Short and sweet

I am keeping things short and sweet this week as I am really feeling quite rotten at the moment. I

The good news is I managed to go from Wednesday last week until Monday this week without a migraine. The sumatriptan worked well and halted it. I did ensure I rested for several hours rather than power through as I had done the week before as that seemed to bring the migraine back after two hours. Despite the pain of the migraine being removed I was left with a bad headache and feeling exhausted. I have noticed as well that I am getting a lot of gastrointestinal symptoms when I am having migraines and they can hang around for  a few days following the migraine. It is like a mixture of IBS and adhesion pain all rolled into one. I ended up missing dog training on Tuesday as I had been utterly wiped out by the migraine and my abdomen was incredibly painful. I  was running on empty and I just couldn't put a brave face on and pretend that I was ok. When I felt like I was going to hurl or have the shits at a moments notice, especially as there are no toilets at the dog training centre.

I am gutted that I missed the training session, thankfully the lady that runs it along with her husband very kindly sent me lots of videos via Facebook chat ( used to be messages ). Which made up for not seeing what they were doing. They had a brilliant training session and I am so very proud of them both.

Today ( Wednesday ) I have woken up with the same IBS issue and waves of nausea again. I also have vertigo which is just fucking super! Like I needed anything else added into the mix. It couldn't have happened on a worse day as I had an electrician here for 90 minutes to fit an outside electrical socket as we are getting a hot tub this week ( fingers crossed ). The hot tub has been purchased as a) we have wanted one for around 17 years and b) I need it in the ongoing battle to relieve the terrible muscle spasms I have. We got rid of our bath over ten years ago and I miss it. Not enough to get another one put in, although the thought has crossed my mind more than once! I found it difficult to climb over the side of the bath without assistance  when having a shower. I wish that our bathroom was big enough to have a separate bath and shower but hey ho it isn't. So I am hoping the hot tub will help when I have awful muscle spasms and nothing else will help. It will only be up during the summer months ( that's the plan for the moment but that may change).

I had to get up at 5am this morning to ensure I had enough time to sort myself out without killing myself. It has now just gone 11am and I am fighting the strong urge to crawl back to bed. Dembe is on the sofa beside me snoring his head off. He decided that he must guard his mum when the electrician was here, so all his bum hair went up and he was a bit barky! Im quite jealous of the fact that he is asleep!

 Due to the fact I am feeling so awful, as I said in the title of this piece I am going to keep it short and sweet.

The Fly

Well it has been pretty hellish of late health wise. Last week I managed to beat my personal best and have three migraines with aura within a week. Each time as they happened I was using a screen. I had noticed for the last few weeks that I was really struggling with a fabric I had been working with a tiny red and white check. Out of nowhere I had noticed it had started strobe - looking like it was stripey, instead of checked to the naked eye. I should have realised my sudden increased visual sensitivity was a warning sign of things to come.

For a really good visual representation of the sort of things I see when having a migraine aura this website is really good - https://www.migraineagain.com/how-to-know-if-you-have-migraine-with-aura/ It is the closest thing I have ever seen that would explain the zig zag lines in primary colours and the blind spots I develop in my vision. I tend to develop the blind spots first before the zig zags come on. My auras last for around 45 minutes to an hour and then the pain will start. Thankfully with the introduction of sumatriptan by the time the aura is coming to an end the sumatriptan kicks in. On the last three occasions it hasn't got rid of the headache entirely but even knocking it down to a bad headache is good enough for me.

Over the last week thanks to a lot of research I have found that people with migraine are very visually sensitive. It is something I have always known but it makes you feel better when it is confirmed in writing. I know as a kid there were shops that I really disliked going into as I knew the chances of them causing a migraine were high. There used to be a shop called C&A, which I loved and loathed in equal measure. Loved because I could get decent clothes at a reasonable price, loathed because of the patterned carpet, which would trigger a migraine or make me feel like I was suffering with a migraine aura. I don't remember much about the pattern, C&A has been gone from the UK for about 20 years ( so I am showing my age) .To find out more about C&A click }here{.

Medical papers have been written on the subject that Migraneurs are sensitive to light, sound, smell etc. One of the easier papers to understand should you wish to read further information on the subject  you can find {here}.

