Keeping Active When Your Body Says No

When I was first diagnosed, my doctor told me to do what I could-stay as active as possible.
At the time, I thought he was full of it. He wasn't the one who watched the room spin and bounce whenever he did anything that required repetitive movement, bending, stooping, etc. He wasn't the one who felt like there was a herd of combat boot wearing elephants re-enacting Riverdance in his skull on most days. But, as time went on, I found out that he was right. I do feel better when I'm more active, but there's a fine line between just enough activity and overdoing it. Unfortunately, I tend to cross the line into overdoing it more often than not, and I pay for it later with worse balance and CFS symptoms, as well as possibly a worse migraine or a resumption of a migraine that may have started to go away when I started the activity.

When I went to college for nursing, I was taught some pain management strategies, both using medications and not using medications. I've been trying the non-medication strategies because I get migraines so frequently and I have so many drug allergies using daily doses of abortive meds isn't going to happen. If the pain gets really bad, I'll take some Extra Strength Tylenol. But, I want to avoid that because I don't want to get into problems with rebound. I was taught distraction as a strategy, which is doing something to take my mind off of the pain. It helps take the edge off for a while

How do I stay active? Frequent rest periods are essential. I can't do traditional aerobics because I get the motion provoked vertigo and nausea. I would love to take a yoga class, but I'm hesitant to sign up for one because I never know if I'll feel well enough to drive to one. Since my brother and his dogs moved in, I'm outside more in the back yard playing fetch with Heidi, the lab. I'll also get down on the floor with Chloe, the white mini-poodle and play tug-of-war with her. Sometimes they want to play when I'm feeling at my worse, or need to lay down which will get me into the overdoing it/worse symptom mode. They aren't much for taking walks-they get very excited/stressed when the leashes come out. You can see their adventures here.

I'm also doing a little more yard work/gardening. The girls don't always want to play, and I can't just stand there/sit there looking at the stuff that needs to be done. So I'll get in the garden, pulling weeds for about 5-10 minutes at a time. It gives me the satisfaction that I got something done, as well as a little exercise. If I'm out running errands, and if it's early in my trip, or I'm going into a small store, or I know I'll be in and out, I'll park a little further away from the store entrance so I can walk a little more.

Days when my balance is bad, or if I'm just not up to doing much, I'll sit up at times and crochet or knit. I usually have a few projects going at once, and you can see what I do on my craft blog.
This blog will be updated this weekend. I haven't felt up to it, and I had a hard drive crash and am in the process of putting everything back on my computer.

Migraine Blog Carnival

MAY HEADACHE & MIGRAINE DISEASE BLOG CARNIVAL
Somebody Heal Me - http://somebodyhealme.dianalee.net

Don't forget to submit your entries for the May Headache & Migraine Blog Carnival, which is being hosted at Atomic City (http://atomiccity.blogspot.com/).

The May theme is Migraines and Exercise: How Do You Remain Active? Entries on any topic that is particularly interesting, educational or inspirational for headache & migraine sufferers are also welcome. Your blog need not be limited to the topic of headaches and migraines to participate. If you have relevant posts to share, you're encouraged pass them along.

Entries are due at midnight on Friday, May 9th. They may be submitted through the form on the carnival website (http://blogcarnival.com/bc/cprof_2946.html) or directly to Diana by e-mail.

The carnival will be published on Atomic City (http://atomiccity.blogspot.com/) on Monday, May 12th.Ê

If you would like to be added to Diana's carnival mailing list to receive updates and reminders or are interested in hosting a future edition, please send Diana an e-mail at somebodyhealme@dianalee.net.

