Chronicles of a Migraine Continued: Update
In the ongoing quest to get healthier and find better relief for my migraines, I experienced acupuncture for the first time today. I am very lucky that I don’t have many complaints about my health. I sometimes use reading glasses because my vision is borderline between actually needing them or not, so they help a bit with eyestrain. Other than some minor aches and pains and stomach troubles here and there, I have been very blessed with my health and I am aware of that. My biggest concern is the extent to which migraine affects my life.
As most of you know a few months ago I took up jogging and worked my way up from barely being able to jog for a minute at a time all the way to jogging for 20 minutes a few times a week. To me that was a huge accomplishment. It didn’t jumpstart any weight loss like I had hoped it would, but I still felt like I had built up some stamina and endurance. Then my neurologist who I have only seen once to date, suggested that I begin to try Botox for my migraines. My body likes to be “borderline" with many things. It has actually turned into quite a joke with my family. When I was pregnant with Matthew, I was borderline anemic. I am almost always considered borderline hypoglycemic and have to feed myself a snack every couple of hours… Seriously or my blood sugar gets low enough that I feel dizzy and nauseated but not to the point where I am actually diagnosable with anything. During the year of the divorce I was diagnosed by a therapist as having borderline anxiety and borderline depression. So it is somewhat humorous to me that I am borderline for chronic migraine. Some months I more than clear the amount of migraine days to put me in that category but other months are “good" months where I have just 4-6 migraines. Anyhow, all of that being said, my neurologist recommended Botox but I was very hesitant. I know that it works wonders for many people but I was very worried about the side effect profile of the medication including that it could make things worse not better and give me problems that I don’t already have. I was also hesitant about being injected that many times with a needle for months on end of appointments. So I decided to exercise all of my other options. What had I not looked into?
I began to see a chiropractor who promptly told me to quit jogging for a month and then we would reevaluate. I remember being really frustrated because I had just gotten to where I was building up the habit. But he told me that I have a lot of neck strain, that could be contributing to my migraines. I also have terrible posture and the jarring movement that accompanies jogging was not recommended by him. He told me to exercise by all means but to do so by walking, yoga, Pilates, swimming… Essentially things that are easier on the body. I’ve been seeing my chiropractor for almost 4 weeks. My reevaluation of treatment is next Friday. My body has felt amazing for the most part since I have been seeing him. The month before I started seeing him I had nine migraine days. While not a terrible month for me, terrible is around 15, still not a great month. This month I cannot believe that we are 3/4 of the way through the month and I have had just 3! One (last night actually) I can attribute entirely to things being my fault after being super dehydrated going all day long only drinking coffee and soda… I know, I know, and getting about five hours of sleep. For my body that is a migraine nightmare as we know that dehydration and lack of sleep are two of my biggest triggers.
Well we pretty much are trying what my chiropractor calls the shotgun approach which is essentially trying everything that might help because migraines are multi factorial. This means that the same triggers do not always trigger a migraine and that I have many triggers. For example, another big trigger for me is really strong smells. I literally cannot go into a tire store without getting a migraine. Or walk through a department store perfume section. Another weird trigger for me is extreme weather changes. Something about the barometric pressure and I guess that’s actually a common trigger. Heat, and extreme physical exertion can be triggers for me, as can wine but not always. And not all types of alcohol as I have not had any migraines after having hard cider. Thank God caffeine helps me typically and is not a trigger although I am sure I can overdo it. Anyhow we decided to throw acupuncture into the mix as there is a licensed acupuncturist in the same building as my chiropractor and my insurance will cover 12 visits.
So this afternoon excited to go see my chiropractor because I feel amazing afterwards, I went there nervous for my first ever acupuncture appointment. I had no idea what to expect. I’m not super shy about my body and have gotten massages so that part didn’t make me feel weird. I’m not super afraid of needles- I mean I do have a fairly large tattoo on my lower back (though I got it many years ago) and I’m not afraid of getting shots or donating blood- that sort of thing.
