hi there
welcome to the Healing Migraines Naturally podcast
I'm your host Doctor Leslie Caesar
and I'm a licensed naturopathic doctor
former chronic migraine sufferer
and I've dedicated my life to helping other women
with chronic migraines rediscover a migraine free life
so welcome to the podcast
um today
I'm going to give my reaction to an article
that was published on life with migraine
and the article is called
Simple Morning and Night Time Rituals
to stabilize your Nervous System
okay so I wanna go through uh
this article not really to critique it
it's not my intention here to criticize anybody or
you know do sort of like a gotcha video
but if you've been following the podcast
I've been I my
my mission is to educate women with chronic migraines
around what the migraine symptoms themselves indicate
and um
how that helps us put together the right game plan
so that the body can recover
restore itself to health
and not generate the migraines in the first place right
cause that's really what we want right
we don't wanna have to take medication
we don't wanna have to take fistfuls of supplements
um you know
we wanna be able to go five days without taking
magnesium and not having a big crash right
you know we just wanna be able to live our life
everyone knows that you know
we have to have you know
some conscientiousness around our habits and
you know our eating habits
and our sleep habits and things like that right
I mean everybody knows you just can't do
do whatever you want and you're gonna feel good right
but you know
we just want to be able to maintain our health
have reasonable habits that are doable right
and just feel good and be able to you know
maintain our health
without having to take all these drug interventions
supplement interventions
all this kind of stuff so really
that's my goal is
to bring awareness
to what it actually takes to make that happen like
you know I don't take fistfuls of supplements you know
if I'm feeling a little off
if I'm starting to develop some symptoms
then I'll do a little intervention but in general
I'm not you know I I
I don't take supplements and stuff like that
I'm maintaining my health through through my uh
good habits preserving my vitality
etcetera I wanna talk about this article
to just sort of illustrate
the concepts
and the framework that I've been talking about
on the podcast one of the critical pieces
to restoring our health is restoring our resilience
and vitality and I call this the third principle
there are there are three things that our body needs
to restore itself back to health
so that it doesn't generate migraines
and to maintain its health
maintain its state of health
so that we keep the migraines
and the other symptoms away
and what I call the third principle or
sort of the third thing that our body needs
it needs adequate resiliency and vitality okay
because we are bombarded by stressors okay
in the migraine world
we call a lot of these stressors triggers okay
but our whole our whole existence
is one in which we are bombarded by stressors
these are physical stressors from the environment
so most of the physical stressors that we experience
are actually pretty subtle stressors
like sunlight hitting us okay
barometric pressure changes noise okay
stimulation to the um inner ear we perceive as noise
so a lot of these are pretty subtle physical stressors
more obvious physical stressors are things that
people think of as physical stressors
are things like maybe you know exercise
increased physical activity
staying up later than normal
waking up earlier than normal um
and then you know
some really significant big physical stressors my
that people would think of would be things like
you know being in an accident or having an injury
or a really serious illness
like a bad flu or bronchitis
you know
we are continuously bombarded by physical stressors
okay most of which are very subtle and you know
unfortunately when we're in that chronic migraine state
we become so hypersensitive
so sensitive to any little stressor or
you know a lot of times we call them triggers that
you know even just the slightest thing
you know just a little bit too much light
a little bit too much heat
a little bit too much wind right
a little bit too much noise
and that
those stressors are sort of knocking us out of balance
so I like to think that we have sort of a needle
like we have this internal compass needle
that when we are in a state of health
that needle is pointing north
it's in the green zone okay
we feel good our body is not generating symptoms
but unfortunately these stressors
these physical stressors or mental emotional stressors
the things that we call stress
you know the conflict with a coworker right
the you know
a child that's just you know
constantly pushing your buttons right
mental emotional stressors
physical stressors
those things are continuously pushing that needle down
they're sort of knocking us out of balance
or homeostasis
it's our own resilience and vitality that counters
those stressors and keeps the needle pointing north
you and I have something in common
we both sort of on the northwest side of our dial
we have a zone that's called our migraine zone
so everybody so if you think of this compass dial
everybody has like symptom zones on their compass dial
and when the needle gets knocked down into that zone
that person is going to experience the symptoms
that they're predisposed to
so the symptoms that we're predisposed to are sort of
lining that dial
and as the needle gets pushed further and further down
