ADdIcITIoN

OMG! I woke up this morning with a throbbing headache-- throbbing hard enough to wake me from a very deep sleep. I rolled over, put my meditation CD on and assumed that I was just tired from the trip out to El Paso and having to go to work this morning. Within minutes my headache worsened and I was forced to get out of bed to find aspirin. As I stood in front of the cabinet I tried to figure out what kind of headache was I having-- a normal stress headache which means Advil or a sinus/allergy issue? As I stood there, the headache worsened until I almost thought I was having a migraine. I grabbed 2 Advil, got water and washed them down, got back in bed and restarted the meditation CD. Not 5 minutes later, I found myself fighting to keep the Advil in my stomach. My head was roaring and I was in the most acute pain that I have been in for quite a while. I knew I wasn't having a migraine because I have decided that I don't get them anymore, so what on earth was going on? I also knew that calling for a substitute on the first day back was unacceptable because I would be docked my pay! I spent a bit o' cash on my sweet boys and I pretty much need my normal paycheck anyway so...

I laid in bed trying to figure out what was going on with my body I realized that my headache was worsening (if that was even possible), my stomach was roiling, my muscles were weak and I was acutely sensitive to light and sounds. I was sweating, which is so unusual for me and my thoughts were richoceting around my head like a pingpong ball at an Olympics tournament. I had no focus whatsoever. I tried to think back to the day before to trace my day to discover what was going on with my body...

I got up at the normal time- 4:30-- 3:30 El Paso time-- dressed and left Melissa's house. (A little trauma there-- I hate saying good bye and prefer to slip away like a thief in the night but of course, my daughter and her husband sleep lightly and I was foiled in the attempt.) Melissa doesn't have a coffeepot and the Starbuck's was closed so I just headed out on I10. Driving into the night, there was nothing but a deep starry sky and a humming road for quite a while. By the time I got to VanHorn, I was wishing for some coffee but there just aren't any coffee shops in West Texas like there are in central and east Texas.... and I am NOT drinking horse piss just to have coffee! At Fort Stockton (actually Kent, a small town outside of Fort Stockton) I stopped, gassed up and got a Coke to abate the caffeine craving I was experiencing. Back on the road I was on the lookout for a Starbuck's sign or any coffee shop but I was feeling better because I had the Coke. Traffic was VERY light and the trip went smoothly until we were between Dripping Springs and south Austin and all I can say is thank god it was not anywhere near 5:00 because traffic was at a standstill for long lengths of time. I think it took longer to get from Convict Hill onto the freeway than it did to go through Harper and Fredericksburg....
I dropped Dad off, went to the post office and dealt with my vandalized mailbox, washed the car and gassed up again. Went home, showered, took a short nap, and went to HEB since my cupboards were BARREN. I went to Mom and Dad's for dinner, watched HOUSE MD and 24; came home checked my email; tried to decide on a Facebook entry to no avail, and just went to bed... nothing too out of the ordinary, so why was I feeling so awful?

Allergies? Stress? Missing my boys? Ahhh... no caffeine. What? Didn't I have several Cokes? Yes, but I had Coke Zeros-- no calories, no carbs and NO CAFFEINE. I was sadly enough in the midst of a caffeine withdrawal.

Unfortunately, knowing that doesn't make it better-- only time does that but I did need to make that fateful decision-- do I make a pot of coffee to ease this pain I was in-- or do I give up my morning pleasure...