I have also always had a problem with stripes, it is the width of the stripe that is the issue. Thick bold stripes are fine they don't do anything to me however thin stripes and lots of them banded close together make me feel sick. Not because they are ugly or anything like that, its the gymnastics they cause my eyes and brain to do trying to keep up with their constantly changing pattern, especially if they are on clothing. As the person moves the fabric will move, causing a strobe effect that my eyes really struggle to deal with . 

Colours can also cause me issues, especially ones that essentially clash like olive green and turquoise - a Tula Pink Fabric, she does it in dots and a stripe. I love Tula Pink designs but I have ti limit my exposure to those fabrics as again they can make me feel overloaded visually. It is a really weird sensation to describe, I can feel light headed, sweaty and a bit panicked with them. I don't know if it id the fear of nearly 40 years of migraines or the feeling of not being able to see properly that causes me to freak out.

Since my migraines decided to ramp up this year, I have been keeping a food diary in case there was something I was eating or drinking that was triggering them. I would think I had found a trigger, so gin and dairy. Only to try them again at a later date and no migraine would happen. Nothing made sense and there was no food or drink that I was having in the 24-48 hours that proceeded a migraine that I wasn't having on any of the other days. I was beginning to lose hope that I was ever going to find out what could possibly be causing my migraines, when I had an a-ha moment. What if the trigger possibly wasn't what I was eating or drinking but something I was doing. On each occasion last week I was either using my mobile phone or chromebook when I suddenly would lose part of the screen and the screen would also appear to be too bright, burning the back of my eyes. So I did what we all do these days and Googled " do screens trigger migraines".

The first article I came cross was this one from Migraineagain.com - How to avoid a Computer Headache.  As I was reading I learned a lot, something when you have had migraines for nearly 40 years, can surprise you. What I discovered in this article was yes Migraines can be triggered by screens.....( so maybe I have found one trigger ) and that I didn't have to abandon technology due to it. I found out there were special Migraine glasses I could wear that could help me. The links in the article are only any good if you are in the USA. You can get blue light filters or glasses with blue light filters in, however migraineurs are not just triggered by blue light but also red light and light on the frequencies F1 and F4. So whilst blue light filters may help a little ( they may help others a lot) they wont stop the other light frequencies that are on the spectrum that trigger migraines.

In the UK there is a company called Migralens and their products are approved by Migraine Action a UK Charity for migraine sufferers. Now I need to state for the record I am not being paid to mention these glasses, I haven't received anything for free. I am literally sharing them because they have helped me so much since they arrived on Sunday afternoon. You can buy them as non prescription lenses or prescription lenses. The Migralens site is HERE. You can also purchase them through Amazon as I did as I was so desperate for them to arrive, although they are more expensive on there.

The lenses are very dark green and give everything a bit of a weird colour. I was using my embroidery machine yesterday and the green button to start the machine looked amber! Which threw me a couple of times making me think there was something wrong with the machine! I put my glasses on as soon as they arrived on Sunday and the relief was immediate. I had noticed this summer I was really struggling with glare from objects that were bouncing sunlight at me, going through a sunshine dappled road was causing me not to be able to see for a few minutes ( thank goodness I no longer drive), plus as I said earlier fabric I have been using for the last 6 months was now suddenly causing me to feel queasy and was making strange patterns. On putting the glasses on the pain I feel in my eyes pretty much from the minute they open subsided. I always thought that pain was dry eyes but no it is how bad my light sensitivity has become. I used my phone to check Facebook and my eyes didn't hurt and the screen didn't become wavy etc where my eyes just couldn't cope with it. I used my chromebook and my eyes didn't hurt. Within an hour the low grade headache I had since Fridays migraine melted away.

I wont lie it is a pain in the arse having to wear glasses ( for a non glasses wearing person other than weak reading glasses ) every time I use anything with a screen or lights. But the fact I don't have a headache more than compensates. This blog has been written whilst wearing them. I plan to buy another pair next month so that I have two just in case I damage one . They did make me laugh when I took a selfie wearing them

It immediately reminded me of The Fly

Showing my age!

In a cruel twist of fate I managed to come down with a migraine as I was writing this. Well at least I had 4 days without one!

Bugger!

Well I didn't think I could hate 2020 anymore than I did last week and bugger me it had some more treats in store for me. Sometimes even I find it hard to believe the stunts my body pulls.

