I HATE HEADACHES!

I absolutely detest having a headache. I don't get them often. No one deserves them. Anyone who gets headaches on a regular basis, I have a special place in my heart for you.

I used to get migraines. I was in my early twenties and there were times when I thought I would cut off my head to get rid of them. I remember crawling into the bathtub just to lay my head on the cold porcelain sides for any hint of relief. Treatment in those days consisted primarily of a trip to the emergency room and a shot of Demerol. With the birth of my daughter, the headaches ceased. I have always been thankful for her for a variety of reasons, this is one of them.

So, now, some thirty-five years later, everytime I get a hint of a headache, the terror that it's going to be a migraine panics me. After I get over that initial hysteria, I move on to my self diagnosis process. Brain tumor. Must be a brain tumor. I then have to remind myself that if I stub my toe and it hurts, I'm sure its "toe cancer." Two down, next diagnosis, sinus headache. Quick, do I have any drugs that will fix that?

I do try more prudent measures, first. Lights out. TV off. Flat on the bed. But, with nothing to distract me, I fall back into the brain tumor syndrome. Breathing exercises. Let sleep come. If I die from the stroke I'm obviously having, let me be asleep. This may sound dramatic, but the fear of headaches that I have ranks right up there with my fear of birds and shower curtains that I can't see through. (Thanks, Alfred.)

Then the nausea hit. Crap, that rules out taking that six month old Lortab that I have hoarded from my kidney stone. I wouldn't dare take it if I thought I was going to puke it up. Maybe I'm getting sick. I don't want to be sick. I have a physical this week and I would like to greet my doctor just once without there being a medical crisis involved.

I finally drift off to sleep. And I wake up around three and the first the that hits me is that my headache is gone, I am starving and, miracle of all miracles, I am going to live. I guess I was just overtired and needed some sleep. Or, maybe I just panicked myself into it with all of my Drama Queen ways. The reality is, I survived and as a reward, I spent the day watching the first three DVD's of 24 from Netflix and thanking my lucky stars that I don't get headaches that often.