A Major Pain in the – Head

Kes once asked me what was the one thing, aside from my clothes, cellphone and wallet, that I could never leave the house without. For her it was makeup and for Gelle, earrings. Back then, I could not think of anything. Sure I wore makeup, but I could also do without it, as I proved then.

Only today, more than a year after said question was raised, did I realize what my answer is: Mefenamic acid. I realized this because right before lunch, I felt the onset of a migraine coming in and when I rummaged through my makeup kit, I realized that I was down to the last of the stash that I had brought from the Philippines. In Singapore, you need a prescription to be able to buy them. I am dead.

I’ve been having headaches ever since I was in High School, or maybe even as early as elementary. I’ve always wondered if this was related to my hobby of reading, but eye tests have ruled it out, since I have always had perfect 20-20 vision.

Back then, I could get rid of the pain with Biogesic or Medicol tablets. But it was when I moved to España, Manila to review for the CPA board exam, that the pain grew worse. Perhaps it was the extreme heat or pollution or the stress of full time studying or maybe all of them that soon induced in my head such pain that had me puking my guts out.

My usual medication no longer did the trick, so I paid a visit to a neurologist who diagnosed me with migraine, telling me the words that would haunt me forever: “Migraine has no permanent cure. Once you have it, you will do so for the rest of your life.”

He told me that I could, however, prevent its onslaught by avoiding its trigger. The only problem was that there were many possible triggers and they were different for each person. He wrote down a list of possible suspects – caffeine, chocolate, nuts, oranges, dairy products, cured meat, MSG. He might as well have told me not to eat. Those are some of my favorites right there!

He also prescribed some medicine that I could take to relieve me of the pain – Ibuprofen or Mefenamic acid. I tried both, and soon discovered that the latter was more effective for me. At first I bought the well-known brands, but they were expensive, and when I found out that generic brands offered the same relief at a third of the cost, I stuck to them. Metmic and Pharex would become my favorites, and I always carried some in case of emergency.

I would later find out through my own experience and not the doctors’ advice, that certain food types are not the only possible triggers of my sickness. In December 2004, I decided that I wanted to lose weight by taking some Apple Cider Vinegar pills, which triggered the longest-running migraine in the history of my life – eight straight days of nonstop pain. I was not yet a regular employee of KPMG then, so I was not entitled to sick leaves, and on the small salary that I had, I could not afford to have them deduct the days I would take off from my pay. So I trudged to work and drew up flowcharts and interviewed clients and danced for our Christmas party even as a blinding ball of pain throbbed behind one of my eyes.

I visited the doctor who prescribed a stronger medicine, but it didn’t work either. At the end of each day, I would fitfully doze off to sleep, hoping that would put an end to my suffering and I would wake up the next day pain-free, but I would wake up and the ball of pain would still be there.

I hadn’t realized immediately that it was the diet pills causing it then, so I kept on taking them. When I stopped, that was when the pain went away. Geez. That’s one trigger that the doctors haven’t mentioned.

Still, I could not completely give up on all diet pills, so I tried a couple more, one at a time, when someone mentioned that they were supposedly effective. I never did find out if it was true, though, because Reductil and Xenical gave me headaches just moments after I took them, and that put a stop to that.

There was this one product whom Yen swore was effective on her obese mom, though, that did not trigger any headaches for the first three days that I took them. I was happy at last, till the afternoon of the fourth day. I felt the attack coming on, so I went home early, took my pain meds, and slept. When I woke up at midnight, I cried, screamed, and banged my head against the wall before shakily making my way out the door and into a taxi that brought me to the hospital.

The doctor conducted some tests, declared that I was showing signs of photophobia (hypersensitivity to light), among other migraine symptoms, then prescribed an injection. Before I could get it, though, I had to get a pregnancy test because in my dizzy state I had forgotten to lie about when I had last gotten my period.

I was irregular, still am, and three months without my period was normal to me, though of course it was cause for concern to them. I realize now that I should have waived the test since I was sure I was not pregnant, anyway. But I wasn’t thinking straight then and simply subjected to anything.

Finally, after I was through with that nuisance, they injected some medicine through an IV clamp at the back of my hand and made me sleep on one of the beds. I was not too comfortable with the idea of sleeping while a needle was stuck in my vein, (I am scared of needles sticking into me) but as I had no choice, I tried to make myself as comfortable as possible and slept for a couple of hours.

When I woke up, the pain was gone. I had them discharge me and I went back home, asked to go on sick leave, threw out the rest of the pills that had caused this, then slept the whole day.

From then on, I have never tried another diet pill again.

Aside from diet pills, there is also one thing I need to avoid – ang malipasan ng gutom.

During our P&G Christmas party in Lokaldero, I was so busy preparing for my two choir presentations that I missed eating dinner on time. By the time I could eat, there was barely enough food, and by then it was too late anyway, because my migraine had already begun, and there I was without meds.

I spent the rest of the night puking in the bathroom; my other officemates thought I was drunk, but I hadn’t even had one sip of alcohol. Finally my friends had the good sense to think of bringing me home, and on our way to our friend’s car, I puked on the road.

Once inside the car, though, I held it in even though my insides were still roiling, and it felt like the longest ride of my life.

So now I’ve asked my friends to buy me my meds from the Philippines. I just hope that I don’t get another attack in the next couple of weeks before they get here. In the meantime, I need to be extra careful to eat frequently, and to eat the right food.

Oh boy. Why do I have a feeling that this will be the longest two weeks of my life?