feeling sick

Avatar for aerandel
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
feeling sick
7
Fri, 03-03-2006 - 11:05am

Hi everyone. I'm substituting today and I feel so sick. I have been putting off going to the chiropractor because I have no health insurance, which leaves me paying 40 dollars per visit. However, my back and neck give me lots of problems, and today when I got up I knew it was a "bad neck day". A bad neck day consists of me being in intense pain in my neck and being very stiff, and then it escalates into a migraine. Often the migraine cannot be stopped because it is triggered by the problem in my neck. I use excedrine migraine to keep it under control and I also have the IMITREX injector shot should I need to use it, but if I use it it's my last shot and costs a ton to get refilled with no health insurance.

So here I sit, with a migraine and a stiff neck, trying not to throw up during class. I had my head in my hands and one of the students asked me if I was crying. I feel like it, but no, just trying not to chuck. Problem is, I don't know what to do...I'm stuck here until 3pm unless I get so desperate that I go the office and ask them if someone can cover the class I'm subbing in. I hope the situation doesn't get that dire. If it comes down to me either throwing up in class or doing that, then I guess I'll have to go to the office. I'm not so concerned about making it through the school day though as I am for tonight. I work at a resort as a waitress and I am scheduled to work at 4:30. Here are my options...pray and hope that my headache calmes down, or go ahead and use my injection and then have to pay an arm and a leg to get it refilled, or get through the school day and call off for my job tonight and go home and rest. I need the money but haven't called off in a year, however the job I work at makes it hard to call off. Calling off means you give everyone else a hard night, because there is nobody to cover for you. Not only that but nobody ever believes you are actually sick.

Please help. I can't think. What should I do? If I'm going to call off I have to do it before noon. It seems like the headache is starting to subside but I can't be sure.

Agh!

                          

             

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-31-2003
In reply to: aerandel
Fri, 03-03-2006 - 11:51am

(((hugs)))

I don't know...use the shot, try to get through the rest of the day, and use the pay to replace the shot?

Or, go home and don't worry about the missed income b/c you will still have your shot?

I have the same kind of job...no one to cover if I need to be out/everyone thinks you're lying if you call in. It $ucks!

BK




iVillage Member
Registered: 12-12-2004
In reply to: aerandel
Fri, 03-03-2006 - 11:55am
Hi, aerandel---I am sooo sorry to hear of headache. Never had those. But, I do have shoulder and neck pain and knee pain. I got one of those herbal things at Walmart that has beads in it that you can microwave to get it heated up. It looks like a cloth wrap that you use around your neck. Do ice packs help? Can you avoid bright lights? Avoid caffeine, but maybe some soothing teas (noncaffeine). BIL used to get blinding HA's and he got one of those face ice packs that look like gel. Hope you feel better. Go online to look at arthritis stuff. Yes, I know you dont have arthritis, but there is this neat catalogue that has user-friendly stuff for headaches, shoulder aches, etc. Hope you feel better, girlfriend. Whiz.
Avatar for aerandel
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
In reply to: aerandel
Fri, 03-03-2006 - 11:58am
Well I guess there's no way out. I may have to use the shot afterall. Ugh. I was thinking about it and I was hoping that perhaps I could go in to work late. I am scheduled for 4:30 but we don't actually open up until 6pm, the rest is setup time. Often times people come in right at 6 if they have some reason to do that. I just called my boss and explained the situation and she informed me that she needed me there by 5. Big help. Ugh. I can't wait until I get a teaching job...I will celebrate for weeks about leaving my other job!

                          

             

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-31-2006
In reply to: aerandel
Fri, 03-03-2006 - 12:05pm
Hi aerandel,
I would call in sick as it sounds like you are in pain. While debt reduction is important, your health is just as important. Let them think what they want, you truly are sick and not lying. Also, do you have a state health insurance where you live? The one we have here in Washington is called Basic Health, we used it for years. What you pay per month is based on your income, however, you can't be above a certain income to qualify. This was a life saver for us since neither one of us had health insurance through our employers, and DH had to to have a surgery. Please take care of yourself.
studentforlife
iVillage Member
Registered: 10-09-1999
In reply to: aerandel
Fri, 03-03-2006 - 6:26pm

OMG you sound just like me (except I'm not sick RIGHT now!) I get the same way you do, I think mine is triggered from sitting hunched over at a desk all day long. I do try to do stretches & etc for my shoulders & back & try to get those muscles to relax. I too take imitrex tablets, I thought I hit pay dirt when I picked up a refill this week for $10, new prescription card & a $10 coupon for imitrex on line & the prescription that used to cost me $69 will now only cost me $20 or $10 if I have a coupon. Imitrex is a miracle drug for me however I too ration it out because it is so costly. But once the nausea starts its horrible. I went to the ER last summer for a migraine, I couldn't get it under control, that visit was $450 for a shot of imitrex & a shot for the nausea.

As someone else posted I have one of those deals you heat up in the microwave & put on your shoulders & that helps me relax my neck. I also take hot baths & lay on ice packs when I have a full blown headache, sometimes confusing the headache with hot & cold can make it calm down.

I so hope you feel better & sorry I wrote a book, but sometimes I'm amazed when there is someone out there that feels like I do.
Take care!
cindylee

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-16-1999
In reply to: aerandel
Sun, 03-05-2006 - 6:37am
Sorry to hear about your neck. Hopefully you made it through the day. I too have a horrible neck and understand your pain. There is a possibility that you are not actually having a migraine. As it was explined to me by my chiropractor... When my neck "goes out" tail of the vertabrae presses on nerves in the occiptital (sp) valley (the area right next to your cervical spine). It causes incredible pain and nausea and sometimes acts like a migraine. I actually have a standing agreement with my chiropractor that she will see me anytime I call. I think it is because she also suffers from it and she "feels my pain". Anyway...if that is what you have, there is something you can do about it. DO NOT use heat. Anytime a nerve is inflamed heat makes it more so. If you ice you neck it will help with inflamation and the may help with the pain and stomach issues.If your pain is cause by tight muscles... heat IS the answer There is also a way to control nausea using ice at the base of you skull. One of DD teachers was going through chemo (breast cancer) and used ice between classes so she could continue to teach. I think it was a matter of chilling the nerves so that they it calmed the gag reflex. It might help. As long as I am spouting second hand information about a condition that I am simply assuming you have... Has your chiropractor talked to you about pillows? My chiropractor does not believe in selling patients stuff so she had nothing to gain by the suggestion. Her response to my inquiry was that I should either use a buckwheat pillow (adjusted for comfort) or a memory foam pillow. All the down pillows I was using were not helping my neck. I've used buckwheat for about six years and it helps. You may want to try it.
Avatar for aerandel
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
In reply to: aerandel
Sun, 03-05-2006 - 1:43pm
I use a pillow that I purchased from the chiropractic office, it has a curve where you neck goes and it supposed to keep you aligned while you sleep. I am considering switching it for a memory foam pillow. I made it through the school day and my boss actually called me later on and let me have the evening off so I was able to rest. I guess my headaches wouldn't be considered migraines, all I know is they start in my neck and are from my neck being out of wack. My muscles get tight and my bones hurt if that makes sense. Imitrex works, I'm not sure why but it does and so does migraine medicine like Excedrine. I have tried muscle relaxers and they don't work well, it almost feels like arthritis or something, it has to do with the bones in my neck more than the muscles but the muscles add to it, it's a whole package.