Migraines & Computers

Anybody else out there suffer migraines?  Anybody?

Of course, I know I’m not the only one with migraines.  I tell you though, a bad one can certainly make you feel like you are all alone.

This weekend has been a migraine weekend for me.  Yesterday was the worst, so I used my favorite treatment–a really hot shower followed by an ice pack–and retreated to bed.  Not much going on yesterday, no blog, no writing.

This morning was still pretty bad.  But by this afternoon it had subsided to a dull roar, and I was ready to try some writing, at least to get some notes down about where my next scene was headed.

The problem?  Looking at a computer screen turned the dull roar into screaming, blistering, eyeball-roasting pain.  Since I’ve been doing all of my writing lately on my IdeaPad, this was not so cool.

I decided to go back to longhand, and make my notes the old-fashioned way.  The only problem with this idea is that I have carpal tunnel syndrome, and arthritis in my fingers.  So gripping a pen is not really cool–I can do it for short tasks, like writing a check, but for something longer, like real writing?  Not happening.

Fortunately I have grappled with this particular problem before.  So I could just reach into my nightstand drawer for my two favorite remedies for this problem:

Evo Pen
I have to admit, it was a close call between this and the PenAgain.  Sometimes I switch between them depending on my mood 🙂  I do seem to reach for this one more often, though, and have recently ordered three more so that I can keep them everywhere.  Next on my list is the chrome-plated version, I’ll let you know how that one works out.

All of the ergonomic pens that I prefer completely change your approach to holding a pen.  This one you can cup in the palm of your hand, with your index finger over the long top side of the pen.  It is lightweight and writes smoothly, and so far the ink cartridges seem to last longer than I had expected.

For writing pages at a time, I have not found a pen to beat this one.  My school-age kids are constantly trying to steal it from me, so it isn’t just old folks like me who appreciate it.  🙂

and

PenAgain
This is my close-second favorite pen.  I have this original 3 pack, the ErgoSof, and the ErgoSleek.  The ErgoSof is very much similar to the original, I don’t notice enough difference between them to be worth comment.  The ErgoSleek has the look and the feel of a very nice pen–nice heavy feel to it, nice operation.  It does take different refills than the other two varieties.

These three packs are good for stashing all over the house wherever you might need to reach for a pen.  You slip your index finger into the curve at the top of the pen.  When I bought these pens I was having a particularly hard time with joint pain in my thumb, and this pen took care of that until I found the Evo-Pen.

The clip on the pen is not really useful as a clip–it’s too small and fragile to actually clip it to anything.  I just added a pencil pouch to my manuscript binder and carry the pens in there.  When my kids can’t steal my Evo-Pen, they will steal these.

I have lots of different ergonomic pens, but these are the two I keep coming back to.  You can check out the others I have reviewed on my website.