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Archive for the ‘Managing’ Category

October Blog Carnival Coming Up – On Alternative Therapies

September 26th, 2009

Diana Lee of Somebody Heal Me will be hosting the October 2009 Headache & Migraine Disease Blog Carnival on the theme “Alternative therapies – your experiences (good or bad), thoughts about trying them or any other take on the subject.” To participate, send your link to a blog post on the topic, new or old, along to Diana, through the form on the carnival website or directly to her by e-mail.

Submissions are due by midnight (the end of the day) on Friday, October 9. This is a great opportunity to gather a number of posts around a topic of interest to many of us. About 6 weeks later Dr. Christina Peterson will be addressing the same topic on the November Managing Life with Migraine Teleconference, so between the two events we should gather a lot of great advice!

– Megan

Tags: alternative therapies, blog carnival, managing life with migraine
Posted in Managing, Medicine, Weblogs | Comments (0)

Don’t restrict Acetominophen – Educate, don’t Regulate

September 22nd, 2009

Please sign the American Pain Foundation‘s petition to the Food & Drug Administration asking them to educate the public about the dangers of overuse of acetominophen (Tylenol), rather than restricting its use.  The FDA is considering banning pain medications such as Lortab, Percocet and Darvocet which contain acetominophen as a second ingredient in combination with a narcotic pain reliever, as well as making extra-strength acetominophen formulations available only by prescription.  As the petition states,

When used as recommended, acetaminophen is a safe and effective pain reliever and fever reducer and has been used by millions of Americans for decades.  This medicine, like all medicines, has risks when used beyond the recommended amounts.

Acetaminophen: Educate, Do Not Regulate.

The FDA’s proposed regulations are due to concerns about liver damage from overuse of acetominophen.  Proper labeling could do away with much of this concern, and avoid leaving pain patients without medications they need to get by on a daily basis. Without proper labeling, it’s easy to overuse the medication even at lower doses. More importantly, people who rely on these medications to get through their daily lives will be left without help.

You can also leave comments directly for the FDA – the comment period ends September 30th.

Please take a few minutes to take action on this important issue!

– Megan

Tags: acetominophen, American Pain Foundation, FDA, pain
Posted in Advocacy, Managing, Medicine | Comments (0)

Fatigue, Fibromyalgia & Denial

September 21st, 2009

Hello friends. I’ve been quiet lately. Had a marathon summer with a lot of work and a daughter to get off to college. She is off, settled in, working hard, and having the time of her life. I flew back from three days away, moving her into her dorm, and then I attended the International Headache Congress in Philadelphia for two days, then I spent a lovely day in Manhattan with cousins from the west coast, then I spent a day working, then I went back to Philly for a first appointment at the Jefferson Headache Center, then I collapsed.

I will post about the IHC, and about my appointment at Jefferson, (both of which were great) later. What I want to talk about today is “then I collapsed” part. Well I do have to touch on the appointment at Jefferson… mostly what was discussed was my Migraines and my anxiety level. I was very happy with the care I got, the thoroughness of the history taken, the look at Migraines in the context of a whole life. I have new treatment options and new hope.

It felt like almost a side note to the exam, when the doctor pressed certain points on my body which hurt tremendously.  Once he had pressed a half dozen, I realized what he was doing – pressing the fibromyalgia tender points.  One of the diagnostic criteria for fibro is pain in at least 11 of the 18 points – well, I had a great deal of pain in 14! He asked me if I feel pain in my body on a daily basis and I said there were days when I’m achy all over, but I’m not aware of much pain in my body much of the time.

But over the next few days I couldn’t stop thinking about it. My 10 day marathon of travel, launching a daughter, conference, appointments, left me bone weary and aching. You know when you first notice something you haven’t seen before, and all of a sudden you see it all around? I had this sense of a puzzle piece clicking into place. Why do I fatigue so easily? For the last few years when I exert myself in any way, whether it’s physical exercise, mental or emotional stress, or just being on the go for a number of days in a row, afterwards my entire body aches. For days. I have become terribly sensitive to touch, where someone bumping into me actually hurts, instead of just being jarring.  My husband and I were lying on the bed talking the other day and he had his hand on my calf. His thumb was resting on my shin, and after a few minutes just the weight of that thumb began to actually hurt.