I managed to have my first migraine with a proper full blown aura in 6 years on Friday morning which takes some beating. I was reading the newspaper online when I became aware of the fact that my left eye was struggling to see the words on the screen, in fact words were missing and the screen seemed ultra bright. I knew straight away that it was probably a migraine but I thought, it has been so long. Maybe it is the sun shining through the window hitting the screen and that's why I can't see? I struggled on for a few more minutes the weird thing was when I was looking at the screen my vision was fine. Then I looked across at Mr Myasthenia Kid and half his face was missing. At that point there was no mistaking this was a good old fashioned migraine. The last one of this type I had on my 40th Birthday how's that for timing?

Hubby immediately sprang into action and got my migraine grab bag so I could take all my meds and then go back to bed. I absolutely hate the aura stage of a migraine which for me can last up to an hour before the headache begins. During that hour the visual disturbance just gets worse and worse, even with my eyes closed in a dark room. There is no escape from it and it leaves me feeling terribly disorientated. I am so grateful to have finally been prescribed sumatriptan, it is my wonder drug as it really does just halt the migraine in its tracks. Some days I feel as rough as a badgers arse, for those of you outside the UK this is what a badgers arse looks like. Other days I may feel a wee bit groggy but after a few hours I can do some bits and pieces and I am not totally wiping out a day. It really has been life changing. However the number of migraines I have been having lately has been averaging around 2 a week and I am heartily sick of having them. Of course it is now leading up to the window that always means migraine time the 18-22nd of each month. I am hoping ( god loves my optimism) that this month I wont get it but who knows? I have had more than my fair share these last 4 weeks.

So that was Friday, which was then followed by an eventful Saturday. About an hour after I got up on Saturday a nice bout of Vertigo started. The room did one spin every so often and when I walked / stumbled really anywhere it felt like I was on a boat. Thankfully I always have a stash of meds nearby for this and to be fair it has been quite a while since I had the spins. I sat down with a coffee and tried to relax and let the medication do its thing. After a while I was bored so I decided to go and sit out in the garden. Big mistake as I went arse over tit over a plant pot ( concrete ) that Mr Myasthenia Kid has so helpfully left in the middle of the patio. Had it been a normal day I may have been able to right myself but with vertigo? Not a fucking hope - apologies for the language today it is just happening. So I tumbled across the patio all the time trying to right myself without success. I realised at this point that I was going to end up crashing through the fence and falling 4ft down onto the patio in front of our shed if I didn't stop staggering, so with the fake turf on top of the gravel I aimed my dive onto that figuring it would hurt a lot less than landing on the gravel.

Gracefully I hit the deck and if you believe that, you will believe anything. Immediately I was in a world of pain, both wrists, my left shoulder, my left knee, my left buttock and all along the left side of my back.

The only reason I didn't scream obscenities out loud was because the neighbours children were playing in the garden and I didn't want to teach them anymore bad language than I had already. Most of it was aimed at Mr Myasthenia Kid for being so stupid as to leave a bloody plant pot right in front of the patio doors! When he knows my vision is a bit dodgy and I can lose the sight in one eye if my ptosis strikes and I can't open my right eye.

So all my plans of sewing etc went out the window. Instead I spent the day dosing myself up on pain killers and sitting on hot water bottles. My ankle blew up like a balloon, i had to take my slipper boots off because it got so large it was starting to feel constricted. I was bloody furious because I needn't have fallen and I hate feeling vulnerable like that. I forgot to say the minute I landed on the artificial grass Dembe came rushing over showering me in kisses checking I was ok. Initially he wouldn't let me get up until he had checked that I wasn't seriously hurt.

Sunday was spent doing crochet very slowly as my wrists were still throbbing from the fall and my left leg was elevated all day due to the swelling. I still hurt all over but at least nothing was broken. 

Thankfully the vertigo was gone by Sunday morning, my leak is still causing me problems. It is still there and some days the head pain is worse than ever. I am still attempting to pace myself by lying down every few hours but it is difficult when I get absorbed in something to remember to. I only remember when my head starts feeling like it is crushed in a vice and all screens seem to be burning the back of my retinas.

