Day #21 - Headaches Come Back

Last night I was just about fed up with my insomnia, so I bought some over the counter sleeping pills and amazingly they worked...for three hours. But it was still tons more sleep than I ever get these days. I woke up feeling refreshed, but out of nowhere around noon I got attacked by one of the most horrible migraines you could imagine. It's been so long since I've had one that it seemed more painful than it usually was. I was a bit happy and sad about this. Happy, because it's been a while since my headaches have come around. Sad, because it hurt like heck!



Did you know?

- Women have migraines three times more often than men, according to the National Headache Foundation (NHF).

- Of migraine sufferers, 6% are epileptic, a value that is more than ten times the prevalence rate for the general population.

- In another epilepsy study, 20% of epilepsy patients also suffered from migraine headaches. About 16% of these people experienced epileptic seizures before or during migraine aura.

- A new strand of Epilepsy that links chronic migraines and Epileptic seizures is currently being researched.

My seizure activity has been very rare, which is great. No noticeable staring, difficulty thinking, or visual seizures. However, I have been getting a bit of those pre-seizure auras where you taste things such as metal or a sweet peanut-buttery taste. These weren't often but I was getting them this morning a few hours after waking up. Luckily they vanished by noon and the magnet seemed to stop them on contact.
Speaking of my magnets, they seem to not be working or losing strength? I'm not sure exactly what the problem is but they seem to not be activating my VNS magnet setting when I use them. It's becoming extremely difficult. I'm just about to have to call my doctor tomorrow to see what the problem is. Magnets don't lose their strength unless heated or dropped very hard...and I treat them like newborn children. I hope nothing serious is wrong because that would mean ANOTHER surgery which I can't possibly stand for... too much stress and too much pain!
I haven't blogged in a few days, so I apologize. But don't worry, nothing amazing happened. It's just hard to balance blogging, 1,000 sheets of homework pages, my boyfriend, my family, my rascal dogs, and sleep! I promise to blog whenever something new happens, though. Can't let my readers down.
If you haven't read or heard already, please join my facebook group called "Your Epilepsy Blogger". It's just starting out but there are some cool pics and daily Epilepsy facts! The more people we get on Facebook, the more connections are made, and once we do that - information gets out! Today's most recent fact is:

Epilepsy Fact #8:

Blink and you'll miss it! Some types of epileptic seizures are so brief, they go unnoticed. Absence ("petit mal") seizures can last only two to 15 seconds, during which time a person might stare blankly, blink or pick at his clothes. Then he'll resume his business, having no recollection of the seizure.

Anyway, the group is nothing amazing, just something to make connections and hopefully send out information. So if you have a Facebook... get on and add it ASAP! Well, my loves, I'm going to go do some research for a paper I'm writing and then hit the sack. Sweet dreams and blessings to you all.

- Mandy