Are my migraines my own fault?

Sometimes I feel like I just must be doing something wrong in life to not be able to figure out how to control my migraines.  This past month, I've had some form of a headache, (not always a full blown migraine, but bad enough to need to use ice and medication), on all but 3 days.  So, needless to say, I am frustrated.   I usually wake up with them... and that's never the most promising way to start a day.

The good news is that in the last couple months, I managed to stage and sell my house in Kansas, housesit for my parents for a month, buy a new house, pack all my stuff, and move back to Omaha, where my parents are, and where I grew up.  So, I got a lot done before this past month when the headaches set in.  So, I have to be grateful for that.

My concern, and reason for some of my self-blame, is that I am not living the healthiest life.  I just wonder if these headaches are my fault... or even halfway my fault.  I work a lot... and spend WAY more time on the computer than I should. My work and life just so revolve around being online that it's hard to get away from the computer screen.  I also don't eat as healthy as I should or sleep on as strict a schedule as I should.  I write this blog about things to do to help migraines... and am finding that I don't follow so much of the advice I've posted here.  I need to make some changes.

So, I am making these pledges to myself:

1. I have ordered a Neti Pot and am going to do a nasal rinse no less than once a day to help with some mild allergies I am pretty certain I am experiencing. These are the items I ordered:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0011FPZLW
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001G7QMYE

2. I have made several months worth of acupuncture appointments with an experienced practitioner of traditional Chinese medicine.  I am trying this, as opposed to the chiropractor I went to before, because this particular person comes highly recommended and has helped other migraineurs with their pain.

3. I am going to be more conscious of the way I am work and sleep.  I have a bad habit of getting involved in a project and just staying up as late as I need to in order to finish it.  I could just as easily stop, go to sleep and resume in the morning, but I don't.  I think this is partially because I'm fearful that I will wake up with a migraine and not be able to work as well as I was working the night before.  I need to just let go of that fear and stick to a schedule no matter what.  This will be a hard one for me... but I'm setting a goal that I go to bed no later than 12am and wake up at 8am every day.  A solid 8 hours... headache or no.

4. I also need to make some changes to the food I consume... and this is BY FAR the hardest thing for me.  I clearly have addictions to foods that have nothing to do with hunger or nutrition.  I've have quite a few issues in this area that I've thought about carefully...

    a. When I have a headache, and am not nauseous, I will eat to try and make myself feel better.  I sometimes feel like maybe my body is lacking something... or it's hunger that's triggering it.  I think there have maybe been 10 out of 1,000 times that this is the case.  In general, eating does NOT make me feel better, or make the migraine go away.

    b. When I've had a bad migraine, or have been feeling sick for days, I reward myself with food when the pain finally goes away.  I have this feeling that I deserve something "good" because I've been suffering.  This is only hurting me in the long run... because my "reward" foods are generally not healthy choices.

    c. The last animal based product I've held on to is cheese.  I eat a vegetarian diet, but have not committed to a vegan lifestyle (there is a difference philosophically as well as in diet) because of my LOVE of cheese.  There is really nothing good about it except some protein, and when I really think about where the cheese comes from (I don't drink milk), it makes me feel sick to my stomach.  I'm not crazy about eating anything that comes from animals, and my eating cheese is very contrary to my emotional and philosophical belief about animals and food.  I've held on to it because of my love of pizza, mexican, italian, etc. I am going to work very hard to cut down on my cheese gradually to the point where I don't miss it anymore.  I believe I would be both happier and healthier the closer to a vegan lifestyle I am living.  I'm certain of it actually. It's my unreasonable food addicted brain that keeps me from my goals.  I'm also not sure that cheese is not contributing to my migrianes in some way.  I don't know for sure, but I'll never know if I don't stop eating it.

5.  And lastly, I will begin a reasonable exercise daily routine that I can commit to and stick to long term.  I sit SO much of the day, and this is not good for the body or mind.  I have a perfect exercise room in my new home... and have a wonderful neighborhood to walk in with my dogs.  Over the next weeks, I will set up my exercise environment in the house and commit to moving every day.

I'm sure this reads more like a journal post... but maybe adding my "pledges" to myself publicly will help me make them real.

No more migraines,
Kelli  :)

Comments

[Kelli Smith]

Thanks Mama Coyote and ajw811@gmail.cm for your comments.

I hear you Mama Coyote... I feel like I'm whining sometimes too... but I just try to remember that I have a right to. This disease is not fun. Yes, it could be worse... but when it's bad, it's pretty bad. I just let myself whine when I want, and then just try to really enjoy the good days!

