Stress
Fellow Migraineurs, I hope everything is somewhat under control or improving. There has been a lot of conversation recently about the effect of stress on our migraines. At one time I thought stress was a factor. In fact, I retired early (61) in the hope that getting out of the work rat race would help with my daily migraines. You can guess the result. Right! Nothing. Nada. No effect. Still have daily migraines which, of course, I am working on like everyone else. Therefore, for me, stress appears to be a non-issue. Take care all. Dick in AZ
~*~*~*~*~*~*~ You're right Dick, most of us think if we could only eliminate the stress we'd be so much better off. Wrong for me. I can go through something very stressful, & be ok. Other times I can be having a nice quiet evening & Wham! it's there! ~Lyn~
Dick said: I'm kind of in the middle. Stress won't *cause* a migraine, but can and does, most times, make it worse. I've never had a stress induced headache, but I do go out of my way to try to avoid stress when in the midst of a bad one, because that will certainly make it worse. A lot of migraineurs complain of "let down" headaches, though. They happen when the stress that you're normally under stops, and then th e migraine starts. Kind of like the weekend migraines, where you make it through the week okay, and then get hammered over the weekend. Karen in Florida There are many intelligent species in the world - They are all owned by cats.
I find the stress management side of migraine control interesting... I too find that if I already have a migraine stress can make it a lot worse, even cause my meds not to work. Sometimes it seems to me though that I can stave off a migraine by staying busy and otherwise preoccupied... kinda like it works with a flu or something. The migraine usually catches up eventually, but sometimes not.. or it doesn't get beyond the first few stages. By far my worst (but not the most common) migraines are the "come down from stress" ones, but it's hard to recognise them sometimes. Sometimes they are direct.. something stressful lasts an evening or a day and the next day (or right afterwards I get a killer migraine. However the worst ones of my life have been the after realizing or adjusting in some way to a really major life event, and these ones are much harder to identify since they are come down from a stress I may have had for years, or might have always had. Hard to predict too. Also I find that my migraines haven't gotten particularly better even though I'm now have a super relaxed, easy going schedule. I think I still get approx the same number of migraines as I used to when I had lots of stress all of the time, they just some in reaction to whatever stresses are present, even if they are really quite minor. I'd be interested to hear other peoples stress reactions and management -L
Yes, I sometimes get let-down headaches, though recently they've been daily anyway. I do find that stress aggravates the problem, and there are certain times, like going on holiday with all the packing, etc, that it entails, where I often end up with a migraine. But it's not always the big stressors that cause problems, it's the wee things, the things I think I ought to be able to cope with, which add up and either make the headache worse or bring it on. And how do you avoid all those wee things with a demanding (and noisy) boy to bring up and another disability making life a bit of a challenge anyway? Perhaps if I could go away for long enough I'd get a free space; certainly when we were in Italy for a couple weeks 3 years ago I began to relax, and by the second week I actually had a few days without a migraine. Then the plane home was 4 hours late and the tension mounted up and I was back to square one again. Oh well. Eve May you have the patience of Job, the wisdom of Solomon and the children of Israel.
Well I wish there was a way to reduce stress in my life...unfortunately no matter what anyone says theres not.... I am a single mom to my 10 yr old son, I have migraines, pinched nerve in my back He has severe ADHD and sometimes gets migraines with vomiting. He is in 5th grade, just started back to school. I go to college full time online. 3 classes every 10 wks. I work full time, 40+ hours a week. I have a side business that I'm trying to get off the ground building web sites. I travel a good deal to see my out of town boyfriend. My father has cancer. We are constantly going for appts, radiation, chemo, etc. I can barely pay my bills, creditors calling nonstop. About to lose my license tag on my car due to a lapse in insurance, guess I'll have to steal a tag b/c I've got to drive, no way around it. Let's see what else....need I go on???? So Nope, I don't see any way to get rid of any of my stress sorry!!!!! Sorry for venting, I'm just tired of hearing about being stress free or learning to relax because in my world it DOESNT HAPPEN I do happen to think you can choose to try to handle your stress or not. For me it is a warm soak in tub, mostly. Otherwise i don't know what i would do. Even driving is stressful for me because of the sun and i have to wear sunglasses Melissa
ok, who was the one that posted all this stress. i bow to you also melissa Well I wish there was a way to reduce stress in my life...unfortunately no matter what anyone says theres not.... I am a single mom to my 10 yr old son, I have migraines, pinched nerve in my back He has severe ADHD and sometimes gets migraines with vomiting. He is in 5th grade, just started back to school. I go to college full time online. 3 classes every 10 wks. I work full time, 40+ hours a week. I have a side business that I'm trying to get off the ground building web sites. I travel a good deal to see my out of town boyfriend. My father has cancer. We are constantly going for appts, radiation, chemo, etc. I can barely pay my bills, creditors calling nonstop. About to lose my license tag on my car due to a lapse in insurance, guess I'll have to steal a tag b/c I've got to drive, no way around it. Let's see what else....need I go on???? So Nope, I don't see any way to get rid of any of my stress sorry!!!!! Sorry for venting, I'm just tired of hearing about being stress free or learning to relax because in my world it DOESNT HAPPEN
No, pretty much just let the house go and dont worry about that. Or make my son do some, but theres not all that much he can do. other than that no :( my problem is i get stressed out being on the computer, when it is suppose to be my venting haven, and it isn't cause i have to take meds to be on here. not sure it has to be posture or something but my neck and shoulders are always tensed up. other than that i do let a lot of stuff go, and if my dh doesn't he ends up with an anxiety attack and no meds to take cause that is what he chooses to do. I was thinking of going back on trying to do those trigger point injections to see if it would help my neck and shoulders i hope melissa
Hi guys, For me when I get a little stressed that really doesn't effect my head, but when I get really stressed (like in an argument) I feel my blood vessels in my head doing something and I don't get a migraine right away, it's afterwards when I calm down that I end up with a migraine. It could be hours later, but I have noticed that this is the way my head works when I get THAT stressed out. OK, put in my 2 cents :-) Hugs, Marci