Month: January 2008

Coping, Mental Health

Trying Again After Migraine Cancels Plans

Kerrie Smyres

Knife_skillsI woke up Tuesday wishing I could be somebody other than me. My head hurt and I was nauseated, dizzy, sensitive to light and sound. … You know, the usual grab bag of symptoms. I can handle that, but I’m not happy when a migraine tromps on my plans.

Hart and I have talked about taking a knife skills class for years and were scheduled for one that night. For the last week, every time I used I knife, I’d think “Ooh, we’re going to our class soon soon.” Seriously.

I had a physical therapy appointment and felt a ton better afterward. We didn’t do any new exercises, he just massage my neck and shoulders. His efforts were enough to get me to Whole Foods, the gas station and back home. Sadly, the relief didn’t last much longer than that.

The pain wasn’t so bad, but my mind had taken a leave of absence. I continued to feel worse as the day wore on, so we skipped the class. Not making a knife skills class isn’t high on the list of things I’ve missed because of migraine, but I’m disappointed every time it happens.

I managed my disappointment well this time. By Wednesday it was already a story to tell, not a source of frustration or sadness. Instead of worrying that a migraine will keep me from attending classes in the future, I’ve resolved to keep signing up.

Hibernating is way too easy — I know because I’ve been doing it the last few months. I miss being in the world. I probably won’t make all the classes I sign up for, but at least I’ll try. How else can I be sure to enjoy the good parts of life?

Symptoms, Treatment, Triggers

Physical Therapy: Weak Muscles, Scar Tissue & Posture

Kerrie Smyres

Physical therapy looks like a promising migraine/headache treatment for me. We made progress in the first two sessions and my third tomorrow. His take makes a lot of sense to me.

Weak muscles in my back are partly to blame for neck pain. Envision your back as a lollipop stem. The tasty part of the lollipop will be firmly on top if the stem is solid. If not, the candy will flop around on the stick.

When your neck isn’t sturdy on its stem, it also moves around. Muscles and tissue tighten to compensate, moving muscle, tissue and bone out of place. Strengthening little used muscles, which align the neck and hold its correct position, is part of the solution.

Built up scar tissue on the left side of my neck is another culprit. The scars have essentially fused two muscles, keeping both from working properly. Myofascial release from my physical and massage therapists will loosen the scar tissue, although it is so old that some will remain.

Interestingly, the scar tissue isn’t on the right side, where my occipital nerve stimulator wires were. The physical therapist believes it is connected to car accidents I had in high school. No injuries were treated after the accidents because I didn’t notice any. Yet, he said even the most minor accident could have contributed.

I’m working on my posture too. Instead of pushing my shoulders down, which I’ve always thought was the way to correct bad posture, I’m lifting my sternum to be upright. Looking in the mirror, my “corrected” posture looks strange, but it feels great.

My treatment path is promising. Still, I wonder if I’m just searching for a culprit. Time and time again, anything possibly connected to my migraines becomes my focus. After a particular treatment doesn’t work, I move to the next explanation with as much fervor as the last.

I’m fond of this one for now. It echoes what I’ve learned from yoga and massage therapy and repetition is reassuring. My fingers are crossed and my outlook is good.

Coping, Society, Symptoms

Migraine: A Surprisingly Visible Invisible Illness

Kerrie Smyres

Writer Anne Lamott describes someone with a migraine as having “a sort of death about the eyes.” As with pretty much everything she writes, her words draw a perfect picture.

I noticed long ago that I get dark circles under my eyes during a migraine. After reading Lamott’s line, I realized my eyes also appear to sink in their sockets.

To the untrained onlooker, migraine is an invisible illness. My loved ones have copious experience and can tell immediately when I have one — Hart’s the hardest to fool.

Flickr supports Lamott’s claim too. One of my favorite photos, by Jessica Reynolds, is above. Jenyepher’s migraine photos are excellent. Others to check out:

How are your migraines or headaches visible? Do many people notice?

Chronic Migraine, Coping, Diet, Doctors, Treatment, Triggers

Kerrie’s 2007: A Year to Forget

Kerrie Smyres

There was a theme consistently underlying my 2007 posts: My migraines were BAD. The year started with five months of being woken up by a migraine nearly every night and ended with more than two months of horrendous all-the-time migraines. I felt more beaten down than I have in the last three years.

Before you get discouraged by the following review, know that I am more optimistic about treating my migraines than I have been since I got my occipital nerve stimulator in December 2003. (Read more on that following the treatment review.)

Acupuncture
I revisited acupuncture, but my superhero acupuncturist told me that more sessions would be a waste of time and money.

Naturopathy/Homeopathy
Shedding tears in the naturopath’s office the first time was enough to keep me from seeing her again. Against my hard fast rule that I not take anything I can’t identify (which I also broke with the acupuncturist), I took the homeopathic remedy, vitamin D and magnesium supplements she suggested. They did nothing.

Chiropractic
I gave the chiropractor two months, which she said was the maximum time to see results. I went five times one week, four the next, three for a couple weeks and so on. Turns out I hold my adjustments very well. Unfortunately my migraines didn’t changed and having my neck adjusted freaked me out. Once she stopped asking about my headaches, I knew she had given up.

Sleep Specialist
Many people with treatment-resistant headache disorders become much more treatable once they have sleep problems resolved. Although my sleep seemed fine, I saw a sleep specialist with a background in neurology. Sadly, my sleep is practically perfect. I sleep eight hours, wake up rested, nap when I need to without having it interfere with that night’s sleep.

New Headache Specialist
I saw a new Seattle-based headache specialist in May. We hit it off immediately. Too bad we focused on my blog, headache patients in general and clinical trials. I left enrolled in a clinical trial for Lyrica (which I quit) and with a potential advertiser for The Daily Headache, but without having discussed any of my questions or other treatment options.

Food Trigger Diets
Food triggers were my obsession, even though I’ve always thought them to hog the spotlight in headache treatment (only about 25% of people actually have food triggers).

Although wheat and dairy aren’t considered headache triggers in the general sense, they were my target for months. My no-dairy foray lasted six weeks — until I discovered that I’d dropped 12 pounds in that time. Testing wheat lasted three months, yet I had no ill-effects when I reintroduced it.

After a couple years of avoiding them, I’m almost positive that beans, nuts and legumes are triggers for me. But berries, squash, sunflower and soy oil, barley, pineapple, onions. . . are all questionable.

I declared that I was going on a drastic food trigger elimination diet. A couple weeks later came this post: Drastic Elimination Diet for Migraine Triggers: What Was I Thinking? You get the point.

Myofascial Release
Finally some good news. In August I started myofascial release and noticed results quickly. The changes aren’t dramatic, but each treatment usually gives me some relief. The effects have never lasted more than two days — and sometimes only a couple hours — but I’m not complaining.

Craniosacral Therapy
Two sessions weren’t enough to judge if craniosacral will be effective. I’ll definitely try again, but it just didn’t work out this time. The woman I saw was wonderful and spent an extra 30 minutes with me each visit. Unfortunately, driving to her practice takes 30 minutes. After spending 20 minutes lost on the way there and another hour on the way home, the negative associations were too strong for me to go back.

What Now?
When the last migraine spell lifted in mid-December I remembered how good I could feel. Thinking about what I love about my life was no longer a reminder of what I couldn’t have, but of how wonderful it truly is. I am happy and getting out of the house more. I even get to see friends!

This year’s list of treatments to try is as long as it was last year. Its like I’ve spent the last 10 years whittling down possibilities and arrived at the most promising therapies. Having had this faith shattered in the past, I am cautious. Nonetheless, I’m positive a brighter path is ahead.