The Science of Sleep

Hey! That's a funny title. Here's why:

Sleep is my enemy... um, no.. sleep is my firend. I have found out that I need a regular and LENGTHY sleep pattern and I don't get headaches! Hooray! I can eat any crap I want. Dr. Gillian McKeith thinks so. SO... MIGRAINES ARE GONE!

So *Daisy* and I watched Science des rêves, La (2006) a.k.a. The Science of Sleep. This is by the same director as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004). Its the same KIND of movie but more of him. Well done, well acted and Gael García Bernal (a.k.a. Che Guevara) did a fantastic job.

The main character in this movie has a difficult time telling dream from reality. Throw in a love story and that's pretty much the plot. Chaos ensues. I remember being a kid and having the same KINDS of thought... what is dreaming and what is awake. I don't know if everyone had these same ideas. I think of myself as a creative person, but probably more privately than publicly.

My *Daisy* also bought me "Firefly" (2002) and Serenity (2005). This has led me to want THIS coat. So that's the first thing you can buy for me. DO IT.

Not Cheese

It's not cheese. It may be an erratic sleep pattern that began when 1) *Daisy* moved to Moscow and 2) my work schedule shifted to early shift/late shift on alternating days.

more investigation to come.

Cheese or Not Cheese

Right now I am leaning for NOT cheese. On Sunday we went to Seattle and I ate some pizza for lunch with sheese and then some mac and cheese for dinner. So that's Mozzarella and Gruyère. It wasn't your orfdinary Mac and Cheese it was Lobster Mac and Cheese from Purple Cafe and Wine Bar. Mmmm. Best Mac and Cheese EVER.

So that was lots of cheese. Monday I felt fine. Not even a little hint of a migraine. Last night I had taquitos and queso and that's cheese too. Nothing conclusive yet.

Food

I ate a turkey sandwhich and a couple bites of *Daisy's* french dip (NOT a euphamism). The french dip had cheese on it. I am going to have pizza for dinner. Probably thin crust from Papa Johns. Yes it will have cheese on it.

So rather than avoiding cheese I guess I am gonna eat some and see how I fair tomorrow. Oh yea.. I'm gonna have Smart Food for snacks later. Maybe you can see why I can't give up cheese. Although I am not sure that Smart Food has ANY actual cheese in it.

Super Size my Migraine!

If you haven't seen Super Size Me (2004) you're missing an awesome documentary. Maybe the best one ever made. And for you nay-sayers who think it's just a McDonald's bashing fest, well, you're mostly right. But the documentary is still perhaps the best one ever made. Morgan Spurlock does some good work... if you ever have the chance to watch any episodes of "30 Days", do so.

As for me, yesterday I ate Frosted Flakes (they're GREAT!) with Milk. Then I had a hamburger with fries for lunch. I ate a burrito for dinner with cheese and sourcream. That was all I ate. Oh, and about 48 ounces of Diet Pepsi. I drank roughly 48 ounces of water too.

So cheese and sour cream have Tyrabanksamine in them. But starting today NO tyramine containing substances. Let's see how we do. I have no opinion as to whether this will work or not, but it's worth investigating. I think I have done this before many years ago, but I don't remember.

This morning I had some more Frosted Flakes. For lunch I am having a turkey sandwhich. I don't know what's for dinner yet. Mmmm, dinner. Yes I love food.

Tyramine and You

So I have decided to avoid foods high in Tyramine to see if there is some relationship there. Maybe there will be maybe there won't be. I have no bias. Here is from the Wikipedia Article:

Tyramine occurs widely in plants and animals and is metabolized by the enzyme monoamine oxidase. In foods, it is often produced by the decarboxylation of tyrosine during fermentation or decay. Foods containing considerable amounts of tyramine include meats (fish, poultry, and beef) that are potentially spoiled or pickled, aged, smoked, fermented, or marinated, most pork (except country cured ham), chocolate, alcoholic beverages, and fermented foods such as most cheeses (except ricotta, cottage cheese, cream cheese), sour cream, yogurt, tofu, miso soup, soy sauce and soy bean condiments, teriyaki sauce, shrimp paste, sauerkraut, broad (fava) beans, green bean pods, Italian flat (Romano) beans, Chinese (Snow) pea pods, avocados, bananas, eggplants, figs, red plums, raspberries, peanuts, Brazil nuts, coconuts, processed meat, yeast, red wine, and an array of Cacti.

