I was recently encouraged by a friend to try something new. Well, here it is. I’m going to start a blog about my experience with chronic migraine.

It’s been a long journey starting in my early 20s so I could easily bore you with great details and deep insights. But let’s be honest—no one wants to read that.

Instead, I’ll cut to the chase with where I am today and then sprinkle in historical details as I go.

Over the last 25 years my migraines have progressed from monthly to almost daily. Headaches are now well controlled with a tiny dose of blood pressure med and Vitamin B2 (riboflavin).

My episodic ataxia is a different (longer) story. The simple version is that I have two types of ataxia, both in random episodes. When my gait ataxia kicks in, my legs and brain don’t talk nice to each other and I walk like I have a severe cerebral palsy. My other ataxia is far worse. Basically, every muscle in my body falls asleep instantly, but I stay awake. Very annoying most of the time, scary when I’m driving.

For both varieties, sleep is a hard reset, so I always wake up feeling normal. I’ve discovered a handful of environmental triggers, but I have no food triggers. Sometimes there is no discernible trigger; I just melt.

If you’re thinking you’ve never heard of something so strange, you are not alone. My neurologist (an awesome doctor I’ve been seeing for a decade) is never surprised by my strange tales, but he has been stumped a few times. That’s when he digs into the latest research of the Mayo Clinic, the only place to find people like me.

This past Saturday, I added a new experience to my list of oddities: seizure. It was small and I’m recovering just fine, but it surely scared the spit out of me. I’ve already had an MRI and an EEG is coming, so I’m well underway to getting this new adventure out of my system.

At this point, I know the best news of all is that My Mighty God is with me and will not forsake me. Much more on that topic coming in future posts.

For now, come on along with me if you’d like to hear more about the weird and wacky world of Carrie’s brain!