'Mr Holmes, they were the footprints of a gigantic hound!' – The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Migrain-gnaw

The neighbour’s dog is yapping,

Someone’s phone is ringing,

A helicopter hovers too close, rotators pounding.

Sitting at my desk, working my way through inbox messages,

I notice a hunted feeling.

Could this mean my loyal companion is back?

For a second my vision blurs. 

I shiver.

Later, I am chopping carrots for dinner

When the hunter returns.

Ah, my loyal companion is back.

Now the room dims momentarily and a growling fills my ears, 

muting the TV news.

Suddenly,

The hound has my whole head locked in its jaws.

I can see no light,

I stare down its gullet. 

The pressure tightens,

pain stabs my neck, 

As it tries to rip my head from my body

With its predator death-shake.

I escape long enough to put down the knife,

Crawl away while it stalks my heals.

I hide for a time in the dark of the bedroom,

But it comes for me still,

Slathering for more.

'The chief proof of man's real greatness lies in his perception of his own migraines.' - The Sign of the Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

I've had my New Year's resolutions for about two weeks now and I feel like I should confess how I'm doing to hopefully push myself to do better. Usually when I'm trying to start a new habit I bribe myself with money that I can use on fun, off-budget purchases. I haven't set up anything like that this time, which might be why I'm having mixed results. I am drinking more water, at least a litre and usually the 1.5L that I'm aiming for. I am in the process of weaning off Topomax and have been taking a pill that has things like feverfew, valerian and butterbur daily. I have meditated a few times, but not three times a week. I usually feel good when I meditate (or do yoga), but I often find other, more 'productive' things to do when I first wake up or in the few extra minutes before I leave for work. Finally, other than the herbal pills (and my normal restricted diet and monthly chiro/acupuncture) I haven't tried any new remedies for migraines. It's partly because I want to stabilise on the non-pharmaceuticals first, partly because I haven't had many migraines in the last few weeks. I have been trying to record my migraines, but am discovering that it's often hard to know what to write down: which of the many variables from the past 24 hours contributed to this migraine? is this a migraine or just heatstroke? when does one migraine end and the next begin? I guess like everything it's a work-in-progress.