How Parenting Affects My Migraine Medication Choices

By Lisa Robin Benson

1 min read

Living with migraine disease and caring for kid(s) can seem like it's impossible sometimes. In this video, migraine advocate Lisa Benson talks about how being a parent of a young child influences how she treats her migraine attacks. She discusses why she takes a lower dose of some medications, how soon she treats her migraine attacks, and the alternative therapies she's tried and why. We hope some of what she's learned is helpful to you. Feel free to share what has worked for your specific situation!

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Alene L. Brennan, RYT Moderator & Contributor
Thanks for this incredibly helpful video Lisa. I appreciate learning from you. I'm curious about the arm band that you mentioned in the video. Can you share the name of it and what you find it to be most helpful in addressing? For example does it help with the migraines that you mentioned are tension related? - Alene, moderator 
1. Lisa Robin Benson Moderator & Contributor
 Hi Alene, Sure! It's called the Nerivio and it does help with my tension related migraine attacks as well as pretty much any kind of attack I get. -Lisa <inline-mention username="Alene L. Brennan, RYT" user-id="3663804"/> 
2. Alene L. Brennan, RYT Moderator & Contributor
 Thanks, I just checked out their website and I think I'm going to order one today! Thanks for sharing your experience with it, especially on this video: https://migraine.com/video/my-experience-with-nerivio Best Alene, moderator
betta Member
Hi Lisa and thanks for sharing your experience. I live in Italy and I'm a mother of three kids from 7 to 15. After many years of suffering with migraine and medications I had a huge improvement (from 15-16 monthly attacks to 3) by combining diet and meditation. I was going in drug intoxication and with Cheto diet I stopped the process. Then I started a Mindfulness and CBT training. As a parent I think that taking 10 minutes daily just for me, and stop overthinking is crucial for reducing migraine. If you have questions I'll be happy to answer. But as you also demonstrated, the only way we have to face migraine is to know ourselves and find our way to live with this disease.
1. Rebecca C Moderator
 Hello <inline-mention username="betta" user-id="3730400"/> - You've shared a valuable perspective on managing migraines. Indeed, understanding oneself and finding personalized strategies to live with the challenges of migraines can be a crucial aspect of coping on a daily or monthly basis with your health. Every individual's experience with migraines is unique, and identifying triggers, recognizing early signs, and establishing effective coping mechanisms are essential steps. This might involve lifestyle adjustments, stress management techniques, and working closely with healthcare professionals to explore suitable treatments. So glad that you've gotten quite a bit of relief from migraine pain. Wishing you the best in 2024. Rebecca (community moderator)
2. Cody Leach Community Admin
 Thanks for taking the time to share your experience <inline-mention username="betta" user-id="3730400"/>. It sounds like you truly took control of your health by seeking out additional training in mindfulness and CBT. I have no doubt your post will help raise awareness of these great tools 😀. Best, - Cody (Team Member)
Alene L. Brennan, RYT Moderator & Contributor
<inline-mention username="betta" user-id="3730400"/> thanks for sharing your experience here. It sounds like you have quite a full household and I imagine that has been challenging over the years in managing migraine. Thank you so much for sharing your experience in getting relief through dietary changes and meditation. It's a really empowering thought to know that we can influence our health by changing the food on our plate and better managing stress. I especially like your mention of the mindfulness practice being only 10 minutes. That feels approachable and realistic. Diet and stress management have played a big role in me managing migraine as well. I find a big connection between diet and migraine. If nothing else, it helps to reduce the frequency and intensity of the migraine attacks. I've also completed the MBSR (Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction program) years ago and while I don't follow their daily meditation plan which is two 40 minutes a day, I follow a plan more similar to yours in that I like something closer to 10 minutes daily, I find that's something that I can be much more consistent with. I'm sure your kids are benefiting from your changes as well. They're seeing you take steps to support your health and that's a beautiful lesson for them to learn. Thanks again for sharing your story and experience! Best Alene, moderator