O-oh, guess what happened to me...I got a terrible migraine (groan!)

The working week began badly.  I learned on Sunday that I had to do everything in my power on Monday to prevent a deal going out the window.  I had incredible stress all day long and there was nothing I could do about it except work methodically and try to keep a watch on possible migraine triggers...

By Monday evening I thought things were looking a little better, I had done everything I needed to do from my end of things.  I was pleased therefore that I could manage to sit down with the dog and watch  Drives, Diners and Dives (which I adore!).  

I was just getting settled into the episode I'd recorded, when I noticed the dog was acting weird.  Something made me watch him as he came round the corner for the third time, as he tends to do a lot of repetitive things this was not so weird but on the third occasion he came round the corner, his right side gave way under him.  

I thought he had just tripped over but continued watching him.  He then flips onto his back, in silence (which should have alerted me) then starts to have a kind of fight with himself, then his eyes went really weird then I realised he was having a seizure.  

OMG I jumped up, screamed up to DH, who came (lumbering) down the stairs at his usual speed (slow).  He comes into the room and I tell him what's happening.  He says he thinks its not over.  The dog's eyes remained opened the whole time, staring at me.  I rang the vet, only spoke to receptionist, said vet will ring later and told me to turn off the lights and not leave him.  

I go back to dog and DH.  Dog has managed to flip back onto his side, after twisting himself into a silent corkscrew shape for what seemed like an eternity.  We watch him.  He looks at us but seems dazed.  He tries to get up, but cannot.  

He waits, lies down again, tries to get up again and cannot.  Does this for about 10 minutes.  Then eventually gets up and walks to the other side of the room and goes to sleep.  

I'm crying my eye balls out, DH is panicking.  The vet still hasn't phoned.  My left hand starts shaking and my latent stammer emerges.  

Vet rings, says it wont happen at night or when he's excited but we should expect it to happen as he is starting to relax for the evening (it was 6.30pm).  He said in view of his age (nearly 15) and his other problems (senile & mild kidney failure) "its not good news".  Then my DH asks about dog graves??!!??  Can you believe that, I mean can you really believe that?? I then do a lot more crying before the evening ends.

Next day the pressure continues, plus we have to watch the dog like hawks.

Later that night, about 3am or thereabouts, I start to get a really bad migraine.  No warning, no sugar cravings, no copious peeing, or depression, just there, boom. 

I get up and wonder if I should eat or be sick?  I noticed that I felt a different temperature at different points of my body?  My hands were really hot and so was my head, my chest was cold, my legs were cold, my feet were hot??  I had a hot patch around my side but immediately to the left of that it was icy cold?  This was really strange, I felt all separated and unconnected??  In view of the demands on me, I just try to work through it.  (Some hope!) 

By 10.00am it was really bad.  I detested having to waste yet another day to this crap and this deadline I had was still hanging over me.  My face looks awful, I was totally grey and my hair starts to do its own thing, like it does during a migraine.      

So the head is throbbing, DH is like a cat on a hot tin proverbial, the dog is still dazed and weird and my appetite just goes and I end up on the toilet, as usual.  

By 8pm I decide to take Maxalt Melt that the doctor gave me.  It tastes totally vile.  I sit there for about 10 minutes feeling this mounting throbbing and feeling ill in the lower regions, then from nowhere my heart starts really POUNDING, like I'm going to have a heart attack or something.  I got really scared then realised I'd read in the stoopid leaflet that this could happen. 

I count how many poundings and it was about 4.

Now this is where it gets really interesting.

I went to bed.  My limbs were heavy, my head was out of control and I felt terribly sick.  I tried to be sick but it didn't kick off.  I lie there for about half hour thinking I was going to die and how worried about the dog I was and how terribly guilty I felt about how impatient I had been with all his drooling, wetting and separation anxiety.  Then I thought about this 'deal' and how horrible the man was that was not being clear with us about signing the blasted documents and if he had sent them by FedEx or not?  Then I'm crying, going to the toilet and my neck starts jerking.  Yes jerking.  Turns out its another side effect and I still feel really sick.  

Then I had this awful vision that the dog might die while Maxalt Melt was making me feel sicker than I felt before I took it? 

Then I fell asleep.  I didn't move all night.  Then at about 1am the dog (bless him) starts barking.  I partially wake up, well enough to realise that I wasn't dead yet and nor was the dog.  

Then I lie there, not daring to move and feeling my heart beat really fast at the thought of our darling Sooty, AND THAT'S WHEN I REALISED that I could completely isolate the cause of my Goddamn migraines and they were coming from stress causing my increased heart rate and I could ACTUALLY feel the blood shoot up from my heart, through my neck and explode in the top of my head!  

In my daze, I conclude that the solitary artery that is causing me all this (shit), has to be my CAROTID ARTERY.

It was awful, totally totally awful.  So clear, so crystal clear and horrendously painful, I was in agony!

Because magnesium has reduced the spasms in the tissues that surround the pathway of pain, I've finally been able to isolate and identify exactly where the pain is coming from.

Its not the back of my neck - oh well that neck massager was a waste of money.

Its not my stomach, or bowels, its not my liver or kidneys or God-knows what else.  Its my adrenals affecting my heart, which then pushes the blood too fast and too hard to the top of my agonising head.

In view of this, I've decided to apply to the Charing Cross Hospital for one of their Carotid Artery Ultra Sound Scans.  

I bet they either end up giving me Statins or Valium, but they have to give me something??

I told DH, if the dog wasn't ill, I would have gone to A&E, for sure....