Shooting the Gap

We've all done it. Finally we can move and we are able to amble slowly ahead and in the right direction. Have been in the same space for what may have been minutes, hours or even days. You're not able to take off and just go because you know there's more blocking your way ahead. You're not able to move past on the right for fear of falling off the edge. There's absolutely now way you would want to go backwards and experience the same past all over again, and you can feel the space to the left disappearing fast. What do you do? Shoot the gap.

This is the migraine 'high'way of life. If you are a migraineur, then you probably more than understand what I'm trying to say. We live each day fighting the same old traffic, as the day before. And, if we are lucky, there's a small little gap between light and dark that we may be able to take advantage of, in order to move ahead in our lives, if only for a moment.

It's hard to shake the pain and make ready for an opening. You never know just when it's going to appear, but when it does, you MUST be ready to take advantage of it. You lay in wait, between the pain of the past and the pain of the future and PRAY. When it happens, you gun it, put the pedal to the metal, and shoot the gap.

If it lasts for a second, or it lasts for days, you have to live your life like there's no tomorrow. There may not be, because you may be stopped in your tracks unable to move and unable to know how much time has passed since you last enjoyed being up and running. The next you know, you look up and your moving again, slowly, carefully, and somewhat afraid. Are you still in the slow lane, with a migraine on your back bumper, or have the hours and the days passed and your about to plow into the next one just ahead?

Is that a gap just ahead? Are you close enough to your destination that you can you get out and crawl, walk or run forward? You MUST make the effort. You run, swim, bike, ski, hug your family and friends, PRAY, smile, or anything your body and mind will let you do.

This is shooting the gap.

King Of Pain

Each migraine sufferer can show just cause as to why they are the king (or queen) of pain. We, the migraine sufferers, know as much about pain as those with other pain illnesses. I am not bashing other illnesses.  There are too many illnesses that cause extreme pain. Pain can vary from person to person and from attack to attack.

So, how do we measure pain in a way that takes into account each sufferers pain threshold?

This is a universal pain assessment tool that we can use to measure our pain. The scale takes into account that each individual may feel pain differently. It is accepted that each person's pain may measure differently. So this scale is a way to allow each person to adequately identify the severity of their own pain. When your doctor asks you to rate your pain, use this scale from 0 to 10, where 0 is absolutely no pain, to 10 which is the worst pain possible.

No matter what, your pain is yours alone. Each of us are the king or queen of pain in our own life.

 

Migraine Sufferers Should Practice Safe Computing

Work Zones On Your Desk
http://www.osha.gov

It is important for pain sufferers to practice safe computing. Using your computer with improper posture, incorrect keyboard and monitor setup, or even the wrong type of chair, can cause pain and stress to anyone, especially a chronic pain or migraine sufferer. If you are a chronic pain sufferer and a blogger it is especially important to make sure that your blogging does not contribute to your torment.

Everyone should make their work setting as comfortable as possible. Many times our bodies will trick us, make us feel like we are comfortable, when we really are not. This is why computer users get sore necks, back pain, eye strain, and carpel tunnel. These things can take time to develop in normal people, but suffering from chronic pain is anything but normal.

Most of us buy our computer furniture based on price or looks, but not ergonomics. It's important to remember that standard furniture cannot accommodate the needs of everyone. If you are taller, you may need to have your work surface raised somewhat; a shorter person may need a footrest.

The desktop work surface should have a matte finish to minimize glare or reflections. If a fixed-height desk is used, add a keyboard tray that adjusts vertically to provide added adaptability. Desk surfaces that are too high or too low may lead to awkward postures, such as extended arms to reach the keyboard, and raised shoulders. Limited space on the work surface may cause users to place components and devices in undesirable positions. This placement may lead to awkward postures as you reach for a pointer/mouse or look at a monitor that is placed to the side. Always align the monitor so that it is at distance of at least 20 inches (50 cm) and right in front of you to have the best viewing angle.

The area beneath the desk should be clean and tidy to provide the user’s legs with plenty of room and allow for stretching. Clearance for the legs, under the desktop, should generally be between 20-28 inches (50-72 cm) high and 24 inches (61cm)in depth.

