Monday, January 19, 2009

A few more reasons to hope

One: I've heard the rumor that generic sumatriptan (Imitrex) is now on the market. This may be small news for those with excellent prescription plans, but for me this is reason to throw a parade! It boggles my mind that the stuff is so pricey to begin with, but my good friend B, a PhD candidate in a science field, reminds me that a LOT of research and funding goes into developing these drugs. And that even the funding spent on wining and dining doctors is a small piece of the overall budget pie. Ok, I'll buy that for now. I'll be heading to the pharmacy with scrip in hand to test the waters tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Two: Bourgeois Deviant passed on a website which postulated that magnesium chloride may help to ease migraines. You can read the original page here and I will be doing more research into this topic in the future for sure.

But for now, MG is off to brunch!

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

Really?!?!?!?

So I was trying to give this new Pope a pass since he likes cats and wears oddly whimsical red Prada shoes, but this article takes the cake (or host, or whatever). The Vatican says that "the contraceptive pill is polluting the environment and is in part responsible for male infertility." Wow. Maybe women are evil witches, too.

The pope further writes that "contraception means negating the intimate truth of conjugal love, with which the divine gift (of life) is communicated," which, sure, I can understand how he would want to say that since it seems in line with the theology. But it conveniently exists in a vacuum -- with lots of other church proclamations.

I love it when the people who don't have to worry about contraception or hormones make all the rules about it for everyone else. Much like with every other issue related to women's bodies, the Catholic church has again decided that they know what's best. Cause, really, who knows about womens' bodies better than a bunch of old celibate dudes?

Sunday, January 04, 2009

Breaking News: relaxing helps keep migraines at bay

Yeah, who knew? In my ongoing love affair with my new iPhone, MN recently downloaded the "Custom Hypnosis" application from iTunes on a complete whim. I just tried the lite (i.e. free) version to start, which is a sleep program. MN was having a completely wonderfully productive and pleasant afternoon yesterday, with sunlight streaming through all my southern-exposed windows. Then that "oh shit" moment hit, and I knew I'd reached my limit for the day and absolutely needed to lie down or face dire migraine consequences. Rather than give in and nap - I really hate sleeping in the daytime - I tried the hypnosis app. Having been hypnotized before (with chronic pain, one tries everything...I would go to a witch doctor if I knew where to find one. Maybe Queens?) I wasn't sure what to expect with a generic hypnosis coming out of my phone, I mean, really? But I settled in and it was quite wonderful. I opted for the long program of 20 minutes and after the time was up I switched to some white noise (another useful iPhone application) and continued my chilled out state.

Happily, I can report that I never succumbed to migraine. The only down side was that I was super-awake the rest of the night so my sleep cycle is a bit off. Apparently, one hour of hypnosis is equal to four hours of regular sleep (or so I've read on multiple websites, but who knows). What I do know is that I will be using hypnosis more in the future. Stay tuned.

Thursday, January 01, 2009

Not with a bang but a whimper

Welcome, 2009! My new year was less party-party and more icepack/blackout mask/drugs/CSI marathon. Ah, yes. The migraine which began Sunday evening abated briefly yesterday with the start of the snowfall but then came back last evening as a special New Year's treat. It was never bad enough to make me 100% non-functioning, though I was an hour late to work on Tuesday as I needed the extra time for the drugs to take effect. So, last evening I stayed in with my pals Grissom, Catherine, Warrick, Sarah, and Nick and listened to them solve cases I'd already watched before but had mostly forgotten. Seriously, can you believe I couldn't find any Law & Orders that I hadn't seen recently? A New Year's tragedy.

So, here's to a better 2009, with the (fingers crossed) release of a generic form of Imitrex, and even more hopeful: fewer reasons to take it!

Good health to all!