Me, the Migraine, and a Number of Needles

It could just be the acupuncture talking, but it seems to me that ocular migraines - migraines with aura, that is - mark the times in my life that are big transitions.  I've only had two, so it's a small sample size, but they're probably the biggest transitions I've had?  The first was my freshman year of college, first semester, and it was during finals week.  I distinctly remember it being 1am and thinking I was going blind when everything started going fuzzy and spiky and colored, and then black.  And then I puked.  Good times.

Anyway the second migraine with aura I've had was when I moved into this my first apartment.

Oh right, did I mention that I had FIFTEEN NEEDLES stuck in me earlier this evening?  I was a veritable pincushion.  So a couple colleagues at work who are researching migraine had asked a few weeks ago if I wanted to give a hand with something they were working on, and I said yes, thinking it would be something small and immediate, but it turned out to be sitting in a machine while being zapped with electric current being channeled through some titanium pins firmly lodged in my skin.  Always something new.  Actually, I didn't even know I was getting any acupuncture until earlier this week, and then I didn't realize I was having multiple acupoints done until they were inserting the third needle...

Dramatics aside though, I'm glad I signed up to be their lab rat...I think it's good for researchers to submit themselves to what they intend to submit their subjects to (generally), and this definitely gave me a better idea of what acupuncture is and what sorts of sensations it evokes.  I don't think I would necessarily choose getting poked over taking drugs to fix a headache, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I was anticipating...and I have a thing about needles.  It was strangely calming...possibly because of the rush of endorphins, possibly because, like a moth mounted in a display case, it was painful to try and move.  Either way, it definitely gives me some more motivation for researching how such techniques affect people with chronic pain.  Which, conveniently, is what I'm doing.

There are photos of me as a pincushion but they're on the acupuncturist's phone so you will have to wait for the unnerving of skewered me.