Well the room was low lit and I spoke to the acupuncturist for about 10 minutes about my medical history and he did a brief exam. Then I laid on a nice and warm massage table while he inserted 12 different needles. They are very small and you barely feel them going in. Some of them twinge a bit as they sat there longer. He applied a TENS unit to stimulate the needle that was directly where my migraines are localized in my left temple. That was a bit uncomfortable but not excruciating by any means. Then I sat there for about 10 to 15 minutes feeling just a dull ache where the needles were. There was a weird yoga/meditation/massage/acupuncture/chanting music on and I enjoyed the heat of the table.
That was my first experience and he recommends me coming back 1 to 2 times a week until I have used up all 12 visits. He also gave me some herbal stress relief tea to try and Chinese probiotics as he says that migraines can also be associated with foods, as I know, and that gut health could be a trigger. Overall I would do it again. It wasn’t bad and I figure I will complete my course with the chiropractor and now with the acupuncturist. I did find out about myself that while I enjoy being alone and relaxing, when I relax I am typically doing something such as reading a book that I want to read or even watching mindless movies or Netflix. Relaxing with absolutely nothing to entertain myself and having to lay still was a bit of an exercise in calmness for me. I guess he is right that I need to calm the stress in my life.We laughed though because there’s only so much you can do to control the stress in your life when you work, are a wife and mom, and go to graduate school!
I mentioned the jogging because it is still bittersweet. In the last month and a half I am down 8 pounds because I am doing Weight Watchers. I have tremendously cut down the carbohydrates and sugars that I eat but I have not cut them out completely by any means. I am still exercising by walking but not as much, and know that I need to take up something else. I don’t really miss the jogging because I didn’t really like it to begin with but I did like the feeling afterward and knowing that I had accomplished it. So this week I will try water aerobics and see what I think. Maybe being in a class will help me to be more accountable since I seem to have no problem keeping promises to other people but I often break them to myself. That’s the latest. It’s been a great month migraine wise -I don’t attribute that all to the chiropractor. It could definitely be the changes in diet or the fact that this August is typically not as hot as usual. In fact we have had lots of rain which I am sorry to those of you who love summer but I am loving it because August is usually my most painful month. Until next time.
As most of you know a few months ago I took up jogging and worked my way up from barely being able to jog for a minute at a time all the way to jogging for 20 minutes a few times a week. To me that was a huge accomplishment. It didn’t jumpstart any weight loss like I had hoped it would, but I still felt like I had built up some stamina and endurance. Then my neurologist who I have only seen once to date, suggested that I begin to try Botox for my migraines. My body likes to be “borderline" with many things. It has actually turned into quite a joke with my family. When I was pregnant with Matthew, I was borderline anemic. I am almost always considered borderline hypoglycemic and have to feed myself a snack every couple of hours… Seriously or my blood sugar gets low enough that I feel dizzy and nauseated but not to the point where I am actually diagnosable with anything. During the year of the divorce I was diagnosed by a therapist as having borderline anxiety and borderline depression. So it is somewhat humorous to me that I am borderline for chronic migraine. Some months I more than clear the amount of migraine days to put me in that category but other months are “good" months where I have just 4-6 migraines. Anyhow, all of that being said, my neurologist recommended Botox but I was very hesitant. I know that it works wonders for many people but I was very worried about the side effect profile of the medication including that it could make things worse not better and give me problems that I don’t already have. I was also hesitant about being injected that many times with a needle for months on end of appointments. So I decided to exercise all of my other options. What had I not looked into?
