What advice would you give your pre-migraine self?
Suffering from migraine disease is awful, but many of us had a life before migraine moved in! Looking back on those days can give us some pretty unique insights now. I would love to see what pearls of wisdom appear in this discussion.
Fantastic topic, Cheryl! I'm excited to see what people have to say. While I don't have migraine disease, I have loved ones who do, and if there is one lesson I've learned from them it's to enjoy every day to the fullest. Whether we are chronically ill or not, we have no idea what the future holds. Finding joy in each day and living without regret is so important! -Melissa, migraine.com team
That is an excellent piece of advice! Thanks for chiming in and making me smile 😀. Warmly, Cheryl migraine.com team
I know for me it's sometimes hard to remember life before migraine. If I were to go back I'd definitely take time to appreciate being able to attend events and follow through with plans. It is hard to keep plans sometimes at least for me and it's so frustrating when you have to cancel or postpone things. I always worry about people becoming upset with me or not wanting to make a plan to do something. I'm lucky to have a good support system of which most people understand when I do have to cancel/postpone something. This is definitely not always the case though! Before migraine I was very reliable and saw things through. When I look at myself now I just tell myself that you are doing the best you can and it's ok if plans need to be changed.
Warmly,
-Kim (Team Member), being kind to ourselves is certainly something I would impart to my pre-migraine self! Warmly, Cheryl migraine.com team
One of the biggest lessons I learned from Chronic Migraine is that it is okay to say NO. I have always been a people pleaser, even when migraine started taking over my life. I tried to keep up with my life and everything that everyone else needed/wanted all of the time until I simply could not anymore. I ended up crying on my kitchen floor because I was just too overwhelmed by it all. I wish I would have learned to tell people NO a lot sooner.
I have also learned to make tentative plans. This means that I always tell someone that I will try to do something, not that I will. This way if I have a migraine, I do not feel as bad for canceling. - Amanda W (team member), Thanks for sharing! That is great advice. It took Tom a long time to get to the point he is at now. He does just what you said: he says he will try to be at this or that. If he can make it, that's great, but if he can't, that's ok too because the expectation wasn't there. It also helps keep stress in check. Warmly, Cheryl migraine.com team
I wish I would have been more wise with caffeine. I honestly don't know what started triggering my migraines, but I do know that my first major headache lasted over two weeks when I was in college and tried to supplement a poor sleep routine with caffeine pills. Yikes! What a terrible decision that was. I am fairly sure I locked myself in a cycle of caffeine rebound headache and went to the ER for a round of IV treatments. It was my first headache for that long. I started Topamax for headaches, and it was under control, until a few years later I started having migraines. Not entirely sure if they're connected, but I wish I was more careful either way! - Cody (Team Member)
, having a list of our potential triggers at the start of our journey would have been great. Caffeine is one of those tricky items to try. For me, caffeine was helpful, along with Benadryl and Midrin, back in the day, but caffeine is a triggering item for some. I still will drink a Coke when I feel an attack coming! I keep my caffeine consumption in moderation. I'm glad Topamax helped you. It worked well for our youngest daughter as well. Thanks for adding your thoughts and experience. Warmly, Cheryl migraine.com team
