How To Plan A Migraine

Planning a migraine is a lot like planning wedding. Albeit without setting a date, eating cake, inviting any guests, getting flowers, booking a reception hall and doing the "Hokie Pokey". 

You want to make sure you are ready when your migraine presents itself by having a plan.But, ...

Even the best laid plans of mice and men can often go astray.

Always plan ahead. If you are planning a wedding, you know the date and it will not catch you by surprise. Though your next migraine day will not be the happiest day of your life. You probably know how many migraines you suffer through each month or maybe you, like me, measure how many you have a week. With this knowledge you have the means to have a migraine plan. Planning your options and being ready for each attack can help overcome the severity. And give some normalcy to your life again.

Have a plan for several contingencies. It is unusual for a wedding day to come off without a hitch. It is wise to relax and plan for different possibilities. You have to realize that your migraine is not going to fit into tiny little pigeon holes. It's not going to play fair. You will eventually get one at the very worst time possible. So, be proactive and try to plan events in the gaps. Have a contingency plan in case your original plan falls through.

You know that in addition to having the migraine when you wake up, you are eventually, if not already, having them at work, when the weather changes, when you eat certain foods, due to bright lights and strong odors. You may have other times that a migraine may keep you from participating, and cause you to lead an abbreviated life. Be ready to not be ready.

What to include in your plan. The newlyweds always have a plan for the wedding. Dresses, shoes, bouquet, menu, and even have the suitcases packed for the getaway. You should always keep a bag packed. This should include some of your comfort items; Dark glasses and/or sleep mask, water bottle, a firm but comfortable pillow, ear plugs. You may also include an mp3 player to provide soft music to help you relax. There may be other items that you believe to be indispensable as well. Feel free to leave a comment about items you think I missed. Also, you should have a special place at home to go relax. Scope out work, the shopping center, and other places that are migraine rich environments. And, you should talk to your doctor about having a protocol for trips to the emergency room. Having your doctor prepare a plan that the doctors in the ED can follow, will cut your time in the hospital and get you the pain meds that you need more quickly.

 

Don't Let The Migraine Beast Control Your LIfe

I have been burdened with writing this article for nearly two weeks. It's not that I don't know what to say, but that I don't know how to say it. I finally just sat down at the keyboard and started typing. This is what I got.

The beast is migraines in my case, though it could be any number of chronic or invisible illnesses that are suffered by others. The beast has been with me nearly every day over the last few years. It is always lurking, waiting to strike. Sometimes without warning. It presents a burden in a couple of ways.

Migraine is a burden on every day life. Waking each day, with one eye closed tight, hoping the beast is asleep and will let my feet touch the floor. It rides my back even when it is not attacking me, and threatens to strike at any time. I can't make definite plans without allowing for the presence of the beast. My calendar is filled with "penciled in" events. Nothing written in ink. That would present a specific target for the monster. Sleeping, waking, eating, going out to shop or see a movie, going to church, even when I go to the restroom can be determined by the force the beast lays on me. The daily grind of living with this beast tests my strength on a daily basis. And it tests the strength of those I love.

The burden is on our loved ones and friends as well.. It scares others away. Friends who were close no longer call or visit. Family gets tired as they are sucked into the grind. They reach a point where they are overwhelmed by the beast as well. It becomes tiring for them. They may not be able to see the beast, but they definitely feel it's presence. Almost as much as I do. They begin to not make plans, or make their plans without me, leaving me feeling like an outsider who is lost and alone. So many times I have stayed in bed, nursing a migraine, in an empty house. Compassion gets harder to find as the one's around us have to deal with the monster in our lives.

Sometimes, I feel as though I am the beast that preys on my family. A beast of burden that weighs them down as much as my own beast does to me. There are times when their actions and their words reflect the burden that is placed upon them. I try to suffer my illness in silence and not involve my family, but there is just no way that I could live without them. Do others have the same sense of being a burden? Do you have ways to fight back against the beast and gain your life back? Please share.

 

 

Related articles

• Wearing sunglasses can save you from migraines [Optics] (io9.com)
• Dealing With and Understanding Migraine Headaches (wisebread.com)
• Status Migraine: What You Should Know About a Migraine Lasting More Than 72 Hours (somebodyhealme.dianalee.net)

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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