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Oh well hi there! It’s been a minute, hasn’t it? I mean, not really—I just posted yesterday—but I feel like we need to catch up. I purposely didn’t do one of these posts in April because apparently April was very anti-climatic and maybe even boring. But not May! So here we are. Let’s chat about what I’ve been up to this past month.
1. I’m still getting headaches every single day. I say “still” because I mentioned it on Instagram a few weeks ago, but if you don’t follow me on Instagram or missed my story, then perhaps you weren’t aware. But yes! I wake up with one, then it goes away during the afternoon, then it typically comes back in the evening… some days aren’t so bad, while other days are quite miserable. I’m in communication with my doctor to see if we can figure something out. So far I’ve tried migraine medicine, nasal sprays and saline solutions, massages (note: I get a monthly massage regardless of my headaches, but they haven’t seemed to help my headaches), chiropractor, acupuncture, and I even got a CT scan that came up negative. If any of you have ever or know anyone who has ever had a sinus-like headache without a sinus infection, I’d love to hear your remedies!
2. Ok now onto something more light-hearted.. Jessica and I finished working on her cookbook last week! It was exciting to be done, but also a little sad. I had so much fun working on it and am now going to anxiously await to see the photos in print! …which won’t be for awhile, but I’m excited nonetheless and still eternally grateful for the opportunity.
3. You may have also seen on Instagram, but Miguel and I were in DC for longer than usual two weeks ago to hang out with his family and actually spend some time in the city. Often times when we travel to DC, we more or less hang out with his parents, who actually live about 30 minutes from the DC area. So, it was nice to get to hang out in Alexandria (<—my fave place in DC) and on U Street. We even met up with our two friends there and got an air bnb and went to a DC United game. It was a super fun trip and I’m already wishing we could do it again.
4. As far as TV goes, we watched 13 Reasons Why last month and recently binged season 2 of Master of None. Did you happen to catch either show? What were your thoughts?
5. I also started helping Rite Aid out with their Instagram account! If you don’t already follow them, well, you should! 🙂
6. Coming back to the headaches because I must…. I’m not sure how outspoken I’ve been about diets and food restrictions, but I’m typically not about them. I believe you should eat food that makes you feel good and makes your belly happy, and that everyone has a different definition of what those foods look like. With that said, I’m thinking about doing some sort of Whole30 diet to see if sugar or dairy have anything to do with the head pain. If I do it, I probably won’t eliminate carbs, because my gut isn’t telling me carbs are the culprit, but for now I’m thinking sugar (minus maple syrup/honey for recipe development purposes), dairy, alcohol, and probably caffeine as well. So, if you happen to see a ton of Whole 30/paleo/unusually healthy recipes in the next few weeks, that’s why! I haven’t started yet, but I’m seriously considering it. At this point, I’m up for trying anything.
7. Do you and your significant other celebrate dating anniversaries? I wouldn’t say Miguel and I celebrate necessarily, but we definitely acknowledge it! We celebrated 6 years of dating a couple of weeks ago and it made me feel super old. ….which I assume I’ll continue to feel until the end of time.
8. I feel like there was more stuff but now I don’t remember—shock! That’s all I’ve got for now. Happy weekend, friends!
courtney says
I saw your instagram posts about your headaches and I just wanted to say I'm so sorry you are going through this! I've had chronic migraines for about 13-14 years so I quite literally feel your pain! I really don't have much advice though. I have been on preventative medication for at least 12 years, and about a year ago it pretty much stopped working and I was back to having daily headaches. My neurologist (definitely see a neurologist, as someone else recommended!) referred me to another doctor who administers botox treatments for chronic migraines and I'm doing so much better! Anyway, I hope you can find out the cause and figure out a treatment that works best for you!
Kelly @ Kelly Runs For Food says
I hope you're able to get the headache situation worked out! That must be awful to have that every day :-(.
So glad you guys spent some extra time in D.C. I wish I could get up there more, especially since it's only 2 hours away and I have a ton of friends who live there!
Christa says
I've had daily headaches since I was a teenager and migraines since I was a child (I had my first at 5). Migraines can often be mistaken for sinus stuff because of the location of the pain. You should be seeing a neurologist, if you aren't already. I say this because I saw my pediatrician for this headaches throughout my childhood and they could never figure it out. The first neurologist I saw was like "This is the problem, its just complicated to treat". I know it feels like a huge pain to see a specialist and sometimes it even feels like you're making a mountain out of a molehill but they can be super helpful. I don't respond to traditional migraine meds, in fact a surprising percentage doesn't. So I do botox every 3 months, take a seizure med as a daily preventive, take supplements, do PT, and have a barbiturate/acetaminophen emergency med. That may sound scary but its so helpful. Headaches are super complicated and it can be quite the journey to figure out the cause or any solution. But I hope you'll find a med or a regimen that helps. Headaches are more debilitating then people think so I'm sending all the good vibes your way!
Erin says
Thank you Christa! I'm so sorry about your migraines--they are truly the worst--but am glad you've found a treatment plan that works for you. I'm supposed to touch base with my doctor by the end of this week, and I'm fairly certain the next step will be to see either a neurologist or an ear, nose and throat doctor--some sort of specialist. I'll definitely update once I figure out once going on, hopefully within the next month!
Keshia says
Hope you work out what's bugging you with your headaches! Headaches are just awful. For my endometriosis (completely different I know), I did find certain foods affect me more. I started noticing that I crave low inflammation foods after really paying attention to everything. Food I think does help a lot of people with different ailments, I hope you find it helps you.
Erin says
I totally agree about the food and am already mentally preparing for the possibility of having to cut certain foods out. I appreciate your input and support!
Julie Holland says
Have you ruled out Celiac?
Erin says
I have not.. I basically haven't ruled out anything, and am thinking of doing a Whole 30 of some sort to see if cutting sugars/carbs etc makes any difference. Will report back of course!
JULIE HOLLAND says
Just know that in order to get an accurate Celiac panel you must be eating gluten..simple blood test, sometimes followed by a endoscopy.
So before you start eliminating, ask your doc to test!!
Lauren says
Have you been tested for Lyme disease? I know headaches can be a symptom.
Erin says
No I haven't... I'm not ruling out any possibility, but I don't have any other symptoms except headaches (thankfully!).
Devon says
Do you happen to take allergy meds or any other types of meds perhaps? I starting getting terrible daily headaches years ago. The doctors could not figure it out and on a whim I quick taking my allergy medicine I had been on for years and they went away. To this day I cannot take any type of allergy medicine or they come back. I would also recommend getting tested for food allergies.
Erin says
That's so strange! I took Zyrtec a while back and it didn't really do anything, but the doc has me on it again because I only took it for a few days before and she said I need to give it longer to kick in.... I'm supposed to touch base with my doctor by this upcoming Friday, so if it hasn't started working by then I'll be off of it. I'm considering food allergies as well--thanks, I appreciate your input!