Well, sadly, the beneficial effects of the CoQ10 seem to be ebbing -- as everything else that ever helped seems to have done eventually. I got two-three good months out of it, so I guess that's something. Also, I'm not sure if it helped with my chronic low-grade depression or if that came about because of the relief from pain...
Anyway, today has been, well, not terrible, but just kind of trying.
I had a fun assignment out at a wildlife refuge for most of the morning, but the whole time had the nagging throb of a threatening headache that skimmed a bit of the fun off the surface.
By the time I got back to the office, the signs were unmistakable and it was time to take maxalt. I got it out of my purse and held the packet in my hand, sat there looking at it and thinking about how much I hated the way it made me feel and set it down on my desk. I thought, "well, maybe nothing much will come of it, and if it does, I'll just call in sick tomorrow if I have to. I still have one sick day left to get me through to April 1, when the clock starts again on sick time (yeah, I know, that's a strange timetable for sick time -- too complicated to explain).
But it kept intensifying and thinking about how much worse a full blown migraine feels than the unpleasant side effects of triptan drugs finally persuaded me to just take the damn thing. I did, but when it hadn't had much effect in an hour, I started to think maybe I'd waited too long and braced myself for the onslaught.
It never quite came. I went home and laid on my bed for a while and felt things shifting about inside my skull. Couldn't tell quite what direction things were headed. Now, a couple hours later, I'm feeling the sensations of the maxalt starting to work -- but there's something slightly worrisome: I'm feeling this weird pain at the back of my head, starting near the top and kind of branching down the sides. Not sure what that is and it's something new.
Anyway, it's disappointing about the coQ10 -- I really hoped that might be of some lasting benefit, but I'm back in one of those phases where I've been fighting a headache for about the past 10 days and I start getting worn out with it and worrying about how much worse things might get. I hate myself for all my worrying. It doesn't help anything, and in fact probably makes it worse.
As I said, I'm looking into another option, but I haven't had a chance to get around to making an entry about it here. I will, I promise. But in the meantime, here's a link to a news story about it:
http://www.mlive.com/living/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2009/10/nerve-stimulation_implants_eas.html
Anyway, it seems a little extreme, but I can't say as I really feel that great about taking triptans 10-15 times a month. The literature that comes with the prescriptions says something about an increased risk of stroke, which is something that concerns me.
Soooo... I will try to get to that post about neurostimulation soon, I promise, oh my vast audience of avid followers!
