Find Some Relief: Tips For Those With Chronic Migraine

Happy Monday and hello, hello! I don’t know that anyone was on the edge of their seat waiting for me to post last week, but I didn’t post or send a newsletter. Moving was a heck ton of work and then I really underestimated the process of “getting settled in”.

Cam had to fly to California the day after we arrived in Austin for training for his new job, so it was just me and Wex. Luckily, my sister, Caroline, drove up and we had a blast decorating the house, trying out some local restaurants, and going for a couple of runs at Zilker Park.

This past week I had a flare up with my chronic pain – I tend to get more migraines with stress, strenuous physical activity (i.e. moving and lifting boxes may tweak my neck nerves and trigger headaches and migraines) and it was that time of the month, so I started to get a few bad ones pretty much as soon as we started unpacking our things.

I am still learning to sit with pain. I get a big wave of anxiety when I start to feel a migraine come on because there is so much going on in my brain at that point – What did I do to bring this on? How long will it last? Will I have to cancel X? Will I need to get a shot at the urgent care clinic? Do I have enough medicine left to get me through this attack? And so on and so forth.

I actually had therapy on Tuesday with my Houston therapist (video chat, baby!!) and we talked a bit about this. She taught me a new meditation skill that can really help with sitting with pain, so I’ll leave that down here in the tips of this post if you’d like to try! I also reached out on Instagram for some of your favorite treatments or relief tactics, and I got so many good recommendations that I wanted to share!

You can always find #chronicmigraine #chronicpain tips and tidbits on my Instagram highlight titled “migraine”. Please note that A) I am not a doctor and neither are the people who have given advice, so it’s always good to talk to a medical professional before trying something and B) these tips can help you even if you don’t suffer from chronic migraine! If you have occasional headaches, body tension such as in your neck or back, PMS symptoms, etc. some of these good be helpful!

So, how the heck can we deal with pain – specifically from chronic migraine?

Good Sleep Hygiene

This is so underrated. For me, getting a full nights sleep (about 8 hours, preferably going to bed on the early side) can be really healing. When I am having a migraine, I take either a half or full dose of a triptan (abortive medication for migraine) and go to sleep. Add in a humidifier, essential oils, and a cool rag on the forehead to that mix, and I am feeling muuuuch better in the morning.

Migrastil Migraine Stick on Amazon

Someone recommended this product that’s available on Amazon! After looking into it, it’s essentially a roller ball with peppermint, spearmint, and lavender essential oils. Sounds like a dream! I would also add that the Doterra Breathe stick sounds similar to this and was amazing relief for me when I was having really frequent migraines last year.

CBD oil/gummies

I have not tried any CBD products, but I wanted to put this here because it’s probably been most recommended to me! If you’ve tried something and love it, let me know in the comments.

Hot baths/Epsom salt/Massages

In general, relaxing your body and your mind can be great for pain management. A tense body and anxious mind will not help the pain subside. I forget this tip every time I have a migraine honestly, but I do have a bathtub in my apartment and plenty of candles! My step mom also sent me info for a local massage school with lower rates that I could try out!

Caffeine + Advil

Everyone with migraine knows their perfect cocktail. In high school, mine was 2 Excedrin migraine + a can of Coca Cola. In the past couple of years, I’ve really stopped responding to over the counter meds, but caffeine definitely helps. I usually have one cup of coffee every morning (sometimes a second around 9/10 am) and that can really bring some relief if I wake up with an achey head.

Blood pressure

One person suggested checking my blood pressure! Their mother realized that her migraines happened or came on whenever she had high blood pressure. I don’t have an at-home cuff, but would love to test this theory! I normally register a normal BP at the doctor’s office, but I only go every 6 weeks or so to get checked up with my specialist. Has anyone had any experience with this correlation?

Allergies

I’ve found that if I have bad allergies and congestion, my migraines/headaches will worsen. I’ve been taking a daily allergy pill every day for a while and it seems to help a bit! I also often sleep with my humidifier on to avoid a scratchy throat and I do a sinus rinse (similar to a Neti Pot) whenever I feel particularly congested.

Vitamin B12

So many people said Vitamin B12 significantly reduced their migraines! Some were referring to the shots and some were referring to just over the counter vitamins. I want to try OTC ones first and see if that helps any, because I think the process of going to a PCP and finding someone who can give me shots would be a little bit more comprehensive! Let me know if you’ve tried this.

Migraine relief Spotify playlist

Hadn’t heard of this until a fellow migraine sufferer recommended, but I will be downloading this ASAP! Sometimes, the migraine gets to that point where you have to lay in a dark room with an ice pack and just breathe through the pain. I get light sensitive when mine are really bad, and I am not able to watch TV, so a playlist would be really nice – or maybe a relaxing podcast would be nice! Let me know if you have any recommendations.

Botox

So I’ve heard a few people say this was helpful, and at my most recent neurology appointment, my neurologist listened to my symptoms and literally shouted “BOTOX!!!!” excitedly in response. LOL. I am still sitting on this idea. My neuro said that for most people, it decreases the number of headache days but doesn’t take away the migraines completely. My other option is surgery, so I would definitely take Botox over that!

Meditation

My therapist taught me a good mindfulness meditation/body scan that I wanted to share here!

Close your eyes and zero in on where you feel your pain (this can work for anxiety, too, such as if you feel pain or a tightness in your chest when anxious). Focus on it. Notice you feel it in one area, but it’s not everywhere. Imagine you’re drawing a perimeter around the pain. Focus on it now. Now focus away from the pain spot. Wiggle your toes or focus on your breath – just be where the pain is not. Evaluate how you feel really isolating the pain and moving outside of it! 

Ice

Are you an ice person or a heat person with your migraines? I am ice alllll the way. I really want this volcano hat off of Amazon.

If there’s something I haven’t mentioned that you’d like to add to this list of relief tips, please drop it in the comments below!! I’ll keep updating this post the rest of the year with anything else I find helpful ❤️

All the love and low-pain days to my fellow migraine sufferers.

X,

Cristina