Saturday, February 27, 2010

Work sorted

My work situation is finally sorted. What a relief. I'll be teaching two classes (three fewer than usual) and the rest of the time will be filled with other things. I'll be responsible for administering two Vocational Education Training certificate courses and I'll also be doing some policy writing and presenting some inservice to staff. That'll be fun. I've wanted to do this sort of thing for a while but it hasn't worked out that way. Hopefully now I have the opportunity I'll be able to show my worth in that area as well. With a bit of luck that sort of thing will become a permanent part of my role.

I had planned on spending a chunk of the weekend working out how my first week in the position is going to roll out but, of course, that's not going to happen. As often happens, the release of the stress has resulted in a massive headache. I'm onto day 2 and, if it runs the same course as most of my headaches, I won't be fully functional until Monday. I'm spending my day sleeping, only waking to take medication and fluids - and write the occasional blog post.

4 comments:

Jim Harris said...

I hope your headache is long past. I hate headaches and can't imagine dealing with such long ones. I assume you have migraines. I've known many women that have them.

Recently a young woman at work was having more and more of them. She's a single mom with two kids trying to finish her PhD, so she has a lot of stress. I kept pushing her to go to the doctors and get a new drug. She was taking these $25 pills that were helping less and less. Finally she went and her doctor gave her a new pill, an anti-depressant I think, but not a famous one. At first it made her too lethargic, so she quit, but then went back on a half pill. It has really helped.

Have you tried something like this?

glediar said...

I've talked to doctors about the headaches and had tests done. I don't show any symptoms of depression (except when someone dies) and don't want to go on tablets that I have to be weaned off if I can avoid it. Massage, hot and cold compresses and lots of sleep works really well. Regular exercise helps too but I'm not very good at that. When it's bad I have medication that has a muscle relaxant in it - they put me to sleep so I have to have the time to sleep for a whole day at least.

I slept most of yesterday as I'm spending so much time at the computer the muscles in my neck and shoulders go into spasm. I needed the down time for total relaxation.

Jim Harris said...

Are your headaches migraines?

My friend wasn’t depressed either. She’s hyperactive and happy. I found this at the Mayo Clinic web site.

“Certain antidepressants can help prevent migraines. Most effective are tricyclic antidepressants, such as amitriptyline, nortriptyline (Pamelor) and protriptyline (Vivactil). In fact, these medications are considered among first-line treatment agents and may reduce migraines by affecting the level of serotonin and other chemicals in your brain. Also, you don't have to have depression to benefit from these drugs. However, newer antidepressants — such as Zoloft and other SSRIs — generally aren't effective for migraine prevention.”

But you also have to worry about trigger foods, and even sex. My friend thinks part of her problem is hormonal. She started having more frequent headaches when she got a new boyfriend and less after they broke up. Of course he may have just been a pain in the ass.

glediar said...

Hell, if sex causes headaches, I'll just get used to the headaches, thanks.

Yes, there are foods that trigger my headaches. The most disappointing ones are Vindaloo and soft cheeses. I'm currently experimenting with how much it takes. I've worked out I can't even smell Vindaloo for it to affect me but small amounts of soft cheeses are ok as long as I drink lots of water. The next step with the curries is to narrow the trigger component. If I can identify exactly what the trigger is I might still be able to eat curry as long as I make it myself.

None of that caused my most recent headaches though. Those two were caused by too much time at the computer and no exercise breaks. My shoulders and neck just seized up.