If you share the work area with others, go ahead and spring for adjustable furniture. This information is not all inclusive of changes you can make to prevent your computing area from hurting you. You should go to http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/computerworkstations/ to view all of the recommended workstation configuration. The pain you save may be your own.

 

Preventing Your Computer Chair From Being A Pain In The Back

Most people believe that sitting is relaxing. Sitting, contrary to popular belief, is hard on the back. Sitting for long periods of time can cause increased pressure on the discs of the spine. Sitting is also hard on the feet and legs. Gravity tends to pool blood in the legs and feet and create a sluggish return to the heart.

The following recommendations can help increase comfort and decrease pain for computer users:

• Don’t stay in one static position for extended periods of time.
• When performing daily tasks, alternate between sitting and standing or take small walking breaks throughout the day.
• Adjust the height of backrest to support the natural inward curve of the lower back.
• The chair back should have a lumbar support.
• You can use a rolled towel, lumbar roll or cushion to support the low back.
• The angle of the back rest is subjective but the trunk and upper legs should form an angle between 90 to 115 degrees.
• Adjust the height of your chair so your feet rest flat on floor.
  • Sit upright in the chair with your low back against the backrest and your shoulder blades touching the backrest.
  • Your thighs should be parallel to the floor and your knees at about the same level as your hips.
  • The back of your knees should not come in direct contact with the edge of the seat and there should be 2-4 inches between the edge of the seat and the back of the knee
• Ensure that you have 2-3 inches of space between the top of your thighs and the underside of your desk.
• Have enough space under your work surface so that you can pull yourself all the way up to the edge of the desk with room for your legs and knees to fit comfortably.

Sounds like a lot to think about, but if you concentrate on only one thing and add only one thing a time, you will sit better with less stress.

Migraine And Cognitive Impairments

Donna in Ontario writes;

... I am currently struggling to keep working but it is impossible to do so almost - having to report to work at a certain time when you can barely get out of bed and dress yourself first thing in the morning - short of taking a morning cocktail every single day to be able to even GET to the office. 

Anyways, I am wondering if you might touch on cognitive impairments associated with migraines (in your blog).  For me, when under prolonged attacks - both in frquency and intensity - I also have cognitive impairments in addition to the pain and other symptoms like nause...for example, forgetting the second half of my sentence (short term memory loss) in midsentence and problems with comprehension.  Simply put, I JUST CAN'T THINK when my head is pounding with extreme pain.

I can wholly relate to her impairments associated with her migraines. I have been plagued with the disease for nearly 30 years, and know how having these other symptoms in addition to the pain can cause emotional pain in addition to the physical pain that comes with the migraines.

I lost my struggle to continue working a standard shift of 8 to 5 shifts in the latter part of 2007. I was sick and working 50 to 60 hours a week. But I could not make the standard work schedule work out. I am now on disability and stuck in that rut. I feel even more depressed because I was able to do my job, complete projects on time, won departmental success awards each year I was there and went out of my way to provide successful learning experiences to my students.

Getting out of bed and rushing to down the daily morning medicine cocktail doesn't even guarantee that your illness will allow you to make it to work. Many of my migraines hit me in the middle of the night or first thing in the morning. This makes it very difficult to manage them using standard treatment techniques. The cocktail of meds may include anti-depression, pain releavers, muscle relaxers to name but a few. Many of us could probably switch medicine cabinets without much change in our treatment (No I don't condone doing that).

Along with the killing pain that the migraine sufferer endures are usually other impairments including but not limited to nausea, short term loss of speech, not being able to finish a sentence, forgetting words, or difficulties with aphasia.
Sometimes my speech comes out in gobble-de-gook. Though I cannot speak properly I can use sign language (left hand only - and I am right handed). Sometimes I cannot hear. I have tinnitus almost constantly, but some mornings (Seems there is something with my sleep apnea) that I cannot hear at all. Another time that my rudimentary sign language comes to the rescue. I too, have had short term and long term memory loss. Sometimes it is the medications that add that happy{sarcasm} trick to our lives. My family sometimes takes odds on what symptoms they will see each morning. It's important to train your family to know just how far they can go, without causing you more mental stress.

