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Posts Tagged ‘Migraine trigger’

Here we Go Again

January 25th, 2009

Another wasted day. Sound familiar? I had a Migraine Friday night, treated it promptly and lay low, did everything I should do. Yesterday I woke up better, though not 100%. A state of slight soreness in the left temple that is usually a characteristic of post-drome for me, but can be an incompletely aborted Migraine. It is sometimes hard to tell. Unfortunately these monsters do not follow a consistent pattern. I took it fairly easy yesterday. I slept enough, did some light activity, I did not do anything to overtax my brain or trigger another Migraine. Or so I thought.

The only thing I did “wrong” was to stay up later than I had planned – I was in bed asleep at 12:15, about an hour later than I should have. I wanted to watch a DVD with Danny and waited for him a little. He’s trying to get a project finished and I didn’t want to rush him. The movie was also a bit longer than I expected. Add it all up and it equals not good sleep hygiene. And I woke up this morning with another Migraine. Two in three days is far too many.

I always hesitate to complain. I know there are many of you out there with daily head pain and I am so blessed not to have to deal with that. I was talking to someone just yesterday about keeping perspective, and how when our seratonin is depleted by Migraine or depression we need to try to remind ourselves that we will not always feel this way, that this is not the only true reality. Could someone please come remind me of that today? Remind me that this, what I feel today, is not the only true reality! Remind me that a Sunday spent mainly in the confines of my bedroom, doing very little other than trying to keep this monster at bay, trying to treat it and limit it to today, is not the end of the world or of the progress I’ve been making. Remind me that although the sun is sinking on a painful day, that didn’t go according to my plans, that sun is coming up again tomorrow and I get another chance? Thanks!

– Megan

What am I doing today? I’m healing my brain.

Tags: Migraine management, Migraine trigger
Posted in Managing, Rant | Comments (1)

Balance through the Storm – Maintaining our Health in Hard Times

December 11th, 2008

Balance is a precarious thing. Living a life in balance is a challenge for most of us in the 21st century, with the demands of careers, family, a fast-changing world, information overload. Add chronic illness into that mix and living a life in balance becomes both more crucial and more challenging.

The elements are the same, whether you are ill or well.  All of us need:

• sufficient sleep
• exercise
• plenty of water
• enough, but not too much, nutritious food
• love, laughter and companionship
• relaxation and rejuvenation
• challenging work
• spiritual fulfillment
• to be heard, known and understood
• to know that we are making a difference.

With these elements present, and balanced, in our lives, human beings can live healthy and fulfilled lives, on physical, mental, emotional and spiritual levels.  When these elements are lacking, or out of balance, we see problems arise. For someone without chronic illness, those problems may not show up right away. They may take years to manifest. For those of us with chronic illness, lack of balance triggers us into attacks, flare-ups, and deterioration of our conditions.

I have to confess I have struggled quite a bit with that balance lately. Like most of us, hard economic times have had their impact on my business, and I have tried to compensate by working harder and longer. To the extent to which this means I am more focused and get more done with my working time, it’s not a problem. The issue that I see is one that most of my clients experience as well, that of being unable to stop. I know I can’t work through lunch or on beyond 5:30 without real immediate consequences to my health. Trying to sustain that level of focus without rest breaks is one of my biggest Migraine triggers. Knowing that if I keep pushing now I may lose the whole day tomorrow is usually enough to stop me, but not always. Do you find it hard to maintain balance right now?

I picture us standing on the center of a see-saw. In calm weather, we can learn, through time, to balance pretty well on the center of that see-saw, training our muscles to adjust to little fluctuations and shifts of weight, to keep us in balance most of the time. If a big wind comes up, the muscles we have trained and the balance-ability we have developed just aren’t sufficient to the job any more. I think in the current economy we are standing on the center of a see-saw in a big gusty wind. We need to strenghten those balance muscles now more than ever! We need them more than ever!

Many of us are facing realities in which we must do more work to survive, or go back to work, or do different, more difficult work. I can’t give you a one-size-fits-all answer here, but remember you must relax, and breathe, and have balance. Don’t forget you can join us on Monday evenings for relaxation teleclasses. It won’t help if you work so hard it makes you too sick to work.

