My brain is scrubbed clean and pine-scented

So yesterday I realized that I had forgotten to restock my riboflavin a month or so ago; the reminder came in the form of a surprise migraine that swallowed my afternoon and early evening. As I lay buried and immobilized, the part of my brain that wasn’t fully engaged with suffering tried to make things worse by wondering if the riboflavin I’ve been taking for years to prevent migraines had stopped working. When I was finally released, I tottered downstairs to check my vitamin stash, and was relieved-slash-ashamed to see that I had simply forgotten to replace it the last time I ran out.

It’s been a while – migraines come my way every couple of years now, rather than every couple of months – so I had forgotten how clean and pure my head always feels afterward. Apparently this is called the postdrome phase, but as with most other migraine-related topics, little is known about it. For me, it’s like caffeine without jitters or yoga without work, while others report exhaustion and hangover-like symptoms. The price is pretty steep, but since I can’t seem to avoid paying it now and then, I suppose I’ll just enjoy it now and hope it takes a long time to come back.

If you get migraines and haven’t tried riboflavin (aka vitamin B2) yet, you really should give it a go. Take 2-300 mg every day for a month or two and maybe they’ll come less frequently. It’s not pricey – I spend maybe $10/month, which comes out to about $20 per migraine avoided. That’s dirt cheap.