and our own resilience and vitality is not able to
counter that
we are going to experience the symptoms
that correspond to that zone
that the needle has fallen into
and those of us that are prone to migraines
we can really feel this in a way that other people
who are prone to sort of different symptom patterns
or pictures can't feel okay
so when we have that migraine zone
on the northwest side of our dial
we can feel it right
as soon as that needle starts to hover
over the top of that zone
we go uh oh right
I call that the uh oh moment
uh oh I can feel it brewing right
I can feel this migraine coming on
because
migraines are such a very obvious symptom pattern
it's very hard to not notice a migraine right
whether it's a classic migraine
that involves a lot of head pain
as in addition to other symptoms
or if it's more of a silent migraine type right
we can feel it
as that needle goes into our migraine zone
and we get that first little uh oh moment
uh oh
I can't really I can't tell you exactly what it is
but I know this is it right
and if I keep going down
I know this is gonna be a big one right
this is gonna be a bad one
and the further that needle goes down
into the migraine zone
the worse the migraine is gonna be right
so we can really feel this
and we can feel the interplay of our vitality right
because we have those we have some days where we go
uh oh I can feel the needle
it's dropping in there but if we say okay
wait a minute here you know what
I'm gonna alleviate some stress
I'm not gonna make that phone call to the family member
that you know
always irritates me I'll just hold off on that
you know what we'll go out to dinner tonight
I can't do a big meal
I'm just gonna take it easy tonight right
I'm gonna take a deep breath
I'm gonna let relax a little bit
I'm gonna take a beat right
many times if we do those types of things
where we're conserving stressors right
we're trying to take some things off the docket
remove some stressors from the table
then we notice ah
wait a minute OK
I'm starting to feel a little bit better
why is that happening it's because we're eliminating
some of the push down on the needle
and our own resilience and vitality is rallying
and it's pushing the needle back up towards north
out of our migraine zone in contrast right
there's other days uh oh
I I
I can feel it it's starting to brew
and no matter what we do right
it's like I'm trying to relax
I'm trying positive self talk
I'm trying the affirmations
I'm trying to rest right
I'm not picking any fights with anybody right
but still we feel that needle going down
down down and we end up getting a really big migraine
that's because on that particular day
our resilience and vitality just wasn't enough
to push that needle back up
and this is what makes migraine so insidious
that's because it's an interplay of both the stressors
and our inherent vitality in the moment okay
it's not just about the stressors
it's not just about the triggers
it's also about our own resilience and vitality
and that fluctuates that's in constant flux
it's not the same every day
my vitality is not the same every day
it's an interplay between those two things
and this is why just tracking triggers
and trying to decipher our triggers
it doesn't really work because one day
we can eat the chocolate and we're fine
and then another day
we eat the chocolate and we have a horrible migraine
so is chocolate a trigger
should I put that on my trigger tracker
you know it's
it's very difficult to discern because our vitality
our resilience and vitality is also playing a part
and whether or not we get a migraine
so I've talked about this concept before on the podcast
um I wanted to go a little bit deeper into it right now
because what I'm gonna talk about today
brings out this concept okay
so a lot of people in the migraine space
that have written books you know
this is a website dedicated to helping
migraine suffers a lot of people
they're kind of picking up on this phenomenon okay
because like I say it's so obvious with migraines
in a way
that's not obvious with other health conditions
this
this is still at play with other health conditions
but a lot of health conditions
don't have such obvious symptoms that migraines have
like for for example
if you have diabetes
on the northwest side of your dial
or high blood pressure
your needle still has to fall into that zone
in order for you to get diabetes
or high blood pressure but the thing is
you know
both of those conditions they're pretty symptomless
okay your blood sugar has to be very high
for you to experience it physically right
so I shouldn't say that they're symptomless they
they they do generate symptoms
they're generating the high blood pressure
they're generating the elevated blood sugar
those are symptoms but we don't
we don't experience the symptom
your blood pressure has to be very
very high for you to have any sort of physical
sensations or any perception that that's happening
so a better way of saying this would be that we
that these conditions don't have perceptible symptoms
migraines highly perceptible right
so this this is at play with every disease
with every symptom pattern
with every constellation of symptoms
but some diseases some conditions
the symptoms are not as readily perceivable
as they are with migraines
so like I say people you know
that are trying to help migraine sufferers
they're picking up on this phenomenon
but they're just missing the Mark
just a so because people pick up on this
even you know
we as the migraine sufferer
