MHAM Blog Challenge Day 3: The Hunger Games

What healthy habits have you adopted to put the odds of better M & H Disorders management in your favor?

I’ve made a few diet and lifestyle changes over the past couple years to help in my battle against chronic headaches. I’ve noticed a few things that have seemed to help:

• Less Sodium. I’ve definitely cut back on my chip and fast food portions, which has meant giving up some of my favorites (Jalepeno Cheddar kettle chips), but the pros easily outweigh the cons.
• More Fruits and Veggies. I’m not much of a fruit or veggie eater, so eating healthier and getting my necessary daily servings has been difficult. Fortunately, there are alternatives like Naked smoothies that make consuming all the nutrition I need a little easier.
• No Smoking. This is a big one, for a multitude of reasons. I don’t think I really need to explain why.
• Less Stress. While I can’t always control the amount of stress in my life, I can control how I let it affect me and how to relax and handle situations. I’ve been working more on letting stressful situations slide off my shoulders, and breathing deeply to get through.

These are just a few of the things I’ve tried. What lifestyle changes have you made in order to combat pain?

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June, Migraine and Headache Awareness Month, is dedicated to Unmasking the Mystery of Chronic Headache Disorders. The Migraine and Headache Awareness Month Blog Challenge is issued by FightingHeadacheDisorders.com.

On the Rebound

Not like that!

I know a lot of my headaches nowadays are caused by OTC medication overuse, and that this could be a theoretically "easy" fix. All I have to do is stop taking them for a few days... and feel the wrath of my brain in response.

In the same breath, I know this is becoming very taxing on my body, and I need to get it under control before it gets any worse. So, I've been looking at a few articles that may be able to help me:

In a nutshell, here are a few things I'm going to try over the next couple weeks:

• Hydrate! I used to be really good about this, but not so much lately.
• Take something else if absolutely dire. I'll be switching to ibuprofen (and in severe cases, Imitrex) when need-be. Anything to get me away from taking so much Excedrin (acetomenaphin-based)!
• Don't give in! I know my body likes the caffeine in Excedrin, which is why it responds to it better than other drugs. If that means drinking my coffee first thing instead of second thing in morning, that's fine! I can handle that :)

Teri Robert also has a great answer to rebound headaches here.

Let me know what you've tried, or what suggestions you might have!

Mind Over Matter

This article discusses not only a few alternative ways to battle pain, but also cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT). CBT is all about thinking of pain "neutrally," rather than thinking "this is going to keep me down for the day" or "why me?". If you can train your brain to react to pain as neutrally as possible, it will be less likely to overreact to pain in the future, leaving you with more manageable pain.

http://www.webmd.com/pain-management/features/when-pain-medications-not-working

Thinking neutrally about oncoming headaches and migraines (particularly headaches) is really something I should work on. I always get a very pessimistic attitude about headaches, take medication, and then get upset that the medication isn't working. Overpowering the pain with my own mind would be a great way to get the meds out of my system, which is an ultimate goal of mine.

Have you ever tried something like CBT? Has it worked for you?

Transformed Migraine

Somewhere along the line I stumbled upon this article, which talks about a type of migraine that describes exactly what I've been going through over the past few years.

"Transformed Migraine" begins as episodic migraine attacks, which eventually become less frequent and intense, and eventually turn into daily or almost daily headaches. These headaches sometimes become migraine attacks, or are interrupted by migraine attacks. These headaches are often time tension-related (bingo), and often a result of medication overuse.

None of this article was really news to me; it's just nice to know that I can't be the only person going through these issues, since someone was writing an article on it. Now I just need to find a support group for people who need help stopping medication overuse.

Road Trips

I often find myself getting a headache after I've been driving for a couple hours or so, which is sad because I love driving and road trips. I'm not really sure why this is, but I have a couple ideas.

I'm far-sighted, and not very much so, so I only have reading glasses that I usually only use at night. When I try wearing them while walking or driving, I get a little dizzy and get some motion sickness. It's hard for my eyes to process things that are far away while I'm moving and wearing my glasses, which inevitably gives me a headache. But maybe my eyes just have a hard time adjusting to the constant objects moving while driving?

I've also noticed that my head slightly tilts forward when pointed forward for a long period of time, like when I'm at my computer, watching tv, or driving. After a while, this creates a kink in my neck, which can become a tension headache. But I don't always notice the kink before the headache, so I'm not sure if that's what's causing these headaches either.

It's hard to say. It could be a combination of these two issues or something else entirely. Either way, it makes the drive home to Iowa a little tough, and hard to enjoy my first nights back home.

If you've got any suggestions or ideas, I'd love to hear them! :)

Bad Habits

Wake up, feel a small headache, take some Excedrin. Eat a Little Debbie Fudge Round for breakfast. Then wonder why I have headaches...

I know a lot of my brain pain issues circle around my bad eating and medication habits, but they're such hard habits to break!