On Sunday night before psbloggerschat was about to start I decided to do some tidying in the living room. I was only doing it for about 15 minutes but it involved lots of bending over, as I was going through the storage baskets I have under our coffee table.
I sat back down at about 8.57 and realised I felt like I was going to vomit. A migraine was starting.
ACTION STATIONS!
They happen so frequently that hubby and I have got things down pat. Here's what I do when a migraine sets in.
- Immediately stop whatever I'm doing and close my eyes.
- I lay down on the sofa while hubs turns the lights off and turns down the volume on the tv/computer.
- Hubby gets me a cold damp flannel or a few damp sheets of kitchen towel to lay over my eyes, and something light in weight, but dark - like a black t-shirt - to block out all light/flickering in the room.
- Then he gets me a blanket because I get feverish with migraines. Although I start off sweating when the migraine is starting, soon enough I'll be freezing cold.
- If I feel really nauseous, he puts a bowl under my chin.
- Do nothing until the nausea abates. Not a bloody thing. No matter how long it takes. If I have to go to the loo at any time before the migraine has abated I keep my eyes closed and covered and feel my way to the loo slowly.
- When the nausea has mostly gone, I remove the cover from my eyes and slowly get used to whatever dim light is in the room. If it makes me feel sick again I lay back down and cover my eyes again.
- When I start to feel better, I remain laying down and let my eyes acclimatise for 5 minutes before I even try to sit up.
- Sit up slowly, sip some water but don't do anything strenuous to bring the migraine back on.
- I often find myself ravenously hungry after a migraine, because my body has used up so much energy from the pain of it. I eat something simple like some toast.
- Sleep as soon as possible.
Whatever I do, I listen to my body and rest. Once a migraine starts, being brave and pushing through it will leave you in a whole world of pain. Once I thought I'd be brave and do yoga at the start of a migraine. You can imagine where that left me....not in a good place! I was in bed with a sick bowl under my chin for the best part of the 3 following days. I think I slept for 18 hours out of the first 24. It was not pretty. Now I listen to my body.
It took 2 hours on Sunday night for me to feel less pukey. Soon after I'd started to feel a bit better I had something to eat, then I went to bed as I didn't want to take any chances. I was still feeling pretty ropey and didn't fancy going back to point A and starting all over again.
I take a tablet every night called Pizotifen to prevent migraines as much as possible. Before I was taking Pizotifen I was having migraines 3-4 days a week. They were affecting my vision and my balance. Although Pizotifen reduces the amount of migraines I have greatly, I still have to be very careful. No one would imagine that doing a bit of tidying would set off a migraine, but that's my reality. I have to treat myself like I'm made of bone china and full of cracks - one little knock and I start to fall to bits! ;)
Do you suffer with migraines? What are your survival tips?
Thanks for reading.
No comments