10 reasons I may get migraines...

1) I'm female

2) I'm over 30

3) I eat too much cheese

4) I eat too much chocolate (though i'll argue there is no such thing as too much)

5) stress

6) Changes in air pressure (of which there have been many the last few weeks)

7) Not drinking enough water

8) I drink too much coffee

9) I don't get enough sleep

10) I had lost my reading glasses (and just got a new pair)

There are probably a dozen more reasons that could be contributing too. Which one is the reason lately i'm not sure. Stress is certainly meant to play a part, but to be honest, it hasn't corresponded well, and i'm not as stressed as I have been before. I still find it weird it being an earache rather than a headache, but everything else I get certainly seems to fall into place. I did read about something similar - so migraines are caused by blood vessels enlarging, usually the temporal artery which causes a headache - but mine might be the carotid enlarging, causing ear and neck ache.

So what the reasons are I have no idea, but this month has not been fun - the last 3 days i've had 4 - or as a friend put it, maybe it's just one long one that is relieved for a while then comes back full force. But compared to this time last year, I am way happier with things, because this time last year they were getting worse, i'd seen 8 doctors, no one knew what they were and everyone seemed to blow me off. So i'm happy to know it's migraines, and i'm happy there are things I can do to make them better, even if it's going to take a while to find the right things!

ps.....the picture is a coral mucus cell...nothing to do with a migraine. I just was looking through these pictures today and reminded how much fun I have when I do microscopy!