Ended up with two migraines this week.
Treated both of them with NO PILLS.
I’m still kind of boggled by that.
The first one was just a rebound headache that grew into a migraine. Wasn’t able to do much that day, think much. But spent a lot of time mindfully walking, breathing deeply, drinking water with salt in it, meditating, and fasting. When the migraine disappeared, I felt good. So much better than I’d expected. The headache was just gone, as if it had never been.
The second one was caused by eating something that I shouldn’t have eaten for lunch. Still not sure which of the two things was the culprit. But it was a nasty-ass migraine. I was pretty out of it, and not tracking well, as my sweetie can attest.
I tried to treat the second migraine the same way I’d treated the first one, with fasting through dinner. Mid-way through the evening, my brain said that having a decaf coffee with coconut oil and coconut milk would be a good thing. I didn’t listen though. I should have. The migraine was still present all through the night and into the next morning. It didn’t start to go away until I ate something.
So I need to listen more carefully, and act, when my body asks for this or that.
But the good thing was that, again, once the pain disappeared, it was as if I’d never been sick. No lingering headache. Felt good.
If you’d told me before I started down this path that I could “treat” my migraines without meds I would have laughed at you. Or called you a crazy old hippy. (Maybe I’m just turning into a crazy old hippy.)
Prior to this, if I just let a migraine “run its course” without medication, after 2-3 days I’d be unable to walk a straight line, as it would have started to affect my inner ear. I’d get tunnel vision. And the pain would only get worse and worse.
Now? I’m not sure I’ll ever have to take another migraine pill again.
I assume that it will take me awhile to stop having migraines all together. For some people, just going on a paleo diet, or from there, trying a ketogenic diet, stops the migraines. (Lucky bastards.) I don’t know what the numbers actually are, but looking at the groups, I’d guess it’s about one third who end up in that category. The rest of us have 4-6 more months of occasional migraines while our brains heal.
I don’t know if I’ll ever be 100% migraine free. Or if I’ll be migraine free the majority of the time, until I do something stupid like eat something I shouldn’t. But I continue to be optimistic about it.
This week, I successfully made my own coconut milk. I’m looking forward to being able to do that instead of the waste of opening so many cans (as well as cutting my costs!)
Today, I have major prep for a trip I’m taking next week. Going to spend the week on the coast with a bunch of writers, and trying to write a novel that week. (I’ll be starting “The Fairy Bridge Troll” – the third book in the Seattle Trolls urban fantasy series.) Made chicken soup, bacon with gizzards, and fermented coconut milk. Will make pate, fat bombs, and roast more coffee today.
Guess I better get on it! Hope that all of y’all are having a wonderful day as well.