I know people with fibromyalgia, and there are plenty of Migraineurs who also have fibro. I’ve read about it, and I have wondered for some time if I might have fibro too. You’ll see in my profile that I say I have chronic fatigue, but I’ve always had some question about that diagnosis, which was more of a suspicion by my family doctor than a real confirmed diagnosis. Up to this point, though, I have avoided looking into it for myself. I don’t want to face having another chronic illness. I want to live in the illusion that my limitations will go away someday. Ha! Oh well, a girl can dream.

I will investigate this further; I will talk about it at my next headache appointment. I know there are treatment options and support available. It’s kind of silly, really, to prefer denial. Having all the symptoms I have and no name for it really isn’t better than having the symptoms with a name. Knowledge really is power. I hear that the drugs used to treat fibro are really good for treating Migraine too, and many people’s Migraines improve when their fibro is treated. We’ll see. I still kind of want to stick my head back in the sand. Except I know my neck would hurt for days afterwards.

– Megan Oltman

Logan Square fountain image courtesy of Conspiracy of Happiness; shoulder image courtesy of Barbarellaa.

Tags: denial, fatigue, fibromyalgia, fibromyalgia tender points, migraine
Posted in Communicating, Managing, Medicine | Comments (2)

Heads Together for Support

August 27th, 2009

Next week I’ll be launching something exciting here at Free my Brain. Since I started looking for help with my Migraines over five years ago, I’ve been looking for a support group, and hearing about the value of support groups.  Since I’ve been hosting the Managing Life with Migraine teleconferences on the last Sunday of every month, participants have been telling me how much they love being on the phone with other Migraineurs.  The doctors we’ve had on the teleconferences have spoken about the value of making progress with small manageable goals.  People email me all the time asking about a support group – okay – I hear you! I coach Migraineurs in managing the various aspects of their lives needed to see an improvement in their Migraine profile and quality of life.  I’ve also led coaching groups for years, and know how a group can help each other to move forward – so…

I will be leading a twice monthly Migraine Support and Coaching Group. A group of up to 12 Migraine and headache sufferers will be getting together by phone (on a secure conference line) twice a month, to exchange support, tips, ideas and encouragement, and receive coaching and training from me to improve your Migraine profile and overall well-being.  We will work with your doctor’s recommendations, finding small manageable goals you can take on that will help you make progress.  Group members will also get access to daily e-mail coaching from me and two relaxation teleclasses per month, training you to calm you nervous system and make it less vulnerable to Migraine triggers.  You will form relationships with other group members, supporting  each other in taking the actions you need to take to move forward.

Meeting face to face is wonderful, and if you have the opportunity to do that, good for you. Most people I know who have run face to face support groups find that they are hard to sustain over time. For those of us with Migraine disease and headaches, it is key to simplify our lives and cut down on stressors. Having one more thing to get out to can be difficult. You can be in the Free my Brain Migraine Support and Coaching Group from the comfort of home, on the phone.

Frankly, I can’t wait for this group experience.  Here’s what you can expect: your fellow group members will also be pursuing goals in improving their health – and you will learn from them.  Group work on relaxation exercises and developing your ability to calm your nervous systems. The supportive structure of actions to take between sessions and a partner to talk to, to keep you in motion. Your coach and the other participants cheering your results and supporting you through the challenges. A place to vent and talk about your pain and challenges with others who support you and really understand, and keep focusing you on moving forward. Come by the Migraine Support and Coaching Group page to register or learn more, or contact me with your questions. I hope you’ll join me!

– Megan

Tags: managing life with migraine, Migraine management, migraine management coaching, migraine support, support group
Posted in Communicating, Managing | Comments (0)

Keeping my Head Above Water

August 18th, 2009

Well, I wish I was literally swimming, rather than figuratively trying not to drown. I was just noticing how few posts there have been here, and that’s not like me. The good news is I’m managing not to have too many Migraines. I may be headed for one tonight – we’ll see. there’s a ferocious thunderstorm out right now. And the good news is I got away to my lovely cousins’ lovely beach-house on the LI Sound for the weekend, and didn’t bring much work with me.

I won’t try to hide that things have been tough. Although I am keeping busy writing and Migraine coaching and mediating and part-time lawyering, getting a daughter ready to start college in 3 weeks and a son to start high school at the same time, it’s a lot to juggle, and still get the rest I need and take care of myself the way I should to manage my Migraines. My husband has some free-lance work but needs a full-time job. Money is tight and I am a worrier. I just want to say hi. The worst thing is to go out of communication, and not let anyone know how you are. How I am is busy and worrying too much.

