Dealing with Chronic Migraines/New Year's Resolution

I'm sure if you've known me well at all, you know I've dealt with chronic migraines for the past five years of my life. While it's happened, it hasn't seemed like a long period of time, but it's almost been a quarter of my life! For a couple years, we put them off, much as we disregard any medical happenings in my family. Finally, though, they were getting so frequent (4-5 times per week) that we had to do something.

Fast forward to CAT scans, multiple neurologist appointments, medications, natural remedies, and anything else you can think of, and we are still trying to find a cure. As of now, we are leaning towards the assumption that they are more than likely stress-induced and I think I am generally a stressful person when it comes to anything (i.e., I get stressed trying to find change in my wallet when someone is waiting behind me in line). I actually went to the chiropractor for the first time the other week for my migraines and he asked if I had a migraine when he felt my neck. I said I didn't, and he seemed surprised at the answer. Apparently my neck was full of pressure points that typically pointed to stress migraines, and if this was the condition they were in when I was relaxed, it was no surprise I so frequently got them.

However, whether you have migraines and are stumbling on this and it helps you or you don't get them, I hope this can provide many stress-relieving tips I have acquired over the years that sometimes relax me.

1. Head wrap
    Me and my mom bought this on a whim one day at Ross when we thought my headaches were related to my sinuses. It's an "Anti-Stress Microwaveable Sinus Pillow", according to the box and website. You can warm it up to put it on your forehead or put it in the freezer to put it over your eyes depending on how you like it. Normally I keep it cold and wrap it around my eyes and fall asleep with it like that, waking up with it plastered to my eyes. I've seen this at places like Kohl's, Ross, and I'm sure any other retail stores like that carry it. It's my first choice when I'm feeling stressed because it provides complete darkness over my eyes, pressure around my head to relieve a little, and some coolness to add another layer of relaxation. It almost always works!

    

   (source: http://www.earththerapeutics.net/prodinfo.asp?number=9178)

2. Sound Machines
    Usually if I go to sleep I'm able to get rid of my headache because my body is able to relax. However, I'm sure everyone has those nights when their minds seem to flip on and remind them of that one time when that guy in class looked at them from across the room and maybe they should keep their gaze slightly longer than usual because maybe they'll get married someday. Okay...maybe not everyone has those thoughts, but you get my drift! So sometimes when I focus on repetitive sounds, my mind kind of gets lulled into sleep.
    The past couple years I have started to use sound machines. I just use apps on my phone that I set to turn off after an hour, but you can surely invest in a cheap, $20 sound machine available at almost any retail store. The apps I use are: Sleep Pillow Sounds by Clear Sky Apps and Sleep Bug by Arnt-Henning Moberg (pictures below). They work great, are free, and have a variety of sounds for anyone. If you like actual sound machines and not just apps, my sister actually uses one by Homedics.

3. Playlists

    My escape is almost always music accompanied by a good book, so I always have a few playlists for whatever mood I happen to be in, including for varying headaches. For me, I usually have some classical (which includes most of the Pride & Prejudice 2005 movie score), along with some more mellow music with lyrics, too. I'm not going to tell you what music to listen to in order to make you less stressed because you know yourself better than anyone, but probably some of the more soothing music in your mix is better!

4. Baths

    I guess I'm European, too, in the way that I like baths almost weekly. I wish I could take the time to get to them that often, but they are a luxury, and usually one of my last resorts to curing my headache before crashing in my bed. I try to have a bath fizzy or something to make it that much more relaxing, too! If you have never really been a bath person, I challenge you to try grabbing a cup of whatever hot drink you like and giving it a go...you will enjoy it! 

5. Letting the little things go

    Next time that person cuts you off on the freeway or someone has that little tick that gets to you...don't dwell on it, don't let it get you mad. When I consciously made the decision to not get stressed at things like being a little late, being frustrated when I do something wrong and instead laughing at the situation, or getting angry at other people over what I can't control, I became a lot more relaxed. To some people, it probably gets really annoying because it takes a lot to get me mad, but it works for me!

