How do you balance the need to avoid your Migraine/Headache Disorder triggers with the equally powerful need to enjoy the things that give your life meaning?
I will admit that I am not good with this at all. The main way I find to deal with my triggers is to avoid them. What I mean is I completely avoid most things that bring meaning to my life.
I have spent the majority of the last three years at home. The first two years were due to my complete inability to deal with the pain and my embarrassment over others seeing me during an attack. The last year is due to knowing that I cannot always control my environment or my triggers when away from home. This is not how I want to live my life and am working hard at getting better at taking chances.
One of my easiest triggers to avoid is alcohol. I found that wine, beer and some liquor tend to send me right into an attack. SO I just don't drink. This is not a very difficult thing to manage. The only thing I really miss is the taste of beer and there is always O'Douls for that.
One of the hardest triggers to avoid is smells. I would like to say it is only perfumes or lotions that trigger attacks, but I am not that lucky. I am sensitive to strong food odor, outdoor smells like grill smells and even some doctors offices are too much to handle due to the disinfectants that they use. While I think of myself as a VIP; I have still not mastered the art of having every place I go odor free.
The pain is what really keeps me from life. I don't understand all of my triggers and many times the attacks seem to come without any rhyme or reason. Due to this I tend to hide out. If you have never seen a Cluster Attack you should check them out on YouTube. When I have an attack of the Beast, I am scary. If the pain level rises to a 7 or above- WATCH OUT!!! There is no relaxing or hiding at that point. They can be very embarrassing and even scary. It has only been in the last year that I have learned how to use relaxation techniques to help me cope. But there is never a guarantee that I can get control of an attack before it spins out of control. This is not something that I am interested in letting the whole world see. It leaves me feeling very vulnerable.
So I hide out and keep breathing.....hopefully not for good!
June 2013, Migraine and Headache Awareness Month, is dedicated to Unmasking the Mystery of Chronic Headache Disorders. The 2013 Migraine and Headache Awareness Month Blog Challenge is a project of FightingHeadacheDisorders.com.
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