What’s my great coachly advice for you today? I’m working hard to take the coaching myself. Going out for a walk in the morning when I’d rather sleep in a little longer, because I know I need the endorphins from the exercise in my system, to help keep pain manageable. Because I know then I’ll drink less coffee and rest better, which will make me less triggerable. Because I know the exercise is good for keeping my anxiety levels down, and while I walk I do relaxation exercises that help me keep my nervous system less triggerable.

We do have some exciting new stuff coming at Free my Brain. We’ll be starting a Migraine Support and Coaching group on September 2nd. We’ll meet by telephone twice a month to work together on goals in managing our Migraines and improving our health. Get support from other Migraineurs and individualized coaching from me, at a fraction of the cost of one to one coaching. Look for the sign-up on the Home page, coming soon.

Right now we have a special for newsletter subscribers, where you can get 40% off of BREESE Relaxation Recordings. Check your email for the coupon code. If you’re not a current subscriber you can subscribe in the 6 Migraine Keys box in the upper right corner of the blog page, and you’ll find the coupon code on the Thank You page.

And though I haven’t gotten over here to write very much, I have been writing articles on Law, Migraines, Disability and Work for Health Central’s My Migraine Connection. Feel free to check them out – I wrote most recently about Work & Disability: Don’t Fall Through the Cracks.

I hope you’re keeping your heads above water too. Expect more from me soon. Let me know how you’re doing, in the meantime! Say hi, let’s keep up the communication. Okay?

– Megan

Swimming image courtesy of David Joyce; rain shower image courtesy of AlmazUK.

Tags: endorphins, exercise, managing life with migraine, relaxation techniques, support group
Posted in Communicating, Managing | Comments (3)

Clean up, or Rest and Recover, How Do we Choose?

July 23rd, 2009

Diana Lee wrote a compelling post recently about the felt need to keep her house clean when she is home on total disability – called “I’m So Lazy: Ways We Trick & Abuse Ourselves“.  I could really identify with those undermining tapes that play in our heads, telling us that whatever we are doing, and however sick we may be, we could and should be doing more, and better, and keeping up appearances!

Diana’s post inspired my theme for the Free My Brain Migraine Managment newsletter on this month. (If you’d like to recieve the newsletter you can sign up in the Six Migraine Keys box in the upper right corner of this page.)  Here’s what I think about how to choose:

Putting our health first is a mantra, not a rule. A mantra is something we repeat to ourselves and allow it to slowly sink into our subconscious minds, informing our actions. A mantra can be a question or an inquiry
that we live inside of, always asking ourselves, “What would it mean to put my health first, today, in this situation?”

How, in the face of all of life’s demands, paying bills, maintaining a home in some semblance of order, raising children or caring for others, do you put your health first?

Use putting your health first as a mantra and it won’t give you a hard and fast answer in every situation, but it will give you some guidance. Repeat “I am putting my health first,” as you walk, as you meditate, as you go to sleep at night.

We can’t avoid every Migraine, and sometimes we will choose to work, or do housework or other tasks, even though it triggers an attack or worsens our pain. It is not a perfect world and we can’t magically have all our needs and obligations taken away because we are sick. Part of putting our health first must be to forgive
ourselves in those situations. We must forgive ourselves when we do the task to the detriment of our health, and we must forgive ourselves when we can’t do the task because of our health. You will never get this perfect. We are blessed or cursed with a sensitive nervous system that will go haywire at times, whatever we do. Guilt is essentially unhealthy! “I am putting my health first, and I forgive myself!”

If the mess in the house is driving you berserk, as so many of us relate, try to break the jobs down into tiny pieces. I try to pick up, put away, clean or deal with three things every time I walk into a room. Just three. This way the incredible mess gets dealt with, or at least maintained, a little at a time without wearing me
out. And prioritize, prioritize, prioritize. What’s more crucial today, clean underwear or paying the mortgage? (What? Both, of course!) Maybe you could rinse out two pairs of undies in the sink and pay the bill, leaving the bigger laundry task for tomorrow.

Remember – even healthy people will die with full to-do lists! And if you are just lying down, putting your health first, you are already doing the most important thing. Leave me a comment and let me know how your choosing is going today!

– Megan Oltman

dirty dishes image courtesy of Easternblot – eva

Tags: disability, forgiveness, prioritizing, recovery
Posted in Managing, Tips & Techniques | Comments (0)

Trying to Catch Up when Migraines Interrupt

July 11th, 2009

By the way, it will never happen. The catching up, I mean. We will all die with things on our to-do lists. I am included in this.

