Reminder to Self: RELAX

Female Cycle and Endorphins

Not too great of a weekend. This latest pancreatitis exacerbation has left me with fatigue that won't stop and pain that won't let me sleep. I am going to take another trammadol in a few minutes to see if that will let the mind/pain connection break. Am drinking a lot of Ensure, it's really expensive. I think it would be cheaper to have alcoholic pancreatitis so I could QUIT buying something instead of adding to the pile of remedies.

The Headache is behaving itself this weekend. I've had to change the stimulator settings a few times, but it's done a pretty good job. I've not had to medicate for head pain at all, with The Headache staying at a tolerable 3 out of 10.

Thinking of migraines and how mine followed my monthly cycle and disappeared with the removal of my ovaries. I was wondering if your body's natural endorphins (I know of one dedicated cyclist that works dreadfully hard to maximize her natural endorphins) are effected by ovulation and menstruation. Endorphins are your body's natural pain killers.

I found a research article by Kathy Lemley of Marquette concerning the relationship between excercise, endorphins, and pain perception. She states on page 12 that a study found that certain endorphins are slightly lower in the luteal (last) phase of the menstrual cycle. This stage occurs after the folicle stimulation hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) spike dramatically with ovulation. Strangely enough, drugs which are used for fertility treatment to increase FSH & LH levels have a less common side effect of severe, throbbing headaches. A study in Egypt showed a correlation between higher FSH and LH levels with female migraine patients vs. controls. Male migrainuers exhibited higher FSH levels than the controls.

Since perimenopause/menopause can cause extreme fluctuations of reproductive hormones, I wonder if this is why some women experience flares of uncontrollable migraines during this period of their reproductive lives, while others get complete relief of migraines. I also wonder if there is a connection between LH and FSH and migraine severity and controllability. There is also a corresponding spike in progesterone levels in the luteal phase, and I know from the type of endometrial cancer I had that I did not have proper progeterone levels.

Didn't see a lot of literature out there, perhaps this has been explored and found to be a dead end? Strange roads the internet leads you down some nights! I will probably wake up in the morning and wonder what wacky drug mediated thought process was going on with this post!

Hope you all have a pain free Thanksgiving week, and safe travels, and that your migraines will behave!

Barf Bag Envy

No More Cankles!

My Erpiness and Belly pain continue. Today has been minimal food day. I tried to eat a real sandwich yesterday and it didn't taste nearly so well coming up as it had going down. I am wishing I had some of these deluxe barf bags to take with me to the client next week. The nausea hits so hard and fast I fear erping in public.

I guess I shouldn't be embarrased about public puking. I have spewed my stomach contents in many places over the years, due to migraines. When I had migraines (instead of the hemicrania continua I have now) they were called "common migraines" or migraines without aura. They would often sneak up on me, and I would be somewhere doing something and then BOOM a full blown migraine.

The nausea often was my first clue that I actually was having a migraine - the pain grew gradually up to the point I got reaaally reaaally sea sick and then it was a skyrocket of pain for the next three to eight hours. I have thrown up in restaurants, cars, office trashcans, public toilets, parking lots, and the side of the road.

My worst experience was pulling my car over in front of this house hopping out of the car and projectile vomiting - bleah bleah bleah - and then looking up to see a horrified family having a picnic in their front lawn. What can you do? I weakly waved and hopped back in my car and drove quickly away! I had to pull over and just wait the migraine out in a parking lot down the street. Another time a friend and I were in Ft. Lauderdale and had just gotten through walking around downtown and were driving back to the hotel when the migraine hit. I warned him that I was going to pake, he didn't believe me until I started to heave - he quickly pulled the rental car over but not before I let loose on the passenger door. Eeeyou! Next time I told him I thought a migraine was coming on he listened!

I may have to just starve myself at the client's and stick to strictly fluids. I have been drinking some Ensure high protein but even with the pancreatic enzymes The Belly hurts. I've done it before, so I can do it again - it just takes inner discipline. On the plus side I have lost an additional four pounds this week. Woo Hoo! I have now lost all the weight I gained from taking steroids so long last year.

