Remember the entry back in the beginning of October when I was suffering a rash of migraines that were so bad, it prompted me to make a special category in my blog specifically for these little monsters? Well, the cool thing about that month was that the next week after that entry was my vacation from work.
Usually I get migraines from one every two months to two a month. That whole string of migraines was certainly related to stress and sleep deprivation from work. During vacation, I didn’t suffer at all. Better still, the weeks at work so far have been free of head pounders. So, it seems tension headaches will trigger migraines in me if the stress level is bad enough.
Anyways, the week after vacation, I went to a general care doctor, seeing as I haven’t established a PCP in this state since I moved here 3 years ago! I told him my problems, he ran some tests (they had to break out the EKG), and concluded slight hypertension. He gave me a low-level beta blocker called Propranolol, which is also used to prevent moderate cases of migraines, and told me to go get a cholesterol screening. Also, I need to establish a cardiologist out here (fun, fun!).
After that visit, on my following work days up until now, I haven’t taken the medicine. I wanted to give myself some time to get used to the beta blocker’s side effects. I had to take Coreg several years ago, and I remember it making me very legarthic. I hated it! At work, I’m known for my speed and urgency. I don’t like the idea of anything slowing me down! However, this last week I’ve been under more and more pressure and, last Thursday while at work, I had a tension headache going into the red-line territory.
So… now I’m taking the Propranolol. I’ll see how I do at work and how good it may be in controlling the threat of migraines. If it starts slowing me down too much, or giving me any problems in driving a car or powered equipment, I’ll have to tell the doc that it’s a no -go.
Whosoever reads this around the post time, please pray for me! Hopefully, I’ll do fine on this stuff.
Tags: Migraines, Propranolol, Esoterik, Beta Blockers