I had a mild Migraine yesterday. The good news is that it was mild. I wasted an hour or so at my desk with mild head pain and major brain fog trying to force myself to function. I wasn’t getting anything done, so I went and took my triptan and lay down for awhile. After a couple of hours I was able to think again and the pain was mostly gone, so I went back to work. I had a productive couple of hours, but altogether was only through half of my list for the day. So when the day was really done and I needed to go to bed, I found myself staying on line, tweeting a few more tweets, reading a few more blogs, messing around doing anything but turning out the lights and going to sleep.

Why do I do that? I have such trouble letting go of the day when it doesn’t go the way I want it to. I am aware of the impulse, but yet it’s completely irrational because the hanging round tweeting, keeping myself up, isn’t catching me up or making up for what I lost. Sometimes I wish my Mom was here to tell me to go to bed!

I have a visualization that I do to complete the day when I lie down to sleep. I picture a room, it’s a pleasant sort of office, with a beautiful view (that’s the view from my office, picture that if you want!), and a big desk, lots of drawers and closets. I visualize all the things I was working on in the day, all the things that happened, one by one, as objects or pieces of paper.  A writing project might show up as a piece of paper, a fun conversation I had might be a toy, one by one I review the happenings, projects, and even emotions of the day and picture them in some physical form. And with each one, I find a place to put it away. If there is something I need to remember to do with it tomorrow, I write a note to myself and put it on the desk. I run through this with each and every part of the day until everything is put away, and then I sweep the room and leave. If I’m still awake!

Please visit my new products page for recordings of other visualizations that are specifically for relaxation, pain reduction and reducing Migraine triggerability.

As for me, I have to remember sometimes that I have the tools and pick them up sooner. Completing the day to go to sleep makes a lot of sense. Being complete with the fact that I have been interrupted in the course of the day, and that I won’t get it all done – that’s harder for me. How about you?

– Megan Oltman

Tags: letting go, migraine, relaxation exercise, sleep, visualization
Posted in Managing, Tips & Techniques | Comments (0)

Quite a Week in Migraine Land

June 27th, 2009

Hello dear readers, I’ve been quiet this week. It started with my daughter’s high school graduation on Monday – where it has apparently become the fashion to cheer for one’s graduates with air horns. Air horns aimed at the back of the head + bright hot sun & humid weather following many weeks of rain + more black storm clouds rolling in by the end of the ceremony + an emotional day = Migraine! By the way it really sounds like Migraine Puppet and I were at the same graduation, or perhaps are living the same life!

I have been blessed with plenty of work to do lately and in the current state of the economy can’t turn much of it away, so I haven’t been able to devote much time out to Migraines this week. I’ve taken my medications and laid down but I’ve been back up working sooner than would be ideal, and with more storms, more rain, more graduation parties, more emotion (though thankfully no more air-horns!), teenagers’ cars breaking down by the side of the road… it’s been quite the Migrainey week. We’re also getting ready for a graduation party of our own next weekend, deep cleaning the house, stirring up lots of dust!

Tomorrow I’m looking forward to taking some time out to talk to Dr. Bill Young about preventing and treating daily headache and intractable Migraine. (Do you think he’ll tell me to slow down?) If you’re registered for the Managing Life with Migraine teleconference series, don’t forget to call in at 4 pm Eastern time. If you’re not registered, there’s still time, just follow the link and sign up, and you’ll get the details to call in.

Hope to talk to you tomorrow!

– Megan

Tags: air-horns, graduation, managing life with migraine, storms
Posted in Communicating, Managing, Musings | Comments (0)

No, You’re not Crazy, You just Have Migraines

June 18th, 2009

On last month’s Managing Life with Migraines Teleconference with Dr. Roger Cady one of the things we discussed was living with the hyper-sensitive nervous system we have as Migraineurs.  Dr. Cady helped us recognize that in caring for ourselves and our emotional helath, we need to nurture the sensitive nervous systems we have.  This was a theme that resonated with many of us on the call, and I’ve had a few participants telling me they never knew that…

As a Migraineur, you might have a highly developed startle-reflex, and jump at every loud noise…

As a Migraineur, you might not be able to process multiple auditory inputs, but feel overwhelmed, panicky, and like you can’t hear when there are many noises at the same time, or even several people talking to you at the same time…

As a Migraineur, your sense of “not liking” crowds is more than just a dislike, it’s an inability to process too much sensory information at the same time – in other words, it’s not psychological, it’s neurological…

As a Migraineur, sensory overload is a very real thing, with very real consequences for you. If you’re like me, you have been accused by co-workers, friends or family members at some point of being hyper-sensitive, neurotic, or just plain no fun because of your tendency to break down in the face of too much noise, light, or overall stimulation. Or you have accused yourself, and pushed yourself to continue in the face of too much, because you want to keep up with everyone else.

