Caring for people with migraines
Hello, my name is Pamela, and I have not one but two people in my family with headaches. My 28-year-old son has had constant migraines that haven't ever gone away since seventh grade, and my husband has cluster headaches. We call our house The House of Pain. I feel overwhelmed and constantly under fire. Any tips for coping?
Hi Pamela - Thanks for sharing here. Sounds like you and your family have a pretty extensive history/experience with migraine. "The House of Pain" sounds like a pretty fitting nickname, unfortunately. Living with migraine can be so tough and hearing that it's not just you in your house with migraine...that must be really difficult. As far as coping -- there's so much to consider and not really a one-size-fits-all approach, as I'm sure you know. I'd be curious to hear what you've tried. There's also lots of people who have shared what's worked for them throughout the site. Here's one forum that might be helpful to check out: https://migraine.com/forums/coping-tools. But again, I'd be curious to hear more about your experience and what's helped or not helped you and your family.
- Jake (Team Member)Hi Jake, the thing that helped my son out the most was bio-feedback. He learned from one of the original practitioners and it probably saved his life. He can slow his heart rate down and knows how to, as he describes it, "swaddle" himself so that he can be with other people. But only for a short while. He always has migraines. He is 28 now and has had them since 7th grade. As far as my husband goes, he has cluster headaches and the only thing that helps is oxygen. He sucks down a ton of it. Other things we have tried for migraine: botox, remeron for depression, ketamin, and various pain reducers, non of which worked. So I am on team bio-feedback. It is not woo woo as some people assume. It gives some control back to the patient and is based on good science. Hope that helps, Pamela
Hi, Pamela! Welcome. 😀 Glad you are here with us. It can be really tough to navigate migraine from the position of a caregiver (I am assuming from the way I'm reading your messages that your son and husband have headache disorders but you don't). They are lucky to have an educated and supportive advocate in their corner, for sure!
For the record, we absolutely believe you about biofeedback. Everyone is different in what helps them, and we know that remedies can run the gamut from pharmaceuticals to essential oils and meditation. A while back, one of our patient leaders did some work with biofeedback and wrote about those experiences. I can't put my hands on the article I was thinking of right now, but here is one from Tom that does mention biofeedback:
https://migraine.com/living-migraine/manage-fluctuating-symptoms
And we also have some people who have shared the incredible pain of cluster headache here as well. I am SO RELIEVED to hear your husband has access to oxygen. It seems like a lot of people have trouble getting it for various reasons. Does he use a non-rebreather mask with it? Our cluster headache members have often mentioned how important that is:
https://migraine.com/living-migraine/abort-cluster-headaches-oxygen
We are here to support you, and your family is welcome to drop in too if they want! Take care of yourself and thanks for sharing a little bit of your experience with us. -Melissa, team member
