Headache Pain

A Gentle Migraine’s Wake of Fear

admin — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 03:47:09 +0000

migraineA strange thing happened to me. I had all the signs of a migraine, dizziness and a ringing in my ears. I ran to my purse swallowed down three Aleve and prepared for the pain. I closed the drapes, got in my jammies and went pee because when I have to pee during a migraine it is horrible to have ot get the the bathroom and back. Then I laid down and waited for the wave of misery I knew was coming.

It didn’t come, but it took me a full hour of lying there before I believed it. I came out of my blacked out room to find my husband looking almost like a deer in the headlights. “What are you doing?” he asked. I didn’t know what to say. After eleven years of marriage I have never once been wrong about a migraine and whenever I have said I am getting a migraine it is a generally accepted rule in my home that I will hide out in my room and not emerge for at least four of five hours.

I wish that I could draw some sort of comfort from this fluke false migraine. There is no doubt that I had the signs of a real migraine and my head did feel sensitive later which it always does when the original pain subsides. I should be grateful I know. But I don’t like it when my body changes the patterns I trust to be consistent for me. While this migraine blew over gently, I am left wondering if it could swing the other way. Maybe the next one will do th opposite andfail to respond to the pain killers, or leave my blind and in agony for days?

I hate to be a pessimist, but fear and migraines are best buddies. I would rather things stay the way they are then to risk the teeter totter of the unknown.

No Flash Photography Please

admin — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 15:54:16 +0000

Do you ever wish you could wear a sign on your head that reads “No bright lights please”? I do. Cameras and flash lights, headlights and fluorescent store signs are a constant pulse of pain for someone with light sensitivity. For a long time I pretended that camera flashes and sitting under fluorescent bulbs was no big deal, while inside my head was pounding and my eyes were aching.

Now I do not hesitate to tell people politely, please turn off the flash on your camera or I am sorry I cannot sit here. When my eyes are really bad I wear sunglasses, even inside and yes even at night. This has resulted in some strange looks from others as well as a great shortage of pictures of me. I often hear people scanning over photo albums say, weren’t you at this wedding? Or did you go to the Museum WITH your kids or what? It is a small price to pay for a reduction of pain and stress caused by blaring and flashing lights attacking me.

It may seem annoying to go ahead and begin requesting that people stop using their flash or ask that a certain light be shut off, but with so little available to stop or control migraines and headache pain why hesitate to make the little changes that cna give you some relief?

Fortune Cookie Say…..

admin — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 20:21:54 +0000

Like so much information that is available about migraines news comes in a sort of hazy and hardly lucid format. Doctors notice some things that in their small world are little more than interesting. For example they “note” that women suffer with migraines more than men and that women are prone to them during hormonal cycles. Men who suffer with chronic migraines typically link it to lack of water or over exertion. I asked a Doctor recently what he thought could account for the difference. He calmy said “Well, women have morehormonal changes then men.” Incredibly insightful I thought (sarcasm here). Then it occured to me that perhaps it is Doctors that are writing the fortunes slipped into our cookies at the local Chinese restaurants. Their wisdom and knowledge while occasionally may hit the mark are more often as flimsy as a slip of paper in a flavorless cookie.

If I wrote a fortune cookie it would say “People who really care, never get paid to care.” Don’t trust someone who bought their mansion thanks to your suffering. Your pain is making their mortgage payments.

The Migraine that Never Was

admin — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 01:56:20 +0000

When faced with chronic pain it is easy to fall prey to depression and a sense of enormous loss. The feeling of being powerless can be as debilitating as the pain itself. Migraines are painful no doubt, but it is often this overwhelming feeling of being powerless that hurts worse then the actual headaches. The threat of migraines can soak up weeks of your life even when you have not actually had a migraine. I recently spent three weeks in a constant state of anxiety and watchfulness awaiting the terrible migraine I expected to come. It did not come.

It occurred to me after two weeks had passed that I had not gone out of the house alone with the kids or felt a moment of peace in that whole period. I had been living like I was very ill, yet had been actually feeling pretty good. What a waste! I was furious with myself and then began believing that since it had been two weeks of no migraines I should not get hopeful that the pain free spell would continue and then proceeded to spend one more week waiting for the migraine that wold not be.

Finally I stopped this destructive cycle of thinking and ‘got a grip’. I stopped looking for signs of a migraines imminent on-slot and began looking for ways to make everyday of feeling good, great. There is a lesson, I think, in this for everyone. That we should be in anticipation of bad leaves us never seeing the good. Even when things are terrible there are still opportunities to laugh and smile so why not enjoy all the more every moment that you feel good.

