Mapping Out Headaches

I've noticed an increase in some of my headache and migraine issues since moving to New York (which is a big factor in deciding whether or not I will want to stay come the end of August). Which makes me wonder, has research ever been done to see if people living in certain areas of the world are more prone to headaches and migraine than others? If that were true, why might that be?

I can imagine the increase for me has been caused by the stress inducers that come naturally in a big city like NYC. Not to mention all the smells: garbage, urine and sewage, body odor, and who knows what else. It's also been a more stressful time of my life as I'm coming to some major decision-making moments.

Have you ever noticed a change in your headache / migraine patterns based on where you live or have traveled?

Those Damn Triggers

One of the most frustrating things for headache and migraine sufferers everywhere has got to be triggers.

It can take years for one to figure out just what seems to be causing the problem, and just like that, triggers can change.

Or, a trigger that hasn't been present for a while may have subtly re-introduced itself to the equation again, without even being realized.

Or, there can be too many triggers all at once, and it's hard to pinpoint which is the most problematic and needs to be addressed first. This is the problem for me right now.

Having just moved to NYC from calm and laid-back Iowa / Minnesota, lots of things in my routine have changed. Now I seem to be back to the grind with headaches I can't quite get the hang of again.

For instance, yesterday I fought the early signs of a headache all afternoon, and finally had to take something in the evening when it got problematic enough. There are sooo many things that could have been a factor - heat, poor diet, caffeine, MOH, bad posture, not seeing a chiro regularly, not using my glasses regularly, not wearing my jaw splint at night - and I'm struggling with which one to tackle first.

Some of them are relatively easy: Wearing my jaw splint and glasses when I should, fixing my diet some, and watching caffeine intake are all pretty easy to remedy. But it's hard to battle the heat when you're trying to conserve energy and difficult to find a chiropractor in a city where you have so many options to choose from.

But we just keep swimming anyway, am I right?

What are some triggers you've been battling this hot and sticky summer?

Heat is Hard

Summertime is supposed to be fun. Long days at the beach or lake, booze-filled Saturdays with nothing else to do, and campfires with fun, terrible-for-you foods. Or sometimes, a combination of all three of those things in the same day.

But it's hard to have fun doing those things when the heat affects you so severely and quickly. I can never seem to enjoy myself in the hottest parts of the day for more than an hour or two, and alcohol isn't even really an option in the summertime. Campfires, though, I can get into :)

I just feel like I have a constant dull headache all the time, which usually gets worse before I go to bed and stays that way through the morning. Some days are better than others, but it's especially hard when I'm not living someplace with central A/C (one of NYC's summertime downsides, along with all the putrid smells).

I spend a lot of time pressing a damp cloth or ice pack to my face to relieve some of the discomfort. I also move our portable A/C around the house with me, which can be a big hassle.

How does the heat affect you? What do you do to battle it?

Getting Out of the Kitchen

So much for the blog challenge, eh?

I dumped nail polish remover all over my keyboard early last week and destroyed it, so finishing up the challenge I was already not doing so well at became difficult. Oh well, maybe next year... Though, I'm happy to hear that our efforts are finally starting to make an impact.

It's that time of year again where it becomes difficult to escape the heat, especially without central air conditioning. Fortunately, for whatever strange reason this year, despite the heat my traditional heat-induced headaches and migraines haven't been nearly as frequent or severe. I wonder what that's all about.

But they're not gone completely. On really bad days where it's not only hot but I also have to run around outside all day, it can get bad. It's like I wake up with it, take some OTCs along with a cool shower, and it tapers off for a while. Then I get back out in the heat and it gradually comes back. By the end of the day, I go to bed feeling about the same as I did when I woke up.

Whatever the case, it's a work in progress that's slowly getting better. What do you do to escape the heat and the headaches that can come with them?

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.

MHAM Blog Challenge Day 1: Phantom of the Opera

What do you hide behind your Migraine / Headache Disorders mask? What do you let people see?

There’s not much I can hide about chronic headaches, especially since I’ve been blogging about them.

I would say I’ve got it pretty good after reading the blogs of some fellow migraine and headache sufferers. My headaches, though frequent and regular, are mostly still manageable with OTC pain relievers (though I fear for my liver and kidneys more than anything). I try to be discreet when I’m taking pain relievers on a regular basis because I don’t want others to worry (or ask).

I try not to show when I’m experiencing a headache or migraine pain, but it doesn’t always work out that way. I don’t want others to worry or fret, and sometimes it’s easier to just keep it to myself. Sometimes, disregarding the pain makes it easier to keep a positive attitude, which generally makes everything go a little more smoothly.

I try not to show the frustrations I sometimes feel when avoiding migraine triggers, like alcohol and parties. It’s hard to be a twenty-something who can’t join her friends at a party without the risk of major head pain, and sometimes feel left out because of that (although to no fault of my friends).

But there are times now and then when the pain and frustrations are too much to handle on my own, and just a little bit of sympathy and cooing make me feel better. These times are always especially bad or long, and are the times when I’m willing to open up and admit I need a little help.

