Could Not Miss Work - My Day

Do you ever wake up and just know it's going to be one of those bad days? There were no real symptoms yet, but the 'normal' stuff just seem a little different, a little off. This is how I felt on a big morning this week when I absolutely could not miss work or take any big chances with medications.

My suspicions kept growing at every little step. The drive to work proved that it was going to be more than a regular Migraine coming on. I can usually tell by how I react to the other cars lights, especially flashing police lights and I tend to be a little more impatient with traffic even if I'm not in a hurry and I had plenty of time on this morning plus the traffic wasn't even that bad. Besides my suspicions, these were the first real symptoms I was getting that the inevitable was really coming.

I arrived at the office earlier than usual and based on the timing of my big conference call, I decided to take a triptan then, before things got too out of hand. This would give me enough time to get adjusted to the triptan - allow it to take effect and settle in. I liked my old triptan before it started to fizzle out. I never had to plan things around taking it. It would always work very quickly with little to no side effects. We decided to stop it before it completely failed in the hope that I can go back to it at a later time.

It's terrible having to go into an important conference call not only worrying about about running the call and everything around it, but add to it all that encompasses Migraine disease including the brain altering drugs that we must take in order to try to get through an attack. I am aware when a bad attack happens that I tend to stutter more and fumble over words. That's not good on a conference call when how you sound goes a long way for how the call is going especially when there are people on it you have never talked to before and they don't know you or how you operate. I am also much slower on my cognitive feet when Migraining. Not good.

As the conference call started, I'm sure the triptan helped keep some of this quieter, but I was at a higher Migraine level than I am comfortable with given the situation. I needed to be here for the conference call that I scheduled with different groups of my company from around the country. I had to understand multiple issues that were going on with one of our clients which needed to be reigned in and controlled by my area that I had not been involved with previously. Yea, lucky me, lucky day especially since my boss was on the phone listening and judging my every move and every question.

Somehow I made it through the call without sounding too unsure about what I was doing or at least I hope so. My pain level was slowly rising and I still had other conference calls on my schedule to get through but at least I was only playing a small role in those calls. I wouldn't take another triptan while I was still at work. I do draw a line there so I needed to think of other ways or other tools that I could use.

Although I didn't feel hungry, I decided I would try to eat a little something and then I could put a warm herbal pack I keep at work on the back of my neck and forehead which can be heated in the microwave. That can help put off a growing Migraine for a little while for me.

The herbal pack also has a mint smell to it so I made sure this wasn't a day I was going to be super sensitive to this smell. Luckily it was not one of those days. The food and herbal pack helped somewhat. Being at work, I couldn't take a warm shower which will usually help me prolong a Migraine. I made sure I drank some extra water and took some deep breaths. I printed out as much documentation as I could for my other calls so I would limit the amount of time I needed to look at the computer screen.

I made it through the rest of my series of calls. This would have been a day I left work early, but I ended up leaving on-time which is actually somewhat early since I usually stay two plus hours after I'm supposed to leave almost everyday.

As soon as I made it home, I took my second triptan of the day along with my nightly medications and retired for the night. I really needed both - the triptan and the twelve hours of sleep. I woke up the next day feeling much, much better.

How do you handle a day you need to be at work? What kind of tools do you have in your toolbox while at work? I'm sure they're different than the ones you have and can use while at home.