Our intrepid traveler would like to report:
NO MIGRAINES THIS WEEK!!!!
Now, I am not out of the woods, not by a long shot.
I haven’t had a headache-free day yet. (Though I have had a few hours here and there without pain.) Plus, I had a couple of headaches this week that really wanted to turn into migraines. I fought them off, mainly through a combination of the following:
–Deep breathing. Spending time taking deep breaths appears to really help in terms of pain. Not immediately, but within the hour.
–Walking. Even as much as four weeks ago, I would laugh (albeit silently) at anyone who told me that exercising while having a migraine would help. That was NEVER the case for me. Any type of exercise, stretching, walking, what have you, made the pain much worse, plus, it would make the migraine last longer. Recently, though, as in the last few weeks, walking while in pain has actually helped, not hindered. Slow mindful walking, with lots of deep breathing. Again, not an immediate cure, but after an hour or so, the pain lessens.
–Drinking more water. In particular, water with a slight bit of salt in it. My mom had hypertension, so I learned to never add salt to anything I cooked. However, since I eat very little processed food, I get no salt in my diet. Adding salt has been key.
–Meditating. I’ve meditated before. I didn’t see any great benefits, however, even after doing it most every day for a year or so. This time has been different. When I meditate at night, I have less headache pain the next day.
These ideas came from the following article, which also has more ideas:
https://www.mymigrainemiracle.com/drugfree/
So the diet is working. It will take time to wean myself off of everything I was taking for the headaches. My goal is to be aspirin/tylenol free by the end of May. (Going slowly this time, instead of going cold turkey. It appears to be working.)
I’m optimistic, finally, about slaying the migraine beast. I know it’s possible–the Facebook group for migraines (https://www.facebook.com/groups/899131986822364/) has lots of good people on it who are going through the same thing as I am, eating healthy and weaning themselves away from the drugs. Other people can do it. So can I.
One of the funny things–other people in the group have described exactly the same symptoms I have when it comes to migraines these days. It feels as though the migraine can’t get a hold in my brain. I’ll have some pain in one area of my head, then it slips off. Then a different area will suddenly spike. Then the pain slips away. There’s nothing for the beast to hold onto, so it slinks away, goes off into the corner to sulk. (But it hasn’t been fully banished. Not yet.)
In conclusion: Yay for no migraines! And onward with the fight!