My new effort in life is not embrace just a good day, but every good moment. Come what may, meet my every moment with positivity and possibility. It is a carpe diem way of life, and I need very much to find a new slant of light to live in.

Migraine Support for Moms - You are Wonderful!

admin — Wed, 20 May 2009 03:48:02 +0000

It is a good day to be thirty years old and the mother of two wild things. I have reached a place in my life where I know who I am, what I am capable of and have gathered just enough wisdom to start making better life choices. It is a gift to posses this things and a gift that I wish I could share with my sisters of motherhood. Migraine pain, the fear of migraines and the leftovers from a migraine can give us one of two things. 1) Despondency and a failing in our determination to do what we want or 2) A feeling of great power to conquer and defeat that which threatens to breakdown out life goals. I choose #2. I am not defeated.

I have said for sometime that the gift that pain gives us is compassion. I am thankful for the compassion I have. I am grateful to have faced unbearable misery so that I can stand tall now knowing my own strength. I am amazed at myself for crushing the fear that threatens me every day. With out the suffering I would not be all that I am. I so wish I could share even a piece of the power I feel in my self knowledge with all of you. But, you have the ability to find your own worth, and your journey is your own. It’s gifts are there for you to discover and enjoy. I believe in potential and am certain that we are all born with equal potential for great things. If you feel hopeless or lost, believe in yourself. Start small, wake up and tell yourself ’I am wonderful, no, I am marvelous!’ I would add, because you are, but you do not need my validation. Believe in yourself and great things begin to happen. I hope you live life to the fullest, and to overflowing.

Mirgraine….I Live with Shadows

admin — Wed, 13 May 2009 20:29:37 +0000

I am waiting. Any second a migraine could show up. My eyes are clouded with shadows and little flickers of sparkly lights are firing. Some days this happens and it goes away. Not so sure I will pull out of it today. It is hard to say for sure, I have gotten so accustomed to shadows. It is allot like watching T.V. with a major glare on the screen. I can sort of see.

If I were a child still, I would give the shadows a name and pretend they are little haunting creatures that are more than a little evil, like gargoyles hanging around waiting for something……

Migraine Help - Essential Oils a New Best Friend

admin — Tue, 12 May 2009 04:30:54 +0000

I am migraine free. Well at least for the last three weeks. My eyes are so much better. I have gone a whole week with out wearing a hat or being partailly blind. I wish I knew why they come and go so feverishly. I am still getting some pretty vicious headaches though. I invested in some essential oils that are designed for headache pain. I have been really surprised at how effective they are. I have not tried them on a full blown migraine yet, but everyday head pain is being greatly improved by these sweet smelling oils. I just can’t complain when the medicine I use does not harm my organs, make me sicker or interfere with my ability to speak in full sentences. Essential oils aimed at relieving headaches, even migraines are a pleasant way to alleviate at least some of the pain. I rub mine on my wrists and temples and in a few minutes I feel more relaxed and in less pain. I carry my bottle in my purse everywhere I go now.

Swine Flu - Pandemic or Sales Gimmick?

admin — Tue, 05 May 2009 22:27:59 +0000

I hate the flu. Like many people I got a flu virus every year for the first twenty years of my life and I suffered the fever, vomiting and respiratory ailments like everyone else. I refused to take a flu shot because I hate needles. Later in life I turned to natural health care instead of medical health care and have in the last ten years had the flu twice. I still do not get the flu vaccine because I believe that it is evil (Or at least semi-evil, I do think it has a place just not on the plate of every American) oh and I hate needles. I watch the flu season every year with curiosity and a painstaking effort to beef up my immune system and my children’s to avoid being sick. This is how I know that every year there are over 25,000 - 30,000 deaths reported as being caused by a flu virus in the U.S. The Swine virus has at this point caused two deaths in America since its outbreak. So I am forced to wonder if the so called pandemic known as the swine flu is really as terrible as they are saying.

I know I am biased when it comes to the medical world. I admit that I am bitter and resentful, its true. But, does it not stand to reason that the drug companies that are oh so cozy with the CDC may have an influence in the general public concept of what is a pandemic and when they should all run to their doctors requesting vaccines and anti viral medications? The CDC, doctors and the drug companies have this country running blind, fueled by fear. 20 times more anti viral medications have been prescribed in filled in the last week than the typical amount. Huge shipments for flu vaccines are being hauled in. This is last years vaccine. This is a vaccine designed to fight the flu that went around starting last October, not the swine flu. There is no vaccine for the swine flu. Yet, doctors are happy to give you a shot of this relatively useless vaccine with just a dash of formaldehyde and mercury for extra health support.

