Prepared for Migraines

Because I can’t prevent all of my migraines, I prepare for them as best I can.

Preventing the problem is the best choice, of course. I prefer avoiding trouble to dealing with it when it happens. Stress triggers some of my skull bangers, so I try to blow off steam before it reaches that point. Writing, playing poker, exercising and going off by myself to rant at a wall are all helpful. I also fire up Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and take out my stress on innocent pixels.

However, weather changes and fluorescent lights also trigger migraines. I can’t change these things, so I have to be ready to deal with the problems that they sometimes cause.

My migraine meds are stashed in appropriate places. One pill (they’re individually packaged because exposure to air is, apparently, not good) stays in my wallet, which is with me every time I leave the house. I also stash meds in my backpack, along with anti-nausea medication, for school. Most of the rest are here in Command Central (my bedroom) because I spend so much of my time here. (Work, schoolwork, writing, playing video games…lots of good stuff happens here.)

Actually, I have more than one of the pills handy. This is just another area of life in which redundancy makes all the difference in the world. The pills take up just a tiny amount of storage space, so it’s very easy for me to be ready. It’s not like I’m a pioneer woman hauling four extra wagon axles in my Conestoga.

There’s also the fact that caffeine helps me – a lot. However, I despise coffee. So, I chug Mountain Dew. It’s not unheard of for me to keep a twenty-ounce bottle of Dew on hand pretty much everywhere I go. I love soda anyway, so it’s not like carrying a Dew around is any kind of burden. The soda fits nicely in a backpack pocket, or in my shopping cart at the store.

When I’m ready, I can grab whatever I need and try to put a stop to the migraine before it becomes a full-fledged head crusher. If you have a regular condition – or even an infrequent one that only pops up when it’s least convenient for you – you’ll want to do the same. Your bug-out bag or first-aid kit, for example, should include the medications that you can’t function, or live, without.

Have your physician prescribe an extra whatever: inhaler, medicine refill, et cetera. Just let him or her know that you want to keep the spare someplace safe, in case you forget the first one when you leave the house or something. (Many people with asthma have at least two inhalers. This has, at least, been the case the asthma sufferers I know. It’s just a good idea to always have at least one of those things handy, just in case.) Most doctors understand this, and will happily prescribe you another one. This doesn’t apply, though, if you’re on heavy-duty narcotics. Most doctors value their medical licenses enough to control the Vicodin, and similar medicines, as the law requires.

All of the above is just common sense, but I know people who don’t take vital meds with them. Another migraine sufferer I know won’t take any sort of medication anywhere. Why not? It’s an inconvenience, she says. How inconvenient is it, really, to stash one tiny, pre-packaged pill in your pocket or purse? This takes half a minute, max, but saves you hours (or even days) of pain and misery.