As I am the worlds worst person at pacing myself due to the fact that giving up work due to my disabilities has made me feel like I contribute nothing at all to society, I push myself constantly beyond what is sensible and then end up paying for my stupidity. I feel that everything I do has to be better than everyone else so that people don't feel sorry for me and that I don't look weak or vulnerable. The fact that the falls and faints have become much more regular occurrences is making me feel very vulnerable and it is doing a number on my mental health. I have always struggled with never ever feeling anything I do is good enough and probably also a bit of impostor syndrome (find out more here. ) People can tell me that what I have sewn or embroidered is the best thing ever, my blog could be awarded a Nobel prize for literature but I would still be waiting for one person to say that my work is shit. It is hard to live with the constant fear that people will discover that what you do is actually crap. Add in physical disabilities and you have a wonderful mixture of weird ideas running through your head, not only are you not good enough creatively but you can't even do the stuff normal people do. It makes you feel less than. Which is why I probably do push myself too hard to prove I am worthy of my place within society.

Word for this week is Bugger!

A lovely photo of Dembe to lift your spirits

Unhappy hump day

Until I joined Instagram I had no clue what Hump Day was, I quickly worked out that Happy Hump day just meant happy Wednesday. Hump day meaning from what I have surmised, that once you get over this hump it will soon be the weekend. It isn't a happy hump day here, I can't believe it is only Wednesday as so far I have endured vertigo, a migraine and now my back is buggered spectacularly and I am waiting on a phone call from the doctor where I will have to beg for diazepam so that I can move again this week!

When you have multiple health issues that like to spring up without warning a week can seem like a very long time. I always try to push through symptoms whenever I can because if I didn't much of my time would  be spent in bed. However when it comes to my back being in spasm I am severely limited, I can't walk because the action of walking sets the spasm off and I cant move my arms as that also sets the spasm off. I rang the doctors surgery gasping and crying, I am sure the receptionist thought I was being melodramatic! But I really wasn't the pain takes my breath away and makes me make horrendous noises as my back contorts and twists itself into all sorts weird shapes. I can only describe it as like wearing a remote controlled whalebone corset. You can be fine one minute and the next the sadistic twat with the controller has randomly made a group of muscles spasm and you can't move. The pain is so immediate and acute that it takes your breath away. The problem is that you never know what movement your back will find unacceptable until it does!

So I am typing this - I gave up with speech to text when it tried to translate my whimpers into text, whilst sipping a gin ( small ) whilst waiting for the doctor to ring ( it's only small because I don't want to be shit faced if and when they ring! as that's not classy at all). Thankfully the doctor has just rung and agreed that I need diazepam. Thank goodness. Although due to Jays schedule he won't be home until after 10pm.

I forgot to mention that Jay returned to work on Monday after being home for 7 weeks due to the medications he is on for psoriasis and asthma. His mental health took a nose dive and having been in a really awful place many years ago where he ended up being off work for 12 weeks and it took a good 5 years to get him on the correct medications so that he no longer had massive dips in his mood. He didn't want to end up in that place again so talked to his HR manager about returning to work. Now they have the social distancing measures in place it is much safer than it was before he was put on the 12 week leave. So he returned on Monday which left Dembe and I scrambling to sort ourselves out in to a new routine after a 7 week hiatus.

I knew on Sunday that I was feeling stressed at Jays imminent return to work - he decided on the Friday ( out of the blue and with no discussion although I was aware he wasn't right mentally ) and returned on the Monday, as I was really struggling to relax and kept getting funny heart beats, which happens when I am stressed. I tried my hardest to just let it go but it didn't work. I was also suffering with vertigo, intermittently during the day, so that left me feeling pretty exhausted. 

 I was on edge all day Monday, although when he came home on his lunch break and I could see how happy I was, I relaxed. So I was really surprised late Monday evening when I started to get intermittent zigzag lines in the corner of my eye. As there was no headache within an hour I put it down to a visual migraine but at 5am the following morning I woke up with the feeling someone was trying to insert an ice-pick in my eye. It is clear that all the health issues that have popped up so far this week have been a result of stress. 

Then last night after having an awful day with a migraine that just wouldn't shift, it lasted around 16 hours, I woke up 2 hours after going to sleep with awful muscle spasms in my right leg that had me crying out, the left leg was sore but the right leg had me squealing. Also the toes on my right foot were pulling back towards my shin. I hobbled downstairs and pulled a freezer block ( a cooler pack I think they are called in the USA ) and started massaging my leg with it. It helped but didn't get rid of it completely. As soon as the muscles relaxed they they just went into another spasm. It was so hard to walk. I ended up sleeping with the ice pack placed onto the back of my leg. I have no idea what caused that but I haven't had that happen in years - probably as long ago as me being a teenager and waking up with it after a night on the tiles and having a few too many sherbet's. 

