Headaches and St. Vitus dance

I am writing these two together; while unrelated, they happened at the same time.  I was about six or seven years old.  I don’t remember exactly.

My parents and others noticed that I walked funnily.  While walking on the sidewalk, I would sometimes skip a step or take two steps before the next crack.  It varied a lot.

When asked about it, they were concerned enough to take me to a doctor.  I was diagnosed as having St. Vitus Dance.  All along, it was due to my autism.  Autistic people are prone to repeating actions.

I was also having migraine headaches often.  I was cranky and hard to be around.

Each week my mother took me to someplace where they gave me a shot.  We had to take the bus and transfer to another bus both ways. This took us a couple of hours.  After a few trips, mom put me in charge of every step of the journey.  I was able to transfer to the next bus easily, get the shot and return home.

Since I could make the trip easily, she offered to give me her bus money if I would go alone.

I jumped at that offer because it was free money.

I guess the shots were for the headaches.  The shots didn’t help at all, so after nearly a year, the doctor recommended that I go to a chiropractor that he knew.

I went to a few sessions, and the headaches were gone.  If I got cranky again, they took me back for another adjustment.

After a few months, the headaches were gone for good and never returned.

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Updated 30 March 2023