Well, that wasn’t fun!

The morning is almost gone and I had no idea. I developed a bad headache yesterday. Nothing new. I almost always have a headache to some degree. It worsened with every tick of the clock. My sleep was spiked with unbearable pain. While drifting from dream to clarity, I pondered what deems pain unbearable? What is a pain scale? If 0 out of 10= no pain, then is 5 a lot of pain or just a regular headache? Is 10 the worst ever pain or just a migraine? Can you go off the scale? Is it subjective? What are the RULES? I decided I was off the scale and wondered if a hammer would end all my struggles. Around 4am, I wanted to go to the kitchen and get a drink of water and an ice-cold pack for my noggin but I couldn’t move. I needed to not move. To stay in the same exact spot and try not to anger the headache god any further. I did however manage to grab my phone from the nightstand and text my husband a plea to not wake me at 7 and to get the kids ready and on the bus for school. There was begging involved. Why did I text him, you ask. I was sleeping in my daughter’s bed and she was sleeping on her pretty awesome new fold out bed mat thing next to me on the floor. Dysfunctional household? Perhaps. Let’s not judge.

My dear husband respected my wishes and even brought me a cold pack, coffee and medication. At some point I found my way back to my actual bed and propped my neck with a bean filled neck rest and a cold pack, sipped the coffee, swallowed the meds (which I doubted would help), applied another cold pack to my forehead, pulled up my divinely soft and warm blanket over my cold and clammy body and drifted off to sleep. Right before unconsciousness I questioned where my eye mask went but darkness quickly overcame me before I could answer the question.

I woke up and was disgruntled that I hadn’t slept. I was certain it was only 9:30. My headache was down from some ungodly number to what I would call an “8”. Progress! I was so snuggly in bed but needed to get up and feed my belly to keep the headache away. The clock read 11:03. What? Wow, I can’t remember when time passed by without my being acutely aware of it. No wonder I felt refreshed.

What is weird is that when I awoke I was writing blog posts in my mind. Words were flowing so fast and freely. Instead of attempting to put them down right now, I’m instead telling you a more mundane story. I don’t really have a good reason why. Just describing my morning.

Now I’m not completely off the hook for feeling “better” now that my headache has settled down somewhat. My hands are shaky. Perhaps from the medicine I took? Now let’s be clear. It wasn’t strong meds. It was two Tylenol and a sinus pill. It was only half a coffee. All of which were taken hours ago. I’ve eaten food. But the shakes are not leaving. I had a bath (standing in the shower was too much effort) an hour ago and feel nice and clean but I’m still sweating. My upper lip perspires constantly. It’s the damn Babesia polluting my body.

Oh, and did I mention why I think my headache was so intensely rotten? I started a new medication to treat my bartonella. In my usual half aware state, I took the full dose yesterday. I’d forgotten that I’m supposed to gradually increase from 1 drop to 10 drops over the course of a couple weeks. The adverse effect of taking too much at once? A Herx. That means the medicine worked so well, it killed off some of the illness but too much too fast and left me reeling. That’s my layman’s explanation anyway.

Ok, I’ve reached the point where I need to put the computer away and rest.

And as always, a picture for all your trouble. Until next time, take care….

Books I’m attempting to read this week.