A Migraine Cause | When UBER Ruins Your Almost Perfect Weekend

Well, I can’t say it’s entirely UBER’s fault but it was certainly the domino that started the chain of events that night.  I don’t know what it is with certain UBER drivers that feel the need to totally pimp out their ride with intense perfume air fresheners, but man, when they do, it’s serious trouble.  Next time, I won’t think twice about saying, “Sorry, I’m allergic.” and walk away.  Unfortunately, our eagerness to get home took over and we climbed in despite the “this isn’t going to be good” exchange between the hubs and me.  Bad UBER smells as a migraine cause wasn’t something I’d ever considered before.

We spent an amazing weekend in Amsterdam, getting spoiled by our Dutch family who showed us the best of Amsterdam without a single museum included; our kids’ dream!  It was the perfect weekend in Amsterdam with kids: picnicking, climbing trees, riding bicycles, eating pancakes, visiting goat farms and of course, wine.  I mean, what wasn’t there not to like?  Ride a little, stop a little for a beverage, bread and cheese break, and move on.  Perfect for the kiddos and adults.

We packed it in.  The family seemed fine so we kept going.  And going.  Up early and out late.  Is there really any other way to do Europe in the summer when the sun stays out till past 10?  The kids seemed fine and after all, they got lots of breaks during the day.  I made sure my son, who gets migraines, stayed hydrated so that we could ensure a migraine-free weekend.

But that UBER car.  As soon as my husband lifted the trunk to store our luggage, I paused and just looked at my husband.  I didn’t even say anything.  He said, “Yes.  That is coming from this car.”

Despite the voice in my head that was saying “This might be the straw.  Don’t do it.” I took a deep breath and climbed in.

Within 30 minutes, 3 windows were down, my son was nearly ready to vomit and the hubs and I weren’t that far behind. It was the most nauseating car ride EVER.

My son made it home without vomiting but he had to immediately climb into bed.  The intense car smell that triggered his feeling to vomit, then crying, quickly spread to his head.  Soon enough he had a full-on migraine.  He was asleep within minutes of getting home at 9 pm.  Usually, if we catch it in time and he goes to sleep, we can ward off a migraine.  We thought he was good for the night.

Then at midnight, the vomiting started.  It was everywhere.  The poor thing thought he was dreaming but in reality, it was really happening.  Vomit everywhere: the floor, the bed, the console table, decorative pillows, himself, clothes….and a trail of it all the way to the bathroom.

The hubs and I cleaned everything up and within 30 minutes my son was back in bed since that’s how his migraines tend to work.  A migraine and a vomit or two later and he starts to feel better. That’s about all we know when it comes to his migraines though.  MRIs and neurologists haven’t been able to determine his migraine cause.  So, we monitor sugar, sleep, routine, activity and water….most of the time.  But car air fresheners?  A migraine cause. 

My husband and I laid in bed talking through the weekend events trying to figure out where we went wrong.  Was it the long days and not enough sleep?  Too much activity?  Too much fun?  Was it the third day (for some reason it’s always the 3rd day when we vacation)? My parents would say it was all of that: “You did too much!”   And they certainly aren’t wrong that we did an awful lot in 72 hours, but he was sooooo good till that damn car ride.

But an UBER’s bad choice in an air freshener?  A migraine cause?

I’m convinced of it.  Perhaps we did too much, and yes, exhaustion hit the entire family.  But the car smell was so bad that it nearly broke my husband and me – who don’t get migraines at all.

It made me angry that this is how the weekend ended.  I’m so mad at myself for getting into that car.  We should have known that my son wasn’t going to make it.

I went to bed feeling defeated knowing that migraines are still a thing despite our prayers that he’ll grow out of them, that my husband’s Father’s Day in Amsterdam ended on such a crap note before he left for Austria…again…and that I had piles and piles of lingering vomit smell to remind me of our bad decision to get into the car in the first place.  And let’s not forget that it robbed all of us, mostly our son, of our happy Amsterdam ending.

I did eventually fall asleep and managed between 5 and 6 hours of rest that night.  Just enough to take care of my son and get my daughter off to school the next day (only to then get the call that she was sick and needed to be picked up about 2 hours later…but another story for another time).  The day after Amsterdam certainly put my mom skills to the test with 2 sick kids, loads and loads of vomit laundry (as partially featured here), all while without the hubs.

In the end, I could still be angry about getting into that UBER or continue to scratch my head figuring out how an 8-year-old can projectile vomit that far, but that UBER driver actually taught us something new.  Really bad car fresheners can be a migraine cause.  The perfume kind.  This was major.  It is so obvious and certainly, I wish it hadn’t happened, but at least now we know.  So, yes, the UBER driver ruined the last mile of our amazing trip to Amsterdam but taught us to never, ever, ever get in another one like that again.