This hyper-sensitivity aura thing is getting me down.

Yesterday's version wasn't so bad - I only cracked and started crying in the late afternoon because my head was getting hot from wearing a sleep mask and headphones for the whole day.

Hubby took me to the office, where there is AC. Sadly, there is also redecoration, and I couldn't cope with the lingering paint odour (which I had not noticed at all the previous three days). He tried to put me on the old waiting room sofa, but it smelled too fusty. So after I recovered enough to face the car, he brought me home.

The traffic noise is currently unbelievable. The heat obviously affected the tram tracks, not just the railways. But if you keep all the windows closed it is so stuffy and hot that I couldn't bear that either.

Hubby volunteered to throw me in the car and drive to the hills, but we both felt that a reprise of the acute aura didn't bear thinking about.

So I lay on the bed in the dark, feeling uncomfortably overwhelmed, and doing mindfulness meditations so I didn't get too depressed.

Around 7pm, i realised the noise wasn't bothering me anymore, and got up to rest quietly on the sofa and watch a DVD. Ate a few raw veggies while my stomach was working.

I can't say I can recommend this as a way to spend the weekend.

Today I slept late (quelle suprise!) and managed to shower and dress and eat half a sandwich. Did a couple of bits of officework, and now my head is aching again.

I think it must have been the heat. Spent yesterday late afternoon at Chadstone, getting cool, a bite to eat and trying to muster enthusiasm for a film. Saw the queues and gave up after Hubby went out to test the temperature and pronounced it a "much cooler" high 30s rather than mid-40s. So we commenced our homeward journey.

But first, a brief stop for petrol...

Petrol smell is never good if you're a migraineur. But as I lolled in the front seat of the station wagon, I began to feel Most Peculiar.

Tinnitus amped up to unbearably loud. Think electric ciccadas who are singing in sync with your head pain pulses. All the other sounds became acute and painful. The light (gentle twilight) became a blazing sun so I closed my eyes.

Hubby returned to the car, and began driving home. That's when the fun really started. The movement of the car upset my sense of balance, so I had no idea where i was in space. Think really bad motion sickness, and then add the feeling that you don't know where your limbs or head are on top of it. That's when I began panting to stop myself throwing up.

Cracked open my eyes a smidge so I could try to work out where we were (and how many interminable minutes until we made it home) only to discover that I couldn't make anything out. You remember the vortex whirl they used to do on old space-operas? Well, the world was doing that, kinda. I could see stuff, but my brain couldn't work out what it was seeing. Instantly shut eyes again.

The sound of the wheels on the road and the other cars engines became louder again. I began to sob & wail hysterically in sync with the lancing pain. Luckily the noise I was producing was not hurting anymore than the noise from outside.

Hubby - who was understandably agitated - said, "Pull over? Hospital?"

With an attempt at self-control - and speech - that was truly worthy of a VC at least - I managed to pant: "Home. No stop. Home. Please, please, please. Arrgghhh."

I think the car pulling to a halt was one of the most wonderful physical sensations I have every experienced. Hubby helped me out of the car, I was by then trembling uncontrollably. He hauled me up the stairs but I only made it half way.

So I lay on the back steps, and never has concrete felt so soft. There was a soft breeze, and the world stopped spinning, and I could see again. After a glass of water and a rest, I made it inside. Encouraged by the automatic fluoro lights that come on once it gets dark.

I really, really, hope i never have another aura that bad. If the journey had been any longer I think I might have had a seizure. Or died.

That car journey now lives as the most personally unpleasant experience I've had in a vehicle, even including the bus that crashed and the two hours I wept on a long haul flight because my back was in spasm (just to give you some perspective).

On the whole, I think its a good thing that I have never taken psychadelic drugs. It seems I can have a bad acid trip under the influence of nothing more provocative than my own brain chemistry.