Tag: migraine

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Migraine Favourites migraine life

Migraine Favourites

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Some links are part of the Amazon affiliate program, and if you buy something from the link, I will make a bit of money.

As a migraineur for two decades, I’ve tried A LOT of things to help with the pain. Some work, some don’t, and some work every so often. Because drugs don’t always help, or you can’t take too many, I’ve reached for a lot of ‘natural’ type of remedies that I can do when I’m traveling, or while I’m waiting for drugs to kick in. Remember, I’m not a doctor, but this is just what has helped me.

Ice Headband
Lots of people reach for the ice cap, but ice doesn’t always sit well with me, so I wanted something a little less intense and something that can be moved around a little easier. This headband is great for when your brain feels like it’s inflamed. I also love that it covers my eyes so I can use it in areas that have strong light (or if my husband needs to get something out of our bedroom, he doesn’t need to use a flashlight).

Green Light
I’ve the Allay lamp, but it’s pretty pricey and they don’t ship to Canada, so you’d have to go through Reship, which just adds extra to the price. I do love my lamp as it can fold up easily for travel, and has a charging docking station for phones (though, I’ve no idea how to use it yet!), so if you’re American, jump on it! Or, e-mail the company if you’re Canadian so they get back to shipping to Canada.

I’ve also heard good things about this bulb, and I’m thinking about buying one so I can keep it at the lake. The downside looks like it needs a dimmer switch, or just to not be right next to you as the light can be bright (an issue I have with the Allay lamp, sometimes, even when it’s dimmed).

Acupressure Mat
I’ve been using this ages. I love my acupressure mat, both for my back, and for my feet. Every night, I stand on the mat (takes a little getting used to. I started with sitting on with my feet on it and then adding more pressure until I could stand), stretch my neck, and feel better. Like some migraine remedies, it’s hard to tell if it 100% works, but it feels good and releasing tension in my feet really helps me. Plus, you can get pillows like this mat, or roll yours up, so it hits your neck and head and feels AH-mazing.

I highly recommend getting one like this that includes the foot ball(s), as well, as it’s a major life saver when traveling. My mat didn’t include a round pillow, but a travel mat I could fold up, and though it works okay on the neck, the pillow would be SO much better.

Foot Massager
So, I’m big into feet when it comes to my migraines. I love reflexology, my acupressure mat, and foot massages when it comes to my migraines. Doing them often to keep migraines at bay, or rubbing my feet (or having someone else – way better) during a migraine attack.

Get one with a warmer, like this one, as warming feet during a migraine attack can help take the blood away from your brain. People always say to immerse them in water, but there is no way I can stand and draw a bath in order to do so. Wrapping my feet in blankets helps loads, though.

Mushroom Hot Chocolate
I’ve become obsessed with mushrooms and their benefits after watching Fantastic Fungi and decided to try this hot chocolate mix. It’s delicious, not too sweet – which I love – and easy to make. I make mine without the coconut oil, and add a splash of oat milk, and/or some whipped cream. I’ve been feeling way better since I’ve started drinking it everyday, and I’ve drank a cup when I felt a migraine coming on a time or two and it’s dissolved.

Every body is different, so it may not work for you, but it’s a delicious treat nonetheless! Make sure you buy any products like this from reputable sources. I get mine from Harmonic Arts.

Ginger
Ginger can really combat migraines. Some people eat ginger candies, something I’ve tried but just can’t do. I do drink a ginger tea every single night before bed. Nothing fancy or special, just this Tetley one. They used to have a ginger peppermint, which was amazing for when your tummy is upset during an attack, but I’ve since not been able to find it. Strong ginger teas aren’t palatable for me, but if they are for you, may be a better option as they’ll have more ginger properties in them.

Whiteflag App
I’ve, honestly, never used this app yet, but I’ve heard so many good things about it. Sometimes, we’re stuck with chronic pain for so long our brains begin to spiral. I always, always recommend a therapist, but if you’re waiting on a referral, or just need someone to talk to in the moment, this app has people who have experienced everything in mental health. Lean on people on you need it.

Do you have any remedies for migraine pain that I haven’t mentioned? Drop a comment below so we can all help one another out!

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migraine life

How to Handle a Migraine Mid-Flight

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I’m not a medical professional, just a migraineur who has suffered through the agonizing feeling of getting a migraine in an airplane. Always consult a doctor on any medical advice.

Yay, your bags are packed and you’re ready. But, your body has different ideas. This article lists basically lists everything that happens on an airplane and during travel as the general top 10 triggers for migraineurs. Honestly, it’s a miracle anyone feels good after any long-haul flight.

