ended up being quite out of it all day yesterday as well, although the debilitating headache part was over by around 11 AM. i wonder if i've been having more-frequent migraines than i thought, i.e., if some of the prolonged, debilitating headaches i get every couple of months (or maybe every three? or four? idk, i wish i'd been keeping better track) and have thought of as "tension" headaches have been migraines this whole time. the "tension headache" idea goes back to the ER doctor i saw in london back in 2019, who prescribed a self-massage machine for me to use on my shoulders and upper back. i do carry tension there, and while self-massage sometimes helps during headaches it doesn't make them go away. and it made sense to think of the two types of headaches as different, because i also, more rarely, get an aura followed by a *much* more severe headache and vomiting. that type is a very classic, unmistakable migraine.
a bit of searching around online finds stress and "intense emotions" as a common trigger. i was furious on friday about something at work - the way one of my colleagues had treated another, closer colleague - and that on top of the stress of having so much family in the house for the prior week-plus might well be what set it off. in the past i have definitely associated the kind of headache i had this weekend with accumulated, sublimated stress. tension headaches are also apparently usually bilateral, and mine are almost always focused on one side, usually in the temple and behind my eye, and usually but not always on the right.
requested an appointment with a neurologist at the same hospital my GP works out of, hope i can get in soon and find out more.