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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.

Update on the Sobfest

I forgot to mention: I went out drinking last weekend! And it was wonderful! For like, two hours.

But I've decided that my alcohol-induced migraines are partly situational. For instance, when I go out for a drink or two with a friend in one of the more casual (quieter) places in town, I don't notice having a problem. On the other hand, if I go out for a drink or two at a club or crowded bar, I seem to be more apt to notice a headache come on by the end of the night (some worse than others).

So, the alcohol-induced headaches seem to be aggravated / instigated by too much noise and activity. It's not really entirely what I wanted to find out, but it's a step in the right direction.

See the original sobfest here (I was especially whiny that night).

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!

Headache Diaries

Since I'm going back to the drawing board, I'm realizing I need to keep a consistent headache diary to help me figure out what the heck is going on.

Knowing I have a tendency to forget to take my diary with me when it's in notebook form, I first looked at apps for my phone.

I lost interest pretty quickly, but the one I did actually look into (Headache Diary Lite) kind of sucks. When inputting the info for a new headache, it asks for specifics like time, type, duration and severity, which is great. But then it asks what the root cause was, and gives options like alcohol, allergies, menstruation, etc., to choose from. Isn't the point of a headache diary to track pretty much everything you do in a day to figure out what might be causing them? If I already knew what the root cause was, I wouldn't be needing a diary in the first place!

So, I'm sticking with old school pen and paper diaries, and so far being much more diligent about it than I have in the past. So far, each entry goes a little something like this:

• What all did I eat today (preferably in order)?
• Did I wear my splint (mouthguard) last night?
• How many hours of sleep did I get?
• How many ounces of water did I drink today?
• Did I work today? For how long?
• Did I get a headache / migraine? When, how severe was it, and what did I take?
• What other things did I do out of the ordinary today?

The headaches I generally wake up with haven't been the same these past few days, so I haven't noticed any patterns yet, but I'm sure I will soon.

The other great thing about keeping a list of everything I've eaten is that I'm now very aware of all the crap I put in my body everyday, and can start motivating myself a little easier to eat better. It's making shedding that pesky winter weight much easier!

Do you keep a headache diary? What kinds of things do you include in your entries?

April Headache / Migraine Blog Carnival

I wish I would have learned about this sooner - it's a great little themed digest of featured blogs on Somebody Heal Me. This month's theme is all about unexpected blessings that can come when living with chronic migraines and headache disorders. Check out April's carnival here. I definitely recommend these readings!

Nightly Experiment, Day 3

I'm proud of myself.

Over the first half of vacation, I had headache issues, which I attribute to minor jet lag, weird sleep patterns, and adjusting to a new environment.

But, by Day 3 or 4 of vacay, I felt awesome. Even my hair was enjoying the humidity. I was even able to go two whole days without taking any sort of pain reliever - that's a record!

I did end up taking a couple Excedrin TH this morning, but knowing I could go pain-free for a couple days has been a confidence booster. Maybe this will be the boost I need in the right direction.

Hangovers

"Hangovers" are a big reason why I don't drink very often, although I don't think what you could call what I suffer from a hangover. If I drink a couple drinks over too short of a time, I wake up with debilitating migraines; if I drink too much over the span of the evening, I wake up with debilitating migraines and vomiting all day. Sometimes I get a migraine just within an hour of the first sip. I've always assumed this has something to do with my liver, and that it may be damaged after years of medication usage. But maybe my body has just learned to react to alcohol this way as I get older.

Then again, maybe I'm just not doing it right. This slideshow says I'm not the only one who may be unsafe when drinking, and maybe it's just all about hydrating better, and that's been my problem all along.

I'd like to be able to drink occasionally without the fear of feeling like death in the morning, and I'd like to go to a going-away party for a co-worker tomorrow. Maybe food before hand and more water is all it will take.

What are your hangover tricks? After looking at the slideshow, have you found if they're a safe and effective remedy all?

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.

Saturday Night Sobfest

I miss drinking. Really. I do.

Mostly I just miss the social aspect of it, and at least being able to be buzzed enough to tolerate everyone else's drunkenness.

I never used to have an issue drinking. I never noticed a headache forming within an hour of the first sip, or being deathly ill the next day. Those issues either weren't happening, or I was just a lot better at ignoring them.

But now, thanks to something I can't quite put my finger on (liver, kidneys, brain, who knows), alcohol has become the bane of my existence. It's very hit or miss, but often times within an hour of the first sip, my head will be throbbing and it will be time to go home. If I happen to get carried away (which doesn't happen anymore), I put a bucket next to my bed and don't move for at least a day. Not healthy or worthwhile, so I just don't do it.

It's hard to keep coming up with excuses when people ask me to go out with them. "I have to work in the morning" or "Sorry I have a date with my computer screen" don't work forever. And then people feel dejected and don't invite me out anymore.

