Posted for WEGO Health’s September Blog Carnival — Back to school: ABCs for the newly diagnosed: Migraine Disease
Just five tips? Okay, but I could probably list a tip for most letters of the alphabet. Once you’ve seen a competent physician and been diagnosed with Migraine:
A – Always be an enthusiastic student: research migraine, read everything you get your eyes on, weed out the crap, find the facts, and try to understand the disease and your own brain-body system.
B – Be patient with yourself and others; you won’t accomplish the (A) assignments overnight, and it will take even longer for your friends and loved ones to begin to understand. Be kind to yourself when you’re not well and don’t push it or feel guilty about limitations.
C – Care for yourself and be an effective partner with your health care professionals to determine the best course of action for you. Everyone is different, there is no cure for migraine disease, and finding your best management approach takes time and more patience. But there is hope and help, and we have more research and additional methods of treatment all the time!
D – Do try to let others know when you’re having a migraine attack, how you feel, and if and or how they can help you.
E – Eat nutritiously (avoid food triggers once you determine yours), try to sleep regularly and Exercise whenever or however you are able to.
I know, this is actually more than five tips. After my 40 years of migraine disease, these are only a few of the things that have been helpful to me – lessons that have taken me years to learn. Those newly diagnosed with migraine have an advantage over me and other migraine veterans, and that is the abundance of information, resources, and treatment options now available. I hope you tap into them and take care of yourself.
This post is my September entry in the Health Activist Blog Carnival. If you’re interested in participating, you can read all about it here: http://blog.wegohealth.com/2010/09/new-health-activist-blog-carnival-back.html
These are great tips, Betsy! Thanks for sharing them for our Blog Carnival this month – I love that you came up with your tips alphabetically too! Maybe someday there could be a full alphabet of Migraine tips?
Thanks, Marie! Yes, I think the entire alphabet is doable.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by WEGO Health and WEGO Health, Amanda Dolan. Amanda Dolan said: Love @BetsyBlondin's colorful entry for our September blog carnival! "5 Tips for Those Newly Diagnosed with #Migraine": http://ow.ly/2IHno [...]