it is insane, ita. are the doctors even attempting to figure out what's causing these or are they just treating you for the pain? i cannot imagine the pain you are having to endure. i'm so sorry.

There are a few more things they can try, tiggy. At least that's what he says.

Treating me for the pain only lasts a week if I grit my teeth. And then they tell me not to wait 4 days before coming in. 4??? I thought I was being weak at 4. I judge myself harshly if I come in twice in one week. I'm aiming to get back to once a month. Or, you know, never.

I vote never!

What's goofy is I've been trying to rate my current headache, and I think I give it a 2. Or 3. So it's like I can kind of imagine what a 9 would be, but not even.

There are a few more things they can try, tiggy. At least that's what he says.

Remember that article that talked about a connection between heart defects and migraines. My dad always had headaches, not quite migraines (though migraines run in his family) but he was telling me at supper that he hasn't had a headache since he had heart surgery.

here's hoping the next thing they try is your miracle cure, ita. i've definitely had headaches that i could categorize as a 9 or a 10, but i absolutely cannot imagine having one of that caliber every day.

I assume that one of ita's 9.5 headaches would make the time I got hit in the face with a rebar feel like a minor boo-boo by comparison. I've gone to the ER a couple of times for specific tissue-damaging injuries, but I've never felt pain bad enough for an extended period that I needed hospitalization for the pain itself.

I always come late to the fun conversations.

As for the weight issue... self improvement should always be applauded (death to america) but only because you want the change.

Yes, people are assholes.

I am in my late late 20's. And upon occasion I have yelled from the occasional window. I love my bullhorn. But it's like Peter Parker's Uncle Ben said "with great power to make other people hear you comes great responsibility. You have to use it rarely, wisely and in times of true comedy." Or maybe that was the Uncle Ben whose fine grains of rice can be readily available to eat in under 3 minutes... I always get those two confused.

steal from a zoo

red panda

ita - I wish wishes did anything. I wish someone in your medical parcel had a decent suggestion of a path to follow. I wish you had a constantly available support and that you were comfortable with leaning as much as you needed in the large sense, not just for the moment.

I think mostly they don't think it is a turn-on. They think it is a way to easily humiliate their target. That's why I like to disarm with a friendly reply!

I've never gotten some of these mean things yelled at me, but I've gotten the catcall thing a million times, and I hate it. I hate it because it's scary. It's scary to think of five guys in a car who don't understand boundaries and decency, who are fixated on you for some reason. And that if they decide it would be "fun" for whatever reason to escalate the behavior, there's very little that I can do, since there are five of them and they have a car. And that's scary. That said, I am in my 20s, and I've never yelled at people out my window, though I have indicated to them that there's something on their roof. If I can get their attention, they're usually grateful.

ita, I'm so sorry about your headaches. I've had absolutely awful ones, where I was sobbing from the pain, and I HATE drugs. I just don't react well with them. Excedrin is one thing, but anything stronger than that just freaks me out, and I don't like it. Once I had a headache that was so bad that I don't think I was even coherent when people were trying to talk to me, and my mom actually had to physically force me to take this pill that a neurologist had described as something that "should help, and so long as you don't take one whenever you've just had a bad day or whatever, you shouldn't become addicted." So, essentially, it was a pill I personally never ever wanted to take, knowing my feelings on drugs. However, my mom couldn't take seeing me in that much pain, so she forced it on me, hoping that it would help. It didn't. It just made the room spin faster, and made me see even more colors, even when my eyes were shut. It was absolutely awful. Then, a different time, she had this guy she was seeing who was a massage therapist come over and give me a massage to help relieve the tension. That was pretty awful too, since it didn't help much at all, and I had to force myself to be polite and grateful and coherent, since I was kind of worried about how my mom would react if I didn't seem better from the experience. I also had yet another experience, in college, where I had a migraine for five days straight. I couldn't sleep, I barely ate, it was horrible. And by day five I had to do a monologue for a class where I was supposed to be giddy and in love (it was filmed), and I looked like death warmed over, and I clearly wasn't even trying. I honestly can't say that I know what you're going through, but I feel like I can vaguely imagine, and so if you ever need a ride, I'd be more than happy to take you, with no judgment whatsoever about the experience. I promise.

Even if you did only drive me home the one time, and got us lost while doing so.

I'm watching Private Practice. I don't buy the set up.