You should take time between the poundings and write down all of the other symptoms you are experiencing, the food you ate, time you slept, weather outside and any thing else that might be a measure for you to keep track of. Do this so that you are armed when you see your medical professional. He or She may be able to stop some of your cognitive impairments by switching the drugs in your cocktail. It has helped me in the past to have a complete list of medications I have tried, what worked, what didn't, what caused memory loss, and how long you tried it and at what dosage. Make sure to take all this information to your physician in order to help them help you. It's a long road, but there are others on the same quest as yourself. Look at some of the links in the bottom right of this page and you will see blog sites in which I have found some kind of solace.

Unfortunately we each have a different journey and many have cognitive impairments. Our road is not a straight line, it has twists and turns, and this is why we need to reach across the line and help each other out.  Don't know if this is the article Donna wanted, but it does reflect my heart at this time.

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Would've, Could've, Shoud've

I have been remiss the last couple of weeks. I haven't posted since Dec. 8, and for no apparent reason. I would've had enough time to write several posts around the hectic holidays and my unscheduled migraines.  But, I let the joyous nature of the season keep me from even sitting down to the computer.

If I had planned my time more wisely, I could've incorporated several life lessons that I learned over the last month. While I was cleaning, cooking, decorating (did I say cleaning?) I found myself learning how to accomplish some tasks easier, especially as the frequency increased. Maybe I'll be able to put some things down into the ether as my blog continues in this, my third year.

I should've put a lot of my thoughts down on paper. Now it's too late for most of them as they have been lost to my minds eye. A few remain and I hope to take many opportunities to write and share my thoughts about the past, present and future of dealing with diseases like migraine. These are my thoughts for the new year.

I decided to not make any resolutions for the New Year. The habit of making plans, which criticize, seek approval for, and/or mold my life, is too much of a daily event for me.


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Compassion Fatigue

My family is suffering from compassion fatigue. I have had a particularly prolific spell of migraines lately and my family has had really tough schedules. My wife's job has recently changed and a promotion means more than twice the work with no additional pay. We are, each of us, sapped by the abundance of events in our lives. I have noticed that my family is especially tired of dealing with my disability. If the migraines will just let up and allow us to have a restful vacation in August, we may be able to recoup our energies and regain our compassionate spirits.

I think the families of those of us in chronic pain, at one time or another, all suffer from compassion fatigue. A time when they can't handle dealing with the problems surrounding them. When they just can't deal with us and our afflictions. Everyone has times when fatigue overwhelms their ability to show compassion for someone else. Times when stress prevents us from giving freely of ourselves.


Compassion fatigue may be easy to spot in hind site, but it is important to take daily steps and make changes that might take the weight from our shoulders. Studies confirm that caregivers play host to a high level of stress and fatigue. Day in, day out, workers or family struggle to function in care giving environments that constantly present emotional challenges.

Dr. Pfifferling, director of the Center for Professional Well-Being in Durham, N.C., specializes in physician stress management. He is also a clinical associate professor at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He makes the following suggestions for dealing with or preventing fatigue as a care giver. These points are focused on the professional doctor, nurse, or aide, but could apply to all of us as the caregivers in our families.

1.  Spend plenty of quiet time alone. Learning mindfulness meditation is an excellent way to ground yourself in the moment and keep your thoughts from pulling you in different directions. The ability to reconnect with a spiritual source will also help you achieve inner balance and can produce an almost miraculous turnaround, even when your world seems its blackest.

2.  Recharge your batteries daily. Something as simple as committing to eat better and stopping all other activities while eating can have an exponential benefit on both your psyche and your physical body. A regular exercise regimen can reduce stress, help you achieve outer balance and re-energize you for time with family and friends.

3.  Hold one focused, connected and meaningful conversation each day. This will jump start even the most depleted batteries. Time with family and close friends feeds the soul like nothing else and sadly seems to be the first thing to go when time is scarce. 