My calf has been aching all day and my feet have been doing their weird spasms all day. Then the icing on the cake was my back going into spasm this afternoon. It was so bad I immediately called the doctors. I can't believe how many health issues I have had this week and its only Wednesday. When I have weeks like this I often wonder what the hell the rest of the week will go. 

I know this probably sounds strange when in reality I do have a lot of stuff going on but I get quite resentful when I can't do the stuff I want to do because my body has decided to let me down again. I hate the unpredictability of it and I hate that there is always something going on. When people ask me how I am I just lie and say fine because even I get bored with it and I learned years ago that most people really don't care they say it out of politeness when they ask how you are. I don't understand the point of asking a question that when you are asked you have to lie because that's the done thing. At least I have nothing planned this week.


Thank god it is hump day even if it's not a particularly happy one!

Migraines the sneaky kind!

You may be wondering what on earth I mean when I say "Migraines the sneaky kind" up until last Wednesday, if I had read that I would have been scratching my head as well, because surely you know if you are having a migraine right? Well no not always, read on!

What I am referring to are migraines that disguise themselves as something completely different, so that they sneak up on you. Its not until its gets to the point where you are vomiting, avoiding the light (like some kind of vampire) and your usual pain medications arent working that you suddenly realise that what you are suffering from is a migraine and you've got so far into the attack that there is nothing left for you to do but ride it out.

On Tuesday 18th March 2014, I had one of these sneaky type migraines. I suffer with two kinds of migraines, classic migraines with an aura and Hemiplegic Migraines where I get no warning. With my hemiplegic migraines I wake up in the middle of the night with them.

http://www.webmd.com/migraines-headaches/what-is-a-migraine-with-aura this link explains the type of symptoms you get with a classic migraine with an aura.

http://www.migrainetrust.org/factsheet-hemiplegic-migraine-10913 this link gives a brief overview of the symptoms of a hemiplegic migraine.

I call them my sneaky migraines as when they start I don't know what they are. I am awoken from my sleep with sinus pain, severe sinus pain that goes into my front teeth. Over the course of a few hours the pain increases to the point where I feel like my head is going to explode. I self medicate with sudafed (a type of sinus decongestant), nasal sprays and rinsing my sinuses out with warm saline. Nothing stops the pain and it just keeps increasing, I start to feel sick and then the light aversion starts. This is then followed by a feeling of numbness in my face and right arm, sometimes spreading into my right leg. Then suddenly I have a lightbulb moment and realise I'm having a migraine!

 In 2009 or 2010 (sorry I can't remember the exact year) I ended up being taken into hospital for 24 hours because I was so ill with a migraine. When I was admitted I was wearing dark glasses and had my cardigan wrapped around my head to block all light out (and yes I looked ridiculous but I just didn't care!). The medics treating me were concerned I had meningitis or a bleed on the brain. All the tests came back clear, I was suffering from a migraine.

This migraine started in exactly the same way as the one on Tuesday night did. It disguised itself as a dry sinus infection. I was so convinced it was my sinuses acting up. So on Tuesday my sneaky migraine had fooled me for a second time.

I felt hideously embarrassed all those years ago that I had been hospitalised by a headache but then a migraine isn't just a bad headache, as so many people that have never had one seem to believe. A migraine is the kind of headache where you would do anything to stop the pain, even if it involved cutting off your own head.

So why didn't I recognise that it wasn't my sinuses but a migraine that was masquerading as such? Well I'm not alone in getting the two confused the link below states in one study of 100 people that believed they had sinus trouble over 90 of them had nothing wrong with their sinuses at all, they were suffering from tension headaches or migraines
http://www.webmd.com/allergies/sinus-headaches

This link breaks the study down further
http://headaches.about.com/od/diagnosis/a/ahs_sinus_mig.htm

I only discovered all this after my migraine cleared up around 13 hours after the attack had started. I was angry with myself for not recognising the fact it was a migraine and I searched the internet to find out if other people had the same sinus symptoms during their migraine attacks. I found a wealth of information about sinus pain and migraines but this only fueled my curiosity. I needed to know why the sinuses were involved, what was the mechanism behind this. I came across this site which briefly explains why the sinuses are involved
http://migraine.com/migraine-types/sinus-migraine/

As soon as I found out this information I shared it on facebook as I had previously discussed dry sinus pain with a few friends. It made so such sense. Sometimes my migraines that involve my sinuses aren't so dramatic. The pain is severe, but I'm not light sensitive. The attacks will still send me to bed and I will  vomit with them.