Until very recently, I’ve been lucky enough to make it to my destination feeling dry and tired, but overall fine. While I do usually get a migraine the day after travel (stress, dehydration, not eating at the right times), I don’t usually get one on the flight. It’s so much easier to deal with a migraine when you’re on the ground than it is when you’re mid-flight and I hope none of you sufferers out there ever have to, but here are some of my tips for keeping yourself sane while your brain melts.

Keep yourself hydrated. Keeping hydrated is important for everyone on a flight and it’s doubly important if you’re a migraineur. Keep yourself hydrated! Don’t worry about going into those small bathrooms to pee 30 times in a flight (funny, coming from me, someone who tries not to use those bathrooms if I can help it), just drink the water and lots of it. 

Bring a reusable water bottle and have the flight attendants fill it right to the top when they come by with the drink carts; this will make it easier for you to not run out of water on the flight and will cut down on those silly, tiny plastic cups being used. In premium or first class? Drinks come much faster in these cabins, especially alcoholic ones. If you’re drinking during your flight, add a water, or two, in between each adult beverage.

Ask for ice. While you may have packed an ice pack in your carry-on or checked baggage, you can’t really just pop it into the fridge or freezer and grab it when you need during a flight. But, you can totally ask the flight attendant to bring you a bag of ice, or if they’re equipped, an ice pack from the first aid kit. Explain to them that you have a migraine and don’t feel ashamed for using the call button (me, that’s me. I’m the one who feels guilty and ashamed summoning a busy flight attendant): this is what that button is there for!

Bring ear plugs and an eye mask. Maybe you just have a small migraine and you can nip it in the bud, you’re nearly ready to land, or you’re just being proactive. Bring those ear plugs and an eye mask to keep out the dreaded noise and light and keep your brain happy…er…content. These are two of my favourite travel accesories for the plane, migraineur or not. You never know if there will be a loud talker or some asshat playing their video without headphones near you. 

Grab a ginger ale because you’re going to need it. Even if you don’t get sick during a migraine, chances are you will on a flight. Turbulence sneaks up on you and even the slightest bumps can exacerbate your pain and make you feel queasy. Grab a ginger ale to calm your stomach down. It may not kill it, but it’ll help tame the beast. Or, it should. Migraines really have a mind of their own.

Don’t be afraid of the bathrooms. I hate airplane bathrooms. I refuse to use them on short-haul flights, peeing as much as I can right before we leave (sorry, not sorry pelvic floor therapists). But, when it comes to long-haul flights, there’s nothing you can do to escape them. I don’t like small spaces, so being crammed into a tiny vestibule that sounds like it’ll suck you out of the plane when you flush the toilet isn’t at all helpful. Add in the fact that a gross amount of people have used that bathroom before you…ugh. Unfortunately, if you’re going to vomit, you gotta get the fuck out of that seat and into a tiny airplane bathroom.

Squatting down so as not to touch anything around you is a maneuver that will feel easier the third or fifth time you vomit. Worried about space? There may be a roomier bathroom at the back of the plane for you to check out. And, you’ll be hidden from concerned and annoyed patrons of the plane, wondering why someone has been in the bathroom for over half an hour. Bring your ice, vomit as you need to, and rest. 

I did this on the flight, just reveling in the close proximity to the toilet, and being able to stand or lean in a way that made my head feel better. A flight attendant came to check on me a few times, which made me feel safe and guilty all at once. Not a single passenger rapped on the door or was lined up outside. Another point for choosing the bathroom at the back. 

Tell someone. No one wants to find someone passed out in a bathroom, especially on a plane. Tell your seat-mate, even if you’re not friends, tell a flight attendant that you’re not feeling well (they will probably assume and ask once they see you with ice, a ginger ale and tears streaming down your face). My lovely flight attendant squired me into the larger bathroom and checked up on me every so often to make sure I was still alive.

Grab one of those stupid, tiny plastic cups. If landing is a bitch, and of course it will be if you’ve a migraine, chances are good you’ll feel sick — again. While there are puke bags in the seat, I found that a drink cup worked perfectly well since I had nothing left in my system. Have both ready before you even feel sick as just-in-case precautions.
I ignored my eco-friendly mind-set and grabbed a drink in a plastic cup on my flight home solely so I would have it in case I got sick.

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Life

The Silent Pain of Living with Chronic Pain

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I can’t really remember a time in my life when waking up with searing pain above my eye, or a throbbing so deep that I assume my brain will explode with the my next heartbeat wasn’t normal.

I know that I didn’t have migraines when I was a child, that they came upon me when I became a teenager, when hormones were thrown into the mix of my body, but it feels like this pain has always been there, always been on the back of my mind. And, you know what? It’s starting to wear me the fuck down.