(For those caring for a loved one with Alzheimer's or other totally debilitating disease adult interaction is a must have in order to keep your own sanity ~ Andy)

4.  Do not to make any major life decisions until you’ve recovered physically, emotionally and spiritually. This is perhaps the most important advice we can give. Don’t quit your job, get a divorce, or spend your money on a lavish trip or a new sports car. It may feel great at the time, but a few days or weeks later you’ll find yourself waking up to the same set of problems. 


(This may be particularly difficult for those of us with a long-term chronic illness, because recovery may not be in sight, but decisions have to be made ~ Andy)

5.  Similarly, blaming others, God, life, administration, staff, colleagues or the “system” will do you no good. Being adversarial will only exhaust you further and prevent the deeper healing that needs to take place.

6. Don’t spend your energy complaining. We also advise that you avoid commiserating with discontented colleagues. You’ve heard the old saying “misery loves company.” It’s easy to fall into the habit of complaining when you’re consumed by compassion fatigue, but it will only make you feel worse. There are other, more constructive environments to share your feelings.

7.  Compassion fatigue can make you vulnerable to addictive behaviors and substance abuse.  We’ve seen many clients try to deal with compassion fatigue by working longer and harder. Others self-medicate with alcohol and prescription drugs. There are a whole host of other addictive behaviors that are used to relieve personal pain. Don’t let yourself abuse work, alcohol or drugs and don’t fall prey to a quick fix. Just as drugs can be addictive and eventually cause a whole different set of problems, the quick fix almost always ends up complicating an already overburdened escalating the downward spiral.


The points given here are for everyone; The caregiver, migraineur, long time or chronic illness sufferer, and the people with too much stress in their lives. We all become fatigued at some point in the battle with our ailment. Each of us should practice these and other techniques to prevent compassion fatigue in our lives.


This post references Ideas and information taken from the following article ~ Compassion Fatigue, from http://www.swvatoday.com .

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Predicted Punishment

This post is more technical than my normal post. But I found this very interesting. This information confirms what many chronic pain sufferers have said before; That we feel and react to acute pain differently than those that do not experience chronic pain.

Chronic pain sufferers may have a different neural response to acute pain than those without chronic pain. The difference in responses to a painful stimulus is the opposite between the two groups. While healthy volunteers registered the removal of a painful stimulus as a reward, chronic pain sufferers appeared to reflect a predicted punishment response.

These two forms of learning, reward and predicted punishment, are ways in which the body is taught interpretation of acute pain as a motivation for behavior. This means that chronic pain sufferers process acute pain in different ways.

The following is a portion of the MedPage Today, Article "Chronic Pain Alters Experience of Acute Pain";

 Researchers have found that chronic pain may reverse the neural response to acute pain. Although sensory activation patterns in the central nervous system were nearly identical between healthy volunteers and chronic back pain sufferers, in a study reported in the April 15 issue of Neuron. the difference is in the brain's interpretation of acute pain as a motivation for behavior, according to A. Vania Apkarian, PhD, of Northwestern University in Chicago, and colleagues.

At the end of a painful heat stimulus, this portion of the brain registered phasic activity in chronic pain patients with the opposite polarity of that seen in healthy adults. Although removal of a painful sensation usually registers as a reward, among chronic pain patients it actually appeared to reflect a predicted punishment, the researchers explained.

A number of changes have been seen in the brain of individuals with chronic pain, including abnormal brain chemistry, regional gray matter atrophy, cognitive changes, and unique patterns of brain activity.

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Related Articles

• Hurts so good: Chronic pain changes brain response to acute pain (eurekalert.org)
• How are Chronic Pain & Acute Pain Different? (somebodyhealme.dianalee.net)

Overcoming Procrastination

Many of us, especially myself, put things off or do little unimportant things rather than work on the important tasks in our lives. This is procrastination. Putting off until tomorrow, causes us to worry. We worry about the priority activities that we have put aside that aren't getting completed. And, worry in our lives is a stressor that may lead to depression and/or an increase in our chronic pain.

"Procrastination or doing low priority tasks before high priority activities, robs us
of valuable time.", says Dr. Ingram walker of Carilion Clinic Saint Albans Hospital, in the Spring 2010 issue of LifeWorks.

