Co-schooling: Migraine edition.

Yesterday over at Hannah's, just after lunch, I was felled by a mighty migraine.  I haven't been carrying my Imitrex because I haven't needed it in so long -- I don't get migraines during pregnancy or most of lactational amenorrhea -- and I had thought I probably wouldn't start taking it till the baby was nursing less.  I've had two migraines since giving birth, and they hadn't been so bad, so I thought maybe I could handle the occasional migraine without drugs.

This one was a good-old-fashioned pre-Imitrex whopper, though.  I had just enough time to quickly lay out the world history and Latin lessons I'd planned -- then I wobbled over to the couch and curled up on it, whimpering.  Occasionally I would stagger to the nearest bathroom and retch for a while.  But it took me out for a good, oh, three or four hours.

Hannah dropped my baby in the sling and taught the other eight kids through the rest of the afternoon without any more help from me.  (Really, I hadn't any choice.  I couldn't possibly have driven home.  I just had to stay on the couch.)  Fortunately, we have the system working smoothly enough that either one of us could teach any of the subjects without very much extra preparation.  She skipped a couple of subjects -- there is room in our schedule for a few missed days in each, expressly for days such as this -- but everything essential got done.

I emerged from a headachy fog after it was all over and sent the two oldest boys to the grocery store to buy me a couple of real Cokes.  Then I surveyed Hannah's house, considered that her husband wasn't going to be home for dinner, and neither was mine -- and offered to buy pizza for everyone.  The two moms, eight kids special:  one extra-large pepperoni, one extra-large cheese, and one medium pepperoni-jalapeño-greenolive-blackolive.  

As long as we're willing to trade pizza for guilt, we will be able to keep this thing going.

Comments

[Rebekka]

Ouch!

I think pizza is a part of the system "expressly for days like this" too.

[Christy Porucznik]

I was felled by migraine one day last week, too.

YMMV - but nasal spray decongestant helps me some. Along with caffeine and sunglasses. I managed to stay vertical.

[bearing]

Christy, I've always been leery of decongestant-(milk supply) interaction. Pseudoephedrine is famous for it, so I haven't taken it in nine or ten years, but I generally steer clear of the whole class. Do you know something I don't?

But that aside, until Imitrex came along there was really nothing that helped me stay vertical. A shot of vodka would alleviate some of the symptoms, but as it tended to cause others it was kind of a wash.

[RealMom4Life]

Another bonus for co-schooling....oh why did my 2 best homeschooling friends move out of state!!!!
When I have a migraine school stops and the TV goes on (less fighting and more silence for me in the other room).

I have a pres. for Maltax (similar to Imitrex) but since those are scary drugs to use anyway....I wasn't sure I wanted to use them while nursing! Tylenol and pop used to work, not anymore. My new solution is Excedrin and Pepsi, along with an IMMEDIATE trip to the dark quiet (if I don't go right away it's like I miss some sort of medication effectiveness window). But I hadn't thought about the aspirin in the Excedrin until now - probably not something my 2 year old needs to be receiving. Maybe the vodka would be a better option for me :) I'll have to seriously consider that one!

[Kate]

I wonder if your migraines have hormonal causes? Hence, not getting them in pregnancy and amenorehha. I wonder if a bit of progesterone cream would help.

[bearing]

Kate, I'm sure that my migraines are hormonally triggered, but progesterone cream is generally recommended for premenstrual migraines, which mine are not. I typically get preovulatory migraines.

Anyway, I don't want to mess with hormonal supplements of any kind unless there's demonstrably something wrong with my hormones. And there doesn't appear to be. (Migraines aren't necessarily a sign of a hormonal problem -- they can be triggered by quite normal fluctuations.)

[Erin]

Erin, it might be worth having your vitamin D checked. My physician routinely checks this now and I was drastically low. I was halfway through an 8 week treatment of high dose supplement (50,000 IU's twice a week) when I realized I hadn't had a migraine in several weeks. It's 4 months later and I've only had one migraine, when I'd typically get 1 - 2/month.

[bearing]

I plan to schedule a physical for myself soon, and Vitamin D levels are on my list of things to ask for. I never heard of a Vitamin D - migraine connection before, but since nobody knows what causes migraines, who knows what may be the cause in any individual person.

[Kathy Allen]

I remember the migraine-while-homeschooling days! I had kitty litter boxes stashed under the couch with books, projects, a new cassette tape (dating myself!) or magazine. Once in awhile, I'd have a "non-migraine" day and my son would use the boxes when I was just fine!

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