My migraines started in high school, but were very episodic. No big deal, I could pop some Advil and away I went to school or my job. Soon, Advil wasn’t cutting it, though, and naproxen came onto the scene. I loved naproxen and it seemed like the best solution for my pain. However, it didn’t last long. I’ve had a long road of different pain relievers, all working at one time, but never really hitting the pain every time, or for the long-haul. I now know this to be normal for most everyone, but it is one of the most annoying parts of finding something that works only to find out it only works sometimes. Cue the start of fatigue of finding treatments.

Years went by and the migraines only got worse. They went from episodic to chronic, and it was normal for me to have 11-15 migraines a month. I was in pain every single weekend, when my stress let down, causing a migraine, grabbing for pain killers that only sometimes worked. I’d go to my job, feeling like absolute garbage, like my brain was going to explode, as I had already taken two sick days that month. Luckily, I never had a job where anyone counted sick days – if you were sick, then why were you at work? was the thought process.

It took one horrible migraine day where my co-worker brought me to the hospital, one nurse who asked if I took any preventatives (a preventative? I didn’t even know there were such options. I was still riding that naproxen wave), to get me to see a neurologist.

Sure, things got a little better in the migraine department, I went down to two migraine days a month with preventatives, vitamins, and cutting out alcohol and some foods. But by then, the damage had already been done. I was stressed, anxious of when my next attack would occur. I couldn’t work out, something I had loved to do. I had to stop boxing, had to stop any intense physical activity. I could barely go for walks without feeling like I’d get an attack.

I ended up feeling so nervous not to be stressed, that I was making myself stressed. I had a rigid bedtime routine, I had to sleep a specific amount of hours, I could only eat certain foods, I couldn’t have any alcohol, my stomach could barely handle pain killers as I had ripped it to shreds with uncoated naproxen throughout all those years. I worried about my job wanting to fire me (something I know had come up in a previous job, though that work-life balance was very toxic) because I had migraines. I had to quit a previous job I loved due to the stress that exacerbated my migraines.

It was only the beginning of what I would have to change in my life because of these stupid things that came and went as they pleased, wreaking absolute havoc along the way. I didn’t yet know that it would get worse, that the anxiety surrounding my chronic pain would ratchet up to new heights, that I would start to feel hopeless in ever feeling normal, again.

Recently, I went to a bachelorette weekend, armed with everything I usually do in a normal day: I had my acupressure mat, my vitamins, my ginger tea, I was going to bed later than usual, but at a still appropriate time. I brought a fan in case I got too hot in the cabin, which – thankfully – had A/C. It was a bougie place, my friends. I had three sips of wine during the fun wine tasting that was put on, knowing that if I imbibed a little more than that I could end up with a migraine. I ate cherries, having my healthy snack before bed. And yet…I still woke up with one.

The next morning, I quietly sobbed as I realized that I wouldn’t be able to enjoy the weekend, that my pain was going to be there all day and not be a quick fix with any drug, that I’d probably end up with one the next day, as well. I packed up my things, trying my best not to wake anyone while I alternated between vomiting and sobbing. I wasn’t upset that I was missing out on the fun, at least, that wasn’t what was giving me these feelings of dread. It was the fact that I couldn’t do anything, anymore, without an impending attack.

I cried while my friend held me, telling her I just wanted to be normal, that I couldn’t do anything, that I couldn’t just have a day, or a night, or a weekend, where my pain was looming, waiting to attack. She told me that my body was being an asshole and had let me down. And, it was true.

My body, something I had my normal doubts about regarding how it looked (or, rather, how magazines said it should look), but still felt very comfortable in and loved. My body that got me through pregnancy and birthed my daughter, showing me just what it can really do. My body, once so strong and lean, ravaged by a neurological disorder, a silent pain that people believe to be ‘just a headache’.

My migraines may not be chronic anymore, they may be only 3-5 a month, but the silent pain is still chronic. The anxiety over wondering if I will get an attack on an airplane, again, or if I will miss out on days while I travel. If I will be able to make plans, or if I’ll have to cancel them. The plans that I have missed, both not important and very. The days that I miss in my daughter’s life because I am unable to take care of her.

The pain isn’t chronic, but the damage has been done. I no longer feel like I can do properly live my life, not how I would like to, not in any way that is considered ‘normal’ (see: waking up without pain being a normal thing). The exhaustion of trying different treatments, the money spent, with nothing truly working as well as it should, is heavy. Thinking outside the box, thinking inside the box, feeling as if it’s futile to even try.

I know I’m not alone in this feeling as there is a huge migraine community out there, and many more who suffer from some sort of debilitating disease or disorder that feel the same as I do. I know that we all need to tweak our lives so we can live them to the best of our ability, to be happy, but also so that we don’t aggravate whatever it is that is ailing us.

But, damn, this silent pain that anyone with chronic pain goes through is exhausting. Perhaps one day I won’t feel the constant pressure and anxiety coursing through my veins, and that gives me the little hope I need to just keep trying.