Dr. Walker says, "There are four major reasons for procrastination:

1. Laziness – To defeat laziness, begin. Once moving, you'll tend to keep going.
It takes greater energy to start an activity than to sustain it. For example, if you're writing a screenplay, put something on paper. Forget about sharpening pencils, arranging paper, reading one more script for inspiration. Write. Writers write.

2. The quest for perfection – Nobody is perfect. Nothing created by anybody is
perfect. Stop fretting about getting everything just right. Learn to do your best
and accept the results. Expecting perfection never gets anything accomplished.
To continue with the writing analogy, get that first draft done. Get something
down on paper – you can revise and rewrite the screenplay later.

3. Indecisiveness – To overcome indecisiveness, use the “ready, fire, aim”
approach. Fire it up there, and then aim it. Make some mistakes, learn, adjust,
move on.

4. Difficult tasks – Break down a difficult task into easy steps.
Just do a little at a time. You write a screenplay or a book one
page at a time. Write one page a day and at the end of a year,
you will have written 365 pages."

I intend on getting started with all of these tomorrow (just kidding). Take the time to put these four reasons to rest. Let's overcome each of these in order to take control and live happier and healthier daily lives.


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Dream A Little, Dream!

A chronic illness is a monster that tries to take everything away from you. It will take your job, your family and friends, your whole life, and even your dreams. We don’t want to lose any of  the things that we hold most dear in our lives . But, one of the things we give up most easily is our dreams. When we submit to the monster and don’t allow ourselves to dream, we give up our future. Only you can allow yourself to dream again.

Our dreams change, as we change in our lives. It is important for us to expand our dreams. Important to plan and organize our dreams in order to have a life. A life filled with purpose. Someone who has dreams, looks forward to each new day. Bountiful dreamers are “fulfilled, productive and enthusiastic”, says John Ingram Walker, M.D., director of Psychiatric Education at Carilion Clinic Saint Albans Hospital.

In the winter 2010 issue of Carilion Clinic’s LifeWorks Dr. Ingram stresses that “If you've lost your dream, resolve to change now. Expand your vision. Open your mind to unlimited possibilities. Learn to dream again. Success and fulfillment always begin with desire. As you reflect on your dreams, be certain you're using your own measuring stick, not your mother's, father's, wife's, husband's or friend's. What do you want out of life? What's important to you? What are you about?”

You can have a life of plenty by planning and organizing your dreams. Define your dreams and you will have the motivation to fulfill your life. Go ahead and dream a little. Then dream a lot. Let your dreams give you the energy you need to fight your chronic illness and don’t let go of your dreams.


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Related Articles

• Happiness Is A Hard Skill To Master (againstthegraine.blogspot.com)
• What Color Are Your Dreams? (alpup.blogspot.com)
• Living And Working To Regain Our Lives (againstthegraine.blogspot.com)

I'm Just Saying

I'm just saying. Or, more to the point, I haven't been saying much of anything. One of the side effects of having a chronic disease can be depression. Sometimes it's hard to determine where my migraines end and depression begins. I have been remiss in my blogging for the last few months. Yes, I posted a few articles, but not as many as I would have liked.

It's not that I don't have anything to say. I go around all day with thoughts of what I would like to write about. Ideas for a lot of things, blog and not blog related. But when I sit down later to put them in the void of posterity, I dry up and can't remember any of the turns of phrase, stories, and other ideas that seemed so important to me during the day.

It may seem obvious to keep a journal throughout the day, but that requires discipline. I have discipline in a very short list of things. I routinely brush my teeth, eat and take my medicines when I am supposed to. There may be a few others, but you get what I mean. Also, it is difficult to take time to make notes when you are suffering through a migraine. Pain can really make it hard to concentrate and later remember the thoughts I had.

I'm not a lazy person. I just find it hard to express myself when I'm not feeling well. I have a lot of ideas and thoughts throughout my day, but then can't find them in my brain when the time comes to put them down in an article. Today, I make a conscious effort to try harder. I hope to keep my journal and put my thoughts down in the written words of my blog.

