No, really! I'm OK!

I didn't pass out in the bathroom and crack open my skull, just a bit of brain disintegration by way of bayberry potpourri.

One of the fun things about my migraines is that the only thing I know for sure about my triggers is that "yes, they do exist". Sometimes cigarette smoke will drive me over the edge, other times I can sit in a smoky bar for hours and not feel a twinge. Sometimes it's not sleeping right, or eating regularly- but oddly enough, not really foods like oranges, chocolate or nitrite-laden-meat. Sometimes it's smells, but not always the same ones- Liz Clairborne's "Red" does it pretty regularly, but sometimes other smells creep in too. Cooking grease, the inside of an Olive Garden, and now, apparently, Bayberry potpourri.

90% of the time I don't have much of a warning- I start to feel too hot, and I start to notice EVERYONE'S cologne and perfume, even the soap in the bathroom is a lot more noticeable. And by the time I realize that it's happening, I've already got the first stabbity pains in my right temple. And that's when the evaluation process kicks in.

1. Did I have any caffiene today? Maybe this is just a caffiene withdrawal headache. I'll just take some motrin & drink a coke and hope it goes away. or:
2. I've been drinking tea, and is this going to get bad enough to require drugs? Sure, I have insurance now, but 50 bucks for 5 pills is still a bit steep. Maybe I'll take some Excedrin Migraine and see if it'll go away.
3. Who am I kidding, that Excedrin's not going to do anything except make me want to vibrate. Take the prescription- that's what it's there for.

Sometimes I go right to step 3, like I did yesterday. And it was bad. Probably as bad as it's ever been without an aura. And Elvis love the Incomprable C and Ferret Trimmin' Girl for perpetually making sure that I didn't crack open my skull in the ladies room (Which was exceptionally sweet, but at the time, the attention- which mushroomed to include everyone in the office- was the last thing I wanted.) I'm done with Amerge too. Those pills, expensive as they are, suck balls. (and not the fun kind either) They took well over 4 hours to kick in yesterday, and I do NOT have the kind of time to waste on a headache. (A skull splitting, puke inducing, blinding fucker of a headache, but a headache nonetheless.) My old drugs are cheaper vastly more reliable/have predictable side effects, and work in under an hour.

Anyway, welcome to my world. Woo!