Friday, September 6, 2013

impatient scientist

There are times of the month when a woman curses scientists for not solving the problems of the human (female) condition.  I keep track of my monthly cycles just to make sure when I'm acting crazy, it's just hormones and I'm not actually going crazy.  This works for the most part until a hormonal sneak attack takes place.  Last night, I was dropped to my knees in agony with a migraine headache.  It was one of the worst in my life.  They sometimes occur on a monthly basis, but I suppose sometimes not.


I've never had good luck with the drug sumatriptan, but it's been the only thing prescribed to me for treatment of migraines.  Today, I'm scared to do much work because I don't want to suffer another headache.  Normal headaches I can stand, usually I just need to drink more water or rest, but the headache I had last night made me think I was going to vomit and kept me awake but immobilized.  Every time I tried to think about something, it caused me to feel like a railroad spike was being driven into the front of my skull.


Trying to understand how my monthly cycle might have affected or been the cause of this pain.  Now I am in day 5, which constitutes a high level of FSH.  Usually I get the migraine before the menstruation phase, but this month it came after.

What I've read about migraines is that they can last 3 hours to 3 days.  No wonder I'm scared it will come back.  The sumatriptan clinical trial data suggests it can alleviate symptoms within 2-4 hours in about three-quarters of patients, based on a majority caucasian majority 40 year old majority female test group.  Basically, I'm trying to decide what to do today since I still feel a bit of nausea, photophobia, and phonophobia.  I don't want to get on the freeway and try to drive somewhere if it makes the pain return.

It appears sumatriptan is a member of the class of drugs that are selective serotonin receptor agonists.  The agonist mimics the native ligand, as opposed to the SSRI drugs I have discussed in a previous post, which are inhibitors.  What I'm impatient about is a full understanding of these issues.  I wish I could order up a foolproof solution to this pain and the pain of monthly menstrual cramps.


Normally I rely on some of the above substances to get me through the pain of being a woman.  The compound pamabrom is a synthetic molecule in some medicines like Pamprin.  Theobromine is found naturally in chocolate and Yerba Mate.  Interestingly, while caffeine is a stimulant, I read that adenosine induces sleepyness.  I wish I could rest all day today.  I feel frustrated that I'm no closer to understanding these issues than last night when I was cursing my bad luck and circumstance.

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