Sometimes a Cold is Just a Cold

and not an allergy. I've had so many bad allergic reactions to the various migraine preventatives I've tried, I'm very gun shy about trying any new medication. It's funny that a grown woman who used to be very calm in high stress situations at work (an ICU), would be scared of a teeny weeny capsule. I wanted to be sure that there was no allergy type reaction contributing to my overall feeling of craptitude so I stopped it until the cold/allergy symptoms started to clear. Chicken soup and a lot of Vitamin C did wonders. So, I went back on the Petadolex. So far, so good. My allergy symptoms are acting up, but this is usually a bad time of year for me, and they're no worse than I usually am. Plus, I'm not getting the usual prickly itch, chest tightness, etc that I normally get when I have a medication reaction. So, we'll see what happens over the next couple of months. I'm supposed to take it three times a day, and I have my daily meds in a medication dispenser/organizer I got at Walmart. I take the morning dose just fine, but have forgotten the lunch time dose a couple of days. I have to be sure to take the medication thing in my pocket so I can have it on hand when I eat lunch.

We went from Winter to Summer in the span of a day or two, and back to early spring the next couple of days. Needless to say, I've been migraining rather heavily the past few days. I should've been a meterologist instead of a nurse, lol. I always know when a storm front is approaching. My magnolia came out , my forsythia, and my tulips are mostly are out also...as well as the first dandelion, lol. The girls love to sniff the flowers and roll around in the grass, and greet the neighbors as they emerge to do yard work. Some days the barking doesn't bother me, but when I'm migraining, or just pre or post migraine, the barks feel like a spike is going through my head. The big dog barks are worse than the little dogs' bark for some reason. Although any loud noise, like the dogs, or a thunderstorm, or neighbors playing mildly loud music for an afternoon birthday picnic that normally wouldn't bother me, feel like a spike going through my head. They weren't kidding when they said that noise intolerance is a symptoms of migraine, lol!

Dr. Appt. Update

I've been having a bad couple of weeks with the weather changes, so I haven't posted. My appointment with the new doctor went very well. He's very knowledgeable about the latest research, examined me thoroughly and had a great bed-side manner. He's also not afraid of alternative therapies. He started me on Petadolex , which is Butterbur. So far, no bad reactions, although I'm more stuffed up nasally and ear wise. I skipped it today to see if there was any chance that the Petadolex could be causing it, but I have a feeling I've got a cold.

New Doc and Hoping for the Best

I see a new Neurologist next week and from the materials the office has sent for me to complete, I'm impressed already. This is the first doc that has sent a migraine diary for me to complete, and a thorough history and medication history list to fill out. Now I have to go back the past several years and see when I tried what and who gave it to me. I have some hope that he can do something for me, but I'm trying not to get my hopes up too much.

Lately it's been rough with all the weather changes that come with this time of year. However, Spring stuck around for a few days and I've been able to get out in the back yard and do a little stick gathering and leaf raking/getting them out of the garden. It's also great that the flowers are starting to come out. The daffodils are pushing through around my strawberries-I guess I forgot that when I planted the strawberries last year. I hope I get a couple of berries this year. I'll have to be quicker than the birds and the chipmunks, however.

My crocuses came out, which surprised me. I thought they'd died off because of the overgrowth of some vines I'd stuck in a few years ago because they were too healthy looking to throw out.
I can only work in the yard for around 15-30 minutes at a time, max, and I can't do a lot of bending and stooping. I picked up a Garden Grabber Lawn and Garden Rake that has an adjustable head that will actually grab onto the leaves and that worked great. I didn't get as dizzy as usual or as much vertigo when I used it.

Winter Weather- Blech Daylight Savings Time-Yuck!

The past couple of months have been rather hectic, and I haven't been feeling that great. The weather has not been cooperating. Although we haven't had a lot of snow, we've had a lot of systems pass through, and more sleet and freezing rain than usual. All I need to hear is freezing rain in the forecast and I get anxious. I remember the ice storm in march 1991 when our power was out for 10 days. We also had another one in April, 2003. Thankfully, our power was only out for 3 days. My mother was still living at home and thankfully we were able to find hotel rooms for those three nights. Even though we have a gas fireplace, it got too cold in here to stay-especially with her lung and heart disease and my asthma. That didn't count the migraine I had the day before the storm that lasted a couple of days afterwards, and the off-balancedness and vertigo that I normally have. Of course, I couldn't say anything about how lousy I really felt, since it would've made my mother more anxious. It seemed like any time I felt rotten and let her know, she ended up in the ED. So, most of the time I had to buck up, suck it up and soldier on. We were prepared, also. There was food, and water, and a few extra oxygen tanks that were used up quickly, even though we took her concentrator with us. The oxygen company was wonderful in how quickly they exchanged tanks for us.

