Category: Neurological

Any Insight on Lexapro?

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Anyone have any experience taking lexapro? Either for anxiety or for headaches?

My PA at my neurologist office has suggested for the third time that I start it for my headaches but also for my mild anxiety.

She thought it might help my chronic daily headaches as well as the anxiety that comes along with having a chronic disorder for 10 years. 

Started lexapro a couple of days ago and my headaches have been horrible and been feeling like I’m in a total daze. Couldn’t focus all day, dizzy and just weird.

But as someone with headache spells coming as frequently as Santa comes on Christmas, it’s hard to tell if it’s the side effects of a medicine giving me terrible headaches or if it’s just my body being my body. 

Any info or advice is appreciated! 

Well Known Around These Parts 

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When your neurology and headache doctors office knows your number now and doesn’t even have to ask questions they already know my appointment schedule–>sad thinking I am a patient who so frequently visits the doctor that they know me this well, but a good feeling knowing I have very attentive and personable people working for me and my health 

What’s the Word: Generate

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To cause to arise or come about.

Any spoonie knows that a lot of the journey involves waiting around for a diagnosis, test results, treatments, answers, and seeing if treatments are even working. Sometimes (too often) doctors can’t figure us out. 

We wait around for positive things to happen in a world where we run into so many road blocks.

Sometimes, though, it’s up to us to take control of our own journey. Be the captain of your own ship, as they say. 

We need to generate positivity in our lives. If we wait around for the positive things to happen to us, they rarely will. 

This is your journey–you’ll be amazed what you can do with it when you put your back into it. 

Monday Mantra 

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Trying to adopt this and implement it in all aspects of my life today, next week, and beyond. 

Fear is inevitable (for most people. Superman, Morgan freeman, and Chuck Norris excluded, obvs). There’s nothing wrong with feeling fear. It doesn’t make you weak or inferior. It makes you human. Don’t let people tell you to not be afraid. Frankly, because no one else besides you knows what you’re up against.

However, don’t let that fear take over your life. Instead, let it fuel your fire and push you toward learning how to strike that fear from your life.

Don’t let fear hault your progress. Don’t let fear make you stop in your tracks, because what’s life if not a journey? Fear is just a small part of it. 

Song of the Week: “Slow it Down” by The Lumineers 

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Song of the Week: “Slow It Down” by @thelumineers 
This song stops me in my tracks every time it plays. I’ve used it as a pillow to lay my head down on during times when I’ve felt defeated, overwhelmed, and discouraged. 
One of my favorite lines of any song is in this song:

And when she stood, she stood tall

It takes a lot to stand up every time you get knocked down–especially when you’re getting knocked down over and over again. And sometimes you just can’t stand up after every knockout. But I tell you this, when you do stand up to all the struggles life’s been throwing you, people will notice and stare in awe.

This song comforts me in a blanket of understanding when I don’t have the strength to stand, but encourages me to gather the courage to do so. Maybe it can do the same for you. 💙

Do any of you feel a similar connection to this song? Or have a song that makes you feel a similar way?

Comment below: 

It’s Not Bragging if it’s True 

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Well I’m on day 3.5 of this ongoing, debilitating migraine.

  And even when I try to silence my brain to give it a break, I can’t stop the ever flowing thoughts. Because that’s how it works, right? So today I started thinking: 

What’s one thing all spoonies hear almost every single day?

For me, it’s “I can’t imagine how you do that. I wouldn’t be able to handle that.” 

Hearing this has become as familiar as hearing “how are you” or “good morning” for me. From strangers, friends, family, co-workers, and if my dog could speak probably from him too.

Most of the time I think “yep. It sucks.” But sometimes I think to myself: “You know what. That’s a compliment, and it’s very true.” 

When they say “He wouldn’t put you through something you couldn’t handle.” I guess it’s actually true. Us spoonies were given our illnesses because we are strong enough to handle them. Do we still break down in absolute pain and misery? Well yeah, but who wouldn’t? But I look back at so many times of my life (final exams, competitive fastpitch softball games in the summer heat, driving an hour home at night, running the mile in high school, making it through a work day full of loud co-workers and staring at a computer screen) that I fully and willingly participated in while I had full blown migraines. 

Do I think other people would be able to do the same had they been in my shoes? Some people, sure. Other people, no I don’t think so.

So during long migraine (or other chronic pain or illness) spells, while it’s very easy to wish you were someone else in a different body, I think it’s more effective to focus on how strong we truly are. Not many people could deal with this type of pain on a daily basis. Do I think I’m stronger than other people? In this situation, I do. And I’m proud of it.

It’s not bragging if it’s true, right? 

 

Give Into The Vulnerability

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I feel like people really underestimate the effect of giving into vulnerability. Without it, you would never get over that hump of feeling scared, which then would prohibit you from being able to know what courage feels like.

People who open up about their health, financial, emotional, or any personal issues are giving into the inevitable (in most cases) feeling of being vulnerable about it. It’s scary to share your story with everyone, especially when you know a lot of people just won’t care to listen. The key is to forget about those people and focus on the people who will really benefit from you sharing your story with them.

I gave into my vulnerability by starting this blog, my health Instagram account, and sharing both with friends, family, and strangers. However, I’m so glad I did. I have been given a window into other people’s lives, a lot of whom are dealing with so much more than I, and who are still a beam of light in a world so often draped in darkness.

I’ve been inspired by their courage to continue to fight, myself. When you give into your vulnerability, you will see you are capable of so much you never even imagined.

Just today, I had a follower on Instagram tell me that she loves how positive I am and that it helps her continue to fight past her chronic pain. Such a little comment means so much. It shows me that because I let myself be vulnerable, I’ve been able to help others, which only pushes me to be more courageous.

Even Big Names Suffer From Big Pain 

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Redskins player suffers from and raises awareness of cluster headaches
As a headache sufferer, I have often felt like the only person in the world who experiences this type of debilitating pain. However, there are way more people than we think who are going through something similar: which is why we need to raise awareness of this actual neurological disorder. It’s great seeing a big name player speaking out to raise awareness (even though it’s terrible he has to experience it.)
While I’ve never experienced a cluster headache (honestly the only type I’ve never experienced) I can understand the amount of pains and fear Terrance lives with and I can sympathize with him. I’ve been in the situation where I’ve had to play through a game with a migraine, but I can’t imagine being a professional athlete with that condition. Headaches don’t care what your profession, ethnicity, age, or gender is. They do not discriminate. 

We need to spread the word that headaches aren’t just something you feel when your laptop takes forever to load or you realize you drank one too many Jack and cokes the night before; they are a widespread neurological disorder that needs attention. And I’m glad someone with a bit of pull is finally stepping out for the cause.