I am a shady guy!
Not literally (some may not agree!); but if you meet me outside or see my snap outdoors you would see my shades on!
In fact I love my shades! I do have an assortement of them though Ray Ban is still my favourite!
Then again there is a medical reason for that!
That reason I share with Sigmond Freud, Julius Caesor and even the great artist Monet to people like Lady Gaga, Janet Jackson and even Ben Affleck!
It is a condition which affects all of us and it known to cause some of the worst pain in the body!
In fact if you line up the top ten or twenty most severe pain your body can endure, headaches such as Trigeminal Neuralgia (more specific face pain) and cluster headache and migraines will always be there on the list!
Now a migraine is simply your brain telling you that it is in pain! I have often told people that you can have a headache only if you have a head! And for getting migraine you need a brain!
After a while though you get experienced and recognise the AURA which is like a warning just before the storm of migraine! If you can recognize and act on it then you can at least reduce the pain to an extent!
In fact the famous artist Claude Monet used this AURA! Art historians and specialists note that visual distortions in some of his famous paintings may reflect his migraine auras!
But if you miss the AURA or have no means of preventing it then brace yourself! I remember each and every attack of severe migraine I have had since they are not that common! The reason why they are not common now is that I have understood my triggers to an extent! In addition to that they have been so severe that they are unforgetable!
Which is where the shades come in! Bhagwan Sri Ram may be a Suryavanshi but direct sunlight ironically gives me the chills! The perils of being a mere mortal!
Which is where the shades come in to play! The day I forget to wear them; rest assured, it will be messy!
Then another common trigger for me and many others is skipping a meal which is usually breakfast. This can usually be avoided by, well not SKIPPING a meal! But if there are times when you cannot have a meal which is usually because of some puja then make I do make sure to hydrate myself with some ORS for added safety!
Another common trigger is lack of sleep or getting up from sleep suddenly! There is no way to prevent this some times but then you can try to calm your mind and sleep! Then again if you have a head and brain which gives you migraine then over thinking and not giving rest to your biological CPU is the norm! Then also once you get the attack then you have no other option that to lie down in the dark with your favourite migraine pill (as advised by your doctor of course!) and sleep it off (if you do get sleep with a migraine that is!)
Now migraine and headaches are go so hand in hand that many use them as synonyms (they are not!). In fact there are some migraines which do not even cause headache! As a vestibular specialist I can tell you that there is a condition called Vestibular Migraine where you may not even have headache!
Vestibular migraine is a common neurological condition that causes episodes of vertigo (spinning or swaying) and balance problems, often with or without a traditional headache! But the triggers are same or similar and more often that not you will get a history of traditional migraine in them!
So what can you do!? Keep your SOS pills or spray handy or at least know where they are at all times! Planning your day everyday is the key and if you have not found out your trigger then maintain a migraine diary to get to the root of the matter!
Finally do undertand that it is only a cry of your poor brain which is telling you do slow down and rest! Or else!
Or watch a movie which does not give you a migraine or a headache! Like one made by Sanjay Gupta!
Sleep well or else you will get a…well you know!
Shubh ratri…
