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Stress is not a Migraine Trigger

April 22nd, 2008

At least, that’s the latest thinking - last year the International Headache Society moved stress from its list of Migraine triggers to a list of exacerbating factors.  In other words, stress makes us more vulnerable to the things that trigger our Migraines.  In other words, pains in the … do not trigger the pain in our heads - directly.

So here’s a list of things that do not trigger my Migraines:

• Passive-aggressive people who don’t listen and make me want to pull my hair out. (Note: pulling hair out could well trigger a migraine.)
• Days and days of mysterious computer malfunctions that cannot be solved without spending money I can ill afford. (Note: running out of money and therefore missing meals could well trigger a migraine.)
• Worrying… need I say more?  You name it, I can worry about it.  I think it’s a genetic predisposition.  Kind of like… Migraine disease!  (Note: losing sleep while worrying?  Bingo!  Migraine trigger!)
• Not getting my work done due to computer problems, and worrying.  Chasing tail around in vicious circle. (See Worrying.)

And so, I am trying a mantra: “stress is not a migraine trigger, stress is not a migraine trigger, God grant me the serenity, stress is not a migraine trigger.”  I’m not entirely sure this is working.  My head hurts!

Actually since striking a note of hope is clearly needed here - I have better mantras.  Some deep breathing - in Hummm - out Saaa… I’m going to go try that.  And please pray to the computer gods for me.  And maybe tomorrow I can write a better, more useful post.  With pretty pictures. 

- Megan Oltman

Tags: breathing, mantra, Migraine trigger, Stress
Posted in Rant | Comments (4)

4 Responses to “Stress is not a Migraine Trigger”

1. Eileen Says:
   April 22nd, 2008 at 8:14 pm

   Two words: LOVE IT!!!

   Ugh what a day huh? Were you one of my east coast friends to get hit with it today? Seems like we were all down….Laura, Jamie, Nut, All of us!

   I love this post girl!
   Another two words: Muscle Relaxer!!!!

2. deborah Says:
   April 23rd, 2008 at 3:00 pm

   you said it all, baby! and made perfect sense. I don’t know what the heck “they’re” talking about, stress for sure makes migraines appear for me. if it smells like a trigger, or acts like a trigger, hmm what do you have??

   Oh, and the clouds rolled in here this afternoon also.

3. Megan Oltman Says:
   April 23rd, 2008 at 4:47 pm

   Glad you guys enjoyed it - I make myself laugh, so I’m glad I’m not the only one with this wickety-wack sense of humor. Deb, you know I’m not really criticizing IHS for taking stress off the trigger list - I’m just having some fun with the fact that it’s hard to tell the difference. I guess in terms of how we have to handle it, it’s different. We can eliminate or avoid a lot of triggers (not weather - that’s for sure). We can’t eliminate or avoid stress. All we can do is manage it, the best we can. Hmmm… another post, maybe. Feel well dears!
   - Megan

4. Free My Brain From Migraine Pain » Blog Archive » Running on Fumes Says:
   March 14th, 2009 at 11:23 am

   [...] while back I wrote a… um… post (rant?) about how stress is not a Migraine trigger (officially) but… why does it seem that way to us so frequently?  As far as I’m [...]

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