Cuppa

Caffeine. For migraines, sometimes it can mean relief, sometimes more pain.  When we moved to California, I was pretty much off caffeine, maybe some tea every now and then, and maybe a Coke a week, which I will blame on my co-worker's addiction to giant McDonald's Cokes. So, I thought it might be a good time to try not having caffeine for prolonged periods. Meh.

After quite a few months, all I can say is, caffeine probably doesn't give me migraines unless I overdo it. In fact, I think it might help stave off a few. They've been running out of control the last 6-7 months, but I know there are a lot of other factors contributing. Winter is always tough since cold makes me hunch up and tighten up too much. For the last 5 years or so, they have been much worse in the colder months than warmer months. The Botox I had last May totally wore off right about the time we got here. More on that later. I think the biggest factor was the move. Moving was rough. The trips out here were really hectic and everything was such a whirlwind for about 10 weeks. I think by the time we got to Christmas, my body was just done for a while.


So now I'm adding caffeine back into my diet slowly, just a cup of caffeinated tea, green or otherwise, every few days. I'm hoping the green tea will help with my skin too. It's been a little blah since we got here, but that might be because this house is very cold and grey/beige inside, so it makes my skin kind of look icky too. One bathroom is ugly bright sea foam green, and the other is bright orangey-yellow, neither with good lighting, so trying to look at yourself in those mirrors is never really a treat. Blergh.


Back to the Botox, whew, what I wouldn't give to get another one of those treatments! By far, the most helpful thing I've had done for prevention. Too bad it's so very crazy expensive... and that's after the outrageous expense of trying to buy individual health insurance. I had been going back and forth about what to do about insurance. I have applied for disability, but it could take 4 months to hear back. I applied for medical assistance in Colorado while I was in school, but was told I wasn't eligible since I wasn't over a certain age and didn't have children. Since I'm still technically a Colorado resident, I don't know what else to do about medical assistance. I'm only 4 years older and I definitely haven't had any children and am not ever going to. I'm in limbo, which totally sucks. I can't even afford to go down the mountain to the chiropractor/massage therapist.

Enough complaining for today, I'm going to knit a scarf! And I did manage to take some photos!

Hey!

What are you doing? Trying to sleep? Not anymore!!

I brought a pumpkin! I'm so nice I brought 2 toys to wake you up with! 

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My puppy is insane, but really cute.

I had one hell of a migraine yesterday. Everything hurt. I was just restless and uncomfortable all day yesterday. Finally around 8, it seemed to break a bit. I took advantage of feeling better by doing the dishes (including the 3 cast iron skillets), scrubbed out the sink, wiped the countertops, and then scrubbed the hood of the stove. It was gross!

I kept trying to knit or get online to get a few things done, but it was not one of those evenings. I think I maybe knit 3 rows of a handtowel and each time I sat down in front of the computer, that awful pressure would start up again behind my left eye.

I finished a wonderful book last night, The Song Of Achilles. Very good book! I've been in kind of a reading slump after getting through a bunch of books right at the beginning of the year. I'm hoping I can knock some of these half-read books off my list soon. I have quite a few books/series I want to re-read this summer, so I'm trying to get some of my wishlist taken care of before then.

I'm doing a bit of an upgrade/refitting of my Central Park Hoodie. I was about 50 lbs heavier when I knit it, so it's pretty large on me right now. I'm going to felt it slightly after I knit the pockets for it. I put in a fake seam across the neck with a simple crochet line. It had a really bad habit of slouching off my shoulders since the back and hood were knit in one piece, but the shoulders can't take all the weight of the hood, so it just spreads like a slug across your back. It never really looked that nice on except as a very bulky outer layer. The "seam" helps put some stability in it. I'm debating moving the buttons over about an inch. I sewed them on close to the edge because I liked the way it looked... but it leaves a gap where wind flies right in... I'm still not sure if I want to move them. I may read through my notes on the sweater to see if there was another reason I placed them where I did. Either way, I'll debate and decide it while I'm knitting the pockets.

Behind

I've been pretty useless this week. I've had a migraine almost all week. It's been sort of on and off, so that's sort of a relief, but also a bummer... Each time I think it might be gone, that stabby, sharp pain ripples under my scalp again or my eyes burn. I'm going to spend most of tomorrow on the phone trying to get the ball rolling on getting disability. I need medical care and a chiropractor.

I've been working on a lot of slippers as gifts. They're all at a stopping point right now. I really need to just start on another little piece and get through them.

I'm also working on a few different hats: some actually on the needles, some just scribbles in my notebook, or ideas I'm working on inside my head. I am hoping that a Netflix marathon of something good and a few good snowy days will get my list down to a manageable size.

I've taken some time this week to update my Kindle. I needed some new books. I also added some children's book to my Kindle Fire. I don't use the Fire for reading much since the backlight hurts my eyes, but the colors are so nice on it!!

And to finish off, here's Mister Shinobi chomping some lunch. 

Lost Day

Yesterday was a complete loss. I got a pretty severe migraine early in the day. Not the usual annoying ones, this one was the kind with deep, hot pains running over my scalp. It felt like someone shoving a hot poker through random parts of my head. One attack hit while I was walking down the stairs with a basket of laundry. I started crying before I had even really registered the pain. After the third or fourth lightening bolt across my head, I decided to take the heavy duty medicine. I hate taking the stupid nasal spray. It works about half of the time, sometimes it can cause rebound migraines. It seems to have worked this time, but not 100%. I still have pains through my brain and just under my scalp, my shoulders and neck are stiff and sore, and my stomach is a disaster. Hopefully the pain stays to a manageable level today. I have a really long to-do list to get through and frankly, I have too many lost days.