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Posts Tagged ‘Migraine management’

Have your Bag Packed for your Next Migraine

May 21st, 2008

It’s a little bit like having the emergency supplies ready for a power failure or having the first aid kit stocked and
ready.  We talked awhile back about having your lists ready in the post How do you Manage Life with Migraines? so that you don’t have to think about what you need when you are in the midst of migraine and can’t think. 

Teri Robert has posted a terrific article on My Migraine Connection this week called MAPP Your Migraine!  MAPP stands for Migraine Action Plan and Pack.  In it, Teri pulls together many of the wonderful resources she has created for migraineurs, including helpful articles and checklists.  In addition to having a treatment plan ready with your doctor, a plan for the emergency room, plans for managing kids or home responsibilities,  and a place set up in your home where you can be quiet, safe and comforted, Teri also recommends that you have a bag packed for travel with everything you might need if you get a migraine away from home.  I say thank you, Teri, and I recommend that you hop on over to My Migraine Connection and read the article!

I also want a backpack built into my jacket like this penguin so I really don’t have to think about it!

– Megan

Migraine brain on practical track.

                               Penguin image courtesy of Ambra Galassi

Tags: emergency plan, Migraine management, migraine plan, treatment plan
Posted in Managing | Comments (2)

Calming down the migraine brain

February 20th, 2008

Several people have asked me lately about relaxation techniques. If stress is our enemy, we need to relax, yes? But if we strive and worry about whether we’re relaxing, we tense up. Raise your hand if this applies to you. My hand is up. Luckily there are some very simple techniques you can use to begin to practice relaxation.

Relaxing is not the same as doing fun things – fun things may or may not be relaxing. When I had my first job out of college I used to go to the video parlor on my lunch hour and play PacMan (yes, I am that old). I would return to work with my wrists and hands asleep, so stressed out I could
barely cope. I learned eventually that video games are not relaxing for me!

Our nervous systems have two components – the sympathetic and the parasympathetic. The sympathetic
nervous system controls stress – this is where our flight or fight response comes from. The parasympathetic nervous system controls relaxation, which is often neglected in a busy twenty-first century life. We can build the tone of our parasympathetic nervous system in many ways, including through deep breathing, meditation, moderate exercise, yoga and movement, stretching, reading a good book, having an enjoyable conversation, playing with children or animals, being out in nature, loving touch or sexual contact. If we take some time to strengthen our relaxation “muscles” daily, we improve our ability to handle stress. According to Dr. Ian Livingstone, studies showed a 40% reduction in migraines in those practicing regular relaxation.

So here are a few ways to get started:

1. Sit comfortably with your back supported, legs uncrossed, hands on your knees. Close your eyes. Breathe in deeply through your nose, for a slow count of three. As you inhale, allow your abdomen to inflate like a balloon. Then breathe out through your mouth for a count of five, gently pulling in your abdominal muscles as you exhale. Gently concentrate on your breathing. If you find yourself thinking of other things, don’t get upset with yourself. Gently remind yourself to focus on your breathing. Try doing this for five minutes at first. Each day you can increase the time.

1. Lie on your back, legs uncrossed, arms resting comfortably at your sides. Bring your awareness to your feet. Notice how they feel, any discomfort. As you breathe in, imagine silver light being pulled with your breath into the soles of your feet. If there is any pain or discomfort in your feet, imagine that you are exhaling it out as you breathe. Next notice your ankles. Breathe in and pull the silver light up into your ankles. Breathe out any pain or discomfort. Continue to gently pull the silver light up through your body, being aware of each part of the body in turn and blowing pain or discomfort out with your breath. If pain still remains, don’t fight it or worry about it. Just keep breathing the light into your body and exhaling out the pain. Continue until your body is glowing from head to toe. You may want to do this in bed to help you fall asleep.

1. Take a walk and practice keeping your awareness in your body as you walk – the way your muscles feel when they move, the way your feet hit the ground. Be aware of the rhythm of your breath and
   the rhythm of your walking. Look at any trees or plants, any living things or natural features you pass – fully observe them as you pass. If you find your mind getting busy, working or worrying at anything, gently return your attention to your body and to the trees, ground, plants, rocks or sky. If you are walking in the city be aware of the sky, the wind, any elements of the natural world.

Give these techniques a try and let me know what you think!

– Megan Oltman

Not trying to be stressless, but to stress less!

Tags: Migraine management, relaxation practice, relaxation techniques
Posted in Managing, Tips & Techniques | Comments (2)

Migraine Management – My Other (other, other, other) Full Time Job

February 6th, 2008

A week or two ago I posted about living healthy – a few comments there got me thinking (again) about just how challenging this is.  Getting it all right really does feel like a full-time job.  It’s time-consuming-picky-detail-oriented, and doesn’t fit with the way most “normal” people live their lives.  (By the way, I’m still interested in finding one of those “normal” people – if you spot one, let me know!)

This morning I am off to the doctor for a general health consult.  I have a lot of questions for him and wanted to go in when I wasn’t feeling awful, for once, and would be more able to pay attention.  I’m feeling okay today – not great but okay.  Okay is good, I can live with it.   So I have been preparing for the appointment: printing out the last 9 months of my “wellness calendar.”  Here’s what January looked like:  I color in days when I feel great as pink (when “I’m in the pink”) – I only had one of those.  Days when I am sick but functioning are orange; when I am functioning about half-way are red; totally out for the count are brown.  I had a very red and orange January, luckily no brown days.

So then I printed out the narrative part for the last month, that shows how much I slept, what changes I made to my diet, details of my migraines and sinus infections.  I printed my checklists for caring for myself when I have a sinus infection or migraine, so the doctor can review them.   I wrote out my questions.  Here’s what my desk looks like right now.  The yellow book in the pile is Breaking the Headache Cycle by Ian Livingstone, M.D.  I don’t think messy desks are identified in there as a migraine trigger, but it still seems ironic!

I got up at 6:10 to get the kids’ breakfast and get the younger one off on the bus (the older gets herself off on the bus – let’s be clear about that).  I dealt with dishes and then went back to sleep for 45 minutes since I’d had only 6 1/2 hours of sleep which is a pretty reliable migraine trigger for me.  But when I got up again there was only time to prepare for the doctor and write to you here.  So I have not done my meditation/relaxation practice for the day or gotten my exercise, both of which are important to keep myself healthy and resistant to migraine triggers.  I’m going to have to fit them in this afternoon, when I will also be worrying about getting all my work done for the day.  Stress alert!

I so want to be perfect at my treatment plan and know perfectly (!) well I’ve never been perfect at much of anything.  It reminds me of one of those annoying parabolas (or was it a hyperbola?) from Trigonometry – approaching zero but never reaching it.  The ridiculous emotional see-saw of trying to do it all but without stressing about it.  Time for the Serenity Prayer again.  Time for the rainbow picture again – the perfect rainbow over the field outside my window – reminding me of the return of hope.  What would we do without it?

– Megan Oltman
Hurrying up without Being in a Hurry!

Tags: healthy living, Ian Livingstone MD, Migraine management, migraine treatment plan, relaxation, wellness calendar
Posted in Managing, Tips & Techniques | Comments (2)