For as long as I can remember, I have been plagued by horrible migraines. i feel like a lot of people, when they hear this, just brush it off, roll their eyes, or assume I am just talking about run of the mill headaches. I wanted to take the time to share a little bit about what it has been like dealing with migraines my whole life, and why they are more than just a “headache.”
My migraines started around the time I was nine or ten. I can remember sitting on the couch, in my living room, and trying everything to make the throbbing go away. My mom would give me tylenol, or sudafed in the hopes it was sinus pain, neither of which would touch the headache. It was always on one side of my head, and always piercing. Not a normal headache that a few ibuprofen could cure, but a deep, debilitating pain that made it almost impossible to open my eyes, talk, or even move. Often time the pain started in my neck or shoulders, and eventually made its way to my head. To make it worse these migraines are accompanied by horrible nausea and sometimes actual vomiting. The light kills me, and standing up or having to move makes the pain one million times worse.
I compare the pain to when you have the stomach flu, and you are in the throes of nausea knowing your are probably about to throw up but are unable to speak, think or concentrate on anything because you are so uncomfortable. That is what my migraines feel like – only add in the sensation of your brain swelling to the point that every inch of it is pushing against your skull and just moments away from bursting out of it. That, my friends, is a migraine.
When I was younger, there were not many medications that could be given to treat the migraine. Couple that with the fact that doctors at the time didn’t put a lot of stock in a ten year-old complaining of a headache. I can remember as a young girl have a multitude of tests and MRIs, and really getting no relief or answer as to why I had these headaches. I saw chiropractors, pediatricians, and neurologists with no answers or relief. I know stress could bring them about, as could my period, but the other random ones were always a mystery, and often seemed to strike at the worst times. Holidays, vacations, long car rides – no event was immune from a migraine. I can remember in high school my friends all hanging out while I was stuck in bed. I can remember in college trying to make it through the LSATs with the most excruciating pain. Best case scenario I didn’t have anything important to do and if I was lucky, I would fall asleep and wake up pain free.
As the years went on, the migraines got worse, lasted longer, and occurred more frequently. They progressed from rare, to monthly, to several times a month, and would confine me to bed for days. I spent most of the day of my law school graduation in bed, because of the horrible pain. I suffered through three days of a multi-state bar examination with one of the worst migraines I had ever had. I remember thinking I likely failed, as I could barely string two sentences together on the final day as I took the essay portion, feeling so frustrated and helpless that months of studying could be undone by this. Thankfully, I passed.
After that I was finally sick of my migraines interrupting life, and with a real job about to start I wanted to try and treat these migraines. I found a doctor who listened, and was prescribed a prescription triptan which I was to take at the first sign of any migraine. It truly seemed like a miracle drug, and definitely helped ease the headaches. Unfortunately for me, however, insurance would only approve a limited amount of these drugs each month and the headache frequency continued to increase. Also, guess how much three to six doses of this medicine cost me without insurance? If you picked the absurd amount of $500 you were right!
Luckily, around this point in my life we decided to start a family, and once I became pregnant with my first child I realized that pregnancy seemed to cure my migraines! Aside from the weight gain, contractions, heartburn and swelling it was the most blissful nine months of my life. Unfortunately, almost the second after my daughter was born I got one of the worst migraines of my life. Not only did this migraine stick around for days after delivering my first child, but due to the fact that I wanted to breastfeed, I was told not to take the triptans for the headache as the safety during breastfeeding at that time had not been determined (thank goodness, by the time I had my third child, I was able to continue to use them and breastfeed and it was a LIFESAVER).
I continued to have increased and severe migraines during the weeks after giving birth, which I think was probably due to hormones. These post-partum migraines became the thing I dreaded most about having a second child. You read that right, and lets clarify to give you some perspective. It was not the weight gain, the heartburn, the sleepless nights or the actual labor contractions that were the most uncomfortable part – it was the post-partum migraine.
After having children, and as I got older, I started to have more and more migraines that did not seem to be related to any hormonal issues. Also, the prescription medicine was not always effective anymore. Sometimes it would work at first, only to have the headache come back a few hours later. Being on a limited amount of medication each month meant I couldn’t keep taking the prescription in hopes of reliving on the headaches. I wanted to find another solution to reduce headache days.
After some research and help from my neurologist I made some changes in my life that did help prevent the number and severity of the headaches (although certainly not eliminating them), and there is nothing I love more than sharing them with the hope I can help others as well.
- Dietary Changes/Eliminating Gluten – The one thing that seems to have had the biggest impact on reducing my headaches has been adopting a gluten free diet. There was a noticeable difference in the number of headaches I had monthly after making this change, which I adopted almost six years ago, straying from it only when I was pregnant with my third child.
Just like you are probably wondering right now, I asked the question “why in the world would a gluten-free diet have any impact on my migraines?” I am by no means a doctor, and all of my research has mainly come from the internet, but there is a growing belief that for some individuals with a gluten sensitivity, the ingestion of gluten can trigger migraines. The reason is that gluten can cause extreme inflammation, usually in the gut (stomach) area but sometimes elsewhere. This inflammation can trigger migraines.