I began to see a chiropractor who promptly told me to quit jogging for a month and then we would reevaluate. I remember being really frustrated because I had just gotten to where I was building up the habit. But he told me that I have a lot of neck strain, that could be contributing to my migraines. I also have terrible posture and the jarring movement that accompanies jogging was not recommended by him. He told me to exercise by all means but to do so by walking, yoga, Pilates, swimming… Essentially things that are easier on the body. I’ve been seeing my chiropractor for almost 4 weeks. My reevaluation of treatment is next Friday. My body has felt amazing for the most part since I have been seeing him. The month before I started seeing him I had nine migraine days. While not a terrible month for me, terrible is around 15, still not a great month. This month I cannot believe that we are 3/4 of the way through the month and I have had just 3! One (last night actually) I can attribute entirely to things being my fault after being super dehydrated going all day long only drinking coffee and soda… I know, I know, and getting about five hours of sleep. For my body that is a migraine nightmare as we know that dehydration and lack of sleep are two of my biggest triggers.
Well we pretty much are trying what my chiropractor calls the shotgun approach which is essentially trying everything that might help because migraines are multi factorial. This means that the same triggers do not always trigger a migraine and that I have many triggers. For example, another big trigger for me is really strong smells. I literally cannot go into a tire store without getting a migraine. Or walk through a department store perfume section. Another weird trigger for me is extreme weather changes. Something about the barometric pressure and I guess that’s actually a common trigger. Heat, and extreme physical exertion can be triggers for me, as can wine but not always. And not all types of alcohol as I have not had any migraines after having hard cider. Thank God caffeine helps me typically and is not a trigger although I am sure I can overdo it. Anyhow we decided to throw acupuncture into the mix as there is a licensed acupuncturist in the same building as my chiropractor and my insurance will cover 12 visits.
So this afternoon excited to go see my chiropractor because I feel amazing afterwards, I went there nervous for my first ever acupuncture appointment. I had no idea what to expect. I’m not super shy about my body and have gotten massages so that part didn’t make me feel weird. I’m not super afraid of needles- I mean I do have a fairly large tattoo on my lower back (though I got it many years ago) and I’m not afraid of getting shots or donating blood- that sort of thing.
Well the room was low lit and I spoke to the acupuncturist for about 10 minutes about my medical history and he did a brief exam. Then I laid on a nice and warm massage table while he inserted 12 different needles. They are very small and you barely feel them going in. Some of them twinge a bit as they sat there longer. He applied a TENS unit to stimulate the needle that was directly where my migraines are localized in my left temple. That was a bit uncomfortable but not excruciating by any means. Then I sat there for about 10 to 15 minutes feeling just a dull ache where the needles were. There was a weird yoga/meditation/massage/acupuncture/chanting music on and I enjoyed the heat of the table.
That was my first experience and he recommends me coming back 1 to 2 times a week until I have used up all 12 visits. He also gave me some herbal stress relief tea to try and Chinese probiotics as he says that migraines can also be associated with foods, as I know, and that gut health could be a trigger. Overall I would do it again. It wasn’t bad and I figure I will complete my course with the chiropractor and now with the acupuncturist. I did find out about myself that while I enjoy being alone and relaxing, when I relax I am typically doing something such as reading a book that I want to read or even watching mindless movies or Netflix. Relaxing with absolutely nothing to entertain myself and having to lay still was a bit of an exercise in calmness for me. I guess he is right that I need to calm the stress in my life.We laughed though because there’s only so much you can do to control the stress in your life when you work, are a wife and mom, and go to graduate school!
I mentioned the jogging because it is still bittersweet. In the last month and a half I am down 8 pounds because I am doing Weight Watchers. I have tremendously cut down the carbohydrates and sugars that I eat but I have not cut them out completely by any means. I am still exercising by walking but not as much, and know that I need to take up something else. I don’t really miss the jogging because I didn’t really like it to begin with but I did like the feeling afterward and knowing that I had accomplished it. So this week I will try water aerobics and see what I think. Maybe being in a class will help me to be more accountable since I seem to have no problem keeping promises to other people but I often break them to myself. That’s the latest. It’s been a great month migraine wise -I don’t attribute that all to the chiropractor. It could definitely be the changes in diet or the fact that this August is typically not as hot as usual. In fact we have had lots of rain which I am sorry to those of you who love summer but I am loving it because August is usually my most painful month. Until next time.
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