Desert wind

We, the exclusive group of people who suffer from migraines, are super sensitive. Sensitive to the effects of alcohol, chocolate, stress ... Extra sleep time throws us out of balance, reduce sleeping time does the same....and let's not talk about skipping meals!

As if all those were not enough, we must also add weather changes to the list, since they can also trigger migraines. For example, yesterday in Israel we had "obej", a kind of desert wind with sand and dust that is very annoying for everyone, but especially for allergy sufferers. Out of curiosity, I googled "sandstorm-migraine relationship" to see if there is any connection. And I found this:

"So-called ill wind also triggers headaches and migraine among many people. The howling wind and the rattling of windows and shutters gets on your nerves. Warm, hot and very dry mountain and desert winds dry out the mucus membranes, irritate the airways and ionize the air. The populations of Alpine nations go crazy with headache and migraine when their föhn wind descends from the mountains, as do North Americans on chinook days, Israelis when the sharav blows and Australians on days with easterlies, westerlies or northerlies, depending on which part of the coast they live. " So apparently the wind can also trigger migraines, and what I had yesterday was a "climate migraine". And here the "obej" continues ...

I'm not consistent

One of the things that cost me is to be consistent. For example in writing this blog - my last post was over a year! And the same happens with the resolutions, things that make me feel well, exercise .... I start with the best intentions but they ate soon forgotten.
Last year wasn't easy for me: both my dad and my grandma passed away. I was very pleased to end 2014 and welcome 2015. And daddy, gran: I miss you both.

Back to my migraines, I wish I could write that I am cured, but unfortunately they continue to bug me. I have a few each month, and not only around "these days". So I have to begin anew my search for what triggers them, make a few changes and accept some things.

In the book of Louise Hay "You can heal your life" it says that the metaphysical cause of migraines is "Aversion to be handled and resistance to flow of life." And somehow it doesn't sound so crazy! In recent years I have made but also resisted quite a few changes: country, house, rhythm ... So, I think I need to learn how to slow down, relax a little and think less.

I also read that people who suffer from migraines have certain features/tendencies. I do not know if other migraineurs agree with this, but I identified myself with the following ones:

• Tendency to feel guilty • Doing things to avoid conflict and "keep peace" • Taking things to heart • Tendency to seek perfection in situations and things • Having difficulty saying "no" and trying to do too much

So, I also need to love myself a bit (a lot) more, be more considerate with myself, and accept my limitations and my own time/pace.

What about you? Do you relate? I love to read your comments :)

Fell off the wagon. Big time.

I slowly but steadily started eating things I shouldn't, so I fell off the wagon, big time. The wagon was the detox diet I did a while ago (no dairy, no sugar, no wheat). I followed it for a month, and it seemed to agree with me. Just that it was very restrictive, and I started by "one little teaspoon with sugar won't mean much" until I found myself eating dulce de leche by the spoonful with chocolate biscuits. Bad mix, and I knew it, but I just couldn't stop.

I think dairy and wheat don't agree with me. I am not sure about sugar, but I remember that after the third day being sugar-free, I didn't have any cravings. It's time to go back, and it's hard. I need all my willpower, especially having kids (and it's not their fault that their mom can't have such delicious stuff as chocolate and dulce de leche), and therefore having a lot of stuff I shouldn't eat in my cupboards.

I know I can do it if I put my mind to it. I know how to apply EFT on my cravings, and I know that I can redirect my thinking to something else. I can do this. Then why I am not? Why am I letting my taste buds rule? What's the point on eating something that tastes heavenly if I know I will feel like hell later? I have asked myself that question on my sane moments, but when I am PMSing, for example, and I "have to have" that chocolate piece or that amazingly looking brownies, every rational thought goes out of the window and my inner saboteur wins once more.

I need to make a commitment. A decision. A burning desire of conquering these migraines. I will start anew tomorrow, another month of detox, and see where it takes me. I had too many this last two weeks, and no chocolate chip cookie is worth it.

