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Monday 30 April 2012

Migraine and Diet: the search for the Holy Grail......

Over the years that I have had migraine I have developed a tense relationship with certain food and drink! I cover it up as much as I can but quite clearly this is impossible. The other day my 3 year old girl looked at my unusual lunchtime choice of rice and chicken tikka (I normally have a sandwich) and she said to me "mummy, have you got a migraine?".......

Clearly my relationship with food is complex......and the more I hear and read, the more I realise what a complex area it is.......this is where I stand at the moment with the food and drink in my life......

I have fallen out with alcohol big time because of the number of self induced migraines it has caused me. I only ever consumed a small(ish) amount but it made me sick (in the toilet) and sick (in the head). I called it a day a fair few years ago when even a glass of wine seemed to wipe out the following day or two. However, I understand from reading around that it's not the alcohol itself but something called congeners. These are found in wine in large amounts but not as much in vodka or gin........that cheers me up no end and when I feel fabulous, I am going to introduce a vodka or two into my life.......

I'm not talking to citrus fruit either.......no more satsumas or oranges. This might seem unfair to the unassuming satsuma as I have no evidence that it does cause migraines at all, I'm just being very cautious.

I'm deeply in love with cheese. I love the smell, the texture, the way it melts......hmmmm, and it pains me to say that (sniff) I have had to say a fond farewell (sniff), with tears in my eyes......
(sorry, I just need a break.....)......(sniff, blow nose)........to brie, mature cheddar and parmesan. Again, I'm not absolutely completely sure that there is a link.....so I may be depriving myself for absolutely completely no reason......but all the books mention it and everyone who doesn't suffer from migraine seems to know that cheese is a trigger.

Chocolate....again I'm not giving it any of my attention......the children have it and I vacate the room as I am lured in by its tempting aroma. It sits there in my sweet cupboard and calls to me.....Migraine mum.....come to me...you want me........I get seduced, give into temptation and then like an elicit affair, feel really guilty......

I have had many well meaning people tell me their migraine stories. "have you tried giving up tomotoes?"or "my migraines completely and absolutely stopped when I gave up eating chocolate and cheese together" or once in a health food shop the shop assistant said to me "have you tried giving up dairy, sugar, wheat, caffeine, alcohol, tomatoes, citrus fruit, chocolate, eggs, and gluten....?" ....AND LIFE??????

But I'm left with this gnawing feeling that may be thats what I've got to do.......to face up to reality that the shere frequency of my migraines must be linked to something else in my diet,,,,and if I could just find that bit of my diet that is causing all this pain then there would be no more migraines......or less migraines...I'd settle for that! 

So the search for the Holy Grail begins........more to follow next week..........







Monday 23 April 2012

1 wedding, 2 sick children and a migraine........

Health Warning: it has been brought to Migraine Mum's attention that this blog entry may trigger a migraine.

Get in the Tardis with me, I'm going to take you back to Thursday night 1am, my house (whirring noise).......Ah! Here we are.....look! I'm in bed, asleep, and then

Child no 2: "mummy, I'm going to be sick!" Migraine mum quickly catapaults herself out of bed and rushes this poor child to the bathroom. She is expertly sick into the toilet and then Migraine mum settles child no 2 back to bed......

Migraine mum lies awake and thinks....."oh no, we are travelling 3 hours in the car tomorrow. We are going to a family wedding!! Child no 2 can't be ill, she's going to be a bridesmaid!!! Don't get stresssed, you need your sleep......you may get a migraine.....Deep breaths.......

Friday morning: packing....Packing is now a different ball game. Not only am I packing for the wedding but now I'm thinking she may be sick all over the car, her clothes, my clothes. Someone else may get the bug, so better take more clothes, cleaning products, sick bags, four different types of medicine for the children (not to mention the crate load I take for myself!!), jelly, biscuits, tic tacs, bottles of water with colour coded stickers on to make sure child no 2 keeps her germs to herself............oh, and I mustn't forget to pack my migraine........it always comes with me when I travel! I don't think it likes being left at home on its own.......

Friday evening: we made it!!!! No more sick!!!! Child no 2 is ok. I'm so pleased for her. Hang on, I'm feeling rough....oh, it's because its 7pm and I haven't eaten my tea yet.....quick order that food, I need it now!! I can't get a migraine!

Friday night: arggh, hotel said they could cater for 5 of us in a family room but there are only enough beds for 4........child no 3 is in bed with us, wriggling, and she wakes us all up at 3.45am shouting "I want to go in the other bed!!!!!". Everyone settles back, but migraine mum lies awake (again).....can't sleep....get to sleep....you don't want to get a migraine......did I pack the bridesmaid dresses?! what if I left them at home? Did my husband pack his trousers...I don't remember seeing them...I get up and start rustling through the bags to check....phew, ok, all is ok. Stress, don't stress, you may get a migraine........

Saturday morning: We wake up....child no 2 is fine and I have no migraine! wow! We have a lovely walk in the countryside with everyone. I get the children dressed (they look gorgeous!) we go to the wedding. Hang on I forgot to eat lunch!! whoops! Wedding is lovely....I'm starving...canapes, I need canapes.........oooh, a glass of champagne!! oh, go on then.......(what am I thinking?????)......

Saturday afternoon: the food is here!!!!!! ...I gulp it down.....water, I really need water.. smile, someone is taking a photo.........I start to wilt and conversation is getting harder, then a bit later child no 1 is in tears and says he feels awful......he has a raging temperature!! We leave the wedding and luckily I get a surge of adrenaline to help him.............

Saturday evening: back in hotel, all are asleep. My lovely husband sleeps with the wriggler (yawn) and.......I (yawn), fall asleep, (yawn), too, so.....tired!! I've put my body (yawn) through a lot today, sleep (yawn) will help.........and then, oh no...........

