Not Born To Sniff, Most Definitely

Are you one of those plagued by constant headaches and migraine? If you are, have you ever taken steps to have your head examined (literally, I mean) by a medical specialist?

If the answer to question number one is 'yes' and the answer to question number two is 'no', then you are not doing yourself justice.

You must find out what is ailing you so - the reason/s for your constant misery - so that you can take the appropriate steps to rectify the situation.

For decades I suffered from very chronic migraine. Through trial and error, I put it down to allergy to certain foods, the chief culprits being cheese, butter, ice-cream and chocolate. As it was later found, I was only half right.

The migraine would always start as an excruciating headache that would progressively pound me senseless. Each attack would lead to big-time nausea, vomiting, near-blindness and most embarrassingly, lost of control of bodily functions.

I would have to shut myself away from light and sound, nursing the pain in the darkness of my bedroom. I couldn't even bear the presence of another human being.

Even the soft patter of footsteps sounded and felt like the rumblings of an earthquake. The family knew well enough to leave me alone, with a bucket to puke in and a bottle of mineral water to drink and wash my face with.

It would be at least half a day before the relentless poundings dissipated and I could stagger out of the room, disoriented and weak, and hungry to boot.

Apart from the aforesaid food allergy, my migraine attacks were also induced by heat. The hotter the day, the higher the chances of getting sick.

Last year, a new and somewhat sinister development took place. At the onset of a headache, my entire face would throb ever so painfully, particularly the bridge of my nose. As usual, my vision was the first to go.

Terrified, I finally made a beeline for an ENT specialist in Damansara, just to find out what the heck was going on inside this face of mine.

An exhaustive examination followed and a scan revealed a congenital nasal defect, the root of what had been plaguing me all these years.

I was born with my nasal passage almost touching, with only a narrow space to breathe. I can't afford nasal congestion of any kind, lest I would be tercungap (gasping) for air.

A permanent corrective measure would be surgery, which doesn't really appeal to me. In the meantime, I depend on nasal spray to continually clear the passage.

After more than four decades, I finally knew for sure why I suffered the way I did. Born with a teeny weeny sniff alley, that's all there is to it. Good Lord!