I suffered from chronic migraines and headaches at a time in my early age, and I remember how my dad treated the migraine with some combination of treatment. And that is what I want to shear here because I know that many people are suffering from this too.
And this has given me the experience to compile a helpful summary of migraine tips and methods.
However, I will advise that you always consult your doctor for a proper examination of your health condition. I am only writing this experience for educational purposes only.
Throughout my migraine career, which led me through various migraine stages, I only gradually discovered what you should genuinely pay attention to as a migraine sufferer and what might help you prevent migraine attacks.
In this article, I want to offer my migraine treatment experiences and the most excellent suggestions and strategies.
My Migraine Experiences, Both Episodic And Chronic
When I was younger, I only got migraines once a month, which I could manage with ibuprofen or sleep. However, she has evolved throughout my existence.
For example, at the age of 30, alcohol became a trigger. But it took me a long time to tell the difference between a migraine and a bad hangover.
My episodic migraine with 15 to 25 pain days per month became chronic about five years ago.
However, in the beginning, I was frequently in the hospital or had an emergency doctor come to my house because I couldn’t control the migraines.
I can now get up during an attack, go for short walks, eat, and even use my cell phone or watch TV.
The pain severity decreased in the last year, and the number of pain days each month has decreased. I’ve even gone to see pals while suffering from a migraine.
Unbelievable! It was unimaginable even two years ago. I know how diverse the severity of headaches and migraines can be because I also suffer from tension headaches.
What Relieves Migraines?
Unfortunately, I can’t explain how I reduced the number of seizures per month and the degree of the agony.
However, I believe each person is different and must find their path. Migraine is, in my opinion, a highly complex condition with several characteristics and symptoms.
Migraine is multifaceted and, in my opinion, should be addressed and treated on multiple levels. All of these tactics, I assume, came into play as my seizures gradually improved, and I continued to attempt to follow them.
I wish I had the opportunity to this information back then, and I hope it helps you discover a better method to deal with your migraines.
At first glance, the list of measures appears lengthy and likely incomplete. However, you are not required to complete all of them.
It is usually challenging and requires determination to incorporate new habits into your daily life.
As a result, instead of overwhelming yourself, choose a few measures that appeal to you and incorporate them into your life. New ones are always welcome.
What Can You Do to Prevent Migraines?
5 ways to become your migraine expert through knowledge and contemplation!
- Find a headache doctor in your region to discuss migraine treatment options. A hospital stay or referral to a headache outpatient clinic can also be beneficial.
- In the knowledge part of our migraine app M-sense, you may also find well-prepared information regarding migraines.
- Keep a headache journal and calendar, for example, using our migraine app M-sense, and discover your triggers.
- Try to control the triggers you’ve found as cleverly as possible, and occasionally let five be straight (keyword: trigger management).
- Learn about the 10/20 rule if you’re on acute medication, which suggests that you shouldn’t use pain medicine more than 10 days out of 30 every month to avoid medication-overuse headaches.
Prophylaxis – 5 Migraine Prevention Tips
- Incorporate relaxation or breathing exercises and regular breaks into your daily routine to ensure that the sensitive migraine brain is always reset to zero. For example, I meditate regularly and use the relaxation exercises in the M-sense migraine app’s Active therapy module.
- Furthermore, I now actively plan breaks in my daily life; otherwise, they tend to fall behind.
- Regular endurance sport (at least three times a week for 40 minutes each) has been scientifically proven to prevent migraine attacks. I know that some migraine sufferers cannot engage in endurance sports such as jogging or Nordic walking because they will trigger a migraine attack. But even there, you can gradually advance! I began with short walks, then longer walks with my dog, before returning to jogging through mountain hiking, swimming, and cycling. In other words, if sports make you angry, start small and work your way up. It’s worthwhile because it provides vascular training. In addition, contrast showers and sauna sessions are beneficial for vascular training.
- If you take migraine preventive medication, be aware of the dosing guidelines and that you should take the full dosage for at least three months before consulting a professional to determine whether or not they are effective.
- Avoid irregularities because the migraine brain loves routine, e.g., It makes sense if you maintain the time you sleep and the time you wake up at the same time on weekends as you do during the week because there are certain inconsistencies., e.g., sleep, tend to lead to an attack.
Mental Health – 5 Tips To Keep a Clear Head Even With Migraines
- It’s easier said than done, but try to stay positive! It has been proven that catastrophizing and negative thinking can worsen a seizure and pain. Therefore, practicing positive thinking and calming down in everyday life and during an attack can help. My proven mantra: This too shall pass! In addition, I keep a gratitude journal every day and can only recommend it because it teaches you to develop a positive attitude.
- Avoid stress by, for example, setting smaller and achievable goals and praising yourself frequently instead of just criticizing yourself. Become aware of your inner drivers and critics!
- Learn to perceive your own needs, stay with you, and say “no” from time to time. A mantra I love: “Nothing has to – everything can.” It takes the pressure off a lot of things.
- If you can not change something, learn to embrace it and accept it instead of continuing to fight it for no reason (this also applies to the migraine itself). Of course, you can get angry about anything, but will it help you? Serenity, on the other hand, is exceptionally relaxing.
- Always be well equipped! For example, I always need sunglasses, my emergency medication, my magnesium, my prophylactic medication, my parasol, or a sun hat.
Nutrition – 5 Tricks For a Balanced Diet For Migraines
- Stay hydrated and drink at least 1.5 liters of water or unsweetened tea a day (or even more if you can manage and don’t misuse the process very well)
- Make sure you get enough magnesium. It has been found that migraine sufferers suffer from a magnesium deficiency with an above-average frequency. Therefore, I take the recommended amount of 600 mg of magnesium citrate powder daily. The powder form also helps me optimize my fluid intake, as I drink half a liter of water with magnesium twice a day.
- Keep your coffee consumption consistent. Caffeine serves as a double-edged sword, as it can also stave off a seizure. It has worked well for me to regulate my caffeine consumption to one or two daily coffees. However, experience has shown that if I drink more or less, it triggers migraine attacks.
- Try to eat healthy meals regularly and at about the exact times to avoid significant blood sugar fluctuations (for me, it’s sometimes like grandma and grandpa: 9, 13, and 18 h and a little snack before leaving, but it has proven itself)
- I haven’t done it myself yet. But it’s at the top of my to-do list.
Because it has been scientifically proven that many diseases have their causes in the intestinal flora. Do one Intestinal cleansing and try to eat alkaline as much as possible.
I hope the list gives you an overview of what you can do in everyday life to reduce your migraine attacks.
Maybe you might have already done some of these things naturally. And if not, it’s not about turning your life upside down overnight.
Instead, pick the actions that appeal to you and get started. Maybe you will notice an effect after a short time!
Establishing new habits in your life always takes courage and discipline.
So you can be proud of yourself and pat yourself on the back as soon as you have implemented one of them and integrated it into your life.
Incidentally, you can track many of these measures using the M-sense migraine app.
Personally, it helps a lot to record how much I’ve been drinking, whether I’ve skipped a meal or done endurance sports and relaxation exercises.
Then, at the end of a week or a month, I see my attacks becoming less frequent in the headache overview, I find it incredibly motivating to keep working on myself.
You can also read our blog intelligently, such as in posts about migraines or headaches.
