Andrea Hunter - A blog about daily life

A Day of Migraine Prevention

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A top down view of notebooks on a wooden desk surface. The top notebook is closed with stickers decorating the cover. The notebook underneath it is open with some handwriting and stickers visible. To the left is a partial view of green and white spotted pencil case with a tassel zipper pull. A gold lidded black marker is seen in the opening. A set of airpods is right beside the notebooks. A black pen and black marker are set on top of the opened notebook page. At the top is the edge of a white macramé coaster. On the right is a stem of dried eucalyptus.

Today is turning into a day of migraine prevention. It’s a blog-writing day, and I started writing out one of the pre-planned posts. But writing what’s happening in real time is easier, so I thought I’d take you along and you can see a little bit what it’s like. Thanks for listening. We can help each other through the tough days. Interrupting this train of thought to refill my water bottle and drink half of it.

what’s up with today?

The good news is it’s not an actual migraine day, but there are a lot of risk factors out there, and I can feel the pressure lurking at the edge of my skull.

  1. The temperature is swinging from a low of 1°C last night to a high of 18°C today to a low again of 1°C tonight.
  2. The wind is gusting up to 80 km/h.
  3. The barometer dropped from 1021 hPa to 978 hPa in the last twelve hours.
  4. There’s a new moon tonight.
  5. Meetings, deadlines, etc.

triggers vs. thresholds

I don’t personally subscribe to the idea of avoiding triggers. There are no studies to support it as a successful way of improving migraine. Nothing in the list above is avoidable. Also, engaging in avoidance behaviours has a negative effect on mental health and quality of life. Instead, the idea of lowering the migraine threshold is more empowering and helps to build healthy habits.

For example, these are some of the threshold-lowering things I’m doing today.

  • staying in my room with light-blocking curtains this morning
  • morning pages journaling
  • drinking lots of water
  • listening to a binaural beats playlist
  • engaging my brain with a little bit of blogging
  • connecting with a couple of friends, at least by text or phone
  • getting up to walk or stretch frequently
  • drawing/doodling in my planner

This is how I strategize for keeping migraine to a minimum. It reflects the list of things I track daily in my planner, because what’s good for the brain on a migraine prevention day is good for the brain every day.

A close-up view of a notebook page with an April 2022 tracking spread set-up. There are trackers for hours of sleep, level of migraine, and an activity tracker with the categories: active, creative, contemplative, productive, social. On the left are a roll of washi tape, a wooden stamp with a leaf sprig design, a brown lidded marker and a black Muji gel pan. The backdrop is light coloured wood.

Ending this train of thought for a nap in my darkened room.

stationery in the photos

P.S. Weighted blankets are the best.

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