a candid look at managing and living with headaches & migraines

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Good News & Bad News in Last Couple Weeks

Bad news: The migraines have reached a level 8 or 9 nearly every day. Being on the computer has been a huge trigger.
Good news: Although the pain levels have been high every day, I was only laid flat one day. I’ve gotten out by myself several weekdays each week, seeing a therapist and a physical [...]

Migraine’s Life Lessons: Backup Plans, Optimism & Flexibility

Hart and I planned to go to the Harvard Museum of Natural History last weekend, but a migraine kept me from going out. Instead of sitting on the couch or going back to bed, Hart and I worked in the kitchen then watched a movie and the Olympics. We made salsa, hot sauce and [...]

Managing Migraine With Music & Dance

“I want music to be like food. A water or wine.” Chinese opera singer Shenyang (whose voice is amazing) describes music as a necessity. It certainly has been in my tangles with migraine. I honestly don’t know how I could have coped, particularly in the last eight years, without the joy music brings. (And I’m [...]

Getting Out & About (and Lessening Migraine’s Hold on Me)

Nudging my limits instead of automatically assuming I can’t do something has already lessened migraine’s hold on me. Not only am I getting to the gym a few times a week and picking up the Kindle when I think I can read, I’ve recognized that I’m never trapped in a situation or place if a [...]

Trying to Find My New “Home”

Home is where I want to be when I have a migraine. Being nearly housebound since I moved to Boston in August, you’d think I’d be all set. Except that “home” is far more metaphorical than literal. In Seattle, my home was on the couch in front of the fire. Even if my apartment here [...]

Finding My Life After Years of Saying “I Can’t”

Telling me not to do something is a surefire way to get me to do it. My mom swears reverse psychology was the only way to keep me in check. So it seems laughable that my motto for the last two years was “I can’t.” There’s no laughter here, just sadness at the realization I’ve [...]

Asking for Help & Beginning to Heal

Since stubbornness is one of my most prominent traits, I long thought sheer tenacity could snuff out the migraines. If not through willing them away (a useless endeavor), then by relentless pursuit of treatment. Instead, I have spent the last two years feeling like the migraines and accompanying depression had conquered me. Being obstinate wasn’t [...]

Kerrie’s Health

As you can’t help but have noticed, Kerrie has not posted to The Daily Headache in months. Her migraines have been increasing in intensity and duration over the last year, starting in our last months in Seattle this summer and continuing through our time in Boston. Since we’ve moved she’s been largely homebound, only getting [...]

Why, Hello There!

Along with the Seattle sunshine, I’m rejoining the world after a long hibernation. It was another terrible spring for nausea, but my migraines and headaches have been relatively mild. (More on that in a moment.) Whenever I have felt decent, I’ve been getting ready to sell our house and move to Boston.
That’s right, we’re moving [...]

Migraine Day Turns Into Multi-Day Migraine

My scheduled migraine day ended with a trip to the emergency room for Hart. He had chest pain and wanted to be sure it wasn’t serious. It wasn’t — he’s perfectly OK. But we didn’t get home until almost 4 a.m.
The stress, caffeine I drank at the hospital, and messed up sleep schedule has extended [...]