I have been diaglosed with migrane

[Priya_7]

I have been diaglosed with migraine, I dont want to eat medicines..can i cure it by meditation?

[katya2]

Sorry to hear that you have been diagnosed with migraine. A first migraine can be a very frightening and lonely experience. Well done for finding this chatroom and for being prepared to make lifestyle changes to help cope with it.

Can you cure migraine by meditation - not unless you are very lucky. Meditation can help to reduce stress levels, which can be a migraine trigger and if you can meditate whilst having a migraine that can help take your mind off the pain - so will the radio or a friendly cat. But you might want to consider the medical options as well. Triptans are pills you can take when you have a migraine and have to keep going (they are a great thing to have in your pocket just in case you get hit by a migraine when away from home), but you can't take too many of them a month so if you get more than 2 or 3 migraines a month you might want to consider preventative medicines which you take every day.

Most people with migraine juggle the various options. Medication and lifestyle changes (including meditation) both have a part to play. Sometimes you get more migraines than other times and it is difficult to say why. If meditation is your thing then go for it, but be prepared to consider other options as well.

[Juliapester3]

Hi, sadly there is no 'cure' for migraines but ,as Katya says, ere are things you can do to try and reduce attacks. You need to keep a migraine diary and see when the attacks happen to try and help pinpoint your triggers.

Stress is a trigger and therefore meditation or yoga may help to reduce this and your migraines.

There are many websites that discuss migraines so it would be helpful for you to google migraine and have a read.

If you, like me, don't like meds it may be helpful for you to read 'The Migraine Rebolution' book this is the most comprehensive and helpful migraine book I have ever read and does not promote taking endless medication!

Good luck

[Hidden]

There are lots of alternative treatments for migraine and you can see a clear list here: life.gaiam.com/article/mast...

Unfortunately, as Juliapester says, there is no cure but the headaches can be managed. First be sure that your headaches are really migraines and then try to work out what triggers them. Mine have several causes. Yours may have, too. From then on, keep searching for the management method which suits you best. There's no quick answer. Good luck on your journey!

[Ceedee]

triptans may be invaluable if you need to comlpete tasks /pick the kids up etc. Mindfulness can help to cope...find a course, its hard to do it on your own . good luck x

[sckd69]

Triptans are best thing that ever happened to me. I deed to even think how horrible it would be to be a migraine sufferer before their introduction, which was actually not that long ago.

You might also look into vitamin B2 (riboflavin), magnesium, CoQ10, and possibly some other natural preventative approaches. Oh yes, start a migraine diary and track attacks against your cycle to see if hormones are a potential trigger.

I keep triptans on hand at home, in the office, and carry them with me for times when I must make a meeting, tend to a sick child, or some other event which means curling up in bed is simply not an option.

Oh, and a bag if frozen peas helps to numb the pain whilst I wait for the triptans to kick in.

[Gambit62]

I did come across a meditation to stop the headache phase of a migraine happening - mentioned in Healing Emotions - Conversations with the Dalai Lama on Mindfulness, Emotions and Health (edited by Daniel Goleman. It does seem to work for some people and involves visualising holding something hot but has to be done at the first signs - so if you have aura at the point where the aura starts - and theory is that it works by stopping the pressure building up in the blood vessels around the head where the pain starts. I don't often notice the aura starting so tend not to be able to use it but I think on the few occasions where I have been able to use it it has helped. I've also tried visualising an icicle going into my head during a migraine (hoping that would make some of the blood flow away from my head - and it did help a little ... but like others here I find triptans generally have a much better hit rate for me.

Other things you can try include exercise - I find jogging helps reduce the frequency and potentially the severity - swimming and cycling are things I'd do a lot of but it is the jogging that had the noticeable impact on the headaches.

Making sure you know what your triggers are and trying to avoid stress can be a huge factor - I think for a lot of people the danger point is actually where the stress starts to ease off ... but I'm definitely not saying that you should aim to continually keep your stress levels high as that will cause other issues that, to be frank, can be a lot worse than the migraines

I also find that sleeping in a more upright position can reduce the headaches - but then I also have an element of sinus creeping in to the headaches so it could be more to do with that.

On the triptans - please be aware that you may not need to take a full doze - I use rizatriptan and find that a 1/4 wafer generally does the trick for me - so tend to stick with that - it isn't something that the medics mention but as they are powerful drugs and you can overdose quite easily (not a pleasant experience!) it is worth trying lower dosages out to see if they work, if you do decide to go with them. And to be honest, triptans don't work for anyone.

It is definitely worth keeping a diary of when attacks occur - they can be driven by foods - can be driven by stress - can be driven by hormones - flourescent lights, particular smells ... and keeping a diary is probably the only way of tracking down what might be the trigger.

Really hope that you find a coping mechanism that works for you ... and I speak as someone who generally copes very well but had most of last week completely wiped out by an attack that I just had to sleep through ... occasionally those happen as well.

[Intolerant]

My orthalmologist swears that yoga has stopped him from getting migraines. I've stopped eating wheat and milk and rarely suffer now! Also ensuring the same amount of hours sleep each night works for me, too much and i've had it.