Holiday Season without Migraine Mission: Possible! (Vol.2)

Following our advice from Vol.1?  If yes, here are the last actions you wanna take during the season to ensure you enjoy it at its most. Otherwise, it is not too late to check it out and get ready for the holiday season!

• First thing is to make sure you stick to your routine. Keep your regular sleeping hours and duration. 86% of Migraine Buddy’s English speaking community who reported at least one trigger, report Lack Of Sleep as a trigger. Also the Migraine Brain hates change so reduce risks of altering its routine operations by sticking to a strict bedtime. Keep drinking water regularly so make sure you always have a water bottle with you to stay hydrated. Keep recording your daily events in your dairy or Migraine Buddy. Understanding why something went wrong, if it does happen, will be a lot easier. 

• During the festive season you may not be the one receiving your relatives at home and playing host, that’s great! You avoid cooking, decorating and cleaning. However, for some of you it means driving a long way to visit your family! Road trips can be very exhausting for someone with migraine: lack of movement, bright or flickering lights, dry-air from the air-con, screaming kids… To avoid any complication:

  • Drink a lot of water and take breaks to stretch your leg and switch driving duties.

  • Keep the kids occupied.  Occupy them with games, books, tablets and a pitstop in a playground. If they are physically tired they might enjoy a good sleep during part of the drive. 

  • Try to avoid driving at night, the headlights may be tiring for your eyes, but if you have no choice, get yourself glasses to reduce glare. Wear polarized glasses while driving in the daytime. 

  • To avoid drying out your nasal and mouth passages because of the air-con, open the windows every hour.

  If you feel you can’t make it, be gentle with yourself, take a rest and let your  family know that you might be late. And most importantly have a safe journey!

• As mentioned in the first part of the article, doing a  10 minute meditation routine is can be beneficial. Relaxation exercises are very helpful before, during and after an exciting or stressful event. Take some time to relax before big events –  play crossword puzzles or a simple game on your phone, practice deep breathing, do something that shuts your mind down to focus on the present moment and relieve anxiety.

• Probably the most difficult part of Christmas is to stick to your healthy, migraine-friendly diet. If you apply our preparation tips, you should then know which food is a trigger for you. Certainly a lot of what will be on the table are common triggers such as alcohol (red wine and beer), MSG, aged cheese, sauerkraut, processed meat (peperoni, ham, salami) and sweets treats (chocolate, cakes and biscuits). Try to resist all temptations until the big feast!  Have a good breakfast on a big day and take a healthy snack with you in case there is a delay in serving the festive meal.

• Get your emergency kit ready and leave it in the car so it follows you wherever you go. You’ll need water, ginger candies, little snacks, instant coffee or tea bags, ice packs, and also things to comfort you senses such as earplugs and an eye mask. You can add extra medication, painkillers, anti-nausea medicine and sickness bags.

• If the party is too crowded and you need a minute, make sure you take one, don’t just soldier on. Try going to the car and breathe and relax a little to gather yourself. Take a nap in the car for 30 minutes if you can. It will help to get through the rest of the event and also to enjoy yourself.

At the end of it all, give yourself a big high five! Being prepared to enjoy events, contingency plans in place and a lovely holiday season should be something you look forward to!  Be kind to yourself! You can’t do more than all these steps. Being aware and knowing how to cope means that you are far more in control of your migraine than the other way around! Enjoy the season!