Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Journey to the Center of the Earth

I have, since I was fairly young, been plagued by occasional migraines. About once or twice a month a vicious, head-crushing, stomach-churning migraine sweeps in and leaves me curled in a fetal position, my eyes squeezed shut, feeling like my brain is going to start leaking out my nose. On two separate occasions in the past year, I've stumbled to a mirror and checked to see if either side of my face was sagging, convinced that I was experiencing a stroke.

Things started to get better a few months ago when my doctor prescribed a migraine medication that I can administer via a syringe injection. The stuff usually works like a charm and is thus far the greatest proof I have experienced that there is a merciful God. The injection hurts a bit but, I tell myself, for someone who has spent hours over the years getting tattooed, one little needle prick is no big deal.

Well, speaking of tattoos: Last week I spent three hours sitting for the beginning of a new tattoo - a big black and gray beauty that takes up about two thirds of the left side of my back. It's healing, but it's still a bit raw.

So, tonight, when I was down with a particularly nasty migraine, I decided it was time to crawl to the medicine cabinet for a dose of my medication. There are a few funky side effects to the medication, all of which I thought I had already experienced and was used to.

Incorrect.

Months back, when I read over the potential side effect list that came with my medication, I must have missed where it said, "WARNING: May make fresh tattoos feel like angry, burning, fiery doom."

I went from feeling like this:


To feeling like this:



I now have an idea of what it might be like to recline on the earth's molten core.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

This doesn't even make sense, at least not to someone with my limited knowledge of biology. Do all of your scrapes and scratches burn, or just the one that is designed by man?

Not Jason Dubinsky said...

Um, that was me. Glad you got that fire out. Weird stuff!

kolleen said...

thats really odd. plus you never told us what the tattoo is of.

Noel said...

Weird! I wonder why it made it hurt. Like the tattoo warning on hair dye- why does it only make tattoos hurt?

Lola Cutter Hensel said...

I know the medication works by making blood cells contract. So I guess that probably has something to do with it. Somehow. Maybe?

And as far as the tattoo goes, I'll post a photo when it's finished - I still have another three or four hours to go.