The name Tamiflu, the popular antiviral drug, is on the lips of every person who has read up on the swine flu. You hear people in the grocery store talking about it. “At least we have Tamiflu”, or “I heard the president ordered more Tamiflu be stocked.” I encourage you to do some even some light research on Tamiflu. First you will discover that its capabilities are incredibly limited. It claims that it can rid you of up to one day of flu symptom relief. That’s it. Tamiflu will cut one day off of your total flu suffering. It won’t save your life or keep you out of the hospital. However many people who take Tamiflu do suffer with phycosis or loss of full body mobility. recent studies on this ‘wonder drug’ state that fifteen people have died from taking Tamiflu because they became so accident prone that they actually injured themselves fatally.

I do not wish to make light of the deaths or suffering that the swine flu has caused. However, a moment of reflection leads me to wonder is this so called pandemic a serious concern or did the drug company get overstocked on vaccines and antiviral medications?

Migraine Support for Moms - Build Empathy not Bitterness

admin — Tue, 05 May 2009 21:40:14 +0000

Having children and coping with migraines can be overwhelming and depressing. My five year old asks me nearly every morning if I think I will have a bad headache today. His blue eyes look at me with a degree of pity that I hate seeing in someone so young. He hurts when I hurt. I wish I could be the supermom that never gets sick, never cancels a trip to the park because of a headache and is always running around tossing her children merrily in the air. I am not that sort of supermom. However, I am a supermom none the less. While it breaks my heart that my boys already know in life that I am not very well and that our day is suspended by the tiny thread of my health and that it can snap at any moment. But, I can not help but feel proud of them. Already they show signs of a deep compassion for people who hurt, and for me when I can not do what they or I want. It is my hope that if I work hard, my boys will not be badly impacted by my health problems, but will be better men for their sincerity and empathy. Even in the grips of the worst pain of migraines and other sickness I cling to my belief that nothing can keep me from giving my children the best opportunityto be great people. Adversity can breed depression and bitterness but given the right angle and determination it can also create a sort of quantum leap in character growth. My children are already characters, I simply need to help it grow into something wonderful.

Migraine Pain Cycles - The Brakes didn’t Work

admin — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 20:50:44 +0000

It is a common complaint among women that they tend to get their migraines during or around their periods. This is true of me as well. As mentioned before I suffer from hypothyroid and am being treated for it through a medical doctor. I do not like medical doctors, but am left with little choice when it comes to some problems. So in a wild attempt to stop the migraines and a few other health problems I cope with around my period I went to my thyroid doctor and suggested that I try going on a birth control pill to stop my periods all together. I wanted to try putting the brakes on the cycles of pain I seemed stuck in. This seemed like a good idea to her, so the next day I started taking the pill. Six weeks in I had no migraines and my other major health problem (inerstitial cystitis) had not flared up so I was getting hopeful. However like most of my experiences in the medical world I was destined for disappointment and additional bitterness. On the seventh week of taking the pill I had a migraine and a cystitis flare up which are usually markers that my period will start soon. Sure enough my period started two days later withanother migraine. I was frustrated that the pill had not worked but I figured that it was fluke and when it was over I would press on in my theory of stopping the cycles. Unfortunately my period lasted 4 weeks and three days. I called my doctor concerned after the first ten days had passed and was shocked that my doctor casually said “I am not surprised, women with thyroid problems react to the pill like that fairly often.” Wow, I wonder how difficult it would have been to mention that like a couple months ago when I first came in. Of course she has not had to suffer through five blinding migraines and an array of miserable pains and ailments so it should not be shocking in the end. Why should I be surprised at all? I blame myself really. If I would just learn to stop hoping that doctors have cures or any reliable help to offer. If you think about it when a doctor says with a big grin ‘We have a treatment for that’ they are not saying much. The medical world is in the profession of treatment not healing, and rarely curing. If I continue working with doctors on my health, I will die young and probably addicted to a heaping pile of medications, not to mention insane. Insane may come first, or maybe it came already and I missed it, or worse I have lost it and am mistaking it for being eccentric. I wonder if their is a pill to help people who are eccentric? And if so does it work on people who have hypothyroidism?