Migraines and mental health

I experience migraine. At one point they were back to back for months at a time. Now they happen maybe 4 times a month. Reducing them remains a goal of mine. But right now i’m in the middle, they have improved but I still experience very debilitating symptoms, there is a shift in my hormones and i know this is a trigger for symptoms. My thought for my ‘bad day protocol’ is how can I support myself here. I work with baselines. I try not to talk shit about myself. I tend to retreat into a dark room, i find it difficult to read during these times so I often listen to podcasts, try to sleep or watch very easy tv to pass the time. But I am really struggling. I have a lot of intrusive thoughts. I don’t want to connect with anyone. I feel alienated, the world feels too noisy, too smelly, too overwhelming for me to be part of it. So i retreat until it passes. Loosing two days a week to this is really impacting my mental health. But I am questioning how else I can support myself better during these times.

Any help welcome.

 

Answer:

Migraines are a force to be reckoned with, and from what I know, they are exacting with their demand for you to retreat and be still. You are asking a great question: How else can I support myself better during these times? Part of this may be through doing thought work on your feel-good days to bring self-compassion with you on your feel-bad days.

Let’s take a look at the manifestations of your struggle – i.e. the intrusive thoughts, not wanting to connect with anyone, feeling alienated, and feeling like the world is too noisy, too smelly, too overwhelming to be a part of. Try putting each of these experiences into their own C line and do a thought download and/or models around them. What do you discover and does it in any way extend an opportunity for you to connect deeper with or feel compassion for yourself and what you’re going through? When you respond, please entitle your submission, “Migraines pt. 2”.

Lastly, if your intrusive thoughts involve self-harm of any kind, we encourage you to reach out to a licensed professional who you can work with during this challenging time, or call your local suicide prevention hotline as soon as possible. We are sending you so much love – this community is here for you on days when you struggle to be there for yourself. Please lean into us!