptoms whatsoever.
I switched to an old fashioned beta blocker (propranolol) to prevent my skull pounding post menopausal migraines, it does double duty lowering my mildly elevated blood pressure (another miserable recent discovery). Mildly anxiolytic and no side effects too!
I think the White House could use a proper exorcism.
Stay safe!
Xox

Vix said...

I hope that horrible sounding headache sorts itself out, it does sound remarkably like several of my friends' reported Covid symptoms even if you did get a negative.
Wonderful to watch watch Joe Biden's inauguration ceremony although I was distracted by Michelle Obama's amazing outfit, that woman can do no wrong! xxx

Polyester Princess said...

The headaches and ear pounding sound horrific, and I'm wondering what kind of wonder pill that young doctor gave you! If it's post-menopausal headaches, then I can only be glad I've been spared these! Whatever it is, I hope it sorts itself out soon. Meanwhile, I do hope Danny and Mr. ETB step up and do their share of housework. Without causing hazards, I should add! xxx

Anonymous said...

So sorry you are not feeling well. Head aches can really debilitate the unfortunate person who gets them . You certainly might be on to something with the toxic exposure to the fumes of the burnt pan. But 2weeks is a long time to still have after effects from that. Get rid of that pan and anything coated in teflon if you haven't already done so. Is your heater operating properly ( no fumes ) ? Is the air too dry? I never got menopausal headaches Just hot flashes as the heater goes on and off. Take the time to care for yourself . Always best wishes, Gail from PA.

Emily said...

You know what they say: cook a man a steak, and you'll feed him for a day. Let him cook his own steak, and he'll set something on fire. : )

In all seriousness, his appreciation for you will surely grow as he continues to do his own cooking and laundry. You make everything look so easy that a naive onlooker can't help but think there's nothing to it.

Feel better soon.

Hugs,
Emily


winniesgirl said...

The horrible headaches could be caused by trigeminal neuralgia.My husband has suffered with these for years-gets some relief with a combo of anti-seizure and antidepressant meds prescribed by neurologist. Hope you get some relief soon. I have been enjoying your blog & Instagram for quite awhile, but this is my first time commenting. Feel better soon, Kathy

bahnwärterin said...

poor goody.
migraine/headache is the worst - i feel with you and wish you a fast recovering. best without a surgery.
have no tips - but will add that headaches have komplex reasons, a big array of physical and mental ones mixed up together with weather and outer influences like food, medicine, even an insect bite can trigger.
get well soon!

as for men in the kitchen - it is a case of training. and of getting thru the "i´m a man, i know it all" wall. here we have real success now (it took ages) - he helps in the kitchen without being asked, watches my baking and even cooks a (simple) whole meal occasional. beside of his homeoffice job. and without destroing anything :-D

wish you all the best!! xxxxx

Goody said...

@Emily
If I were getting paid for all this work, I'd be well off!

@Beth
It was definitely the medicine making me worse. The migraines have been with me for a long time, they've just got worse with time. Pretty sure it isn't Covid.

@Bibi
Beta blockers make so much sense! I don't know why they had to go for the Imitrex first? Anyway, that's a good suggestion and I'll bring it up next visit. I'm finally clear of the residual nausea/vertigo from it and have just a plain old migraine to deal with. I'm not thinking corona, as all the other symptoms are absent. I also had a recent test.

@Vix
I think it was Trump-induced stress causing the migraines. I'm hearing so many people who were sick over the last two weeks suddenly feeling better. Even Danny was having this terrible outbreak of acne that cleared up the day after the inauguration. Our bodies respond to stress in strange ways. As I type he just came downstairs claiming Joe Biden also cured his constipation :)
Who knew he was such a miracle worker?!?

@Ann
I probably should have started insisting on help 30 years ago-he's pretty set in his ways now.

@Gail
Ah no, the headache was long before the pan incident, which was only yesterday. I did get rid of the pan though-because he ruined it!

@Winnie'sgirl
Hello, and it is always nice to meet a reader. I don't think that's what's going on by the description, but it sounds awful. I'm glad your husband has been able to find a treatment that helps.

@Beate
I was feeling sorry for myself when I posted. I know it is silly to complain about it after 30 years.
I have a couple of autoimmune diseases that are chronic, but generally managed but menopause really threw everything out of working order. A visit to the rheumatologist is probably in order to adjust my medications, but I'd been hoping to avoid it during the pandemic. The menopause itself went easy, but the post-menopause migraines have been annoying though most are only visual auras. Oh well, for my age I'm doing pretty well.

Miss Magpie said...

I do hope you are feeling better now, migraines are the pits. Isn't it always the way that our other halves cause havoc when we are under the weather? xx

Goody said...

@Miss Magpie
Thank you. I guess this is going to be something I need to deal with.