wellness
I had a migraine attack - for the first time in 4 years
I had a migraine attack, my first in 4 years. I learned from this experience and I would like to share this with you.
It was a Tuesday afternoon, I was lying in bed, exhausted. We had just had our turn of Covid-19 coming through our household. Overall our symptoms were mild, but my energy levels were very low. Because of this, I didn’t see it coming. I didn’t notice the usual warning signs of fatigue, irritability, and light sensitivity. I assumed it was just lingering affects of illness. But when that telltale pounding behind my left eye began, I knew what was up.
After the birth of my first son, I began to get migraine attacks around ovulation, and sometimes my period as well.
These early migraines for me were mild to start, but I had noticed they got worse every time I had one. After attempting conventional supports like my GP’s advice, I was able to build awareness and supports to put those migraine attacks in the past. Or so I thought. But, once a migraineur, we’re prone to getting migraines if the triggers are there and our body’s resilience is not.
And that what happened. After 4 years without a migraine, getting Covid-19 was enough to trigger an attack for me. Supporting my clients to have equally long periods without migraines is my focus and passion, so I want to share how I managed this one – and hopefully help you find natural supports to help.
These early migraines for me were mild to start, but I had noticed they got worse every time I had one. After attempting conventional supports like my GP’s advice, I was able to build awareness and supports to put those migraine attacks in the past. Or so I thought. But, once a migraineur, we’re prone to getting migraines if the triggers are there and our body’s resilience is not.
And that what happened. After 4 years without a migraine, getting Covid-19 was enough to trigger an attack for me. Supporting my clients to have equally long periods without migraines is my focus and passion, so I want to share how I managed this one – and hopefully help you find natural supports to help.
The prodromal phase – Normally I would be able to notice a migraine before it really starts, that’s the best time to stop the migraine response.
However, a mix of not having had a migraine for so long, plus being ill, I didn’t notice the migraine coming on until it was too late, and the headache phase had started. I was upset at first, realizing that the next 2 – 3 days were going to be spent managing the migraine symptoms. But the silver lining was this is a great opportunity to test out what I recommend to my clients.
After hydrating and making sure I ate some protein, Instead of going straight to my tried and true tricks, I decided to test out some other techniques I’ve been learning more about. Read on to see how this went!
Cold Therapy – Two ways. First, cold showers. This means staying in the cold water for at least 1 min. Which, to be honest, feels like an eternity. It sucks, but it actually really helped short term. The headache pain reduced dramatically, but it didn’t last that long, maybe 30 min – 1 hour. Then I have these new cold packs for the neck (all program clients get hooked up with one of these 😉 ) These cover both the back of the neck, brain stem area, as well as the vagus nerve on the sides of the neck. This was really comforting to wear around. Maybe taking the pain down a level or two, from a 6/10 to a 4 or 5/10.
EFT (Tapping) – I’d recently read a book “EFT for Migraines” as was curious if this would work. The answer is, kind of. It did reduce the pain and sensitivity a bit, but it was HARD. To do this, you need to focus on a key phrase while tapping spots on your body in a particular order. Trying to focus on this process for any length of time was very difficult. I feel like it could have worked better if I was still in the pre-migraine phase and better able to concentrate but for an active attack, it was too difficult to do properly.
Aromatherapy – I have these lovely rollers made up for specifically for migraines by Quaint Traditions here in Winnipeg. This is similar to the cold therapy – it helped reduce pain which was really nice. However it didn’t do anything to stop the migraine process.
After this, I was well into the end of my first migraine day, and in my experience migraines always lasted 2 – 3 days for me. So I knew I needed to get some decent sleep, which wasn’t going to happen as long as the pain with these supports was fluxuating between a 6/10 – 8/10. I needed to get it down so I could easily fall asleep so I went back to my tried and true supports.
This was – self massage and acupressure, I have a short and simple routine that my clients and I have consistently found to help migraine pain, and effectively stop migraines in the pre-migraine phase.
Personally I find it easier than the EFT because it consists of longer holds on each point and position, and doesn’t require the repeating of a phrase. It also just works! And always has for me. This took my pain from a 8/10 to a 3/10. Then I applied some ear seeds to placements specific for migraines to help keep the pain at a 2/10 level overnight. It was late enough in the attack I wasn’t going to fully stop it, but this certainly helped me ride the waves. I slept great 😉
Now who can relate to that feeling of waking up in the morning mid-migraine, afraid to move, because you’re not sure if the migraine is still ongoing?
I felt ok, but I knew once I moved my head I would find out if I still had a migraine, unfortunately I did…
So wake up, water, protein, coffee, and the acupressure routine, rubbing those ear seeds. Then toughed out another cold shower. I wasn’t feeling awesome, but I was good enough to interact with the kids and keep up with usual household routines. I certainly took the chance to nap when my youngest did. And since I was feeling more tired than anything else, I decided to take off my ear seeds.
That was a mistake, as soon as I did it felt like an ice pick in the side of the head. I guess those were doing more than I thought. Ear seeds back on, nap, then back to it.
I kept up these supports for the rest of the day, followed by an early bedtime. The next day thankfully I was in the hangover phase of the migraine, which, as it’s called, feels like a hangover from a night out. Not fun but completely manageable, and after a bit more self-reflexology and yoga, I wasn’t doing too badly other than being tired.
I know, you’re more likely to have a migraine after having a migraine. So lately I’ve been more careful in my own routine to prevent migraines. I was grateful for the opportunity to test some natural migraine supports but I don’t want to deal with that again for a long time if I can help it.
Overall, this experience gave me more confidence in my core recommendations, and reminded me how helpful a simple, guided, energetic self care routine can be. Best used in the pre-migraine to prevent it even from starting, but still effective to reduce pain throughout the migraine attack.
If you’re interested in trying this for yourself, click below to access:
Let me know, have you experienced a migraine, or severe headache along with a flu or cold?
With Kindness and Love,
Christine McInnis RCRT MARR
Willow Therapies is Christine McInnis, RCRT MARR. Advanced Reflexology Therapist, Mind-Body Hormone and Migraine Support, and Zone Face Lift Practitioner. The Willow Therapies Studio is located in South Headingley, 5 minutes from the West Winnipeg perimeter. Information on virtual services can be found at www.online.willowtherapies.ca