Migraines 2015

Me, once the worst was over... Big throbbing veins either side of forehead still evident

So this week was FUN. I say 'FUN', I mean 'STAB ME IN THE HEAD IT WOULD BE LESS PAINFUL'.

I posted previously about migraines last year, after a particularly nasty spell took me away from the blog for days.

This week my vile, throbbing,head was mixed with a flare-up of IBS, something that Jane from BBB suggested may in fact be stomach migraines (I'm looking into that). WHO knew that was even a THING? 

Anyway, whilst I'm now on Day 4 of the fading symptoms/hangover I thought I'd update the little list of things that have helped me... and as always, please leave your suggestions below for fellow sufferers. Migraines were a gift to me after I had my first child, previous to birthing out the sproglets, I never had so much as a flutter of a headache. Swines. 

What helped?

• Warm showers. Letting the heat gently pound the back of my neck while standing in the dark bathroom was strangely soothing.
• Bananas - as always. You really need to eat when you take things like Sumitriptan (well I do anyway), and bananas also give you a potassium shot. I know they are not the highest potassium-containing foodstuff, but when you can barely move you're not about to cook up a sweet potato/bean/spinach casserole. People who try and preach to migraine sufferers that there are foods with higher potassium levels than bananas are missing the point of what being incapacitated by your throbbing, stabbing head actually means. *digresses, goes back to post*
• Water - tons and tons of water. Sparkling for me, normal water makes me more nauseous when the head is killing.
• Magnesium supplements - to ease the throbbing and relax the muscles - and the brain ache!
• Ubiquinol - I mentioned this in my January pillbox post and hadn't taken it for a few days - as most people say CoQ10 helps, this could also have been a factor... *never goes without again*
• The Dark - obvs.
• And.....

these gems. Or should I say 'Chewing' - and then say these gems...

I bought these Bounce balls a couple of weeks ago to snack on during those days when I'm running around and don't want to resort to grabbing rubbish on the go.

I hid them* from my older boys (the weight-lifting, body-building, food-hoovering duo) under my bed and completely forgot about them. This week, during the flare-up, I dropped my pillbox on the floor and whilst scrambling around in the dark and swearing like a navvy I found them!

Turns out these things are a GODsend. The chewing works wonders (who KNEW?) and they give you the feeling of being full up so you don't have to worry about taking meds/feeling nauseous. I wish these had been around when I was pregnant...one a day at lunchtime meant I wasn't hungry so could focus on just getting rid of the headache...

Anyway, that's my little tip for the migraine crew. If you suffer from them, I hope it helps, if you don't suffer from them, try wrapping gaffer tape around your head really tightly 6 times, then stabbing yourself repeatedly behind your right eye for 6 hours, and remember to vomit intermittently. :)

Oh and I got the Bounce balls from Whole Foods, but I'm sure you can get them in Holland & Barrett etc... 

*Yes, I hide food from my children. When your kids eat 6 chicken breasts 'as a snack' after getting back from the gym because they're 'starving' and then say 'what's for dinner?' you'll hide food too. 

I also hide beauty products, clothing and remote controls when necessary. 

10 DAYS?!? or: 'The one where a migraine got in the way of everything how RUDE'

I can't believe it's 10 days since I blogged. WTH? If any of you are still out there I appreciate your unbelievable patience. *tumbleweed*

Basically, I blogged on the Friday, had the weekend, worked the Monday and Tuesday thinking 'Oh I'll do a nice blog post about Paris on Wednesday night.', went to bed Tuesday evening, couldn't sleep A WINK, got up at 5am having had zero sleep, went to Paris with Ruth, Anna, Lily and Hayley - more of which later this week and then woke up Thursday morning vomiting with the migraine from hell. No: really, really, the migraine from hell. That floored me all day Thursday which meant on Friday I barely had enough energy to catch up with vital work emails and spent the day recovering. It was so beyond vile and horrible that the thought of it literally hurts my head again and makes me nauseous.

Before the migraine from hell driving around in an open-top Citroen 2cv in Paris with Rufus (actually the best fun):

During and after my migraine:

Every silver lining etc... It did however, lead me to this blog post. Migraines. What triggers them? What are the signs? What helps them?

I'm not telling, I'm asking! After I surfaced with the migraine hangover so many of you related your stories that I thought we could have an open space and hopefully some of us can pick up tips along the way..I know everyone is different but there are always things to learn!

What I've learned from my migraines...

Triggers

• lack of sleep - killer for me. Really early starts - especially after little or no sleep. Nope. Can't do it.
• traveling - especially across time zones. Ugh.
• lack of water/dehydration
• too many painkillers (the ones I take for my back - I'm not just randomly ingesting tablets!)
• some alcohol
• some foods

Signs

• vomiting - literally. The last 2 I've had have started with me thinking I have food poisoning. This time it was actually the Mr who sussed out it was a migraine, not a bug. The vomiting happened first thing, the head really kicked in (literally) mid-afternoon. And it was horrific.
• sometimes I get that low, 'heavy eyebrow' pain over one eye but the flashing/aura is something I haven't had in a long while
• diarrhoea (sorry if TMI) - that's why I thought it was a bug

That's literally it for me. How pleasant. Chunder ahoy, ooh here comes another hammer to the head. 