Thanks ajw811@gmail.cm. I appreciate your suggestion... but eating meat and eating protein are not mutually exclusive. There are tons of great protein sources that are plant based... and that is my personal choice. I have read enough and done enough of my own research to know that I will never go back to being a meat eater again. I do find that all aspects of life seem to be generally better if I exercise regularly, but exercise can also be a trigger for my migraines - sometimes I can exercise and feel great... other times (or if I have a mild migraine to start) it will make it much worse. I've always taken multivitamins and fish oil (Omega Q)... but I think what seemed to help more was CoQ10 and magnesium. I take all of those things daily. Honestly, I think we just have a bunch of band aids to treat symptoms (which I don't knock at all - I'm thankful for them), but no real cures for what's actually causing our migraines yet. Hopefully all of the new studies focusing more on the brain will get us closer to a real cure.

[ajw811@gmail.cm]

I suggest eating meat (or, at least, protein). Seriously. I didn't for years, and had daily migraines. I wasn't iron deficient clinically, but mine are less ever since.

What about exercise?

Multivitamins?

Fish oil?

SAM-e?

[MamaCoyote]

Oh wow do I know what you're talking about here... my migraine symptoms have been slowly shifting to more full-body attacks that include joint pain, and my husband and I have been talking about looking into getting disability benefits... every time we talk about whether I can hold down a job, I feel like a whiny baby--like I should be able to prevent this pain, or at the very least handle it better... siiigh.

I'm really liking this blog, thanks for keeping it :D

Mama Coyote
http://mamacoyote.blogspot.com/

[Kelli Smith]

Thanks so much Mary Kay. I'm not vegan at this point, but when I'm having very few animal products at all, I do take a sub-lingual B-12 supplement. When I finally cut out cheese for good, I'll definitely make sure to get my B-12 monitored to make sure I'm okay. Thanks so much for the heads up though... I wouldn't want anyone to read the post and think you don't have to supplement if you choose the vegan lifestyle.

Teresa... I did go to a chiropractor for some time to try and help, but was not able to find a chiropractic neurologist I could get in to see. I've recently moved, so I will have to look into it again. Please keep in touch and let me know how the treatment is working for you. I wish you the very best.

Miranda... thanks so much for your note and the link for Fioricet. My only word of caution for readers is to check on the legality of importing any drug from another country... and to check the site out carefully as there are many that sell counterfeit products. There are lots of good ones though... this is just my general "buyer beware" statement.

Best, Kelli :)

[Teresa]

Kelli,

I found your blog when I searched on "chiropractic neurologist" and migraine and that article was dated in 2004. I see that you are still suffering from migraines. Did you try the chiropractic neurology and it didn't work for you?

The reason I ask is that I've had a resurgence of my terrible migraine disorder in the last eight months (had it for years, it kind of got under control, and now NOTHING seems to help).

I just got back from a visit with a chiropractic neurologist and really liked how he assessed me and what he plans to do. He says it could take about three months and we might have to go beyond neurology exercises and adjustments to get into hormone and adrenal and thyroid tests, but that he hasn't had a patient yet who didn't get over their migraines.

I really hope that's true because "debilitating" doesn't begin to describe these nasty things.

Thank you for your blog, I really appreciate that you take the time to write about what's going on with your headaches.

Teresa
http://www.SheCanRun.com

[Abbey Yap]

Don't blame yourself for your migraine because whatever you do to avoid the triggers, there will be instances where you will have it. I'm just glad that I can buy fioricet online without a prescription. It makes life easier for me when I'm having migraine attacks.

Miranda
http://www.buypharmacyonline.ca/fioricet.html

[Mary Kay]

Hi Kelli,
I have your blog listed on my website at this page: http://www.headache-adviser.com/headache-blogs.html

I think your goals are fantastic..sounds like you have really localized your triggers for migraine.

One thing I would like to mention..if you are vegan and have been for a few years you run the risk of becoming Vitamin B12 deficient. This is a simple blood test your doc can do. If below 350, you may need injections for a while and then oral supplementation. Sometimes, some people don't absorb the oral correctly.

Why?..well lack of B12 might make headaches worse as B12 is needed to maintain nerve health. Lack of it also causes memory loss and tingling in the extremities.

PS..your migraines are not all your fault..there is a strong genetic component!

Good luck..
Mary Kay Betz RPA-C