Posts tagged ‘migraines’

On Saturday we went to Max’s Cub Scout Blue and Gold ceremony. What we didn’t know at the time was that he was starting to run a fever. We had a hint something was wrong because he was so tired. Because things were running fairly smoothly we didn’t think much about it.

Sunday was Father’s Day. In the morning I was so tired myself that I couldn’t wake up. Several times Max came in to ask when I was coming downstairs. The last time I told him I would be 2 minutes…then I slept for 20. I didn’t wake up until my wife came in to find out what was happening.

I am surprised I was able to sleep so long. My son is usually very impatient and comes after me over and over again until I jump out of bed, usually very cranky.

Today I was able to slowly get up and wander downstairs. Passing through the living room I noticed Max was lying down on the couch. My wife informed me that he had a terrible headache and she had had to get up several times in the night to comfort him.

Now that I was up he was excited. They had gifts for me. The first one Max had already given me on Saturday. It is a grey t-shirt that advertizes that “Dad is a grillin Man!” Um, okay, if they say so. I actually think my wife and son are hoping that it will prompt me to do more cooking on the grill.

Now I got the rest of the presents: a pair or shorts and a jersey. Very nice choices but where are the scratch tickets? Where are the tickets to Canobie Lake? Just kidding.

This was basically the end of my Father’s Day. It turned out we had to take Max to his doctor’s walk-in clinic to find out what was going on. Here it is the beginning of summer and he was running a fever. He also had a massive headache and was feeling very poorly. All the way he kept an ice pack on his head and he had already taken some Advil.

At the office they told us he had a virus and we should just keep giving him Advil and ice packs until it cleared up.

On the way home he insisted he still wanted to go to church. We got there in time for the start of the service.

Later we went to give my wife’s dad his present. It is a black t-shirt with the American flag and an eagle on it. But even now Max was very subdued. He kept trying to do the things he loves like climb trees, run, and play ball but it was taking too much out of him.

On Monday morning we were going to keep him out of school but since it was the last day he insisted on going. We expected a call telling us to bring him home but that didn’t happen.

As my wife said today it was so nice and quiet while Max was sick. When we got home from church on Sunday he curled up on the couch in his toy room. He slept for 2 hours. He had been slow and very subdued. Now, we really don’t want him to be sick all the time. It was just nice to have a little relief.

Ordinarily on Sundays he would be cranky. He would be expressing some of the symptoms of ADH, Bipolar Disorder, or Asperger’s Syndrome. This was kind of a break.

But seeing how badly he felt it will be nice when he is better and can start enjoying the things he really likes to do.

I suffered for years with headaches.  These were the kind that were so painful I just wanted to lock myself in my bedroom, turn off the lights, and bury myself under the covers.  I must admit that on more that one occasion I did just that.

It seemed like I was getting them from just about anything.  I read a book then get a headache.  I walk down the street; another headache.   I breathe and get a headache.  They weren’t all excruciating; most were just a dull pain.  But I seemed to have them daily.  Once they went away I would be exhausted.  I used to tell people that the fatigue was from fighting the pain all the time.

I went to doctors trying to find a cure.  They kept throwing up their hands because I always checked out fine.  Then I would mention that I have multiple sclerosis and ask if that could be a problem.  The common answer was no, that doesn’t have anything to do with it.

One doctor suggested that my apartment might be too dry.  As a result it would mean that my body was losing water into the air.  Without enough water I would get headaches.  He recommended I take some flat pans like cookie sheets with sides and fill them with water.  I should then place them under some of my radiators; at the time I had old fashioned steam ones.  His idea was that the heat from the radiators would evaporate the water and make the apartment more humid; in which case I wouldn’t lose so much water from my body.  This he believed would cut down on all of my headaches.

It didn’t work.

The second doctor wanted me to take aspirin or Tylenol every time I got a headache.  I wasn’t thrilled with this idea.  First of all it would mean taking the pills several times a day; that’s how often I can get them.  Second, I don’t like taking a lot of medication and this really seemed like too much.  Third, aspirin and Tylenol really never did anything for my headaches anyway.  I would take them for the major ones but I would still be suffering hours afterwards.  And fourth, the pills don’t address the problem of why I keep getting them, they just mask the pain.

When I told the doctor this he thought I was crazy.  He shrugged his shoulders and told me they probably weren’t as bad as I was claiming they were then.

The last doctor I spoke to about the headaches asked me how long since I had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.  This surprised me but I told him that it had been eight years.  He then told me that he had a lot of experience working with ms patients.  Quite a few of them, like me, would constantly get headaches.  He discovered that if they stopped eating or drinking dairy products the headaches would stop.  This meant even trace amounts because it appeared that it was the body’s reaction to the dairy in general not necessarily large quantities of it.

I didn’t want to believe him; besides I love my pizza, ice cream, and milk.  I couldn’t imagine not eating cake, or pancakes, or french toast anymore.  I left his office shaking my head.  That night I went to Bertucci’s and ordered a pizza…with extra mozzarella!

The next day I thought I was going to die!  The headache was terribly excruciating.  I wanted to have a lobotomy.  I felt like my eyes were going to pop out of my head.

I now believed!

For six months I watched everything I ate.  I made sure that nothing had any dairy in it.  At the end of this period I was amazed that I hadn’t had any headaches.  But was I satisfied?  No, I yearned for some ice cream.  I missed my pizza.  I decided to put the doctor to the test again.  I went back to Bertucci’s and had the exact same pizza with the double helping of mozzarella.

Guess what happened…

That was twelve years ago.  Today I watch everything that I eat.  I do my best not to ingest anything with dairy in it.  I still get minor headaches from time to time and maybe twice a year I’ll get one of the bad ones.  But generally speaking when this happens I look at the ingredients in the foods I ate the day before and in almost all cases I’ll find there is some dairy in them.

When I tell people I can’t have dairy they automatically assume that I must be lactose intolerant.  I always respond it is true in a way, and then I mention the headaches.  A couple of years ago I was talking to a man whose son was getting a lot of them.  I told him my story and he took it to heart.  He later told me his son cut dairy out of his diet and has not been bothered by them since.

I have even mentioned it to parents when I find their babies have ear infections.  Often taking milk out of their diets has reduced or even eliminated the problem.

I am not advocating people stop drinking milk or eating pizza.  My son Max has a bowl of ice cream every night before going to bed but he doesn’t get headaches.  Both he and my wife eat pizza and haven’t had any problems.

But based on my experience and that of others I have met I would suggest that if you suffer like I suffered this is one possibility that shouldn’t be overlooked.