I've been trying to stay one step ahead of a mammoth migraine that has barely stopped for over a month, now. I'm pretty drained, basically on the edge of sanity, but the weather is just not co-operating.
So early this morning I woke up at 4 am from the pain. I got up to take my medication, hoping my dog wouldn't get up with me and think it was time to be awake. I ate some rice crackers to try to salvage my stomach from all the strong painkiller (so far, so good), took my stuff and headed back to bed, peeking over at her blanket. She was looking up at me in alarm. LOL! It was so cute. I told her I took my tylenol (that's what I call my pain meds as far as talking to the dog - she smells my breath when I'm going through a lot of pain and remains restless until she sees me take my meds. So she knows the word 'tylenol' - she settled down once I told her that.)
Fell asleep until 5:30 when my husband woke me up and said, "Your grandma fell down." He could hear the crash through the ceiling (her floor/our ceiling.) I hopped into my clothes and waited at the bottom of the stairs to see if Mom would call down for me. But I heard quiet voices and knew Mom was handling it by herself. Gram has fallen before when she's trying to go to the bathroom in the night. Luckily she's bouncey, rather than break-y. We've got a system worked out that if Mom feels she can get Gram back in bed by herself it's less confusing for Gram. So when Mom didn't call for me, I decided to let Xena out in the yard and get her breakfast because it was already light out and only an hour before she'd normally be up anyway.
Back to bed. Woke up at 7 am when my mom's two weekend guests started talking while they got breakfast. Xena didn't know them and started barking her warning bark. I had to tell her twice that they were Mom's friends and they were ok before she settled down.
Back to sleep. Woke up at 8:30 in more pain. Managed to get back to sleep until 9:30. Dragged myself out of bed, completely unrested. We had a busy day which I'll write about in a later post. Somehow got through it all.
Now all I want is sleep...
Blessed sleep...
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Sleep...
Posted by Julia Phillips Smith at 10:11 PM
Labels: caring for Gram, Migraine, Sleep deprivation
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8 comments:
ouch - migraines are terrible, dreadful, awful things - I hope yours goes away very soon - and leaves you in peace for the 70 day challenge! (you are playing, aren't you??)
My commiserations, though the headachy part of this flu seems to have settled down a bit, I'm now coughing, even in my sleep, so know exactly how you feel with the craving for sleep. Hope it settles down soon. Xenia sounds gorgeous - my Gertie has hovered around me for the last fortnight... she knows I'm not well, so figures hugs would be good, which they are!
Oh Julia! I hope your head settles down for you soon. I think there is something with the air pressure around here recently that's making everyone feel icky. HUGS!
I feel so bad for you, as I only suffer the infrequent migraine and I know how miserable (and depressed) I am when they come on (seeing that they last a minimum of 5 days when the do hit).
Now don't laugh, but have you rubbed Vics Vapo rub over your forehead and temples? I laughed when my mom told me of this "old days" remedy, but then that product HEAD ON came out (do you have it in Canada?) and I realized it was basically the same stuff. I've used Vics and HEAD ON with some relief.
I also get some relief by putting an icepack at the base of my skull, behind my neck, for a good 30 minutes or more.
'Nuff migraine advice. Praying for you today, Julia, and hoping you've found a bit of relief as you sit and read this. I'm glad Grandma is a "bouncer" too (sadly, mine was a breaker).
Blessings,
~Toni~
Hey, thanks, everyone.
Rebecca, I'm going to pass on the 70-day challenge, as my head has not been co-operative for the past month and I couldn't hope to do much other than the writing equivalent of babbling. But I'll be cheering everyone else on.
Toni, the menthol part of Vicks or any of those sorts of rub-on things really bothers my allergies so they're not anything I could use. But thanks for the suggestion. I actually use heat on the side of my head that feels crushed during the migraine - I heat up my magic bag (a pillow with barley in it that you heat in the microwave) and lay my head on it, and it really helps. That, and the barbiturate painkiller, that is.
Sleep is so gooooooood. I love sleep. I hate when I can't seeing. I'm sleepy right now.
Have a great week!
I find having my sleep disrupted makes my migraines even worse.
I have aunts who suffered from migraines for years. They disappeared when they went through menopause (the headaches not the aunts.) I'm crossing my fingers and hoping the cure runs in the family.
Glad your Gram was ok!
Sleep! I need some too. All that research I was doing had me staying up until 10 am and sleeping until 1500 and I hate sleeping in the day, I never feel rested. :(
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