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miriam_eI almost forgot to say... last night I had my first migraine in about 20 years. It was very strange.
At first I didn't realise what was happening as I was having a devil of a time trying to read the documentation to a customised ROM I'd installed on my handheld computer (HTC Desire HD -- I don't use it as a mobile phone). I found that the right-hand side of whatever I was reading had kind of dissolved... as if I was blind on my right-hand side.
I closed one eye and then the other to check, and yes, it was the same in each eye. Knowing some neurophysiology I realised that this meant something was up with the left side of my brain as the nerve fibers from the right half of each eye split at the optic chiasm to go to the left half of the brain and the nerves from the left half of each eye go to the right half of the brain. The right side of my vision was disappearing. It was then I realised it was probably a migraine. Confirmation came shortly after as I began having the characteristic triangular moving patterns at the edge of my vision on my right.
This was both worrying and exciting. Worrying because the prospect of pain so ferocious that it can lead to bouts of nausea and vomiting was not a pleasant one; exciting because the effects of migraine are fascinating. Blood vessels constrict in the brain due to some mechanism that, as far as I know, is not entirely understood. At least part of it may be some kind of allergic reaction or an overreaction to stress. The lack of blood resulting from the constriction is what causes the visual disturbances, as nerves are the most metabolically expensive cells in our body -- they require enormous amounts of energy, and restricting that causes problems. The pain comes afterwards, as the blood vessels swell in reaction to the original constriction and, as I understand it, stretch their walls triggering the pain receptors embedded there. The brain itself doesn't have pain receptors, but the blood vessels do.
So, as quickly and as calmly as possible, I put aside what I was doing (getting stressed would worsen the situation), exitted all the open programs on my desktop computer and shut it down, took my little dog outside to the toilet, switched out the kitchen light and came to bed. This was a very weird experience. It was very difficult to work out quite what I was doing as a large part of my brain wasn't operating properly. I should have tried recording my voice to see if it had an impact on that, as Broca's area (where speech is localised) is on the left side of the brain in right-handed people. I do remember wishing I could phone someone to see if they detected any oddness in my speech, but it was too late. I didn't think of making a recording. Darn!
Now was time for an experiment I'd wanted to try for ages. I got a glass of water, dissolved two soluble aspirins in it, and drank it. Normally I never take more than one aspirin, but for this I figured two would be a good investment. I was a little worried that I'd wasted too much time because the light show had already begun, but as the pain had not yet started my experiment might still work. No painkiller works on a migraine once the pain has begun (an ergot derivative can stop the blood vessels dilating and counter the pain, but that requires an injection delivered by a doctor, and I'm many miles from any doctor). What I was hoping was that the aspirin would block the chemicals called prostaglandins that were a part of the biochemical chain causing the constriction. That way I could avoid the later painful reaction.
Well, I don't know if it worked, or whether the deliberate relaxation and glass of milk to soothe my stomach after the aspirin and the sleep that followed did the trick, or if I simply slept through the pain. Whatever, I woke with a delicate head, but no pain. Interesting.
At first I didn't realise what was happening as I was having a devil of a time trying to read the documentation to a customised ROM I'd installed on my handheld computer (HTC Desire HD -- I don't use it as a mobile phone). I found that the right-hand side of whatever I was reading had kind of dissolved... as if I was blind on my right-hand side.
I closed one eye and then the other to check, and yes, it was the same in each eye. Knowing some neurophysiology I realised that this meant something was up with the left side of my brain as the nerve fibers from the right half of each eye split at the optic chiasm to go to the left half of the brain and the nerves from the left half of each eye go to the right half of the brain. The right side of my vision was disappearing. It was then I realised it was probably a migraine. Confirmation came shortly after as I began having the characteristic triangular moving patterns at the edge of my vision on my right.
This was both worrying and exciting. Worrying because the prospect of pain so ferocious that it can lead to bouts of nausea and vomiting was not a pleasant one; exciting because the effects of migraine are fascinating. Blood vessels constrict in the brain due to some mechanism that, as far as I know, is not entirely understood. At least part of it may be some kind of allergic reaction or an overreaction to stress. The lack of blood resulting from the constriction is what causes the visual disturbances, as nerves are the most metabolically expensive cells in our body -- they require enormous amounts of energy, and restricting that causes problems. The pain comes afterwards, as the blood vessels swell in reaction to the original constriction and, as I understand it, stretch their walls triggering the pain receptors embedded there. The brain itself doesn't have pain receptors, but the blood vessels do.
So, as quickly and as calmly as possible, I put aside what I was doing (getting stressed would worsen the situation), exitted all the open programs on my desktop computer and shut it down, took my little dog outside to the toilet, switched out the kitchen light and came to bed. This was a very weird experience. It was very difficult to work out quite what I was doing as a large part of my brain wasn't operating properly. I should have tried recording my voice to see if it had an impact on that, as Broca's area (where speech is localised) is on the left side of the brain in right-handed people. I do remember wishing I could phone someone to see if they detected any oddness in my speech, but it was too late. I didn't think of making a recording. Darn!
Now was time for an experiment I'd wanted to try for ages. I got a glass of water, dissolved two soluble aspirins in it, and drank it. Normally I never take more than one aspirin, but for this I figured two would be a good investment. I was a little worried that I'd wasted too much time because the light show had already begun, but as the pain had not yet started my experiment might still work. No painkiller works on a migraine once the pain has begun (an ergot derivative can stop the blood vessels dilating and counter the pain, but that requires an injection delivered by a doctor, and I'm many miles from any doctor). What I was hoping was that the aspirin would block the chemicals called prostaglandins that were a part of the biochemical chain causing the constriction. That way I could avoid the later painful reaction.
Well, I don't know if it worked, or whether the deliberate relaxation and glass of milk to soothe my stomach after the aspirin and the sleep that followed did the trick, or if I simply slept through the pain. Whatever, I woke with a delicate head, but no pain. Interesting.
no subject
Date: 2012-11-04 02:57 am (UTC)I have taken two asprin, and I'd be guessing that was minimally helpful. But who knows?