Sunday, April 13, 2008

Bobblehead Stuck Between Low Blood Glucose and Basilar Type Migraines

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Hypoglycemia Serves, and BAM Down Goes Bobblehead!

The Proglycem does not appear to be working...

I am stuck in a bad cause and effect loop that I am having a hard time getting out of. My fasting blood glucose levels are ok (low 70s), sometimes a tad low. I have a dose of Proglycem suspension (an insulin suppressor) to try to keep my glucose levels up after I eat. Does not work. After a morning smoothie (whey protein powder, fresh fruit, Splenda, a little milk, fiber, bee pollen) my glucose drop to the 50s. Later in the morning I often will have more to eat (eggs, toast, etc.) No luck. my sugar is gone.

I often can deal with the low blood sugar. Yes, I am jittery and moody but I can eat or drink juice, honey, glucose tablets, etc., to get my sugar back up.

However, I am clearly aware low glucose is a trigger for my basilar type migraines (I also like the name basilar artery migraines. While this name is no longer used much, the acronym BAM is quite appropriate!). And that can wipe me out for much of the day.

Oh, credit where it is due. Teri Robert's site has a great article on basilar type migraines. I would read it aloud to you but my speech is often too slurred to make it out.

Like Monday. I fell to my knees while getting out of my office chair. And then a bit later I collapsed while speaking to several colleagues. While I agree that event was more entertaining than what normally happens at the office, my colleagues were not too happy! I got propped back in my chair. I was handed a juice box in one hand and a container of peanut butter in the other. All I needed was a stuffy and a blanky and I was ready for a nap!

The day was spent with sunglasses on and a fog in my head, and a buzzing in my ears.

This pattern of hypoglycemia and migraine is almost daily. The neurologist who dismissed my migraines earlier on did so stating that my pattern of migraines is too regular and almost daily. "Migraines do not do that."

However, I have two built in triggers. My ear (with the vertigo) can and does trigger attacks. They seem more manageable. But the trigger of low blood sugar is a problem. My glucose drops almost daily to low levels (mid to low 50s). The drug I am taking does not seem to be slowing that down. Unless I stop eating completely, my never-ending game of tennis has me worried...

[posted by Bobblehead]

Sunday, April 06, 2008

Migraine Sufferers Are NOT Faking Illness

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White looks better on a dress than on the Bobblehead's face

I just got done reading an interesting post at Migraine Chick's blog over a recent encounter with a coworker:

Seems like the chick went into work after taking a day off. She was sick and vomiting from a migraine. A coworker was wondering how she could too get a day off. The coworker wondered out loud how the chick "schemed" to get time off.

You gotta love that word: schemed. Yes, I feel like death. The world is spinning. This is a great scheme to get a day off. Whoo-hoo!

Migraines are a silent illness, usually. All symptoms are internal. No one sees my aura. No one had the blurred vision or the jitteriness, flashing backgrounds that accompanied my sight. The headache, the spinning room. People that are naturally aware notice the expressions of pain but most Neanderthals just assume you are faking. I understand what the chick went through.

Actually, my coworkers could plainly see the pain I was in. My basilary migraines are very outward facing. The most visible aspect is the complete draining of blood from my face and hands. I turn white or worse. One coworker showed me when my face was green. Yuck. My fingers turn bone white or blue. Color is hard to fake.

The basilary migraines also result in my Bobbleheadilicous head bob and slurred or stuttered speech along with hand tremors. Oh, the falling is also clue to those around me.

Ironically, it was my doctors who thought I was faking it and not my coworkers. I fired them...


[posted by Bobblehead]

Saturday, April 05, 2008

This Will Kill You/Save You Updated

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This Will Kill You & This Will Save You Updated

I have decided to keep a running total of different items that I see in the news that will either kill you, save you, or both. I am keeping the original reference links as well. It should be interesting to see in a few months what this list looks like. Enjoy.

Go To This Will Kill You & This Will Save You

[last updated 4/5/08, posted by Bobblehead]

The Nanny State Come to The Atomic City

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Soccer is verboten at my kid's school...

Sometimes the stupidity of adults never cease to amaze the Bobblehead...

My younger daughter is no longer playing soccer at her elementary school. No one is. Why? Because the kids actually enjoyed playing and had no real rules. Uh oh...call in the Nannies.

A few weeks ago my Mrs. Bobblehead approached me and said our younger daughter, El, wanted to play soccer over the summer. El never was a "joiner" and often grew tired and quit things after she starts so I was a little skeptical. Besides, Little League Soccer (or whatever it is called) had already gone through its sign up period. It was still cold old and there were still a few rouge patches of snow on the ground.

El is actually pretty athletic, but she is a girly-girl. All previous attempts to get her into any type of sport failed utterly. Why soccer and why now?

As it turns out, because there were no adults involved. A few of the kids who did play soccer brought their balls to school and started rounding up others to play during recess. They encouraged others on the sidelines to play as well. Few real rules because only the soccer kids knew them. El was thrilled. She came home one day all squealing and excited. She scored a goal. The next day she scored another, by accident as the ball bounced off from between her shoulders. She was having a blast.

It sounds like others were, too. El started to tell me of how she and others playing had convinced those shy and hesitant on the sidelines to start playing as well. Pretty soon plenty of kids were running, kicking, bumping, laughing, and having a blast.

That is when things turned ugly...

As normally happens, kids running around kicking a ball sometimes get kicked. Others sometimes fall down. Kids started to get sent to the nurse. A few bruises, a few scraped knees.

Clearly this was an epidemic and had to stop. The teachers quickly moved in. They formed standard "teams" so that too many kids were not playing at any one time. The kids stood in a line and counted off 1, 2,3, 4. On Mondays teams 1 and 2 played, on Tuesdays teams 3 and 4. No exceptions.

No yelling. No hard kicking. No fun.

El was crushed. She came home all sulky. I asked her what was wrong. She wanted to play today but it was not her "soccer day." Also, her friend that got her playing in the first place was only allowed to play on a different "soccer day." I guess there are no trades.

The kids just stopped playing. It stopped being fun. Here they were, running, laughing, socializing, fixing their own problems, encouraging participation from others, sharing, healthily competing, being kids!

Mrs. Bobblehead is furious. She wants to go down to the school and let them have it with both barrels. I told her that is fine with me. Make the appointment and I will be there. Nothing yet.

I went by the school the other day during recess. Kids were out in the playground. Some were eating lunch, others were walking around.

None were playing soccer.