I wake up with a pounding head. I turn on my phone to see what time it is (12.45am) and the light shines so brightly I think I'm going to be sick!! quick, emergency triptan, emergency!!! I take it. Thank God for triptans........always pack the triptans..............



Monday 16 April 2012

Migraine Tool Kit part 2: pacing yourself

Migraine mum is easing herself back into life........

Cup of decaf tea in hand, warming myself into Monday morning and a new term. It's gloriously sunny out there...and even though I don't have a migraine, I feel as blue as the sky..........

Any chronic illness can lead to a negative impact on every aspect of your life. But I am learning (slowly) that it is vital to pace yourself, otherwise everything just gets worse.....

This is a hard thing to do: I love saying yes and I hate missing out. I love being with people but being with people drains me. I need space to rejuvenate myself. Sometimes I wonder if my body generates a migraine to force me into stopping and giving myself space......

But why do I plough on??  One of the reasons is that I don't want to be defined by this illness. Ironically if I only got one migraine every so often, I probably would allow myself to stop. But because I get them so regularly I feel it is a necessity for myself to carry on.......regardless of the impact on my physical and inner self.

I can do that for awhile but eventually I get caught out and the lows hit me hard. I know when they are coming because I start to view the world with criticism, anxiety and low confidence. Then, I end up using even more energy to cope.. and rather cleverly and predictably creating more lows and more migraines........anyone telling me this story would fill me with sympathy and I would say "you need a rest".....

Yesterday I listened to my own advice and took myself off for a rest. Then my children found me hiding in my bed!! My initial internal reaction was to think "oh no! I'm going to have to find the energy to be Jeremy or the child catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, or a sausage (sizzling not raw*)...........but they were sensitive and lovely, giving me kisses, cuddles and saying they loved me. The hope started to glow a little and it made me realize that although family life can drain me, it can also give me hope and prove to me that I am more than a migraine.

(If you suffer from migraine, take a rest today, do something that gives energy back to you. Promise yourself 30 minutes of space.)

* this was once a request by my youngest child. I was a sizzling sausage and she played the part of an egg (fried).







Saturday 7 April 2012

Dilemma: chocolate, friend or foe?

Specialist migraine detective reporting back to HQ........

It's nearly Easter and I'm looking forward to seeing if the Easter bunny brings me any chocolate! (milk chocolate please, if you are reading this Easter Bunny)

Officially, I can absolutely, completely stuff myself with Easter chocolate from midnight tonight.......I gave up chocolate for Lent, with slight ulterior motives I have to confess, as I wanted to see if it may be a trigger for some of the migraines I get......

Medically, the jury is still out......no chocolate this last 6 weeks yet I have had 25 days with headache and migraine.......

I know my sister is affected by caffeine, a friend of mine is convinced his migraines got better when he cut out tomatoes, and I'm wondering if I'm just plain thick!! Why can't I find a trigger that I can say, "if I just cut that out then I can reduce the mumber of migraines I get"?!

What I do know is I often crave sweet things just before my migraine comes. Research backs this up (at least I can have that certainty!) and adds that once you start to crave sweet things, your migraine is most likely on its ways already. As chocolate is the last thing you may eat before the pain of the migraine starts, you associate migraine with the chocolate.

Dilemma: What do I do tomorrow when my house will be full of Easter eggs. (No one will buy me any as I've stupidly told them it may be one of my migraine triggers) Will I sneakily eat some of my children's Easter Chocolate? 3 children = tons of Easter eggs..........they won't notice) (I hope) What if I get a migraine....won't I always be wondering that may be I caused that one myself?!

 So, to eat or not to eat that is the question. Well, yes.....no....oh may be....yes.....possibly....don't be silly I might get a migraine.......I probably will anyway....I might as well then....no that's just being wreckless...................ok, yes I will eat some chocolate, but with tons of guilt! Sorry children for nicking your chocolate and sorry brain for may be, just possibly but probably not causing a migraine!


Happy Migraine Free Easter to you all. x

Sunday 1 April 2012

Migraine Tool Kit Part 1.......a new approach to managing your migraines!

Migraine usually develops because of multiple triggers. Apparently, everyone has the potential for migraine. For some it takes 15 triggers, for others, like myself, it takes 2 or 3. This is known as your threshold for migraine. The tip for managing your migraines is, I've been told, common sense.......

My migraine head tells me that it's a little more complicated than that.........

Migraine mum prefers to think of herself as a specialist migraine detective.......who is always prepared for migraine and on the look out for possible triggers. This is accomplished by using the Migraine Tool Kit (patent pending):

Migraine Tool Kit Part 1:

Want to catch your migraine as early as possible? Then you need the specialist anti-migraine bag carried by all mums who suffer migraine. This contains:
  • domperidome (to help you absorb drugs), 4 doses of aspirin (soluble), 2 triptans and a cup (to dissolve aspirin in if out and about)
  • a bottle of water to keep hydrated
  • a pair of Mediview Migraine sunglasses (to be available all year round as it is not only the sunlight, but also articifial light in shops, low energy light bulbs, computer screens, flickering lights etc that can be a problem). 
  • a low GI snack (nuts, fruit etc) to keep blood sugar levels even. Eat every 3 hours.
Bearing in mind we are mums too...this bag will also contain a range of other miscellaneous objects......here is the contents of my bag.......

nappies, a babybel (melted), packets of raisins (out of date), tissues, used tissues, a tennis ball,
a sock, wipes, nappy sacks (one with sick in), a toy car with 3 wheels, lollipops, a book, an apple core, a pair of pants (not mine!) and a lock of hair from child no. 3.

Migraine tool kit part 2 to follow.............just off to clean my bag...........

Warning: cleaning out your bag may be a trigger for migraine. Be prepared!