Thursday, February 18, 2010

I've been bad

Part of the reason I'm writing this blog is to help myself work on a healthier lifestyle. All my research is teaching me a lot of alarming things about the state of health care and what I should really be doing to take better care of myself.

Unfortunately it's not as easy as it sounds. Eating right [not necessarily less], exercising better [not necessarily more] and avoiding bad substances should be fairly easy but it's just not.

For the past three days I've had one of those headaches - it's probably a mixture of sinus, stress and strain. In a perfect world, I'd take a day off, a few long, hot showers, a comfortable nap and spend some time destressing. In the real world, I've got to work three different jobs, clean, cook and coerce at least one of my kids into doing homework. I don't have time to take a day off and work on getting rid of a nagging headache.

So I took OTC meds. Bad, bad, bad. I know. I started with Advil and that didn't make much dent. I moved on to Motrin which helped a little but not completely, then yesterday I went for the big guns, Exedrin Sinus - which did take the edge off, but here it is morning again and I've still got that little twinge at the back of my left shoulder, like a dull arrow pointing at my skull and saying 'I'm headin' thata way!'

I know the more NSAIDs I take, the longer my headache will ultimately last and the odds are I will end up depressed and dealing with a bit of an upset stomach. So what do I do?

Anyone out there have a non-drug headache cure? That doesn't involve moving to a desert island where there no phones, no homework, no job stress, no traffic, and no pollutants? I'm willing to try just about anything.

3 comments:

  1. Uggh, I hate those headaches that just won't quit. My cure for just about everything is a long hot shower, but it sounds like that's not working for you. Sorry!

    Maybe keep a pot of water steaming on the stove? If the air's dry it could be irritating your sinuses, which would in turn contribute to the headache...

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  2. I definitely think dry winter air is part of the problem. We don't have enough humidity in the house. The steam idea might help. The headache has finally gone away but my neck is still sore. I'm wondering if crocheting is the culprit too - repetitive motion making my muscles tighten up.

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