My Migraine Management Goals for the New Year
When I think of the start of a new year, I think of new beginnings, new possibilities, and new goals. Living with migraine since childhood, that often includes the possibilities of further reducing my risk of a migraine attack in the new year. Could you imagine an entire year free of migraine? That is worth a celebration.
We know that there is no cure for migraine… yet. Although I do like to remind myself how much research is going on every single day in labs around the world to help bring more relief to us.
How can I better manage migraine in the new year?
In the meantime, I see our best option as two-fold. Partner with a good neurologist or headache specialist who can guide us with a treatment plan; and play an active role in managing our health through diet and lifestyle. This combination helps to stack the odds in our favor of living with less pain and ideally more days participating and enjoying life.
So, this is what this will look like for me this year – or these are at least my intentions, and we’ll see what unfolds.
Goal #1
First, I have an appointment scheduled with a headache specialist in February. It was the first available appointment when I called the office in October. It’s an exceptionally long wait, but I feel this specialist is worth the wait. So, I accepted the appointment and asked to be placed on a cancelation list. I actually find that if I do follow up calls, I often can get in sooner, so we shall see.
Outside of meeting with this headache specialist, I’m focusing a lot of time and energy on what I can do through diet and lifestyle to reduce the frequency and intensity of migraine attacks. Even after all these years, I have yet to find something natural that stops an active migraine. But I have found diet and lifestyle to be exceptionally effective with prevention.
Goal #2
My highest priority is managing stress. Unmanaged stress can just wreck our health in so many ways and triggering a migraine attack is certainly top of the list.
Of course, it’s easier said than done – especially given the season of life that we’re in. This past year was an especially hard year for me for a lot of reasons, many of which were out of my control. And I had very little control on resolving them. That was a really hard place to be in. If something is wrong, I want to fix it, and when it’s not something that we can fix, that’s a really hard place to be in – especially for a longer period of time.
So, I’m fully aware that I can’t resolve every stressor in my life, I certainly can work on my response to it. And this is where my faith comes in for me. I especially like the serenity prayer for this very reason. I also use a lot of breathwork, and yoga stretches to keep my nervous system calm and release any physical tension that builds from the stress.
Goal #3
And that brings me to my next point. I want to do more physical movement this year. I actually enjoy exercise – well, I don’t always love it in the moment, but I do love the feeling afterwards. My body just feels lengthened, stronger and more resilient.
I’m completely open to what that exercise or physical activity will look like for me. It will fluctuate I’m sure throughout the course of the year. I like walking outside, pilates, barre, yoga and light strength training. Any combination of these exercises to whatever my tolerance is in that season would be great.
Can I reduce and ease my attacks?
In short, this new year, I want to best position myself to get fewer and less debilitating migraine attacks. I’ve come a long way since when I first started getting them as a child, but I don’t ever want to take focus off this effort. So, I’m focusing on meeting with my new headache specialist, managing stress and moving my body.
I’m curious do you set health goals? If so, please share them in the comments below. I’d love to support you and cheer you on.
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