Migraine Tool Kit part 2: pacing yourself

Migraine mum is easing herself back into life........

Cup of decaf tea in hand, warming myself into Monday morning and a new term. It's gloriously sunny out there...and even though I don't have a migraine, I feel as blue as the sky..........

Any chronic illness can lead to a negative impact on every aspect of your life. But I am learning (slowly) that it is vital to pace yourself, otherwise everything just gets worse.....

This is a hard thing to do: I love saying yes and I hate missing out. I love being with people but being with people drains me. I need space to rejuvenate myself. Sometimes I wonder if my body generates a migraine to force me into stopping and giving myself space......

But why do I plough on??  One of the reasons is that I don't want to be defined by this illness. Ironically if I only got one migraine every so often, I probably would allow myself to stop. But because I get them so regularly I feel it is a necessity for myself to carry on.......regardless of the impact on my physical and inner self.

I can do that for awhile but eventually I get caught out and the lows hit me hard. I know when they are coming because I start to view the world with criticism, anxiety and low confidence. Then, I end up using even more energy to cope.. and rather cleverly and predictably creating more lows and more migraines........anyone telling me this story would fill me with sympathy and I would say "you need a rest".....

Yesterday I listened to my own advice and took myself off for a rest. Then my children found me hiding in my bed!! My initial internal reaction was to think "oh no! I'm going to have to find the energy to be Jeremy or the child catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, or a sausage (sizzling not raw*)...........but they were sensitive and lovely, giving me kisses, cuddles and saying they loved me. The hope started to glow a little and it made me realize that although family life can drain me, it can also give me hope and prove to me that I am more than a migraine.

(If you suffer from migraine, take a rest today, do something that gives energy back to you. Promise yourself 30 minutes of space.)

* this was once a request by my youngest child. I was a sizzling sausage and she played the part of an egg (fried).