Damn! I was going to have Cactus coconut banana soup for dinner. Ok, so it's good to know I can eat cottage cheese... I love that stuff. Cream cheese too. Hooray! So I will give it a shot and see.

Jar Trek II - The Wrath of Cheese

Cheese: Jarataur, you're still alive, my old friend.
Jarataur: STILL... OLD... FRIEND. You've managed to kill everyone else but like a poor marksman, you keep missing the target."
Cheese: Perhaps I no longer need to try, Admiral.
[beams the Fridge device away]
Jarataur: Cheese... Cheese, you've got the Fridge, but you don't have me. You were going to kill me, Cheese. You're gonna have to come in here. You're gonna have to come in here!
Cheese: I've done far worse than kill you, Admiral. I've hurt you. And I wish to go on hurting you. I shall leave you as you left me, as you left her: marooned for all eternity in the center of a meat drawer, buried alive. Buried alive.
Jarataur: CHEEEEEEEEEEEESE!!!!!! CHEEEEEEEEEEEEESE!!!!!

Ok, so my goal over the next few weeks is to find out if CHEESE is the culprit - my nemesis. CHEESE contains tyramine. I assume that's the stuff that makes Tyra Banks evolve differently from the rest of us. Tyramine can trigger migraines as can Tyra. You see the connection now, yes?

So my cycle has been roughly 8 days. I would expect Turkey day to be my next migraine. It has been very erratic, but that's gonna be my guess. So I can either PIG OUT on Cheese on like Monday and see if that does it or I can AVOID cheese for this entire next week and see what happens. Alcohol may also be a trigger for me... it certainly intensifies it. It may contain the same Tyra-spooge.

I feel much better today. Tired, but no headache. Usually afterward I have a little headache creature living in my head for several days. And now that I started talking about it it IS in there, but like a small fraction of what it normally is. Butabital, despite the drunk feeling it gives me is pretty good at mitigating the pain.

More laters, I need to clean the house as *Daisy* is coming home early this week. Hooray!

Kung Fu Migraine

I got another migraine today. I have it right now. It's a mean bastard.

I watched Kung fu (2004) aka "Kung Fu Hustle" last night. I bought it a few months ago and hadn't watched it yet. I mean, I have seen it, just not my copy. Very entertaining. I declared once that it was the best martial arts movie - ever. I think that's still true.

So I had no symptoms this morning... no depression, no anger. For breakfast I had two bacon, CHEESE and egg sandwhiches. They were good. I went to lunch @ 11:45. At about 12:30 I had a diet Pepsi and a glass of water. I ate fish and chips and about 1/2 cup of cole slaw.

I got back to my office about 1:30 or so and just about 2:00 I got my first twinge of pain and began to lose sight in my right eye. The right side of my right eye. I can't see out of it. I took my Butabital and rode my bik home at about 2:10. Played with the dog for a few minutes but then got into bed. That's where I am now.

I capitalized CHEESE above because my Dr., with whom I am not satsfied on the subject of migraines, suggested that an increase of CHEESE might be a trigger. I had nachos last night with some CHEESE. I would be willing to give up CHEESE if that were the trigger.

Tonight is Ninja Warrior night on G4TV. They are showing Sasuke 19 - it's brand new. Normally I would wait for *Daisy* to watch Ninja Warrior, but I think I will watch it if I can stay awake.

Butabital

About 2 months ago my pattern changed. I started waking up with migraines or they would come any time of the day, sometimes without warning. Lots of intense pain. So I got scared and went to the doctor. I was not thrilled with her lack of interest.

So I have been taking Butabital for my migraines. It IS effective at killing the pain, that is clear but it messes me up goodly. Here are my side effects:

1) Mania
2) Loss of memory
3) Jello swimming-ness
4) Lack of concentration

There's probably more. The thingy sheet said these would wear off after I have taken a whole bunch of the drug. I only take it when I get a migraine and I have to take double doses... one at the beginning and one 4 hours later. The first one is mildly effective and with mild side effects. The second one is much more effective and the side effects linger a bit... for a week or so.

Yes I said for a week. I don't know if that is what is suppose to happen or not. I am sure I will get another migraine this week and I will try again and see what happens.

I am paying close attention because these pills are HIGHLY addictive and I don't really need an addiction at this point.