Stress, Relax, Migraine
I was 21, in my 1st apt in Ft Lauderdale. My neighbor’s friend was flying in from Massachusetts and I told her I d make dinner since she only had an efficiency apt. I made a homemade quiche Lorraine, a salad with a fresh herb dressing and had a bottle of white wine chilling in the refrigerator. Everything was perfect.
by the time they arrived, I had a headache so bad, I told them to go ahead and eat, grabbed an afghan off of the loveseat and curled up in a fetal position on the floor.
Fortunately (for me) her friend had a tooth pulled 3 days before and still had pain meds left. I only took half of one since I didn’t know how I d react to it. I d probably still be laying on the floor 40+years without that 1/2 pill
I’ve noticed that I can handle stressful situations fine, but once the crisis is over and I start to relax, the migraine will hit.
Oh my gosh, what a terrible situation to find yourself in with almost no warning. I'm glad you were able to get some pain management in the midst of all that. Was it a long time ago? How are you doing now?
That "post-crisis" migraine you talked about is a well-known phenomenon called letdown migraine ... some people get migraines every weekend or on vacation because of this. Here's an article about it:
https://migraine.com/living-migraine/navigating-let-down-migraine
Thanks for sharing! -Melissa, team memberI was 21 and I’m 69 now so yea it was a minute ago. 😁 same thing happens tho.
My husband would get notification for a transfer (AT&T) and had to be in the new position in 21 days. Which meant I had to find a new place to live, school and daycare for our kids, arrange for a move and pack, quit my job and try to find a new one in the new location. Did that 3 times. Each time I had a migraine that lasted for days on end the movers left.
When they tried to transfer him a 4th time (we were in a house by then) I told him to take the retirement package or he d be going by himself cuz I was done. (By this point I was seeing a neurologist for the migraines because I had one that lasted 2 weeks between the headache itself and the otc meds rebound) The emotional upheaval on our daughters had been tremendous and I just wasn’t going to do it anymore.
Neurologist told me I d love menopause because the migraines would decrease and he was right! Still get them but it’s either because I missed my coffee the day before or a weather front is moving in quickly.Hi
- thanks so much for sharing your story. What an adventure (and pain in the butt) it must have been to move so many times with such short notice. I can absolutely understand why you felt it was necessary to put your foot down as the fourth move was looming. It's also great to hear that your migraines have started to decrease. I hope that they continue to improve for you! - Cody (Team Member) That's definitely a heavy weight to carry. My husband's father was in the military, and so they also moved all over the world. In their case, he ended up retiring with chronic migraine. But it really does affect everyone and good for you to acknowledge when you had surpassed your limit.
I'm so glad to hear you found relief in menopause! That does happen for a lot of women, but not all, so that is a real gift. I'm just curious, did you also see a change in your symptoms if/when you were pregnant? I have heard that a woman's migraine experience in pregnancy can give some clues to how she'll fare in menopause. Wondering if that's the case for you, too. Wishing you many more good days ahead! -Melissa, team member