(source: tumblr.com)

I guess that's what my New Year's resolution is, too. I've never really had one, but I thought with so much in my life changing, I think it would be good to try. So, for 2013, I am going to try to be less stressed, which will hopefully lead to my other goals, but I guess that is the prevailing one that will lead to the others. 

I hope this helps anyone with migraines or anyone just looking to be less stressed. Please if you have migraines, feel free to ask questions; I know a lot from these years of battling them. Don't just put them off, because they could be more serious than you think. 

I would love to know what everyone else's New Year's resolutions are! See you in the new year! 

Alexis

"You Need Me, I Don't Need You"

A lot has been running through my mind these past few weeks, even months, really. I think that's why I've been slacking on my blog recently. I have a whole list of things I want to cover, this post's topic being one of the last on my list. But as I sat in my room at home (finally on winter break!), listening to Ed Sheeran and just thinking, I decided to give this post the priority it deserves.

As cheesy as it sounds, Ed Sheeran was one of my motivators in sitting down to write this. His song "You Need Me, I Don't Need You" (YouTube link at the bottom) really tells his story of how he quit school at 16 to move to London and pursue his dream of song-writing and singing. He's 21 now, and you cannot deny the talent and success he has gained from his hard work and the great risk he took at the age of 16. I look up to him as an artist and hope to gain similar success, for singer/songwriters aren't much different than writers...we're all trying to tell a story in our own way.

That brings me to my current situation. I plan on writing a post in the near future on something that has affected me over the past five years now: chronic migraines. I think a lot of people doubt the severity of headaches and how they can debilitate a person's life, but being locked in my room with pain these past years has allowed me to do quite a lot of thinking (more on that later). I still don't know what causes the pain and after countless medications, I've decided to try something I haven't done for most of my life: doing more of what makes me happy.

I know you're dying to know what I mean, but first I owe a few explanations/excuses/whatever other "e"-beginning word you can think of to describe how my headaches and doing more of what makes me happy relate. 

I found myself in the midst of my first year of college suffering more and more frequently from these migraines even though my classes were going fairly smoothly and weren't particularly difficult in the way I had been warned about in high school. To be honest, I was bored, but I liked being bored. It's difficult to explain, but since elementary school, I had always been involved in extracurricular activities and wasn't ever really able to be bored. Given the chance, I liked it. At least for the time being. 

In my free time and in beginning this blog and joining Twitter, I found many inspirations about my age who were enjoying their time doing the things they loved, whether it be making videos, touring and performing original songs to small or large crowds, or starting their own businesses. I couldn't deny my envy in their endeavors and their opportunities that I felt I was missing and that I so desperately wanted. 

I found in my headaches the undeniably perfect excuse to spend time to pursue my life dream: to make a living out of writing. I want millions to read my work, worldwide, to share ideas and maybe bring solace to those who take written work to heart and have it change their lives, just like it has for me so many times. 

So, I'm taking this next semester off of school. To some it's a surprise, to others it's not, but although my headaches were the main reason for my absence this next semester, it provides the means for me being able to place my full attention on my writing. 

Ed Sheeran said in an interview that he was just trying to be the best artist he could possibly be, not the best singer, or the most esteemed. He said he looked at his inspirations and determined that he just had to work three times as hard to even be close to reaching the same potential as them. (interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VluS-_21uTE) 

Whether this break leads to my eventual continuous absence from university education or not, I don't know; but I ask this: what's the worst that could happen? I'm not going to be homeless in the near future, I have family that supports me (although I feel they battle between supporting me or hitting me over the head with a good dose of reality), I can always return to school, and more importantly, why not?

Right now, I am more excited to begin writing and don't really have a desire to go back to school, but maybe when my headaches become more manageable, my mind will change. But that's the beauty, isn't it? It's my mind. My decisions. I'm excited. I'm terribly scared of the next year. I have experienced so much but now I want to tell my story. So many people tell me I'm making a mistake. But imagine all of the artists we've lost because they've listened to the naysayers. I'm not saying I'm going to be the next Harper Lee by any means, but I can't refute the results that exist by being the best artist you can be. 

Alexis

Ed Sheeran "You Need Me, I Don't Need You": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXvzzTICvJs