you only get things that don't exist & wouldn't work anyway.

[thanate]

Apparently I am a little gloom cloud today. I did get up and go do my aquarium volunteering, but animal programs back-up area was sweltering, and even once I got out of it I continue to have a nasty stabby-behind-the-right-eyeball headache. By the time I got back on the road after feeding the rescue turtles I was sufficiently spacey that I probably shouldn't actually have been driving. Ow. According to the OB office, the only painkiller I'm allowed to take right now is Tylenol, which didn't exist the last several times I tried to track it down. (Er, apparently there was some kind of recall fiasco with some of the manufacturing plants randomly adding bits of other drugs to various batches?) The website claims that CVS has restocked, but this requires more driving, and I'm actually not completely certain whether Tylenol will *do* anything for my headaches anyhow. Since the last time I tried it (um, in high school) it didn't do anything at all, and as the stated reason for it being safe during pregnancy is that acetaminophen only works as a muscle relaxant *inside* the skull and most of my headache issues seem to be related to tension in the face & jaw muscles... I do not find this promising.

Various symphonies and theaters keep mailing me adverts about things they wish I'd buy tickets for, and so far just about everything that that sounds like a lovely idea starts in early February and tails off around the end of March. Thanks, but I expect to be a bit busy then.

And I just got a copy of Cat Valente's new Fairyland book for my father (who read me all the original Oz books when I was small) and I am very much hoping that I do not get it back before I have to buy another copy for my daughter. Only based on what Cat's been saying about it and the foreshadowing in the first chapter, I think maybe I'd better read it first & make sure it isn't a little too thematically coincidental.

Also on the list of things I had better do is stop staring at this computer while I have a headache. I shall see if I'm up to puttering. ("How do you fail at puttering?" grauwulf asked the other day, to which I explained that I'd mostly been sitting on the floor staring at things and occasionally picking them up & then putting them back down in the same place.) Otherwise it's attempting to nap rather than lie there with my eyes closed being cranky & uncomfortable. The cat is setting a good example, so maybe that will help.

Comments

[blairmacg.livejournal.com]

Provided for information only, not as direct advice, coupled with the advice to check with one's medical professional of choice:
Peppermint has a long history of use with tension headaches. Studies that show a positive outcome used a mixture of 10% peppermint oil applied topically to the temples or base of the head. Drinking mint tea, and inhaling the steam, can also help.

Google will provide you with an avalanche of "Avoid Peppermint!" results because, in large doses taken internally, peppermint oil is a remedy traditionally used to induce mensruation. Thus the fear is it will trigger miscarriage. The key words are "large doses" and "internally." We're talking about capsules the size of your pinky nail, which is quite a lot of an essential oil! Even the National Institutes of Health--terribly conservative in its recommendations--states peppermint oil is likely safe for pregnany women in amounts "normally found in food," and other sites add amounts found in the over-the-counter meds as well.

Provided for anecdotal purposes: I used peppermint during my pregnancy--a single drop on my fingertip, rubbed on the temples. I've known over a score of women who have used it over the last decade for both headaches and nausea. All babies were born within the week before, or two weeks after, the due date.