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Related Articles

•  I Don't Wait To Procrastinate (againstthegraine.blogspot.com)
•  Between (againstthegraine.blogspot.com)
• Chronic Migraines Take a Greater Toll (nlm.nih.gov)
• Study: Migraines, Depression Linked by Genes (time.com)

Catawampus

I feel like I'm diagonally parked in a parallel universe.

[kat-uh-wom-puhs] Adj. - askew; awry

Who doesn't feel this way at one time or another? Anyone who knows me, will say that I'm always a bit askew. I'm always a little off center. But lately I've been feeling especially lopsided. I recently switched some of my medications in order to see if different meds would help my migraines. Unfortunately, they did not and the side effects made them especially non-friendly. That increases the depression and can make us want to give up. But, there is hope out their for us.

Most migraine sufferers are guinea pigs. (This is a personal opinion and not a proven fact) No one that I know has ever found the right medicine for their migraines on the very first try. Even doctors say that there is no telling which medications are right for each patient.

"The good news is there are many good preventive medications that have been proven to reduce migraine frequency. The bad news is there's no telling which medication works for which patient. The bad news also is that preventive medications don't completely eliminate migraine attacks," said neurologist Dr. Werner Becker, one of the authors of an article written by doctors at the University of Calgary and published Tuesday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.  Read more of the article.

I can't remember how many different medications I've tried. I can say that I have gotten some relief from my current regimen. But I still remain hopeful that I will someday find a cause and solution to my pain that will allow relief from the 3 or 4 migraine days a week, I am currently experiencing.

Know that finding the right medicine or combination of treatment is an individual thing and can take years. Don't give up hope. Your not alone. Myself and others feel your pain. It might just be that we have to feel catawampus for a little while longer.

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Related Articles

• 2010 Migraine Poetry Contest Accepting Entries (terirobert.typepad.com)
• If they only knew... (migraineliving.com)
• Study review provides hope for migraine sufferers (calgaryherald.com)
• Migraine: Keeping Hope (againstthegraine.blogspot.com)

Vacation

Vacation

It isn't hard to remember how great a vacation can be. Sun and sand, cookouts and picnics, family and fun. These are all nice times, that I sometimes miss because I don't feel good enough to participate.

It is impossible to plan a vacation from a chronic illness. It can hit without warning and then leaves the same way. If I tried to plan a real vacation around a vacation from my illness, it obviously would never happen. There are times I question if I should even be allowed a vacation, since I'm not working a regular nine to five job.

Everyone needs a vacation! A break from the norm. Even If I don't feel like I deserve one, the rest of my family, surely does. My wife especially needs to get away from work and home, to get some well deserved rest.

My family is leaving on vacation tomorrow morning. I am going with them. I am going, no matter how I feel. I will suffer in the car if I have to. If need be, I will find a place to lie down and confront my migraine where ever I am. I will try my very hardest to participate with everyone else and have a good time. Everyone deserves a vacation!

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It's About Time

It's About Time

The last couple, three, weeks have been very unkind to me. My migraines have been persistent throughout. In addition, I had some lab work done and it came back as having significant amounts of blood and proteins.

So, in addition to my Quasimodo style migraines, I am fighting kidney stones as well. Head pain, back pain, abdominal pain, and depression have sequestered the majority of my time. Although, I have poked my head up a few times to twitter to the peeps (or tweeps?), I have been unable to spend any significant time at the computer and my blogging. Unable to exercise to increase my energy and losing weight and this has left me depressed as well.

Please keep me in your prayers this week, as I travel back to Philadelphia to see my neurologist. Hopefully we can fine tune my meds even more, toward returning me to a normal life.

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Using Twitter to Keep a Pain Log

I have questioned whether Twitter could be a valuable tool beyond marketing, and now I have found an answer. "Now is the time for those of us who have a chronic illness to let Twitter worked for us!", Lisa Copen Writes for "Chronic Illness and Pain Support".

A Private account on the social networking tool, Twitter is perfect for chronic pain sufferers to keep a pain log or daily diary. Lisa gives 5 steps for using Twitter.

