Posts filed under “Migraine”
What would you ask for?
My migraines have been slowing my PhD progress way down. At my current level of migraine, I’m going to have half the time of a normal student to do my PhD. I’m fortunate to be in a really supportive environment, but I need to do a better job using that support. My advisor and committee have […]
Same old, same old
June and July look just the same, but July felt better. The pain was less intense and my mood better. I’ll take what improvements I can get. If you’re paying close attention to these graphs, you’ll notice that the numbers for September – December are higher than they were in previous versions. That’s because I […]
Migraine research is hundreds of millions of dollars short
Maybe that’s why there are no drugs that have been developed to prevent migraines and the bar for drug success is so low.
Staying on the tenure track when you probably won’t get tenure
Sometimes I worry that I shouldn’t be in graduate school, that because my migraines may make the standard tenure track job impossible for me, I should be pursuing something else. But I’ve watched so many talented friends flounder for months or years on the job market working soul sucking jobs with employers who think you […]
It has been worse
On May 18th, I stopped taking a drug that (I think) was making my migraines worse. June was a better month than any since I began the drug, but I’m still not back to the level I was in the fall when I began trying preventative drugs for my migraines. So far, July isn’t looking […]
Migraine and exercise
Yesterday I did 40 minutes of yoga. Today I found lifting my pillows difficult. My social media feeds are full of friends reporting their latest runs and excitement over personal bests. My friends are motivated by improvements – shaving a few more seconds off their mile, lifting a few pounds more, losing a few pounds. […]
When your doctor doesn’t care
That no one dies of migraine seems, to someone deep into an attack, an ambiguous blessing. — from Joan Didion’s essay, In Bed Early this year I had a very bad migraine that lasted a very long time. It was triggered by withdrawal headaches from a medicine that was supposed to help my migraines. After […]