WoH Quoted in Article: What You Might Not Know About Treating Migraines

War on Headaches was mentioned in an article on The Daily Muse, a website for career-oriented women. The article is titled "What You Might Not Know About Treating Migraines."

The author, Varci Vartanian, used to work as a nurse for a neurology practice, so while she doesn't suffer from migraines, she knows all about them. Since it's National Migraine Awareness Month, she decided to write an article on the topic and she found my blog and requested an interview. I enjoyed talking with her because she was very understanding and sympathetic of migraines and how they impact one's life. Please be sure to check out the article and share it with your friends - especially the ones who say "just take some (insert latest OTC headache med they just saw on a TV commercial that "works" for migraines)."

Thank you Varci and The Daily Muse for raising awareness of migraines and how tricky they can be!

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This isn't related to this post, but I wanted to share a story with you all. I was shopping with a close friend who has had two kids and is pregnant with her third, and she was having to avoid certain stores that had strong scents because they made her nauseous. We also smelled cigarette smoke from far away. I told her that I understood how she felt because I always had a heightened sense of smell plus random nausea, and she said, "Wow, it's like you're pregnant all the time!" I hadn't thought about it like that, but it's so true! She was able to better relate to me from making that connection, which was nice. :)

Know Your Dose!

The Acetaminophen Awareness Coalition recently launched the Know Your Dose campaign to educate those who have chronic pain on the proper use of medications containing acetaminophen. Did you know that acetaminophen is used in more than 600 over-the-counter medications?! I didn't either until I found out about this campaign. Most of us know we're supposed to stay within the recommended dose, but it's easy to overdose accidentally if you're not aware of which medications contain acetaminophen, especially if you're taking more than one medication.

The Know Your Dose website has a cute interactive game, a short video and an interactive label reader that explains each part of OTC and prescription labels. It's a great reminder that we should always read the entire label before we take something new! Or heck, if your memory's bad and you enjoy reading, read it every time. :)

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So just a brief personal update. It's been a month since my surgery and a month has made such a huge difference! I can walk without bending over, I don't have to take medicine every three hours, the glue on my stomach is almost gone, etc. Unfortunately my headaches and migraines are still the same old, same old. Since I met my insurance deductible from the surgery, I had glorious plans to finally try Botox and whatever else I could think of, but unfortunately my insurance renewed June 1 and now I'm starting all over. I cried when I found that out...it made me so angry! My deductible is $1,000 which isn't a *lot lot* but considering I have to pay for part of the surgery (a very small amount thank God), I can't go on a spending spree right now.

Plus, my one lonely ovary has been mourning the loss of my right ovary in the form of angry acne (on my face, not my ovary!), so I had to see a dermatologist and go on three different acne medications. That hasn't been fun but I'm trying to suck it up since at least the acne isn't causing me physical pain (except for the ones that form big bumps under the skin...ouch). Emotional pain on the other hand, oh my goodness.

By the way, happy National Migraine Awareness Month! Lots of bloggers are doing daily posts on various topics this month, so if you're looking for migraine information, now's a great time to read some blogs!