1. Create a private account just for your pain log.

2. You can send posts of 140 characters or less from your cell phone as well as computer.

3. Start by sending posts about anything you want or answer the question, "What did you do today?".

4. Print out your posts before your next doctors appointment and highlight any changes in pattern or pain.

5. Use a program on your computer to manage more than one account, so that you can keep personal and non-personal Twitter accounts.

These ideas make it much easier to keep my daily diary. It is sometimes very difficult to find the time each day to write things down, but Twitting is something I already do. Maybe it is something you may want to do now, as well.

-- Andy Honaker

Dancing For Rainbows

It's hard to live with a chronic disorder. But harder still is to live without beating yourself up over things over which you have no control. I sometimes feel as if my family, my friends and even strangers see me as handicapped, a term that is meant to provide help, but is more often used by my mind to belittle.

Things in our lives attempt to belittle us and make us feel weak or small. In the world around us people pay lip service to being uplifting, but in reality turn and knock the wind out of us. We even beat up ourselves for our shortcomings and even our illnesses.

I beat myself up over the smallest things that are left unaccomplished, unattended, unreviewed. My life can sometimes seem a collection of missed opportunities. It is often hard to look to the positives, as they may pale in comparison of those things missed. It's like sunshine and rain.

We live in a world of sunshine and rain. It rains different amounts based on where you are, but there are always days of sunshine. We live for the sunshine days, that we can get out and work and play, unimpeded by the rain. We live within the rainy days, doing whatever we must to keep ourselves out of the wind and cold, so that we may be ready for the sun at a moment's notice.

A rainbow appears when the sun hits tiny droplets of water in the air, just as the sun and rain interchange roles. No one knows when or where a rainbow will appear. They just do. If we don't live in the rain, we will miss them. If we only live in the sun, they will elude us. We have to go on living in the world of both, overcoming missed and creating new opportunities. To be ready for the sun, we have to dance for the rainbows.

Post Traumatic Migraine Disorder?

I was going along, the day after surviving a three day migraine, minding my own business, when suddenly I involuntarily ducked my head, placed my hands on my forehead and winced.

Was it the bright sunlight reflecting from a car windshield? Was it the sound of a small child crying in an unusually high pitch somewhere nearby? Was it the strong smell of honeysuckle and freshly mowed grass? Was it the lack of sleep induced by the over abundance of restless rolling in my bed for three days straight? Was it all or none of these things?

Was it the memory of the pain? A migraine hangover. Post Traumatic Migraine Disorder, if you will. The fear that at any moment the monster that controls so much of my life, will rear it's ugly head, and try to take mine off at the eyebrows. At least I believe that the monster is ugly, as I have never actually seen the face, just felt the blows that usually hit without warning and from behind.

Any lingering of a scent, any fphlit-ering of light, or squeal of a siren over a mile away, sends me lurching away like Quasimodo from the bells.

Shunting the world around me is not the way to deal with living. I'm using all my tricks, avoiding those situations that put me in peril while welcoming life one day at a time.

Is Your Computer Monitor Causing You Pain?

There are an infinite number of ways that we can cause ourselves pain. For a chronic pain sufferer there may be more. :)

I have enough pain in my life, that I try to avoid potential migraine triggers as much as possible. It is possible that my blogging can contribute to my migraines. I find myself working from the couch with the laptop on my lap (go figure), with my wrists sore from the keying angle, and squinting because of a glare on the computer screen. I purposely bought my laptop without the glossy screen to cut down glare, but glare I have. Working from my desk after adjusting the chair, and arranging the desktop is making a huge difference in my back and shoulder pain. Now it's time to tackle the monitor setup.

Once the chair and work surface height are properly adjusted, the computer monitor should be placed so the top of the screen is at or just below eye level when seated in an upright position. This is difficult for me to do with my laptop. If it is in my lap, it's too low. If it's on the table top, it's too low. Having the monitor too low (or too high) may cause eye and neck strain.