When on the rare occasion I do decide to go out, I'm bored and stuck babysitting, and saying "I'll get a migraine" doesn't seem to justify why I'm not drinking. "Excuses, excuses. Don't be such a baby."

This is whiny and pathetic, I know. But it's hard to admit that headaches and migraine take a huge toll on my social life, especially in a college town, with so many peers that are primarily my age. I know I have bigger things in life ahead of me, with people who will share more of my interests, but that doesn't help that fact that I'm sitting home alone now.

On a positive note: Drunk people are often annoying, so at least I know I'm not annoying :)

How has migraine or chronic illness affected your social life?

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! :)

Binaural Beats

I think I tried binaural beats to battle a headache / oncoming migraine once through an app I had on my Kindle. Maybe I didn't give it enough time, and lost my patience and took medicine too soon.

From what I think I understand from Wikipedia, one beat of a certain frequency is played in one ear, and one beat of a slightly different frequency is played in the other ear. In summary, these frequencies can entrain certain brainwaves, which can help with meditation, pain control, creativity, etc.

This website explains binaural beats in a much more understandable way:

"When two tones of specific frequencies are played through headphones, the brain can become confused and produce its own, imagined tone—a three-dimensional audio hallucination heard only within the head of the listener. The frequencies that produce this phenomenon are known as Binaural Beats. 

What is happening is that the brain is not used to hearing frequencies in each ear so close together and with such intensity—these sounds do not occur in nature and so a mechanism in our brains has not evolved to understand them. Instead, the superior olivary nucleus, the area of the brain which controls aspects of three-dimensional sound perception, bridges the difference between the varying frequencies in Binaural Beats with a common “third tone” in an attempt to normalize this audio into something we can understand. What’s weirder is that each person hears the “third tone” differently: People with Parkinson’s disease can’t hear it at all; women will hear different tones as they move through their menstrual cycle."

WEIRD.

So it makes a lot of sense that I didn't notice anything funky without listening through headphones, I'll have to try that next time.

Have you ever tried binaural beats to combat brain pain, or something else? Did they work for you?

Beats intended to provide pain relief:

Beats for meditation / astral projection / lucid dreaming:

Coughing and Headaches

I've finally caught a version of the crud that seems to be going around this town. I didn't think it would be so bad at first, but the constant dry coughing I went through yesterday eventually gave me a headache. Which turned into a migraine. Which stayed with me through the night, eventually making me take an Imitrex. I've still been coughing today, but it hasn't been quite as intense or frequent, and the headache has been kept at bay.

What are some ways to prevent coughing and the headaches that can come with it? When you go to sleep with a migraine, do you wake up with it the next day?

Aromatherapy

I've never tried aromatherapy as a pain reliever; I've always assumed it would take too long, or is too inconvenient to be effective. But after doing a little research, I've realized I'm dead wrong. You should always try something once!

Shamefully, I'd always assumed essential oils could only be used in aromatherapy by using the tools necessary to heat the oil and scent the air. I was way wrong:

Today, essential oils are extracted from the plants used for aromatherapy, making them very concentrated. The two basic ways aromatherapy is accomplished is by applying the oils to the skin and by inhalation. The term "aromatherapy" can be a bit misleading because it's not only the aroma that is therapeutic. The oils also interact with body chemistry directly, thus affecting certain systems and organs. You can demonstrate this yourself by rubbing garlic on the soles of your feet. After awhile, the garlic aroma will be evident on your breath.  (http://headaches.about.com/cs/alternative/l/aa_aromatherapy.htm)

What? That's pretty cool.

Now I'm most interested in finding "recipes" that can be used topically to soothe and relieve pain. Here are a few blends I've found:

• Blend #1: 8 Drops Lavender Oil, 4 Drops Roman Chamomile, 1 oz. Carrier Oil
• Blend #2: 4 Drops Spearmint Essential Oil, 4 Drops Eucalyptus Essential Oil, 1 oz. Carrier Oil
• Blend #3: 4 Drops Helichrysum Essential Oil, 8 Drops Roman Chamomile, 1 oz. Carrier Oil
• Blend #4: 4 Drops Spearmint Essential Oil, 8 Drops Lavender Essential Oil, 1 oz. Carrier Oil       (http://www.aromaweb.com/articles/aromatherapy-essential-oils-for-headaches.asp)

The article also recommends that despite how strong your headache may be or feel, essential oils are incredibly powerful, and less is more.

Another great benefit of aromatherapy is that the side effects of essential oils are less intense and frequent than those of otc and prescription pain relievers, when used as recommended.

What about you? Have you tried aromatherapy in any way? Has it worked? What blends or recipes have you tried? We're anxious to know! :)

You

Now that my story is over, I'm curious about you.

What do you do to ease the pain? What have you tried - what's worked and what hasn't?

With so many different resources to turn to like books, webpages, and YouTube, what do you turn to? What do you find credible vs. crazy?

I'm really excited to learn about you and what works for you. What's your story? Tell us about it!