Migraines

I started getting migraines in 2003 or 2004. I recall two nights specifically. One night I was in bed trying to sleep and I remember Joey was texting me. The light on my phone when I flipped it open (yes, flipped) was unbearable. The second night, I remember calling my family doctor and he told me to take one Alieve and then another one a half hour later. I thought my heart was going to beat out of my chest and I can't recall if it worked or not.

Like most migraine sufferers, I have tried everything. I have tried a host of medications including daily preventative meds. At one point, I thought perhaps if I got off birth control, my migraines would get better -- but they didn't. 

I kept a food journal to see if I could pinpoint anything that might be triggering my migraines, but because I eat mostly the same foods every day, nothing was popping out at me. After sending my food journal to my girlfriend, she pointed out that I was eating a lot of dairy. I never considered myself much of a dairy eater. I don't seek out cheese, ice cream, and I don't drink milk by the glass. I was eating yogurt and string cheese here and there. I was also eating pre-made smoothies that had milk. It would make sense because a lot of my migraines were happening on weekends which is when I would tend to eat pizza or the yummy quesadilla from Cebolla's. Cutting out/back on dairy has definitely helped.

When I say I have tried everything, here's what I've attempted: 

- Eliminating dairy (Helps drastically)

- Preventative medications (Meh.)

- Magnets (Did nothing.)

- Ice (I use an ice pack all the time. Doesn't get rid of the migraine, but helps me through it.)

- Essential Oils (Did not help. If anything, made them worse because of the scents.)

- Submerging my hands & feet in warm water to get my blood flowing (Did nothing.)

- Sleep (Can either help, or make it worse.)

- Mixture of peanut butter and ginger smothered on my temples (Helped one time only.)

- Alieve (Did nothing).

- Excedrin (Does nothing.)

- Caffeine (It either helps 100%, or not at all. Oddly, what helps the most, are the Starbucks drinks you buy at the gas station which have dairy in them.)

- Advil Cold & Sinus (Helps sometimes.)
- Capsaicin creme (I put this on my temples and the back of my neck and didn't do anything.)
- Got the inside of my ear pierced (Did not help.)

I also try to make sure I don't get too tired and that I don't wait to eat. Being upset, stressed, and crying can cause migraines. Which any of those things can be causes of headaches for anyone.

Over the years, the heat has really grown to be a trigger for me. 

My concern when I started boxing in January was that working out was going to cause me to get migraines. When I get hot, it's a sure fire sign, I'll be getting a migraine soon. Just last weekend, it was fairly warm and humid outside and I was tired of sitting around. I decided to go out and vacuum out my car and sweep out the garage. The sweat was dripping down my face into my eyes I was that hot. Sure enough, not long after being inside, I got a migraine. 

I have felt so defeated lately with my migraines; especially when it comes to working out. Last week, I was to box on the 4th of July. I woke up with a slight headache and had had a headache/migraine off and on for two days. The last thing I wanted to do was go to boxing and make it worse, so I canceled. Of course, my trainer understood, but still had to charge me. I don't enjoy missing out on things. Especially, these days when my enjoyment is few and far between. In fact, I had a horrible migraine on my birthday and finally felt better the day after. Needless to say, I didn't go to the gym ALL last week. Saturday night, I watched Creed (Best movie ever. Highly recommend it.) and there was a lot of good boxing in it. The trainer had Creed jump rope. I've also seen Khloe Kardashian's trainer have her do 1000+ jump ropes. I just kept thinking how much I would like to put that into my goals. But, the other part of me was like, hell no...that's a migraine waiting to happen. My other goal besides boxing has to been to start running. I've always wanted to be a runner, but never knew how to start. After looking up some workout plans on Pinterest and talking to my trainer, I was starting to run. BUT, I pay for it every time. I get so hot, that I end up with a migraine. Again, I just feel so defeated. I want to reach these goals, but my migraines are holding me back. I can't go to the gym and sweat my ass off and be pushed to my limit without ending up with migraine.

I've been trying to find remedies online and I haven't found anything promising. Most of the suggestions are to stay hydrated, ease into it, and don't over do it. I read a few stories yesterday from women that use the treadmill, but keep the speed in the low 2's. Despite it not being a high impact workout, it's still a workout. I did the treadmill last night for about 35 minutes and kept it at 2.7 and was fine the rest of the evening. I just never thought I'd be frustrated with having limitations on working out.

What is so frustrating is that I never had migraines until 2003-2004. I used to go out three nights a week and dance with friends. I would sweat my ass off dancing and would never get migraines. I used to clean my car every single weekend and never get a migraine. I can't help but always wonder if my dancing three nights a week for roughly four hours a night not only kept me in shape, but when I stopped going out (because I got old), that lack of exercise somehow caused my migraines AND depression.

It just amazes me when I read articles and websites devoted to migraines, there's still so much mystery behind it.

If you have any suggestions that I haven't tried yet, I would like to hear them.