About my coccyx...

Intriguing title, huh? Well, I thought so anyway.

Today I was blessed with a major migraine. You know the kind- lights hurt, sound hurts, lovely sloshy feeling in your head, want to take an ice pick and a hammer to your head migraine. This month I'm on my 3rd (!) pharmacy rotation at a small independent pharmacy, and the people there are just wonderful. The pharmacist I was working with today noticed how much pain I was in and told me I could go home.

Instead of going home, I decided to move my chiropractor appointment up to today instead of waiting until Wednesday. I hadn't been in about a month and figured that was part of the reason for my migraine today.

Now, I know what you're thinking- "This girl goes to the chiropractor? What a looney bin!" and I'm right there with you. Up until a few months ago, I thought chiropractors were sleazy old men trying to make a buck off of unsuspecting looney bins. Until I tried it out. I had been having migraines every.single.day for a few months and nothing else was working. I also couldn't find a doctor who cared enough to really try to get to the bottom of it.

One day, I read something on Twitter or someone on Twitter told me I really needed to see a chiropractor, so I decided I'd try it. What could it hurt? Well, I was pretty sure it could hurt a lot. I even thought I'd end up either addicted to it like I'd heard or paralyzed. Seriously.

Long story short, I went, I got adjusted, I didn't get paralyzed, and my migraines AND headaches went away. I also lost that annoying as hell stiffness that was everpresent in my upper back and shoulders.

It was until today that I mentioned to my chiropractor what a shitty month I've been having- I've been having diarrhea multiple times a day again, major MAJOR, painful bloating, stomach cramps, nausea, urgency, pain, etc etc etc. He said, "Have we talked about this before?!" I told him that I mentioned it when I first came in, but that my main concern then was my migraines. He told me about some other cases of IBS that he had seen and how all of the people (all girls) had seen major relief once he adjusted their coccyx.

He asked if I'd ever fallen down and hit my tailbone, and I told him I had played basketball since 1st grade and had a bully in grade school always pulling my chair out from underneath me...so, uh, yeah I'd fallen on my tailbone a time or five hundred. He felt for my tailbone and found that it had been pushed up at almost a 90º angle to my spine. He explained to me all of the nerve plexus that attach to the coccyx and how if it isn't positioned correctly, the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems get all out of whack and can cause some major problems with your GI system.

While all of this sounds absolutely lovely, and I really hope it helps, I'm not exactly won over with his argument. I've had these problems since I was 7 years old, and I don't expect anything to be this easy. With that said, I'm seriously hoping he's right and that I'll have some major relief after a few more adjustments. For now, I'm just happy he's fixed my migraine situation.

I'll keep you all updated on the coccyx situation.

Rough Week So Far

Like the title says, it's been a rough week so far. I've become so used to gliding through my weeks, that I wasn't really prepared for a hiccup. I hadn't had a bad episode in a long time, and when it happened on Monday, I was really surprised. When I would have episodes regularly before, I'd be incredibly prepared. I'd have all my drugs ready and waiting, placed at different spots around the house so I could act no matter where I happened to be when it hit. Even thought I still carry Pepto, GasX and Immodium around with me everywhere I go, I haven't used them in months (knock on wood).

Well, I guess that's not true- I do use GasX on a regular basis. That seems to be the one symptom I can't get to go away for more than a day. I just mean that I haven't had to depend on my drugs for a while. It used to be that if I ever found myself away from the house without my bag, I'd freak. Now I calm myself and realize that I'm fine without them.

When it happened this time, I was luckily at home. All of my drugs were at my fingertips, should I need to use them. But I learned in the past that using any of them usually meant a vicious cycle. I'd have diarrhea and instantly take Immodium. The result? I'd end up with slight constipation for a week. I'm slower to grab for that one now because then I'd start to bounce back and forth from diarrhea to constipation and that does not make for a happy Rachel.

Even though wasn't really ready for an episode to strike again, I think I was almost expecting it. I have just been feeling a little run down lately and have been really stressed thanks to a few test grades. That combination always meant an episode would be on its way, ready to take advantage of me in my already run down state. I just wish that this one had been a little bit nicer. I think my IBS was mad at me for forgetting about it. ;)

In addition to the IBS, I also have had a migraine all week. It just went away earlier today. I don't know how many of you IBS'ers have migraines along with your IBS, but it is not fun at all. The migraines are a pretty recent development for me- I started getting them about a year ago and they have become pretty regular. Since I'm a little put off by doctors, I haven't had it checked out. I think it could be related to hormones since they come with my period's beginning and again when it ends, but they also seem to be correlated to IBS episodes. If I ever have an episode, I usually get a migraine. My guess is that it's probably because when I have an episode, I tend to avoid food for a bit while my body resets itself. No food=headache, and in my case, a migraine.

Whatever the cause, it has made for one miserable, painful week and I can't wait for it to end!