I have been getting migraines ever since I was a little girl. I can first remember feeling intense throbbing in my head at the age of nine. Nausea shortly followed after. Usually ending with a trip to the ER and an IV of fluids.
This is a picture of me during a migraine attack. The migraine attacked the left side of my face, behind my eye socket, my left nostril, my left ear and my left temple.
Over the years the migraines have come and gone. They were surprisingly mild through my pregnancies but they have become gruesome. Let me explain that a migraine is not an ordinary headache. It is not something you can just take an aspirin for and it goes away. A migraine can last for days! Affecting your sight, hearing, sense of smell, taste and sound! It causes pain in your head, sinuses, neck, ears, shoulders and even your back.
Bright lights, strong smells and loud sounds can not only trigger an attack but it can also aggravate one.
Migraines have kept me in a dark cold and quiet room for days, causing me to miss out on everyday life not to mention special moments like my son’s orchestra concert most recently.
There is no cure for migraine headaches and most medicines seem to suppress the pain temporarily if taken early enough. An intense migraine attack will make a person do anything to have the pain stop. It is a very real scenario.
Over the years I’ve tried medicines which usually cause rebound headaches. A rebound headache is what happens when medicine is taken but once the medicine wears off more medicine is needed than before to take the pain away because the body builds a tolerance to the medicine. This cycle causes a rebound headache to occur, especially with medicines that contain caffeine. The rebound headaches are more intense than the migraine and the only real relief is to allow it to wear off.
Here are a few things that have helped me:
1.Elimination diet
Eliminating certain foods and items that trigger a migraine.
This is a process of trial and error. Visit this article from WebMD for more details.
2. Magnesium supplements
3. Staying hydrated
4. Seeing a good chiropractor and mayo facial message therapist. I carry tension in my jaw, neck and shoulders that can trigger a migraine attack, seeing a Chiropractor and Message therapist help alleviate the tension that builds in these areas.
Here are some things I am working on:
- My sleeping position. I am a tummy sleeper and sleeping on my stomach puts pressure on my neck
- RELAXING I tend to sit tense with my shoulders up to my ears.
- Drinking more water
If you know someone who suffers with migraines please show some compassion and understand it is not just a normal headache, migraines can be unbearable and debilitating at times. I have spent many days in my room in the dark, locked away trying to cope and hearing my kids tell each other mom has a migraine and then dealing with the guilt of being the migraine mom.
