I had a productive Easter weekend which ended on something of a low note. I seem to have pulled it around though, so on balance it’s been a good few days.

The Ginger and I successfully filled two midi skips (each about the size of a small town car) with rubbish. These were successfully carted away leaving an echo in their wake. The house feels undeniably more empty. I also managed to conquer one of my personal dragons: The Painting Of The Blue Room.

I wrote a long account of all the hassle this involved, but it was boring and no one wants to read about decorating. Pictures of before and after, sure, but paragraphs of me talking about what a colossal pain in the arse it was to Tetris large pieces of furniture, shuffle around a big snake tank with four cats underfoot, and juggle 6 years of props, is not a fun way to spend five minutes. Long story short, five years ago I decorated one of the rooms in our rented house with dark blue paint on the walls and gold gloss on the rails and I knew it was going to be a bitch to restore to its original state.

Point is, I did it, and I feel like a fucking champion. It was a massive mental hurdle and I overcame it.

There’s still some touching up to do (a few wobbly edges and errant splatters), but that’s nothing compared to the beast whose navy blood now lays beneath multiple layers of inoffensive shades of brown.

After an awesomely proactive weekend and a fun opening session of the sci-fi tabletop game I’m in on Monday evenings, I was ready to start work.

Except… not really.

Monday afternoon I’d started getting a bad headache. I’d thrown back some painkillers in the hopes it would get the hint, but no dice. Tuesday morning I called in sick to work and spent the day in bed with a pillow on my face, trying to sleep through the pain.

After hauling myself downstairs for food and mumbling conversation when the Ginger came home, I relented on something I’ve avoided for years: I decided it was time to look up the symptoms of migraines and maybe take them seriously.

Why was I so reluctant to do so? Well, the thing is I have terrible periods. Not endometriosis bad, but painful and certainly crippling. It runs in the family. My sister suffers with them, and my mum had them so bad that after she had me, she had a full hysterectomy. I choose to believe this version of events, rather than her having her womb removed after taking one look at me, but I digress.

As a result, I like the contraceptive pill – I like it very, very much. It makes the pain non-existent and it makes the whole bleeding situation more regular. After trying a few over the years, I’d found one I got on with. After being a complete fucking failure last year and letting my periods get the best of me after my prescription ran out and I couldn’t be bothered to get it renewed, one of my resolutions was to go back on. I did, and the last two months of periods have been wonderful. Score one for 2017 me.

Another bit of Skeleheron context for you: When you drink a lot, you tend to feel like shit a lot of the time. You put a lot of aches and pains down to the drink and deal with a lot of crap because you know you’ve brought it on yourself. Over the years I’ve often been struck with heinous, stay-in-bed-all-day headaches, and I sucked it up. I mean, I didn’t try and muscle through them because I knew that didn’t work, but I certainly didn’t seek any medical advice because “it’s probably just another hangover”. When you’re drinking a bottle of wine most nights, you can write off just about anything as a probable hangover.

Thing is, one of my other resolutions for 2017 was to cut down on alcohol. I’ve done that. I’ve really, really done that. I’m not tee-total, but I’ve reduced my intake to a small – and I do mean small – glass of wine maybe once a week, if not fortnight. I’ve gone to social engagements and remained stone cold sober. I’ve been the bloody designated driver on such occasions. That’s mind blowing to me and just about everyone who knows me. Score two for 2017 me.

The headaches, however, haven’t stopped. It’s just become apparent that nope, these aren’t hangovers. These headaches that see me wiped out for anything between 8 to 48 hours are actually serious and they are not my fault.

Why is this relevant to the contraceptive pill? What some people might not know is that if you have migraines you’re not meant to take certain types of contraceptive pill. The one I liked is on the no-go list. Accepting I was having migraines presented me with the decision ‘guaranteed, crippling monthly pain’ vs ‘increased risk of stroke’.

Fortunately I had a doctor’s appointment scheduled today to discuss the potential psoriasis that’s become clear on my newly shorn head. That became something of a side note as he took my blood pressure and started delving into contraindications and risk indices.

To cut an already long story short, the doc’s prescribed me with a new contraceptive pill that is safe to take with migraines. I don’t know whether or not its going to work for me, but hell, having considered the options I’d rather have halfway predictable monthly pain than a fatal aneurysm. I’ve also got some funky shampoo to try out. So that’s nice.

It might sound a bit grim, but I feel happier to have learned something about myself and to have dealt with it quickly. Score three for 2017 me.

I had a solid day at work, was open with my boss about what’s happening, and when I came home it was to the smell of fresh paint.

All in all, things are good.

Apart from Insomnia. Boy was that a trudge to get through.

I’m onto The Regulators now though and it’s got me hooked.