– Megan

See-saw sign image courtesy of Tyger_Lyllie/Kat; storm image courtesy of BCMom/Anna.

Tags: chronice illness, economic hardship, healthy living, life balance, migraine, Migraine attack, Migraine trigger, work-life balance
Posted in Current Affairs, Managing, Musings | Comments (2)

Fun with Eye Exams – Bright Lights, Big Migraine

December 7th, 2008

Last week I had an eye exam. It’s not something I had ever thought was a big deal. The purpose was to check the pressure in my eyes. A particular type of glaucoma can be a side effect of Topamax, the Migraine preventive medication I am on. In addition, there is a correlation between low-tension glaucoma and Migraine. I learned this about a month ago when I first went in for the eye exam, in the early stages of a Migraine, and asked to be taken out of the bright noisy waiting room. The optometrist scolded me a bit for never having told them (in seven years as a patient) that I had Migraines. My experience has been that most doctors know very little about Migraine, and it never occurred to me to share it with them. I didn’t know it was relevant.

That first visit was a very satisfying patient experience. My optometrist was sympathetic and clearly quite knowledgeable about Migraine; she also refused to dilate me and do the full exam while I had a Migraine. She did a partial exam and I was scheduled to come back in a week. There followed a month where I had a Migraine every Wednesday. It was a good month for me, because those were the only Migraines I had. But for some reason, they kept coming on Wednesdays, and I kept rescheduling the eye exam for the next Wednesday. Finally last week I got a Migraine on Tuesday evening. It was still hanging around, slightly improved, on Wednesday, but I decided I would not cancel the appointment a fourth time. I decided to go ahead with the exam, come hell or high water. I’m not sure whether you would call what followed hell or high water. Maybe both.

First we did a visual fields test. No big deal. Lots of little lights blinking on in my visual field, and I had to press a button when I saw them. Apparently I did well. No blind spots. Then she dilated me. And shined very bright lights in my eyes. Very very bright lights. And then brighter ones. And I had to look directly into the bright lights. That is not something I have done in a very long time. I have spent several years shying away from bright lights.

When I got home I spent the evening in a dim room, blurry eyed, in sunglasses. I tried to read, work on this blog, watch tv. My Migraine came back to life with a vengeance. And hung around another 24 hours, wringing me out like a wet rag. It took days for me to feel well again. So, no, I don’t recommend getting an eye exam with a Migraine. Problem is, if I hadn’t had a Migraine I’d say the chance is pretty high I would have gotten one. The good news is I don’t have any kind of glaucoma, and I was approved to increase my medication dosage. My eyes are in good shape. It’s my brain that’s a little iffy.

– Megan

Eyeball image courtesy of Rob Bell; retina image courtesy of Eliya Selhub.

Tags: glaucoma, low-tension glaucoma, Migraine attack, Migraine trigger, optometry, Topamax
Posted in Medicine, Musings | Comments (4)

What Do Migraineurs and Movie Stars Have in Common?

September 5th, 2008

Good looks?  Great personalities?  Multi-million dollar incomes?  Well….  Actually I was talking about
shades.  Great big stunner shades.  Jackie O glasses.  Bright light being one of the biggest Migraine triggers, a good pair of dark sunglasses is a must for a Migraineur.  Many of us really can’t be outside without them.  Some of us even wear them inside.  I don’t find that necessary most of the time, but during an active Migraine attack I’ve been known to wear them indoors.

What should you look for in a good pair of sunglasses?  Do:

• Try them on!  They need to block light coming into your eyes from every direction, especially above.
• It’s also important to try them on to be sure they stay on without putting pressure on your head.  You don’t need to avoid the glare trigger and then get a Migraine from having your temples squeezed!
• The lenses need to be dark enough.  You won’t know that unless you step out into the bright sun with them on.
• Get them polarized.  This cuts glare way down.
• If you can, get an anti-reflective coating on them.  This also cuts down on the reflection and glare coming into your eyes.

