So, earlier this week, I was sitting on the couch curled up next to the space heater watching episodes of Dexter on my netflix. Then I started to see waves or flashes out in my 'periph' (Dane cook fans, anyone?). At first I thought it was heat waves from the space heater. But when I got far away from the turned off heater, the flashes/waves were still there. So, then I figured it must be something in my contact. Took out my contacts--still there. It was there no matter where I looked, it was there when I closed my eyes. I was really freaked out. Turns out, it was a symptom of a migraine called a migrane aura. It tripped me up a bit because it occurred with no pain.
I think it was actually an ocular migraine (because it only occurred in one eye). I was so scared. It was to late to call anyone--I am trying to avoid calling my folks when stuff happens. I feel this need to be independent--that calling them with my troubles means that I am not handling things well.
It really made me miss having someone boyfriend-y in my life. Someone who could have googled the symptoms (while I was in bathroom freaking out wondering if I lost an old contact in my eye or if I was going to go blind), someone to hold my hand--that would have been nice.
So, this is probably the second migraine I have ever had (the other had no visual freakiness--just intense headache (I was crying it hurt so bad), light sensitivity, nausea). Ironically this one occurred while I was driving cross country to see my parents for Christmas holidays. Luckily, kid sister was with me and she took over the driving for me. That makes for 2 migraine headaches in 2 months.
Of course, among the recommended treatment is avoiding stress and being relaxed.
At least I am not alone. I am going back and reading some new blogs (from the blog's beginning) and found this. So, I should probably put down the computer and get a good's night sleep. Untenured Professor, who I learned from recent blog posts just received tenure (kudos to her), found this article saying some headaches are more common in those with more education. Fricken PhD.
