Questions for Migraineurs

[Larkspur]

My migraines seem to have a delayed onset after stress, usually a day or two after a stressful event or after emotional repression. I’ve had some success with reducing the number of migraines with a preventative approach through stress reduction, journaling, mindfulness, etc. However, once a migraine starts I haven’t had much luck getting rid of it, I either need to ride it out or take my prescription medicine. Has anyone had success with reducing the pain or getting rid of it after onset? What did you do?

I also had a realization this week about how I’ve been viewing them as a physical problem rather than a psychological one. Although I’ve come to understand the psychological causes, I have still been thinking of them as a physical problem (dilated blood vessels) that are caused by stress, rather than simply a pain perception problem. I’m wondering now if that may have hindered my ability to fully heal, because I’ve still been thinking that there is still something there to “fix”. Don’t know if that makes sense or if anyone else has had that problem, but it’s an interesting mindset shift for me.

 

[Ellen]

I had migraines for over 50 years and have recovered totally using the TMS approach. I haven't had one in years. You can read my success story by clicking on my profile.

When I was working on the TMS approach, I would occasionally get the signs and symptoms that I was about to get a migraine. When this happened, I took the advice I read in one of Sarno's books. I said to myself (sometimes out loud) "Stop it brain! There is no reason for you to be creating a headache. Knock it off!" or something to that effect. Miraculously, the symptoms would go away and a headache never developed. Now I never even get the signs of an impending migraine. I know it sounds crazy and totally unfeasible for this to work, but it did! I don't understand why it works. I suppose it has something to do with the "higher, rational brain" being able to override the "lower, primitive brain" which controls the autonomic nervous system.

Not sure if this would work after a migraine has fully developed. I did it at the very early signs of an impending migraine.

But know that it is possible to be totally free of migraines using the approach outlined on this site. If I can recover, anybody can.

Best wishes to you.....

 

[Larkspur]

Thank you so much, your story is an inspiration! I've tried telling my pain to go away before and it hasn't worked, but I may not have believed enough that it would. I think I need to try it again with more conviction. The fact that it worked for you gives me a lot of hope and faith that it could work for me too

 

[Ellen]

I should emphasize that I did a lot of other stuff, too, and had been at it for several months before I tried the "talking to my brain" technique. I think you are on the right track when you talk about improving conviction. I might describe it as increasing belief. I think everything builds on that. Keep reading books on TMS and Success Stories, as that can really help with building belief. I think the audio book of Sarno reading Healing Back Pain helped too.

And keep posting and asking questions. We are all here to help one another.

 

[Larkspur]

Thank you Ellen! Your idea that rushing all the time is creating anxiety is really helpful for me. I am constantly in a rush, feeling like I have too many things to do and too little time. But all that rushing is just putting my nervous system into overdrive and not helping.

Something that I’ve come to realize recently is that I’ve deliberately used anxiety to counteract depression. When I feel depressed I am lethargic and have trouble being productive. Anxiety is a way to stimulate my nervous system into giving me that shot of adrenaline to get things done. (Not necessarily with full awareness, but on some level it’s been intentional). Fear of failure or of not performing like I should be keeps me on task. I often feel like my “authentic self” wants to just lie on the couch binge watching bad tv and eating chocolate, while my TMS self is the taskmaster—keeping me on track and checking off the to-do list. Of course I know that my “authentic self” is not just a lazy slob, and somewhere inside I need to connect with the person I was when I was younger, who was interested in the world, loved to get out and do things, meet people, travel, and have new experiences. But somewhere along the way I found all of that too overwhelming and my solution was to reduce my life to two extremes: working way too hard and driving myself to exhaustion, then collapsing and needing complete rest and quiet. Usually the only way I would get that rest and quiet is when I had a migraine, although I would often work through those as well. But a sneaky thing my brain did was to “schedule” most of my migraines for the weekend, so that I could take the time off. Then, because that ended up being the ONLY time I got a break, and often I would have to play “catch-up” during the week because I fell behind on the weekend, my life became nothing but work and disability.

Wow, writing that out really helped crystallize some of my patterns—I’ve been aware of them to some extent, but perhaps not quite as clearly as I need to be. Hope someone else finds this helpful, but if not it was really helpful to write it out to spell it out to my brain!

 

[Ellen]

Thank you Ellen! Your idea that rushing all the time is creating anxiety is really helpful for me. I am constantly in a rush, feeling like I have too many things to do and too little time. But all that rushing is just putting my nervous system into overdrive and not helping.

Something that I’ve come to realize recently is that I’ve deliberately used anxiety to counteract depression. When I feel depressed I am lethargic and have trouble being productive. Anxiety is a way to stimulate my nervous system into giving me that shot of adrenaline to get things done. (Not necessarily with full awareness, but on some level it’s been intentional). Fear of failure or of not performing like I should be keeps me on task. I often feel like my “authentic self” wants to just lie on the couch binge watching bad tv and eating chocolate, while my TMS self is the taskmaster—keeping me on track and checking off the to-do list. Of course I know that my “authentic self” is not just a lazy slob, and somewhere inside I need to connect with the person I was when I was younger, who was interested in the world, loved to get out and do things, meet people, travel, and have new experiences. But somewhere along the way I found all of that too overwhelming and my solution was to reduce my life to two extremes: working way too hard and driving myself to exhaustion, then collapsing and needing complete rest and quiet. Usually the only way I would get that rest and quiet is when I had a migraine, although I would often work through those as well. But a sneaky thing my brain did was to “schedule” most of my migraines for the weekend, so that I could take the time off. Then, because that ended up being the ONLY time I got a break, and often I would have to play “catch-up” during the week because I fell behind on the weekend, my life became nothing but work and disability.

Wow, writing that out really helped crystallize some of my patterns—I’ve been aware of them to some extent, but perhaps not quite as clearly as I need to be. Hope someone else finds this helpful, but if not it was really helpful to write it out to spell it out to my brain!

Great insights! You are well on your way to recovery.

 

[TG957]

Something that I’ve come to realize recently is that I’ve deliberately used anxiety to counteract depression. When I feel depressed I am lethargic and have trouble being productive. Anxiety is a way to stimulate my nervous system into giving me that shot of adrenaline to get things done. (Not necessarily with full awareness, but on some level it’s been intentional). Fear of failure or of not performing like I should be keeps me on task. I often feel like my “authentic self” wants to just lie on the couch binge watching bad tv and eating chocolate, while my TMS self is the taskmaster—keeping me on track and checking off the to-do list. Of course I know that my “authentic self” is not just a lazy slob, and somewhere inside I need to connect with the person I was when I was younger, who was interested in the world, loved to get out and do things, meet people, travel, and have new experiences. But somewhere along the way I found all of that too overwhelming and my solution was to reduce my life to two extremes: working way too hard and driving myself to exhaustion, then collapsing and needing complete rest and quiet. Usually the only way I would get that rest and quiet is when I had a migraine, although I would often work through those as well. But a sneaky thing my brain did was to “schedule” most of my migraines for the weekend, so that I could take the time off. Then, because that ended up being the ONLY time I got a break, and often I would have to play “catch-up” during the week because I fell behind on the weekend, my life became nothing but work and disability.

Yes! Exactly my case, very well spelled out! I recovered by intentionally slowing down and giving myself permission to rest.