What helps (me)

in the following order:

• cans of coke
• migraine meds from the doctor
• darkness
• no noise - my poor family tiptoe around like there's a sleeping baby in the house
• and sometimes - dark chocolate, magnesium tablets and a banana

What are your triggers? What do you do as soon as you know it's coming? Do you get the hangover from hell without the fun of touching alcohol? *ggrrrrrr* Let me know. If this post helps one person get through a migraine a little quicker I'll be thrilled.

Thank you again for your patience - kids are back to school next week, Autumn is upon us and I am sitting at the computer again! YAY!

Cheat Sheet - Facial Massage for Cleansing/Post-Cleansing

If you are one of those people who splodges a bit of cleansing milk on - rubs it into your eyes frantically - and then splashes it off with a sink full of water or worse, use a couple of wipes every night and think your face is clean - fear not - help is at hand. No doubt your skin does not look its best - and you may not even be aware of the fact.

Firstly - a moment on cleansing - get thee to an oil-based cleanser - NOW.  Like attracts like - oil in your cleanser will attract all of the oil/dirt/excess sebum on your skin and will carry it away with it when you wipe it off.  And I am (always) talking about a non-mineral oil cleanser.  Mineral oil is (ridiculously) cheap, nasty, has no benefits to the skin and no place in skincare in this day and age and you should not be wiping it all over your best asset.

Use a fresh cloth that has been held under a running tap to wipe away the cleanser - rinse and repeat until all traces of make-up are gone and you can see no product on your face. I have a cupboard full of muslin cloths but never use them - buy some flannels/washcloths. Cheap, can handle being washed at high temperatures thus killing any bacteria and very affordable.
If you still use a jar of cold cream - 1956 rang - it would like its cleanser back.
If you only 'cleanse' with wipes - stop it. That's not cleansing - that's moving all the dirt around your face.

You can do this either as part of your cleanse or when you've already cleansed and are applying an oil or balm before bed.  Don't use too much product for the massage - remember always - GRIP not SLIP!
Snippets of this will also come in very handy when you are suffering from hayfever or getting over a cold etc...see below..

• Assume the position below - with both hands!

•  Place both hands onto your face at the chubbiest part of your cheeks like SO:

No it's not attractive (have you SEEN my nose) - but I'm not asking you to do it on the No.7 bus so get with it.

To get your skin in the mood and to acclimatise the pressure:

• move your fingers in a circular motion WITHOUT lifting them off the skin - if you are doing this properly you should be making (quite rude) squelching noises involuntarily AND it should be slightly uncomfortable. Do this until you feel like it is doing something but aim for a minute - it will start to feel easier and less painful.
• Move up the face and repeat at the sides of your ears, sides of your nose - knead (gently) like there is no tomorrow. In an ideal world do this for 30 seconds as your minimum.

Sidebar: The only round muscles on the face circle the eyes (orbicularis oculi) and the mouth (orbicularis oris - mouth - technically four separate parts that form like a circle as opposed to an actual circle) yet too many brands/facials spend their time advising round circular motions (there are a few notable exceptions). Massaging the face using only circular action is a tad like trying to iron using only circles.

• Place your first 2 fingers in the hollow under your cheekbone and massage gently. This will be really painful if you are suffering from a cold/hayfever - but will equally ease the blocked nose/throat symptoms if you gently persevere.  

• Apply your fingertips just below the hollow of your cheeks at the side of your mouth and apply pressure while slowly and firmly lifting your hands up the face, over the cheekbones and to your temples. It helps you find the hollow if you open your mouth when you apply your fingers.
• Repeat 10 times firmly and slightly quicker - note: lift off when you reach the temple and start again at the sides of the mouth - don't drag your hands down the face - Mother Nature does that for us all eventually - let's not help her out
• Moving up to your eyes - place the pads of fingers 1, 2 and 3 underneath your eyebrows and push upwards and outwards (similar to what you would do if you had a migraine/hangover depending on whether you have 4 kids/some sort of social life.. ) and hold and push down for a repeat of about 3-4...place the same fingers underneath the eye on the orbital bone and smooth outwards and up so that all fingers are resting on the temple - and push down for a repeat of 3-4. yu can be firm but do not apply too much pressure. The eye is a delicate area.

For shifting the toxins that gather on your face (and that you have just woken up with all of the above) - try the below - ideally you should do this every night with your cleanse - think of your chin and jaw as the dustbin of your face - all of your toxins will be sitting here just minding their own business - making you look dull and most importantly droopy! - time to send them on their merry way (be very gentle if you are suffering from an auto-immune disease, any kind of cancer or simply feel like you are coming down with the flu. Your Doctor will advise if you cannot have any massage of any kind).

• Place your fingers on your jaw like so:

• Grip the underside and topside of your chin/jawline firmly and DDDRRRAAAGGGGGG your fingers backwards towards the underside of your ear like so:

• Keep your grip tight. The pressure should move the cheeks out of the way as shown.

• When your fingers reach the end of your jawline and drop into the hollow under your earlobe (your lymph node) - pump gently for a count of 3-4.
• Repeat until you start to feel heat generating - you will go pink - which is the whole point - stimulating the blood flow to get things moving....

This can all be done in 5 minutes flat or over the course of your favourite TV show whilst making cups of tea in-between. The point is: make it a habit - your face will thank you for it.