I could never work out how it was possible to be in so much pain with your sinuses only for it to magically disappear 12-24 hours later. During these attacks I would take decongestants and rinse my sinuses with warm water to no avail. I feel such an idiot! All this time I've had migraines with sinus involvement. If I had taken other pain medication I may have been able to reduce the attacks, rather than solider on thinking my sinuses were playing up again.

Im not new to migraines I've had them since the age of 8. Since that age they have been a mixture of classic migraines with auras and hemiplegic migraines with or without auras. By the time I was 13 years old my migraines were frequent and severe. I always vomited and I would always become paralyzed on one side of my body.

 I have a memory of my mum taking me to see my gp as she ( the gp) needed to see me during one of my migraines to confirm the diagnosis. At this age I was several inches taller than my mother and probably around a stone heavier. I remember her dragging me along the road, how the hell she did it I will never know but she did. In the doctors surgery I was diagnosed with migraine and given a prescription for pizotifen / sanomigran a drug used to prevent migraines. The doctor also gave me a soluble pain killer and made me drink it there and then. Bad idea as I decorated the treatment room with an exorcist type vomit. It was then that the doctor informed me that I was also suffering with transient gastroparesis due to the migraine. She advised me that as soon as I got my aura warning me of an impending migraine attack I must take my pain medications, if I waited the pain killers wouldn't work as for all intensive purposes my stomach would be on strike during the attack.

I am always amazed at how many Doctors and migraineurs that aren't aware that your stomach becomes paralysed during an attack. It doesn't seem to be very well known by either community, which is a dreadful shame as many sufferers could reduce the severity of their migraine if they took their pain medications as soon as the aura started. Obviously that only works if you get an aura, some people don't.

Over the years my migraine pattern has changed. As a teenager they were frequent and severe. Even though at that point I had identified a number of triggers ; emotional stress, cola, oranges / orange juice, halls menthol sweets, lockets ( a type of lozenge for colds), scampi fries to name a few. As I grew older the frequency of the migraine attacks lessened. I could now go years without them. However when I did get an attack the migraines would be in clusters so I would have 2-4 in the space of a week, knocking me sideways.

I also outgrew my triggers, I still don't cope well with menthol so avoid it, the only other trigger I have identified is emotional stress. From 2010 until 2012 I was migraine free. Unfortunately in 2012 I started on the medication fludrcortisone     (florinef) and the migraines came back in clusters. This was also a time of emotional stress which compounded the situation. When I stopped taking the fludrcortisone the migraines subsided but they were still more frequent than they had been in years.

I now manage to go several months between attacks. The last migraine I had was in November on my 40th birthday. It was a classic migraine with an aura. I've found with these type of migraines as long as I get my pain medications in quickly and can apply a hot water bottle to the back of my neck within an hour of having the aura I can limit the severity and length of the attack to just a couple of hours. On my birthday I ignored it, dosed myself up and tried to continue as if it wasn't happening. I had a couple of hours where I felt pretty ropey but I made it out to my birthday lunch and had a few glasses of champagne for medicinal purposes!

With my hemiplegic migraines there is no escaping them. They will not be ignored, I just have to ride out the storm. Its the nausea and vomiting I find hard to deal with during these attacks plus the pain is just off the chart. They leave me depleted of energy for days afterwards with several severe headaches following afterwards. Thankfully I spoke to my gp on Wednesday as the migraine was starting to subside and was prescribed three types of suppositories. Two kinds of pain killers and one anti emetic as I can not hold anything down during one of these attacks. So if you are like me during a migraine it maybe worth talking to your doctor about being prescribed suppositories rather than oral medications that will not be digested if you do manage to keep them down.

With all things medical that I discuss on my blog - I am not a doctor, what works for me may not work for you. Also if your migraines change or increase in intensity then you need to seek urgent medical advice. What you think is a migraine could be a whole host of other lot less pleasant conditions such as a brain bleed, a stroke or meningitis none of which should be ignored.

And yes Nurse Frankie was glued to my side during the episode in case any of you were wondering!

I should have said glued to my feet as he kept lying on them to ensure I didn't go anywhere!