I go back November 10th to see the immunologists in Kansas City, and then I go for the endoscopic ultrasound of my pancreas. Hoping for pretty good news on these two fronts - my hives are actually better than they have been in two years! However my face is swollen and broken out with a rash of sorts - not sure if it is from the antibiotics or there is another reason. Hoping it goes away with the kidney infection that wasn't an infection. I have ankles again, very glad to get rid of the cankles I was sporting. Guess even tho I officially had no infection, the anitbiotic seems to have done the trick.

A weekend of rest, a week of travel, and then back home again to rest. I'm tired already and am just waiting for The Belly to calm down enough to sleep. Next week is going to be a long week I am afraid. Hoping the cankles don't come back, or I may need to get "The Circulation Booster" to get rid of them!

Thank Heaven for Good Friends

An Adventure Without The Headache

A good friend called today that I have not seen for over a year. I have not had much good news to share, and since I knew that she had her own health issues, her daughter and grandchildren to worry about in addition to taking care of her aging parents I didn't want to make her worry more. She said she would come over and visit this afternoon.

The house was in disarray because I had not cleaned the floors or scrubbed the bathrooms since I had gone into the hospital last week. Luckily I had a good day today, so I scurried around cleaning and polishing before she came over. I was just folding some laundry as the last part of the quick cleanup when she knocked on the door. I almost felt like my old self again this morning as I scrubbed and mopped at lightning speed (well, not really lightning speed but pretty fast!).

My friend suggested we do something just for fun and thought maybe we could go to the local casino, run by the Quapaw Tribe of Oklahoma. Even though it is not very far away I had never been there. She said it was very nice and if The Headache interfered we would just head back home.

Casinos are like headache trigger headquarters, with flashing lights, bells and whistles sounding, and loud noises and lots and lots of tobacco smoke. Not an evironment I normally find myself in, but I thought - what the heck, I'm having a good day - why not?? We went, and while I didn't spend much money (I'm too cheap to be a good gambler) I had a good time watching my friend gamble. She had a blast, and I had fun too. She played some electronic game where the Fonz from Happy Days kept saying something to you, very amusing.

It's been over two years since I just did something for no reason except to enjoy myself. The Headache behaved itself, and since I refrained from eating today (thank you Ensure Extra Protein!) The Belly was OK too. After four hours I was ready to go home and we headed back. I did notice that although The Headache pain did not increase, at about three hours into the expedition my body temperature started to drop until I was just standing around shivering. For some reason this part of The Headache seems to continue even though the pain is not there - very weird. Suspect that it is the hypothalamus involvement.

I'm home feeling good and ready for another day tomorrow. Hope to work a full day, and then be ready for a trip to St. Louis Tuesday. Crossing my fingers, my toes and my eyes hoping I haven't pushed my luck too far today. Thanking my friend for prompting me to go and just be silly. I feel almost normal tonight.

Ensure High Protein

Trying a Liquid Diet

The Belly is truly giving me fits this weekend. I will try to stop eating anything, and supplement with high protein Ensure. Unfortunately all Ensure drinks (and other comparible brands) are high in fat so this is not an ideal solution. The only flavor I can get down my gullet is vanilla.

I ate a bowl of Cream of Rice this morning and that upset The Belly, and this evening I had about a tablespoon of boiled potato and a tablespoon of steamed cauliflower and THAT upset The Belly. These are generally things I could eat a couple of years ago when I had my first pancreatitis attack. Will see tomorrow how the Ensure works.

The Headache was trying to grab all my neurons tonight because there is another storm coming in. I'm hoping The Belly meds will help keep The Headache at bay if only because these keep me feeling sleepy.

I am afraid if The Belly keeps this up I will end up in the hospital next week, which I do not want to do. Broken parts that can't be replaced are a bummer.