I also have a Don’t for you:

• Don’t get Transitions-type lenses!  (Or at least, don’t think of them as a substitute for real sunglasses.)  These are the lenses that darken in sunlight.

Why not?  A year ago I got transitions lenses on my regular glasses.  Here they are, barely darkened in the
bright light on the deck (notice the squinting!):
They never get as dark as most of us will need.  They won’t darken at all unless there is UV light shining directly on them, which means that if your car has UV blocking glass (as most do these days), they will never darken in the car, no matter how bright the sun and glare you have coming into your eyes.  The optician was very annoyed that the opthomologist had recommended them!

I bought a good pair of prescription sunglasses this year, since I can’t manage contact lenses (another set of Migraine triggers involved for me).  They were about 5 times more expensive than any sunglasses I’ve ever bought, but they should last 5 years.   As long as I don’t lose them!  And look how glamorous they make me.

– Megan Oltman
I hear Hollywood calling!

Tags: glare, Migraine trigger, sunglasses, sunshine
Posted in Tips & Techniques | Comments (3)

Protect Migraineurs from Compact Fluorescents

May 14th, 2008

In December 2007, the U.S. Congress passed the Energy Independence & Security Act of 2007, which mandates the phasing out of incandescent lighting from stores by 2012, in order to conserve energy and help the environment. The act does not mandate the use of compact fluorescent bulbs (CFL’s), but given that they are the most widely available energy saving bulbs on the market at this time, the least expensive, and the only ones which can be used with existing lighting fixtures, the likelihood is that they will become the standard.  There are other types of energy saving lighting available and under development; including LED lighting, halogens, and improvements in energy efficiency of incandescents.  Let’s encourage the growth of those technologies!

We migraineurs are just as supportive of energy conservation as anyone else. We also want to reverse
global warming and create a sustainable future. But we strongly support making that happen in a way that does not involve CFL’s! Although CFL’s do not visibly flicker as do old fashioned fluorescents, they still flicker, and that flicker is perceptible to the brain if not to the naked eye. Many migraineurs find that CFL’s are a trigger for them. They can also trigger epileptic seizures and lupus flare-ups.

A group of us who blog about and advocate for migraineurs and migraine research have put together a petition, asking Congress to amend the Energy Independence & Security Act to encourage development of other energy-saving technology. We too want a green future, we just don’t want one where we cannot take part in life outside our homes, for fear of encountering migraine triggers. Please join us in asking Congress to amend this law. You can sign the petition at ipetitions.com at this link: Protect Migraineurs from Compact Fluorescents.

– Megan Oltman

Please help us keep the world livable!

Compact fluorescent image courtesy of J. Nathan Matias.

Tags: Compact fluorescent lights, epilepsy, halogen lights, incandescent lights, LED lights, lupus, migraine, Migraine trigger
Posted in Advocacy | Comments (4)

Caffeine Withdrawal and Weekend Migraines

May 11th, 2008

Another piece of the puzzle fell in place for me yesterday, as I watched a podcast of Dr. Richard Lipton, professor of Neurology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, explaining the difference between Migraine & headache.  Thanks to Marijke Durning, R.N. of Help My Hurt for posting the podcast in The Difference between Migraine and Headache.  I recommend the podcast as a general explanation of what a migraine is and what sets it aside from an “ordinary” headache.  You might ask your skeptical or uninformed friends and family members to watch it.

The new idea for me had to do with Dr. Lipton’s explanation of the role of caffeine.   I already knew that:

1. caffeine is a vaso-constrictor and so can help treat a migraine attack in progress, by constricting the dilated and inflamed blood vessels around the brain – in fact there are several migraine medications that contain caffeine, such as Cafergot; and
2. caffeine withdrawal can trigger migraine attacks (I have experienced this first hand in a too rapid attempt to get caffeine out of my system).