A heck of a migraine

I started with the symptoms yesterday morning, and I recognized them, as I dreaded the coming migraine. My sensitivity to the sounds heightened, and I had a queasy feeling to the stomach. I took my migraine medicine as directed, but I guess it wasn't early enough, since by the afternoon I had a migraine already. It didn't start super strong, but it kept growing in intensity, and by midnight, it wasn't pretty already. I am thankful I managed to sleep some, although I had nightmares and woke up in pain. This morning I had to stay in bed, since the slightest movement was very painful, and popped painkillers as candy. Had a coffee, had a lot of Sprite, and water too. It started getting better, and I managed to sleep about two hours in the afternoon. When I got up I still had a migraine, although lesses intensity, but I had a bloody eye (a bloodshot eye), on the same side of my migraine. What's up with that? I googled "bloodshot eyes migraine" and apparently, according to the results, bloodshot eyes can also accompany migraine attacks. Great. Well, I learn something new every day. Now I need to google how to treat it...

M. came to visit

I will call my migraines M. for short, and because I don't want to repeat the word too often. So M. came to visit. It started in the afternoon and I always know when M. is coming because I get visual disturbances. I have to really stress my eyes to see normally, and it takes a lot of effort and concentration. I also feel very sensitive to noises and I must admit I get irritable too. So I did what i always do at this stage and popped my Migraleve pills. This time I also drank two glasses of lemon water (water to which natural lemon juice have been added). I kept drinking water and at night went to sleep early. In the morning I had to take to more Migraleves, but I felt this migraine was on its way out. I am happy to report that this was a short visit, and I am very grateful for that.

There are some things I need to try regarding my M. visits, or better said, to avoid them.

1. Drink WAY more water. Not juice, not sodas, not coffee. Plain water. Tap water. I just bought this book "Your many cries for water" and started to read it. It sounds too good to be true, but I lose nothing trying it. I read the first pages only so far, but it says there that basically we are just dehydrated, and we need to drink more water to get rid of a big list of pains, aches, and even diseases. It sounds too good to be true, but I have nothing to lose by trying, except nasty migraines, and that's a very good thing to lose :)

2. Tapping. I need to remember to tap more often on migraines (for detailed explanarions on this visit my other blog EFT Mama.

3. Go on detox, again. I tried not long ago an elimination diet for a month. I quited sugar (all sugars, including white, brown, raw, honey, agave, everything), wheat (white, whole, and everything containing even a trace of it), and dairy (bye bye ice-cream). It was tough, but I felt very good while on it (it was a month-long detox). I had less migraines and more energy. I just need to willpower to go back to it... The only thing I kept from the detox month is my lemon water in the morning, upon getting up. Juice half a lemon and add hot water to it to fill a glass. Drink every morning before breakfast.

So, what are the things that help you ward off migraines? Any tips you can share? I, for one, want M. to stop visiting me, so any tips and info are very welcome.

Have an M.-free day :)

New blog, one migraine at a time.

After starting my blog on EFT (my first blog) I decided I want one more, and another subject that's close to my heart (to my head would be a better expression) is migraines.

I have been a migraneur since childhood, buy it wasn't diagnosed as such until I was about 22, when my husband told me one of the girls in his study group suffers from headaches very much like mine (with sensitivities to light, noise, nausea, etc) and that she had been diagnosed as having migraines. So I made an appointment with a neurologist and after some tests, sure enough, I had an official name for my headaches. In the past they were referred as "liver related headaches" and some items were suppressed from my diet, like chocolate and strawberries. I had hepatitis as a child, so we took it as natural having "liver problems" after that. I am not sure what's the connection now, but I think migraines are connected to the liver somehow. Anyway, I grew up (mostly) without chocolate and strawberries, and longing for chocolate bars and chocolate ice cream. Sometimes the longing was so strong that I sneaked up some little pieces of the forbidden trait, to suffer the consequences later in the form of the dreaded headache, and making thus my "sin" obvious to my mom.

Back to the diagnosis and treatment. I was given Migraleve, which is a paracetamol + codeine + anti-nausea drug, very light compared to the other ones usually prescribed for this nuisance. I tried Imitrex once and felt so bad on it, that I preferred to suffer a little pain on the light medicine than to take the potent drug that wiped off the migraine but made me feel so miserable after. I have been taking Migraleve ever since as as SOS medicine (used as needed). I had acupuncture treatments for about two years, and they helped somewhat but didn't cure my migraines. I usually get my migraines around the time mu period starts, and some others times during the month. Anything can trigger a migraine, though: stress, climatic changes, noise, glare, hormones, chocolate, wine, worrying coupled with lots of thinking, you name it.

I would be happy to share my experience through this blog to all the other migraneurs out there. Let me welcome to my blog and feel free to leave your comments, experiences, questions, etc.

Hugs, P.