This time, I was ready. I spent money I shouldn't have and had a standby generator installed. I had a hard time falling asleep when the storm started because I wanted to hear if the power went out and the generator kicked in. Guess what? We didn't get as much as was predicted, and the power stayed on. I'm not complaining, but I'd like to see how well it'll work in a real world situation, not just a self-test.

My brother and his dogs moved in at the end of Feb., and he's always been very supportive of my illness and helpful. I do, however, find myself in that same buck up, suck it up behavior -not telling him the truth about how I feel, especially if I'm feeling lousy, because I don't want him to worry. He has a lot on his mind right now and he doesn't need anything else to worry about. I love having the dogs around, and they don't bark a lot....although once when Heidi-a lab, barked in my ear when I was kneeling on the floor wiping some dirt off it, it felt like an ice pick going through my skull. I'm also getting more exercise when I take the girls out and play fetch with Heidi. The girls have their own blog now, too, so the family can keep up with how they're doing.

The Mini-Poodle on the left is Chloe, Heidi the lab is in the middle, and Katie is a terrier mix in the upper part of the photo. I'm pleasantly surprised that my asthma and allergies haven't flared up with the extra dander in the house.

Weird Dreams and Migraines

It seems more and more lately, I've had some very vivid dreams and have woken up shortly after the dream with a migraine. I wonder if this phenomenon is a type of aura or if the migraine is a result of the brain activity. Some are rather bizarre-like me being a member of the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police), riding on a bus full of dizzy people from a mailing list I'm on. I don't live in Canada-my grandparents were born there, and I've been to parts of Ontario provence several times. I certainly don't contribute much to that mailing list, since lately I've been too pooped and sore to read messages. I certainly don't think I'm an expert on the subject of migraines, CFS and dizziness so I don't think my subconscious is telling me to be a guide.

Other dreams I can relate to what's happening in my life. I do have dreams about being in my old workplace. Sometimes I'm working, sometimes I'm just visiting. I had to stop working as a nurse in 2000 and I miss it. I miss the money and the relationships with my colleagues more than I miss the work itself.

The Yarn Store of the Apocolypse dream is just that- I'm in a post-apocalyptic environment and my husband (at least I'm married, although that may have been the trigger for the apocalypse, lol!) and I run a way station for travelers somewhere in the desert type environment. I go to a back building and open it up to find a fully stocked yarn store. Racks and racks of yarn that look stunningly similar to the inside of a Michaels. Now, I love to crochet and knit, which you can see here. So I think my subconscious is telling me that my hobbies are a great way to cope with this craziness.

I also wonder if what I'm sleeping on has any influence on the migraines. I have CFS so my sleep isn't that refreshing to begin with, plus the muscle and joint pain can make it very difficult to fall alseep, even with a good mattress. I have a love/hate relationship with pillows. I'm having a hard time lately finding a pillow that has enough support, but isn't hard as a brick. I used to buy a gusseted pillow at Walmart that was great...for the first few weeks. I tried one of those down-like pillows (I'm allergic to the real thing) but it wasn't comfortable either. I've tried some pillows without gussets but they were too uncomfortable. About three months ago I went on a pillow buying bender-there were a lot of sales before Christmas, and thought I'd found about the best I could do. Now, I'm noticing more neck stiffness and shoulder stiffness in the morning and I wonder if it's time to go pillow shopping again. Too bad they won't let me take a nap on one of their bed displays to try out the pillow!