• A woman holding her head with a mask on her face
    Alternative Therapies,  Anxiety,  Chronic Migraine,  Episodic Migraine,  Migraine,  Mindfulness,  The Treatment Pie,  Vestibular Migraine

    Managing Stress and Migraine Attacks During COVID-19

    April 10, 2020

    What a difficult few weeks it has been. It’s hard enough to manage migraine disease during normal life, but adding in quarantines, worrying about the health of family and friends, and having to disinfect every little thing that comes into our house is just so incredibly difficult. For me, staying at home isn’t much of a change. I work from home and most of my job is already done online or in the kitchen. But even I am getting restless not being able to see my friends and especially my mom and dad. Overall I hadn’t had many challenges adjusting, except for having to cut back massively on my grocery…

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  • A girl with her hands over her head looking at the sky
    Anxiety,  Chronic Migraine,  Gratitude,  Migraine,  Vestibular Migraine

    A Lesson in Letting Go with Chronic Illness

    January 30, 2020

    Having to deal with any illness for more than 2 weeks at a time can be such a beat down, much less chronic illness. Look at how many people complain when they have a cold that lasts longer than a week. When it starts extending months into years, it’s incredibly defeating.  I know it may sometimes come off like I have the answers for everything, but really half the time I’m writing posts to prove to myself that these things can be done. Today’s post is exactly that. I’ve been totally lost in health issues that I can’t control exactly two times in my life, and both happened within just…

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  • woman sitting by couch having negative feeling at the holidays
    Anxiety,  Holiday,  Migraine

    Overcoming Negative Feelings While Living With A Chronic Illness 

    December 19, 2019

    Migraine is a liar who makes us harbor negative feelings about ourselves. Chronic illness tends to become the major focus of our lives and therefore we become so much more inwardly focused. Everyone is insecure about something, but having a chronic illness makes us insecure about our basic selves. It skews our perception of ourselves. We feel that we are not measuring up to our own expectations and therefore we cannot be good enough in the eyes of others. The worse we feel about ourselves, the  more we feel that others must feel the same about us. I often hear that we are our own worst critics. It cannot be more true…

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  • a sign that says difficult roads lead to beautiful destinations with a plant
    Anxiety,  Migraine,  Mindfulness,  The Treatment Pie

    The Benefits of Therapy for Migraine

    October 31, 2019

    I used to be one of those people who thought therapy was only for people who had gone through something really traumatic. Something from their past, maybe a death in the family, but not just for a “normal person” like myself…whatever that means. Now I realize what an important tool it is for everyday life, especially when managing a chronic illness like migraine.  For many of us, our worlds are turned upside down by terrifying symptoms like vertigo just appearing out of nowhere one day. For others, we’ve been beaten down by years of dealing with pain, canceled plans, and special accommodations for our diet, travel arrangements, and workplace that…

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  • Sunglasses with light and sound sensitivity to manage
    Anxiety,  Medication,  Migraine

    How to Manage Light and Sound Sensitivity with Migraine

    October 24, 2019

    Light and sound sensitivity with migraine have plagued me for years and I have had to learn to manage both conditions during attacks and in between. This is not an uncommon problem to have. While approximately 85% of people with migraine report sensitivity to light during an attack and about 80% sensitivity to sound (Harriet & Schedt, 2014), almost the same percentages report the same sensitivities in between attacks. The migraine population is coping with migraine symptoms, sometimes on a daily basis. Managing At Home To manage light and sound sensitivity during a migraine attack at home is fairly straightforward. I will typically take my migraine cocktail. A triptan would…

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  • a picture of Progressive Field in blog talking about fear of migraine attack
    Anxiety,  Migraine

    Does Fear of a Migraine Attack Hold You Back?

    September 12, 2019

    Does fear of a migraine attack hold you back from making plans or doing things you love? Do you have a doubt monster that lives inside your head? One that ticks off the reasons why we can’t go…wherever? I know exactly how this feels.  Migraine has been my near constant companion for most of my life. Even on the days that I don’t have what I call an ‘active attack’, I have reminders that she’s around. Things like tinnitus, aural fullness, unexpected dizziness, stabbing pains out of nowhere and random light sensitivity. Most days, these symptoms are in the background and I don’t notice them like I used to. If…

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  • a satellite photo of a hurricane, a major migraine trigger
    Anxiety,  Migraine,  The Bucket Theory,  Wine

    Migraine Attack Free While Being Stalked by a Hurricane

    September 5, 2019

    A Turtle Named Dorian Staying migraine attack free while fighting off stress and a hurricane is tough. A fellow Floridian posted a funny meme while Florida waited for news about hurricane Dorian. Something to the effect of waiting on hurricanes was like being stalked by a turtle. We all felt like we were being stalked by a turtle that would likely be a very serious threat to life and property in the coming days.  However, this stress is very different than the colossal stress I have had over the past few months.  The Stress Is Real Just to name a few stressful things I have dealt with – we decided…

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  • woman meditating on dock with migraine & anxiety
    Anxiety,  Migraine

    Migraine and Anxiety: Tips to Stop Feeling Anxious Now

    August 29, 2019

    As I sit down to write this, I am experiencing a little migraine and anxiety myself. Over the last few weeks I’ve been feeling vertigo spins just before I wake up in the morning nearly every day.  I’ve also felt pressure changes and wisps of wind going through my right ear.  These are not normal VM symptoms for me. It occurred to me this morning that these are the exact symptoms I was experiencing just before my first vestibular migraine attack that left me housebound for months leaving me worrying that another big event is coming. I’m not sure I’ll ever get over the fear of ending up as bad…

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