Migraines 2015

Me, once the worst was over... Big throbbing veins either side of forehead still evident

So this week was FUN. I say 'FUN', I mean 'STAB ME IN THE HEAD IT WOULD BE LESS PAINFUL'.

I posted previously about migraines last year, after a particularly nasty spell took me away from the blog for days.

This week my vile, throbbing,head was mixed with a flare-up of IBS, something that Jane from BBB suggested may in fact be stomach migraines (I'm looking into that). WHO knew that was even a THING?

Anyway, whilst I'm now on Day 4 of the fading symptoms/hangover I thought I'd update the little list of things that have helped me... and as always, please leave your suggestions below for fellow sufferers. Migraines were a gift to me after I had my first child, previous to birthing out the sproglets, I never had so much as a flutter of a headache. Swines.

What helped?

 

• Warm showers. Letting the heat gently pound the back of my neck while standing in the dark bathroom was strangely soothing.
• Bananas - as always. You really need to eat when you take things like Sumitriptan (well I do anyway), and bananas also give you a potassium shot. I know they are not the highest potassium-containing foodstuff, but when you can barely move you're not about to cook up a sweet potato/bean/spinach casserole. People who try and preach to migraine sufferers that there are foods with higher potassium levels than bananas are missing the point of what being incapacitated by your throbbing, stabbing head actually means. *digresses, goes back to post*
• Water - tons and tons of water. Sparkling for me, normal water makes me more nauseous when the head is killing.
• Magnesium supplements - to ease the throbbing and relax the muscles - and the brain ache!
• Ubiquinol - I mentioned this in my January pillbox post and hadn't taken it for a few days - as most people say CoQ10 helps, this could also have been a factor... *never goes without again*
• The Dark - obvs.
• And.....

 

these gems. Or should I say 'Chewing' - and then say these gems...

I bought these Bounce balls a couple of weeks ago to snack on during those days when I'm running around and don't want to resort to grabbing rubbish on the go.

I hid them* from my older boys (the weight-lifting, body-building, food-hoovering duo) under my bed and completely forgot about them. This week, during the flare-up, I dropped my pillbox on the floor and whilst scrambling around in the dark and swearing like a navvy I found them!

Turns out these things are a GODsend. The chewing works wonders (who KNEW?) and they give you the feeling of being full up so you don't have to worry about taking meds/feeling nauseous. I wish these had been around when I was pregnant...one a day at lunchtime meant I wasn't hungry so could focus on just getting rid of the headache...

Anyway, that's my little tip for the migraine crew. If you suffer from them, I hope it helps, if you don't suffer from them, try wrapping gaffer tape around your head really tightly 6 times, then stabbing yourself repeatedly behind your right eye for 6 hours, and remember to vomit intermittently. :)

Oh and I got the Bounce balls from Whole Foods, but I'm sure you can get them in Holland & Barrett etc...

 

 

 

*Yes, I hide food from my children. When your kids eat 6 chicken breasts 'as a snack' after getting back from the gym because they're 'starving' and then say 'what's for dinner?' you'll hide food too.

I also hide beauty products, clothing and remote controls when necessary.