Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Hopping On....


So, some of my friends have started their blogs, and I thought to myself "Maybe I should start a blog as well....". I mean, I've had one in the past.... but kinda let it fade away. But now, since we're no longer near our friends really, I figured I'd start one up and maybe it'd be an easy way for people to keep up with what's going on in our lives. It'll also be a way for me to vent perhaps, maybe even show off some of my creativity (by that I mean photography mostly, I got nothing else)..... and maybe even help with the headaches, who knows. Which leads to.....

So what's with the title you may ask? Well as many of you already know, for the past year or so I've been suffering from daily headaches. I've been diagnosed with migraines, and had been on medication for a while to a) prevent them from happening at all, and 2) stop them once I get them.... with no luck however. As the year's gone on, they've gotten progressively worse, to where I'm now missing a couple days of work a week. So what has that meant for the Sigmon family? Well, for starters, since mine is the only income coming in at the moment, money has gotten a little tight.... we've put our house up for sale in Radford and are currently living in my parents downstairs. Not the ideal situation, but we're making it work.

Now more about the headaches.... Here's what's happened since '08 came roaring in.
I went to see a neurologist at UVA who specializes in headaches. His thoughts, " I see a case like your's at least once a day.... You're suffering from rebound headaches (not migraines all the time, although maybe once a month or so) from taking too much Excedrin." Well he goes on to say that if we can get rid of the rebound headaches, then I'd be down to maybe one actual migraine a month instead of daily headaches.... hey, I can live with that! So off of the Excedrin I went.... along with all other over the counter pain pills, and also caffeine totally... sonofa..... So then, I was on no meds for the headaches, aside from prescription strength Aleve( which evidently doesn't cause rebounds?) and one to help prevent the actual migraines... What happens then?? Well the headaches get worse, presumably from withdrawl of caffeine..... but 2 months later, still nothing... no relief. Every day I either wake with one, or it comes on during the morning, and gets worse as the day goes on... by nighttime, usually unbearable. So I go back to UVA. Well, it seems that the Doc didn't realize that my daily headaches were as painful as they were.... so maybe they are migraines after all... so he ups one of my meds and then gives me one to take when I get a "bad" headache. And he tells me to still stay off the caffeine and OTC pain meds, and that sometimes rebounds take up to 6 months to go away..... so I go back in September....

Nowadays, I'm still having the daily headaches like before.... but I'm at least on a 1st shift job, so usually i can get my work day over with before they get too bad... although I'm still missing a lot of work. And let's not even get started on the 3 months without caffeine.... Holy Crap I just want a cup of coffee or a chai tea latte! haha

Sorry for this long first post, but I just wanted to get you all up to date.... the days to come will be filled with updates on not only me, but on Stephanie and our little Mia as well... although she's quickly becoming our big Mia!


5 comments:

Michelle said...

So happy you are blogging Skidmon. It is a great way to stay connected. I feel so much better about my connection with Crystal since I visit her blog. This will be nice since you folks had to up and move away too.

Much love!

Michelle said...

Oh by the way your photo is cool. Not the fact that you are in pain but what you did with it. How did you do that?

Michelle said...

Ok I am getting a little comment crazy....sorry...but I like when folks comment on my blog, by the way thanks for your comments today, I like this blog thing better than facebook. It is more personal and for a poke-a- holic like yourself that is a good thing :)

Chris Sigmon said...

Are you gonna check back here to see if I answer your question/respond to your comments?

Michelle said...

ahhhh yeah.... I am waiting to know how you did that picture...you can also reply on my blog if you prefer. A blog comes with responsibilities my friend.