I had a lot of migraines this year. If you add them all up, I lost 172 days.

I actually lost more. A medication I took late last year and early this year (amitriptylene) had me so sleepy that I didn’t properly record my migraines for months.

I lost more days to weakness, light sensitivity, exhaustion. Even without a migraine, some days it was all I could do to shower and eat.

I’ve had some pretty difficult moments this year: worry that I won’t be able to finish my PhD, fear that I won’t be able to support myself, grief at the time lost.

I was having trouble working on my PhD and trying to manage my health, so I’ve taken a short medical leave and have started a new regimen of flunarizine, magnesium, a B complex multivitamin, and melatonin. I’ll re-evaluate in a few months and change this regime if there’s no improvement.

Just because I’ve paused my PhD doesn’t mean data analysis has stopped – my topic has just changed a bit! Just look at this graph of weekly migraines and the average number of weekly migraines by treatment:

I’m also being incredibly strict about amounts and timing of eating, sleeping, and exercising, and I’m avoiding bright light, loud sounds, and strong scents. My first year in Epiphyte City I had very few migraines. I’m determined to figure out what changed and get back to that state.

To fewer migraines in the new year!