A blog by Ross of Penge (formerly of Balham)

I blogged pretty extensively during 2014 and early 2015, but got out of the habit. In the time since there has been a huge amount I've sort of wanted to write about (politics, terror etc) but I haven't. I tried several times, but anger and frustration about what was happening prevented me from getting things down in a coherent form. Given I couldn't express what I felt, and it didn't seem like it would make a difference anyway, I let it lie fallow.

It's now early 2017, and I'm back, blogging about my attempt to do the first month of the year without social media. After that, who knows?

And why gateway2thesouth? Named after a famous sketch popularised by Peter Sellers:

"Broad-bosomed, bold, becalmed, benign,
Lies Balham, four-square on the Northern Line."

I lived in Balham for 23 years - longer than I have been anywhere else, and it still feels like one of the places in the world I most belong.

Thursday 30 January 2014

Migraine

Wednesday didn't happen. I had a migraine. Twenty years ago I got these once very couple of months. This is the first one I've had in two years. So I cope. I struggle through. But it's still really unpleasant. And the day after I feel how I imagine someone would do coming down from a prolonged drugs trip - all over the place. And probably discombobulated.

Like all migraine sufferers, you probably would want to ask me about it. Here are my Frequently Given Answers.

A. Eyesight mainly. No sickness, but real photo sensitivity, and in bad ones, tunnel vision too.
A. If I act quickly, 24-36 hours. If I struggle on it can be three days.
A. Nothing specific. When I got a lot I tried cutting out wine, cheese, chocolate etc - it made no difference. I think it may be stress.
A. I need to be in a darkened room, and I need to sleep. This time I slept for 27 hours out of 33. Eating, reading etc are not on the agenda.
A. I use Immigran, and strong painkillers. Migralev does nothing to help me but makes me feel sick. To be honest, I think nothing really helps much more than paracetamol.

I hope those helped.

So I've missed a full day, and will spend the next two with extra sleep as I try to recover.  Not a happy camper...

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