Migraine Hangover

Last night, I took about 5 sips of a beer right as we were getting ready to eat dinner and within 10 minutes, the telltale "camera flash" spot started in my vision. After it didn't go away in a minute, I went right and grabbed some Excedrin Migraine. The "flash" continued to grow until I couldn't have my eyes open anymore because the aura was so bright/annoying. The aura finally ended after about 45 minutes and the achy pain started shortly after. Thankfully, I think I took the meds soon enough to stave off worse pain although I still didn't feel great.

I have had 3 migraines while not pregnant in the past 7 years and each of those 3 migraines had the same precursor - alcohol. The first time it was red wine. So I stayed away from it. The 2nd time, a white wine - Reisling. Stayed away from that but still had the occasional glass of another white without any problems. And this time beer - Yeungling to be exact. And last week at my brother's surprise party, I had a small margarita and within a half hour of drinking that, I had a terrible headache, though not a migraine.

I'll be honest, I'm pretty darn gun shy now about ANY alcohol. I'm hardly what you would call a drinker and might have a total of 2 drinks a month. But, I like a nice glass of wine or a cold beer when the mood strikes. Now, I don't even want to think about having anything. Jay and I are supposed to go to a really nice restaurant on Valentine's Day that's also a wine bar. I'm scared to have anything.

My mom reminded me that in her 30's she had problems too. She also got terrible headaches/migraines from red wine and beer. Although she could always have white or "pink" wine throughout. But as she got older, her sensitivity must have gone back down and now she can have whatever she wants.

Even though the migraine wasn't one of the horrible ones, it still was no fun. The aura itself is worrisome and now I have how I feel today. Like I have a bad hangover - achy and dull headache that motrin won't touch, fatigue, and just overall feeling blech.

A few sips of alcohol just aren't worth it. Especially if it means I basically lose an evening of my weekend and an entire day of it. Plus, if this happens when we're out, we'd have to leave right away.

It's not fair.

Migraine

Since finishing graduate school in 2000, I have had 3 migraines in my non-pregnant state. (If you've never had a migraine, consider yourself lucky.) I had a few of them in grad school which I attribute to the stress I was under and then didn't have them again until I was pregnant with Bryce. I had several when pregnant with Bryce and they were terrible. Then between Bryce and Piper I had one that I remember thinking was triggered by a glass of red wine at my mom's house. (The aura started within a few minutes of drinking the wine.) My mom has had sensitivity issues with red wine her whole life and since I'm a headachey person to begin with, like my mom, I guess I wasn't too surprised. I stayed away from the red stuff from then. I had one really terrible migraine early in my pregnancy with Piper. The aura was really disturbing - almost stroke like - in that for a few minutes, I couldn't figure out how to say a few words that I was looking at on some paperwork in my office. Frightening. Thankfully, I didn't have any more after that until this past June. Most of the migraines I've had have struck mid-morning which the one I had most recently did in June. No warning and boom, visual disturbances. The only one that wasn't a mid-morning start was the red wine induced one. However, a few months ago, I tried a little red wine and was fine so I had a little more a few weeks ago and again, was fine. So maybe it wasn't the red wine.

So last night, we went to my mom's to make pizzas and then the kids were going to spend the night. My mom opened a bottle of Rieseling white wine to share and even though I'm really not a fan of sweeter wines, I decided to have a glass. (I generally prefer Pinot Grigio or Sav. Blanc.) Within about 10 minutes of me drinking a small glass of the intensely sweet wine, the visual disturbances started. I tried to ignore it at first and then realized I couldn't. I finally admitted to Jason and my parents that a migraine was coming and I went to take a dose of Excedrin Migraine. After about 45 minutes, the visual disturbance stopped and the pain started.

Migraines affect everyone who suffers from them differently. My MIL who has had them chronically over the years, generally doesn't have much of an aura but her pain is intense. While my pain, is manageable, the aura completely wipes me out. I was glad the kids were staying at my mom's because there was no way I was going to be able to handle them. Jason and I came home and I laid down on the couch with a warm compress on my eyes. Somehow, I managed to doze off and woke up around 9:30 feeling rotten. My head ached but I just felt pretty gross all over. That's the thing about a migraine, it's not just about your head, your whole body is affected by it. I waited until 11pm and took a dose of ibuprofen in hopes of making the pain stop. I was no longer tired and restless so I sat and tried to watch TV while Jason snoozed next to me. Finally at midnight, Jason went to bed and I sat and played around online waiting to get sleepy. The ibuprofen helped some and I finally went to sleep around 2:30am.

Thanks to the kids not being here, I slept till 9:15 and woke up feeling like I had a hangover - a migraine hangover. The pain wasn't horrible, but it still wasn't great. I went and picked the kids up and took more ibuprofen. I still don't feel great but I'm tired of feeling like this, so I've got to get moving and accomplish something. Thankfully, the kids all took naps so I had a little more peace and quiet.

I think we'll be painting pumpkins a little later so hopefully that will help to keep the kids focused and not fighting.

I hate that a migraine has basically ruined half my weekend. And now I'm afraid to have any wine again. I'm thinking maybe it was the type but I'm not sure. I don't drink more than 1 or 2 glasses a month but it is nice to have a glass sometimes so now I'm just really gun shy about it.