It is also common for some migraineurs to have smooth sailing during the week, only to be beached by migraines on the weekend, our supposed “time off.”  This happens to me frequently.   Since migraine triggers are “stackable,” we often have to analyze what may be in the stack to figure out what actually triggered the migraine.  Explanations for the weekend migraine include:

1. stress let-down – perhaps the body’s reaction to  a drop in the stress hormones we produce to function during the work week;
2. change in sleep pattern – a trigger for many migraineurs who find we need to keep our bed-times and waking times as regular as possible to avoid migraines;
3. change in eating patterns on the weekend – if you eat much later than usual, your body may
   interpret it as missing a meal! (I have found that I need to get up and feed myself on a Saturday morning to avoid a migraine.  No waiting for Danny to get up and cook one of his weekend breakfast feasts – I can’t enjoy my Oeufs beurre noir if I’ve already gotten a migraine waiting for him to get up!); and
4. I suspect that if you take medications and supplements at the same time in the morning five days a week and then vary that time on the weekend, this too messes with your migraineur’s sensitive brain.

But here’s the new idea (you’ve probably guessed it by now) – if you have a cup of coffee at 6:30 a.m. Monday through Friday, and you sleep in until 9 on Saturday, what do you wake up into?  Caffeine withdrawal!  If your brain is habituated to caffeine at a particular time and doesn’t get it, the addictive little critter (i.e. your brain) starts screaming for its cup of Joe while you’re still sleeping!   Add this factor to the others discussed above and you’re in for a weekend of pain!

I’m not sure what the solution is here – I know, I know, get up at the same time every day.  I’m still very resistant to the idea, although I have to confess I can’t sleep past about 8:00 on weekends any more.  Perhaps an IV caffeine drip at 7 a.m. – nah – no sleeping in that way!  Cut out morning caffeine entirely – radical notion!

Dr. Lipton recommends limiting caffeine to one cup per day, and using more to treat migraines when they arise.  I am going to give this a try.  And I will have my one cup per day after lunch!  If you decide to try is as well, a word of advice.  To avoid withdrawal migraines, cut your caffeine back very gradually.  If you have 3 cups in the morning, cut back to 2 1/2 for at least 3 or 4 days.  Then cut back to 2… You get the picture.

Happy Mother’s Day all you moms out there!  I am about to be served my breakfast in bed.  (I got up at 8 and had toast and coffee.  This one is for the ritual of it.)  Wishing everyone a pain free day.

– Megan
Caffeine addict, heading back on the wagon.  Trying not to repeat yesterday’s weekend migraine!

Cup of Coffee image courtesy of Tammy Green; Breakfast image courtesy of Ian Rotea; Alarm Clock image courtesy of Chris Metcalf

Tags: caffeine addiction, caffeine withdrawal, Dr. Richard Lipton, Migraine trigger, Mother's Day, stackable trigger, vaso-constrictor, weekend migraine
Posted in Managing | Comments (7)

Get your Weirdest Migraine Trigger Stories in! And then read poetry…

April 30th, 2008

Hello dear readers.  I’ve been a bit scarce lately due to 1) a very sick computer (it’s having a relapse), and 2) a weekend training course which left me exhausted and migrainey.  I have complained at length elsewhere about sitting in a flourescent lighted interior room all weekend with noisy people and not enough sleep, so I won’t go there… (Oops, looks like I did!)  Suffice it to say that managing life with Migraine disease includes handling interruptions, and the past week or so has been a string of interruptions!

But here I am to remind you about getting your weirdest Migraine trigger ever stories in.  Let’s keep it simple – leave them in the comments to this post.  Since my computer access is still unreliable, I’m extending the deadline to Friday, May 2.  But if you’ve just been waiting to send them in today, go ahead, send them in!  I have gotten a few doozies – so go for it!  The contest will be judged by the fabulous Diana Lee of Somebody Heal Me and the splendid Kerrie Smyres of The Daily Headache.  Winners will be announced – hmm – sometime next week!  Stay tuned.

For some good reading in the meantime, please read the winning entries in the 2008 Putting Our Heads Together Migraine and Headache Poetry Contest at My Migraine Connection.  While you’re at it – read the non-winning entries, too!

I hope you’re enjoying a pain-free day.  It seems, for now, the little guys with grapefruit spoons have stopped trying to scrape my brain off my skull.  Phew!

– Megan

Tags: contest, managing life with migraine, Migraine trigger, poetry
Posted in Silliness, Weblogs | Comments (1)

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)