“When I was 16 years old my best friend and I were in a car accident, luckily, we both walked away uninjured and alive. I say uninjured, but what I didn’t realize at the time was that after a car accident there can be issues that manifest later as a result. As time passed, I started to suffer from headaches, that became chronic. I went to a chiropractor when I was 18, and he noticed that the discs in my neck were almost closed, which meant the blood could not flow so easily to my brain, causing my headaches. I myself am not a huge chiropractor fan, but needless to say I was desperate and went for awhile to try to relieve the pain.”
First off, I found out I am allergic to yeast, which is in many things. I gave up bread for almost six months, then one day I decided to have a little and immediately got the worst headache. As I monitored what I ate I realized yeast is definitely a trigger. I have also worked on cutting out gluten. While I am not allergic to gluten, I am highly intolerant of it. Again I realized if I cut it out it was helping to reduce the frequency of my headaches, probably of the reduction of inflammation . Just to be clear, I suffered from headaches daily. For me to go a day without a headache was and is a blessing, which is why I had to be so very proactive in trying to remedy the situation, or at least modify it.
I also chose to see a Neuromuscular Doctor to be tested for auto-immune disorders. There are so many, so I felt it was worth doing in eliminating that possibility. I can happily say I am healthy from that perspective, phew. She then sent me in to do a brain MRI. In all of my years of suffering I have never contemplating a brain MRI. Again results came back healthy and good. What she did diagnose me with is, “Chronic Migraines”. She was the first doctor to finally say that I have a medical issue which is I suffer from migraines and it is just something that we will have to work on trying to alleviate how often I get them. Ultimately, it’s what I knew to be true all along.
While, I do not like to take medication, I must because these migraines really do disrupt my life. I have been taking “rizatriptan” since April of 2016. It was helping beautifully at first but now it is not. I was then switched to Topiramate. I have not been consistent because I am disheartened with the use of chemical drugs, not because I’m against their use in dire circumstances, but because they are never full proof. I am choosing to continue on the path of being my own advocate and am now taking a myriad of supplements that are natural to help my body self regulate. They include, Vitamin B2, lavender high quality essential oil, Cryotherapy, and tumeric. I share all of this because I have great compassion for chronic pain sufferers, in particular migraine sufferers and if any of my supplements can help any of you feel less pain then I am so happy to have shared this.
I realize that we all face opposition of some sort. This is one of mine, and is still something I deal with daily. As hard as it is at times, because believe me when your head is throbbing and your kids are fighting and all I want to do is cry, I try to be ready and positive. I committed to not allowing this to rule my life, I will and will continue to find ways to cope and eventually heal.
