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The kind that means I’m hungry, accompanied by lightheadedness
The kind that means I drank too much, ones I finally learned to avoid long ago
The kind I got each time I was pregnant, a mixture of caffeine withdrawal and estrogen depletion
The kind I got back when I had a diseased uterus, seemingly caused by random squirts of all the wrong hormones at all the wrong times and exhaustion
The kind I got back when I had a husband, icepick to the temple and a cord of iron hardening down my whole back, that has stopped for good in some kind of somatic miracle
The kind that means I forgot to drink water, all day or maybe for two days, and I can feel my brain raisin-ing
The kind I get from a weird twist of the neck when I wash my hair, one that I feel pulling a nerve from my tongue all the way down toward my toes, like a tweak of the brain stem
The noisy kind that gets quieter if I shut my eyes
The kind that means I cried last night, with eyes so puffed it seems lucky I can see, the kind I wash away with fruit juice or water or coffee and journaling and usually a note of apology
A few days ago I had a “throb behind the left eye meaning spring break was near” and it hasn’t returned since! Thanks for sharing 🙂
I love reading everything you write, Anne. Thank you for these small slices.
A catalog of headaches strikes me as not only useful but wise. “The kind I got back when I had a husband…” tells a story with no spoilers. I appreciate the ways we get to learn about you through these sharp, specific descriptions.
I appreciate your slice today – and winced along with you while reading many of those descriptions
How reflective and thoughtful. I can relate to the kind where your brain was “raisin-ing.” I wish you days ahead with very few headaches to catalog.
You convey in vivid tones the discomfort and pain of headaches. So many different types and for different reasons. You are an expert on yours. I hope this one rapidly goes away.
Who knew that headaches could be the source of inspiration or that, when you really think about it, as you did here, there are sooooo many sources of headaches! Thanks for the description and for sharing!