New antimigraine protocol (long, skip it if you don't care) and pictures of other stuff

Migraines make me feel like this!

If you don't care about migraines, skip this, it will be boring!

I've had migraines since my 13th birthday. At some points in my life, they have been worse than others (early pregnancy and post pregnancy were the worst). Now they are regular and not terribly bad, just inconvenient, scary and predictable. Imitrex usually holds off the vomiting and severe head pain leaving me stupid and tired for a day or two. The majority of my hospitalizations since being diagnosed with Addison's have been due to migraines. If the migraine progresses too far, the pain and vomiting become unbearable. The vomiting is dangerous for those of us with Addison's. We vomit, become dehydrated and are unable to take our hydrocortisone and florinef which makes us vomit more. This leads to a downward spiral that, if left untreated, can result in death.

Anyway, since my migraines aren't so bad anymore, you might ask why I would bother trying over and over to avoid them. Here's the answer: Nearly thirty years of migraines is a long, long time. I hate the fear of not knowing if I will end up in severe pain eventually, I hate ending up in the hospital, I hate losing days of productivity, I hate the feeling of migraines, it's what I would imagine the after effects of stroke would be like (numbness, inability to form coherent sentences, struggling to make sense, temporary blindness).

I've tried: chiropractic, massage, accupuncture, biofeedback, Prozac, tyrosine, celiac diet, melatonin, avoiding alcohol and chocolate, increasing salt and florinef, taking more thyroxine and countless other things. Currently, I'm trying Black Cohosh. I don't have high hopes but I'll try it for a month or so and see if it helps.

What have you tried that's helped your migraine? Do you have Addison's?

Pointless but funny

Baby horse (born 6/19) and mom Buffy

Buffy's been sick with a liver infection. This is how it manifested itself. Very painful.

Winter/Summer comparison of Corral Creek trailhead

Summer Corral Creek trailhead

Weird, I don't know what this is

Lupine

Sage Grouse

Out on the trail

View from the trail

Biking yesterday

Joanne and I went to Targhee and rode part of the Pierre's Hole 50/100 mile course. Beautiful day!

Richardson's geranium on Lightening Ridge

A view of Alta, WY

Joanne in tall grass

Nasty hill coming down into Bustle Creek. I liked it but Joanne didn't.

Addison's and endurance exercise

Elk Flats, amazing wildflowers

I think I've discovered a good system for endurance exercise. The morning of lots of exercise, I take double my usual florinef dose. I purchased some 1" X 1" bags. Before a run, I put 5 mg of hydrocortisone and SaltSticks in them. I bring one bag for every hour of running and take them on the hour. It seems to work really well for me. If I don't have a system, I don't take enough HC and end up feeling awful during my run or whatever I'm doing.

Went for a great run yesterday. Wildflowers were amazing. Hardly anyone was out on a gorgeous day so I mostly had the trails to myself! I ran out of water with about 4 hours to get back to my car. Luckily, I had a creek and some water purification tablets!

Trail trash

I got to run along this for 6 miles! Lucky me!

A great place to sit, relax and read graffiti on the trees

Wild roses are in bloom and smell great

Relay Ridge (see the relay towers?) late afternoon

A view of the Tetons from South Fork of Horseshoe

A creek runs down the trail for about .1 of a mile, beautiful!

Cows with bells at Mud Lake