The following suggestions can help prevent the development of eye strain, neck pain and shoulder fatigue while using your computer workstation:

• Make sure the surface of the viewing screen is clean.
• Adjust brightness and contrast to optimum comfort.
• Position the monitor directly in front of you to avoid excessive twisting of the neck.
• You must position the monitor at a comfortable viewing distance, approximately 18-30 inches from your torso.
• Position your monitor at a right angle from windows to reduce glare. Close the window blinds or curtains as needed to reduce glare from sunlight.
• Position your monitor away from direct lighting which creates excessive glare or use a glare filter over the monitor to reduce glare.
• Adjust the monitor tilt so that ceiling lights do not reflect on your screen.
• If you use a document holder, it should be placed at approximately the same height as the monitor and at the same distance from the eyes to prevent frequent eye shifts between the monitor screen and reference materials.
• Get regular eye check-ups.
• Adjust these height and distance guidelines as needed for larger screens. You may need to sit farther away and increase the font size to take full advantage of a larger screen.

Bifocal and trifocal wearers have to pay particular attention to the placement of their monitor. Wearers of bifocals and trifocals often unknowingly tilt their heads backwards so they can read the screen through the lower portion of their glasses. This can sometimes lead to neck, shoulder, and back discomfort. Potential solutions include either lowering the computer monitor or purchasing glasses designed specifically for working at the computer.

I hope these help you as much as they have helped me.

5 Ways to Avoid Computing Pain

Avoiding neck, back, arm and wrist pain is important when spending time at your computer. Keeping a clean work environment is one of those things that can help your mood as well as your aches and pains. Many of us are guilty of building up a mess on our desk. Not having to work around objects, paper, books and other stuff makes it easier to prevent repetitive stress injuries.

I am probably as criminal as anyone for not following these simple rules.

1. Your desktop should be organized so that frequently used objects are closer to you to avoid excessive extended reaching.
2. Use a headset or speaker phone to avoid neck and shoulder discomfort if you use a phone frequently throughout the day.
3. Place the phone on the side of your non-dominant hand (i.e., left side if right-handed, right side if left-handed)
4. Position your desk lamp (if you use one) so that it illuminates source documents without causing either glare on the computer screen or direct illumination to your eyes.
5. Use a document holder if you refer to documents while computing. The document holder should:

• Be stable and adjustable (height, position, distance, and angle of view).
• Support your document on either side of the monitor.
• Be at the same distance from your eyes as the display screen to avoid frequent changes of focus and you should be able you to look from one to the other without moving your neck or back.

Reduce Keyboarding Stresses While Blogging

Many ergonomic problems associated with computing occur in the shoulder, elbow, forearm, wrist, and hand. Continuous work on the computer can expose soft tissue in these areas to repetition, awkward postures, and forceful exertions, especially if the workstation is not set up properly. These can contribute or lead to chronic pain.

The following adjustments should be made to your computing area to help prevent the development of an ergonomic problems:

• First adjust your chair as mentioned before, then with your arms resting comfortably at your side, raise your forearms to form a 90 degree angle with your upper arms.
• Adjust keyboard height so your shoulders can relax and allow your upper arms to rest at your sides. An articulating keyboard tray is often necessary to accommodate the proper height and distance for each station user.
• You should position the keyboard directly in front of and close to you in order to avoid excessive reaching.
• Keep your forearms parallel to the floor (approximately 90 degree angle at elbow).
• Place your mouse adjacent to keyboard and at the same height as the keyboard. The back of the wrist should be kept flat (in a neutral position). Do not rest the hand on the mouse when your are not using it. Rest your hands in your lap when you are not keyboarding or using the mouse.
• Use a padded wrist rest to keep your wrist in a straight and neutral position while typing and keep your arms off the sharp edges of the work surface.
• Do not rest your wrists or hands on a palm or wrist rest when you are keying. These rests are designed to provide support only during breaks from keying.
• Adjust the slope of the keyboard so that it is flat, in order to keep your wrists straight, and not bent back while you are typing.
• Press the keys gently; do not bang them or hold them down for long periods. Keep your shoulders, arms, hands, and fingers relaxed

If your work surface is too high and not adjustable, adjust your chair to bring your arms to
the proper position. If you raise your chair, make sure that your feet are properly
supported. These tips and others provided in this blog series will help you prevent chronic
pain due to computing.