Lion and Lambs

There are so many things that we encounter in life that we cannot make sense of no matter how hard we try. We see suffering all around us, pain that we consider unfair or unjust, especially when it happens to young people, or someone we love. It leaves us shaking our heads, wondering, and at times it leaves people angry and bitter. Understandably so.

Yesterday I was watching one of my favorite shows, Touched By An Angel. I love when it nears the end and the angels impart wisdom from God, usually His love, to whomever they are sent to help. I know that it doesn’t always line up biblically, but very often it does, or the majority of it does.

The message yesterday had to do with we, who are not God, trying to understand why He does what He does, and being upset that He doesn’t do things the way we want Him to or think He should. One of the angels said, “When I realize God loves me, I don’t have to solve these mysteries, and some day I will look back and see it was all worth it.” personalized by me

It really hit my heart, so I thought of the promises in the bible that support this.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” John 3:16 NASB What greater love than this?

The secret things belong to the LORD our God Deut 29:29a NASB

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28 NASB This may not happen so that we can see it this side of heaven, but it is a PROMISE, it will happen. I believe that God will allow us to at least see glimpses if we seek Him for this, but here on earth, we may never have the whole picture. Here is the difficulty because we always want to know WHY?

I do know that we can have more peace in our life by letting go of or turning over the things that keep our minds so occupied with questions and doubting. I find for myself, that I often have to let go over and over again, as this is much easier said than done, but still a goal in my life.

National Heache Awareness Week is June 3rd through the 9th. In preparing for that, and since I will be gone for most of that week, I wanted to raise awareness of migraine disease.

In the general population the word migraine is very overused. Everytime someone has a bad headache they say they have a migraine. When I have a migraine I often hear things like, “Oh I understand what you are going through, my mom gets bad headaches.” As migraineurs, we make a concerted effort to make it known that a headache is just a symptom of migraine disease. In light of that I thought I would share here some of the other symptoms associated with the whole package called migraine.

A migraine can include four phases though it does not always. They are known as Prodrome, Aura, Headache, and Postdrome. WIth the help of Teri Robert and her article entitled “Anatomy of a Migraine” the symptoms of each phase are listed below.

PRODROME:
food cravings; constipation or diarrhea;
mood changes — depression, irritability, etc.;
muscle stiffness, especially in the neck;
fatigue; yawning;
increased frequency of urination

AURA:
visual — flashing lights, wavy lines, spots, partial loss of sight, blurry vision;
olfactory hallucinations — smelling odors that aren’t there;
tingling or numbness of the face or extremities on the side where the headache develops;
difficult finding words and/or speaking (aphasia);
confusion; dizziness; partial paralysis (only in hemiplegic Migraine);
auditory hallucinations — hearing things that aren’t really there;
decrease in or loss of hearing; reduced sensation;
hypersensitivity to feel and touch (allodynia);
brief flashes of light that streak across the visual field (phosphenes);

HEADACHE:
headache pain that is often unilateral — on one side. This pain can shift to the other side or become bilateral.
Although Migraine pain can occur at any time of day, statistics have shown the most common time to be 6 a.m. It is not uncommon for Migraineurs to be awakened by the pain.
This phase usually lasts from one to 72 hours. In less common cases where it lasts longer than 72 hours, it is termed “status migrainosus,” and medical attention should be sought.
The pain is worsened by any physical activity.
phonophobia — sensitivity to sound; photophobia — sensitivity to light;
nausea and vomiting; diarrhea or constipation; nasal congestion and/or runny nose;
depression, severe anxiety; hot flashes and chills; dizziness; confusion;
dehydration or fluid retention, depending on the individual body’s reactions

POSTDROME:
lowered mood levels, especially depression
or feelings of well-being and euphoria;
fatigue; poor concentration and comprehension;
lowered intellect levels

For the full article, click on the link: Anatomy of a Migraine

I hope this helps explain what is really meant when someone truly has a migraine, and that it is not simply a headache that is easily treatable with acetaminophen or ibuprofen.

Between not feeling well physically, and/or emotionally, I am often left with little motivation or initiative to blog. Sadly, sometimes I even forget that I have this blog until late at night when I am not around the computer.

I have recently found out a big reason that I have been feeling so tired, and down, and been gaining weight at a remarkable pace. My body is not converting my thyroid hormone T4 into T3 which is what the body uses. This means yet another medication when I have recently decided to get these chemicals out of my body, as they often make me feel worse than the disease that they are treating. Fortunately, this new one is natural and recommended by many alternative medicine doctors, so I will keep my hope up.

In the meantime I have been trying to lose this weight I keep finding and so as a side to my lunch I had green beans. But my mouth wanted potato chips. Then I went round and round on the phone between my son’s doctor and a sleep lab, on top of the regular payroll day at the office, and I was screaming for potato chips. I don’t even like potato chips that much. Maybe since I’m thinking they would go great with chocolate, there are other hormones sticking their necks out?!?!?