When you feel overloaded, that is part of your early warning system.  Heed the warnings.  Seek some quiet.  Take some deep breaths.  Use relaxation routines.  I have some very easy relaxation exercises you can use in the midst of everything to calm your system back down. Continuing the overload leads to our systems’ form of short-circuit – a Migraine.

Are there things you’ve noticed about yourself, like startling at loud noises or panicking in crowds, that you can see are part of your Migrainous nervous system? Please share them!

– Megan

Crowded street image courtesy of Wm Jas.

Tags: managing life with migraine, relaxation techniques, sensitve nervous system, startle reflex
Posted in Managing | Comments (27)

Move a Muscle, Change a Thought

June 12th, 2009

Move a Muscle, Change a Thought. I first heard that in a self-help program many years ago. It’s easy to stay stuck in a certain way of thinking, to stay down and confused and immobilized when we stay in the same place, looking at the same things. Get up, move, do something different, move a muscle, change a thought. There is now all kinds of scientific evidence to back up this idea, of the benefits of physical activity and exercise. I’m not just talking about working out or even taking a walk, though. Just do something to shift, move, change your perspective, take some action, get something moving.

This is as true for those of us with Migraine disease and chronic illness as it is for anyone else. Maybe more so. When we are in chronic or frequent pain it’s hard to act on this. I don’t deny it. But as hard as it is, it’s very important. It may be that walking to the mailbox is as far as you can go. It may be that sitting up for an hour instead of lying down is a major challenge. Do it, if you possibly can. We need accomplishment in our lives to make our lives feel worthwhile to us. We need goals, even tiny ones. We need to feel we are contributing, even if the extent of the contribution is to wash 3 of the dirty dishes. There will be those times when we cannot do anything but endure our pain, or when attending to our healing is all we should do, but when it is not one of those times, it is time to be doing something.

We also need the shift in perspective. When you stay in one place for a long time, your world can close in. You can’t see your way out of problems. Moving your body changes what your eyes see, it helps your blood flow, it helps you breathe more fully, and it opens up your thinking.

I just completed the set of BREESE relaxation recordings which are available on the products page here on Free my Brain. The final BREESE Breathing recording teaches a breathing and movement technique I use to help get the breath and blood moving and the whole body relaxed. You can use this when you have mild head pain, or in the post-drome phase after a Migraine to start moving again and aiding your recovery.

Another technique taught me long ago is to take a green break. Plants produce the oxygen we need to survive, they also produce negative ions which soothe us. Get outdoors and be with a green growing thing. If you can’t get out, spend a few minutes with a house plant. When all else fails, look out a window at something green, or even look at a picture of trees, fields, the natural world. Get up, leave the house, cross the room, or even roll over and contemplate something green. Let your worries flow out of you into the green growing world. Just as plants use our carbon dioxide, the waste from our breath, to produce oxygen, let the waste of our minds, our worry and anxiety, flow out into the natural world and be transformed.

Life rewards action. There’s another great saying, and I don’t know where I first heard it, but I have found it to be true, for me and for the people I work with. Here in New Jersey we have had several weeks of almost non-stop rain. It is gray, damp and chilly, except when it’s gray, damp and muggy. Although I don’t trigger at every barometric pressure change like some Migraineurs, I did eventually get a Migraine over the past few days. It was very hard to get up and move. But once the active pain phase had passed, and during a break in the clouds, when it was just drizzling instead of down-pouring, I went out for a walk. I walked gently, doing my relaxation breathing in rhythm with my steps. I came back more optimistic, with the fog of post-drome beginning to lift. I played a game with my kids; I began writing this piece.

Do what you can to get in action. Little actions can make a big difference. Roll over, shift your perspective. Move a muscle, change a thought. Let me know how I can help!

– Megan

Walk in the light image courtesy of H. Koppdelaney; Rain shower image courtesy of AlmazUK.

Tags: chronic illness, exercise, getting in action, Migraine disease, self-help
Posted in Managing, Musings, Tips & Techniques | Comments (0)