A pain in my . . . head! Literally! Since I was 13, which was 14 years ago, I have had headaches. It wasn't until my junior year in high school that I went to a neurologist for them. Thank God I had a great mentor, Miss Charlene, at school that would let me rest in her office. They are not like migraines in the sense that you don't lay down in the dark and try to sleep them off. They do, however, leave a sensation after they're gone like you've just beat your head against a cinder block wall several times. Over the years they have progressively gotten worse. It's a rare neurological disorder, affecting approximately 0.1% of the population. I try to explain it to the neurologist as if someone is taking a skinny knife and stabbing me repeatedly behind my left eye. I AM OVER IT!

My last one before this cycle was in April of 2010. Here we are a year and a half later and THEY'RE BACK! I had one in mid-October and was stressed that I was going to have more. They didn't show up full-blown until Friday night/Saturday am around 2 in the morning. Then, on Saturday evening/Sunday am I woke up shaking because the pain was so bad. I am telling you that I wouldn't wish it on my worse enemy (not that I have one). I seriously even thanked God for my headaches and health because I know I am lucky it's something that goes away in 2 hours. All was good on Sunday night, and I woke up on Monday ready for the week! However, that devil of a headache was back on Tuesday morning and I got little rest between 4 and 6 am. I am not sure if Ryan knew what he was getting into when he said "I do", because it's definitely not the best of me when a headache comes along! Thankfully, last night all was headache-free!

I have taken A LOT of different medicines to help me cope/prevent/dismiss these things. I have written down a food journal and environment journal and no pattern has been shown. I eat healthy and don't have a lot of caffeine in my diet. The last cycle of the headaches was terrible, but during the summer of 2010 I weened myself off of taking medicine everyday since it wasn't seeming to help anyway. It was a preventative medicine that didn't prevent it! How ironic.

Mom found some research that talked about the possibility of a lack of melatonin . . . this makes sense since I failed to mention they are triggered around the same time of the time change during fall and stop around time change in spring. So, for the past two nights I have included Melatonin in my diet of supplements that I already take!

I also read sites like O.U.C.H. and other support groups to make me realize I am not alone on this frustrating roller coaster!

Anyways, it's all I can think about at times when I feel one coming on. They are enough to make me cry, shake, and feel worthless all at the same time. No one likes that feeling. Especially not HAPPY me!

Do you have headaches? How do you cope?