When I read all of this it made sense, especially when you consider that migraines are thought to be caused by inflamed blood vessels. I decided to try a gluten free diet. As hard as it would be to give up my favorite pizza, pasta and beer, if it meant less migraines it would be totally worth it, so I went 100 percent gluten free.
I was extremely sick the first week of this diet (stomach pains and issues) which I read was normal, a type of gluten withdrawal. But after 30-60 days of eliminating pasta, bread and beer (or trading it for a gluten free version) I not only noticed a reduction in my migraines, but also the elimination of troublesome eczema I had on my neck for years and my stomach felt so much better. I used to have so many stomach issues, all the time. It had NEVER occurred to me to reduce my gluten intake. Also, sometimes my migraines originate with neck pain, and overall eliminating gluten has eliminated a lot of this pain.
Again, I am not a doctor, and have absolutely zero formal medical or nutrition background, but eliminating gluten made me feel so much better I have never looked back. Also, I have to say, being gluten free is extremely easy in this day and age. I can’t remember the last time I went out to eat and there wasn’t a gluten free menu, and you can find the gluten free version of almost everything now just in your local grocery store. I have heard, however, that eliminating gluten will only work if you truly eliminate it 100 percent, which is what I have done. The general opinion seems to be be that you can’t eliminate gluten “most of the time” and see any difference.
In addition to eliminating gluten, I have also recently cut back significantly on my dairy intake. I had noticed that I would feel bad after consuming a lot of milk or ice cream – increased pain in my neck, feeling stiff and sore. So I switched regular milk for almond, I eat almond yogurt, I try to eat dairy free cheese or no cheese if possible, and I think this has also helped reduce the pain and severity of the migraines.
The last, albeit small, dietary change I made was eliminating diet soda and drinks. For some reason, diet sodas seemed to immediately trigger a headache for me. Perhaps its the fake sugar? I have no idea, but this was an easy one.
Some of my favorite gluten free products:
Gluten Free Flour
Gluten Free Ramen
Simple Mills Crackers
The Best Gluten Free Pasta
Gluten Free Donuts
- Watching my alcohol intake – Another factor that I have noticed that can impact my migraines is the amount and type of alcohol I drink. Now, I am by no means drinking large amounts of alcohol each day. But keeping in mind that I do have three kids I enjoy the occasional glass of wine or cocktail at the end of the day or when I go out with friends. However, I have noticed that if I have more than one glass of wine I am likely to wake up with a headache the next day. I have heard that if I drink organic wine (without statins) or aerate the wine properly that won’t happen but I just tend to avoid drinking a lot of wine.
Of course, I cannot drink beer as beer contains gluten, unless it is specifically labeled as gluten free. My favorite gluten free beer by far is made by a local nano-brewery Hazy Broz and called Free Bee – check them out! Since I cannot drink beer, I recently got caught up in drinking a lot of those sparkling seltzers – seeing as they were gluten free, I figured I had finally found my drink of choice. But guess what happened? Yep – I started getting migraines. Even though my migraines were becoming more and more frequent, I was in denial and attributing them to everything but these sparkling drinks. Finally a friend told me she was surprised I could drink these beverages as her sister would get horrible headaches from them. That is when it clicked. I stopped drinking these beverages and have felt significantly better.
So what is my drink of choice you ask? Well, while I will occasionally drink a cocktail or margarita, I try to stick with Tito’s certified gluten free vodka and club soda. Seems to keep the headaches away, is low calorie, and does the job! - Avoiding bright light – So I find this to be a really odd trigger. If I am in bright light for a prolonged period of time, like outside in the sun, I tend to get a massive migraine. I have found a particular pair of sunglasses that seem to stop the migraine and allow me to be outside. They are these Ray bans. I have two pairs at all times, and if I lose one, I quickly purchase another. I have strayed to different sunglasses and regretted it after being hit with a major migraine.
I also have to avoid certain lights indoor. If I sit in a dim room with really bright sunlight coming in from the windows, I need to face away from the light. I also can’t be in a dim room with a fluorescent light shining right on me – guaranteed migraine. - Vitamins – Upon recommendation from my neurologist, I have started taking a high dose of magnesium and vitamin B. Apparently the combination is supposed to help with migraines.
- Using other pain relief techniques – There are some other pain relief products that I utilize to help reduce and prevent migraine pain. It seems sometimes if I can eliminate the pain that starts in my shoulders and neck, I can prevent the headaches. I am not a medical professional, and cannot say these will help anyone else, but these are items I use to ease pain.
Using a heating pad at night while I sleep – this helps reduce neck and back tension. Here is the one I like.
Biofreeze Topical Pain Relief Cream – This topical pain medication, when used on my neck muscles, does seem to reduce the likelihood my neck pain will become a migraine. I always like to have a couple of these on hand.
Fascia Massage Roller – I am not sure what this device is intended to do, but when rolled on my back and neck, it works wonders. It is the closest I can get to a professional massage at home.
Tens Unit – I have found that one of the best ways to relieve my migraine pain is to use a tens unit on my back muscles. These units use electric pulse massaging to alleviate pain. The little pads can stick on your back so if you need to get up and walk around, you can still utilize the machine.
Hopefully this long post was informative, or helpful. At the very least, I hope it helps someone understand how a person really is suffering when they say they have a migraine.
*This post contains affiliate links to products where I will receive a small fee if items are purchased.
