Migraines!

I hate migraines! Before migraines became part of my life in my mid-twenties, I rarely had even headaches. I suffered a severe sunstroke when I was eight and after that for about 10 years, whenever I stayed in the sun too much, I would get a headache. As long as I wore a hat, I very rarely had headaches.

And then I got married and my true headache experience began! Teehee. It seems my system was leading up to having migraines anyway, but going on the pill tipped it over the edge. Going off the pill did not stop the migraines. In those days, there were times I had to go to the emergency room to get a shot of something to stop the vomiting. Thankfully, that doesn’t happen any more. But I still have nausea with a migraine and sometimes, I still throw up.

I’ve changed what I do when I get a migraine. I have recognized that it’s like my digestive system just shuts off when the pain comes, so I just don’t eat. If there is nothing in there, there’s nothing to throw back. Sometimes, the nausea is so extreme, I can’t even drink tea. However, usually, I drink lots of green tea until I feel like eating, and then eat as much as I dare until the head pain passes. My digestion is usually delicate for at least one day after that, and sometimes up to a week later. There are certain foods that seem to be hard for me to digest on a good day, so I avoid them until the digestion is completely happy again. It keeps me from regaining the weight I lost a couple of years ago with the parasite infection, but at least I don’t throw up. I hate that almost as much as migraines.

There are times when I awaken in an exhausted state. This means there will be a doozy of a migraine coming within an hour or so. Usually, I just sleep for hours until I’m able to stay awake. There is then no thought of food or drink during those times. These migraines, although not always, are often when I have eaten corn in some form and not known about it. I have had corn migraines that have lasted 10 days, but not sleeping the entire time. I’m usually begging the Lord to take me from this earth by the 5th or 7th day – selfish crybaby that I am.

Over the past four months, I have had a higher number of migraines than usual. I’ve become quite the detective with my health over the years. It has been necessary to determine what causes pain and migraines. It gets frustrating when it takes some time to figure out a health issue, including migraines. In February, I started going to a second naturopath to help with the extremely low energy. He changed many of my supplements, and they seemed to work for a time. But the migraines that started 4 months ago were caused by some of the herbs in first one supplement, and then a second. I stopped taking them, and replaced one but haven’t replaced the second. I’m not sure how that will affect my long-term health.

Most recently, I have discovered there are a number of organic meats that are causing migraines. About 7 years ago, I did extensive research to find a supplier of organic meat that didn’t cause reactions. One would think just eating organic meat would be enough, but no – I’m weird that way. At first, I thought it was corn-fed meat causing the problem, but that is not the case. The clue was that I could eat out – chicken or beef – at a restaurant with no ill-effects. Non-organically raised chicken is most definitely corn-fed because it’s the cheapest feed. Instead, I discovered it is soy-fed meat that causes trouble, as well as grass-fed beef.

So, the meat market where I bought all my meat is now a problem. They’ve switched their beef source to grass-fed, even though the owner promised me they wouldn’t. Now the only meat I can buy there is lamb because this lamb producer feeds them peas instead. I’m glad! I eat a LOT of meat! Vegetables, and legumes can cause me problems, but I can almost always eat meat. Especially when I’m “rebuilding” after a migraine, I will eat meat for lunch and dinner. I eat a lot of nuts too, but usually reserve that for breakfast with fruit.

Now I have to research and test all over again to find another “safe” source of a variety of meat. This means the migraines will likely continue for a while as I test new sources. I have been eating non-organic meat for about two weeks, and at first didn’t notice any difference. However, I’ve started just feeling a bit “unwell” and I have a constant pain in my lower abdomen for the past few days. Don’t know if it’s caused by this meat, but think it will only complicate matters to continue over the long haul. It would be nice because it is cheaper and easily available, and it doesn’t cause migraines!

Until next time, wait patiently upon the Lord…