Migraine

If your kids are giving you a headache, follow the directions on the aspirin bottle, especially the part that says "keep away from children." ~Susan Savannah

My kids seldom give me headaches. They merely aggravate it.

I started having migraine soon after Angel was borned.

What my gynaecologist says: it’s due to the accrual stress of taking care of multiple kids.

What my mother’s-in-law says: who asked you to wash your hair within the first month of giving birth?

Anyway, the headache dropped in and is here to stay. Most days it’ll stay dormant. But it’ll find time to knock on my skull once in a while to remind me of its existence.

My brother taught me ways to manage migraines. The rules are:

1.Have sufficient sleep. True enough, most of the times when I have migraine attacks are when I sleep minimal hours.

2. Do not strain my eyes too much. Ok. I shan’t read my book, check my emails, and stare at the kids.

3. Stop being so stressful. So I should ignore the unpaid bills, joke with the creditors, congratulate my kids’ tardy school works, close both eyes when their ball hits the neighbour’s window?

4. Drink plenty of water to keep myself hydrated. Plain water? Poison!

Those are in fact effective ways to manage migraine. But it’s not workable for me.

1. I can’t fall asleep even if I go to bed early. And night time is when all is quiet and I can enjoy doing my things without diverting my attention. Plus, I have more inspiration to write during night time.

2. I love to read, need to check my emails to stay in touch with my family and friends, and staring at the kids is a MUST.

3. How not to be stressful when you have unpaid bills, creditors hot on your heels, kids not doing their best in their school work and a neighbour swearing at you and shining bright spotlight into your house in retaliation?

4. Plain water? Poison!

Since then, my sister kindly advises me to take pills to alleviate my headache. The problem is: I hate medicines! I prefer using natural remedies than to pile my system with chemical substances. Every time I have a cold, I’ll resort to drinking honey. When I have a sore throat, it’ll be honey again. When I have a headache, I’ll still stick to honey. Hey, I’m actually complying with drinking more water!

I find my migraine quite manageable, as long as the kids stop yelling in the house, running around like clock-work mice, and messing up the places. They do tend to be understanding and compliant sometimes, for a few minutes.

I also managed to note some factors which trigger off my migraine.

Pre-menstrual period, mid-menstrual period, post-menstrual period, and failing to have my morning cup of tea.

For the first three aspects, there isn’t much I can do. When I space them out, it really means I have migraine attack THREE TIMES and not throughout my hormonal period.

As for the last, that is the worst thing I can do! Without my morning Cuppa, I can hardly function effectively. I’ll see things through mists and float instead of walk on the ground. Consider the importance of my Cuppa, I’m aghast that I still manage to become negligent at times!

Alright, when migraine attacks, what do I do?

Groan, contemplate, tolerate, and when the pain gets real bad, I bang my head on the wall.

Do not laugh yet. It’s real effective! Most of the pain is almost lifted immediately. Another advantage is that the kids immediately quieten down upon seeing me behaving bizarrely.

Killing two birds with one stone!

Your Stress Level is: 67%

You are prone to stress, and you're probably even pretty stressed right now. Life's problems seem to pile up on you, and this often makes you feel depressed and burned out. Learn to take time to relax and enjoy life, even if things are stressful. It's the only wa you'll get through the bad times.

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