I have suffered with migraines since I was a child (so a long time ago) and since I became an adult, although some might argue that I haven’t got there yet, I have been trying to find other ways to manage the pain when I do get them or, at least, to try and find ways to reduce or even prevent them. While I doubt that I will ever be clear of them I have had some success with reducing them and the severity of them when one does hit, with the biggest success being something as simple as changing my pillow – who would have thought that something so simple could have such a great impact. I do also use a migraine prevention medicine every day.
So with some medication to try and prevent them, trying to reduce stress (which isn’t always easy), a better sleeping pattern, trying to manage my heat, hot water bottles and a neck and shoulder cream my migraines at the moment are being managed much better. While they haven’t gone, the severity is less when I get one and are not lasting up to 3 days.
The NHS describe a migraine as “usually a moderate or severe headache felt as a throbbing pain on one side of the head” and in a lot of cases, have other symptoms as well. With mine, I often get a stiff neck / sore shoulder, nausea, aura, nose bleeds and occasionally slurred or garbled speech (sometimes my sentences come out in the backwards or the words in the wrong order – people probably assume I have had a bit too much to drink).
I have been trying lots of various ways to help with my migraines, some have worked whilst some haven’t. Whilst some of the ways mentioned have worked for me, they won’t work for everybody but might be worth a try. So if you want to read more about what I have tried and my migraine journey, click below to read my Migraines and Me blog posts.