Today I woke up feeling as though I should have had a headache. My shoulders and neck were achy and I felt a bit cloudy in the head. I was surprised about the absence of any headache, and realised then that I would probably have a new set of symptoms to learn since my daith piercing.

My pain levels from my fibromyalgia are high, and at times almost overwhelming today, so I was encouraged that my head hadn’t gone out in sympathy. Since I try to not let my pain dictate what I will or won’t do, I headed for church with the friend we are visiting for the weekend.

What I had not really thought about was my sensitivity to fragrances in a social setting where people don’t know to sit away from me if they are wearing perfume.

We chose a spot where I was not surrounded by people,which is always my preference anyway. An older gentleman came over and sat in front of me. I’m sure he thought he smelt lovely but it was an almost instant effect in causing that familiar sinus pain behind my eyes.

For what it’s worth, my husband commented when we got our of church that the man’s deodorant or cologne, or whatever it was, was unpleasantly strong, even for someone who isn’t as sensitive to those things as I am.

So far, though, the pain has remained much milder than usual, which is a nice surprise. I did have some nausea while sitting there, but that passed once I got out into fresher air, which is also unusual as it usually lasts as long as the headache does.

It will be very interesting to see if this headache hangs on for a day or two, as my fragrance-induced headaches always have done before.

I’ll keep you posted.