we're picking up on this
what happens is people start to bubble wrap themselves
right it's like
okay
I can tell that I'm very sensitive to these stressors
right or
you know you may not be calling them stressors
but you might you know
realize I'm very sensitive to
you know getting into a conflict with a coworker
or a work deadline or
you know an argument with my husband right
you know with my kids getting on my last nerve
so I'm gonna try to protect that
I'm gonna try to bubble wrap myself from those mental
emotional stressors and then
you know
I'm really sensitive to being out in the sun too long
or if it gets too hot or if
you know there's a weather front coming through right
so then we start to or
you know missing a meal right
you know so then we start to bubble wrap ourselves
and we try to protect ourselves
and just prevent any of these things from occurring
unfortunately you can't really do that right
it's just part of life
so we kind of retreat more and more
we get more and more paranoid
we have more and more anxiety
we feel less and less confident right
we start second guessing
everything should I do this or not
am I gonna pay for it later
I do wanna go to the movies later
so maybe I shouldn't do this other thing right now
right it just spirals into this whole thing right
so you know
many people within the migraine space
they tell migraine sufferers
you gotta conserve stressors right
you you know
they may not put it that way
but that's sort of the underlying
message that they have you gotta do things
you know very carefully
you know don't go out of the box right
it like they're telling migraine suffers
you've gotta conserve energy
you've gotta lower the stress level
you gotta you know um
spoon theory
which I've talked about really plays into this
you know you only have so many spoons to pass out
so be careful which ones you're giving away right
it's always putting it on the migraine sufferer
to try to manage exposures
and stressors and activity and exertion
and all of these things but people are missing that
the other piece of this is our own resilience
and vitality that's at play here
and you know that varies day to day
but you can also increase your resilience and vitality
but also the other major factor is
people are draining their vitality inadvertently
and they don't realize it
and so they're you know
even if they're trying to add vitality
they aren't getting anywhere
because they're unknowingly
and inadvertently draining their vitality okay
so let's dive into this article okay
I'm just do saying
all of this to kind of set the stage
in the framework
for how we're going to look at this article
hi there
I wanna jump in real quick and tell you about my client
Beth she was getting 15 to 20 migraines and headaches
per month and as you can imagine
this was impacting her work performance
and her confidence she also has two small children
and she was
starting to feel like she was a horrible mom
because she had nothing left for them
at the end of the day but she reached out
and she booked a free consult call with me
and after I asked her about her migraines
and her health history
I felt confident that I could help her
I help women uncover
the root drivers of their migraines
and follow a step by step plan to dramatically reduce
the frequency by up to 90%
without adding more medication
or taking a bunch of supplements
so we built her personal migraine map
followed the plan
and now she will get one to two migraines per year
which she uses ibuprofen to treat if she needs to
verses up to 15 to 20 per month
when we first started working together
that weren't responding well to any medication
she just reached out to tell me that
she got a promotion at work
she's on top of her career again
and has been able to come
off all of her migraine medication
but most importantly she's a confident mom again
and she's attending birthday parties at Jump Zone
with her kids and saying yes
instead of saying maybe later
I've worked with women like Beth
from all over the United States
who were told this is the best we can do
but they were still willing to dig deeper
so
if you are serious about changing your migraine story
go to Doctor Leslie Caesar dot com slash apply
or tap the link in the show notes
and on our free consult
we'll map out why your migraines keep coming back
and the first three steps you can take
over the next 30 days
I do cap new client spots each month
so if the calendar is full
the doors are closed for now
but if you're done feeling helpless
and ready to do the work to heal
pause this episode for 30 seconds
and book that console call now
so um
here we have um
the article again this is on life with migraine
simple morning and night time rituals
to stabilize your nervous system
so it's very interesting the word ritual is used here
mystical a little special right
really what you're
what we're talking about here are routines okay
and routines conserve stressors okay
so our body needs a certain amount of routine
um when our body becomes accustomed to routines
it's less stressful on the body
it conserves stressors if there's just total chaos
and nothing's predictable
then our body has to be in constant adaptation mode
constant you know
what are we gonna do next
what am I gonna have to do
you know to get through this
so having predictable routines
that the body becomes accustomed to
that conserves stress so one of the most uh
one of the first routines that people think about
is our routine eating okay
so you know
when we eat lunch every day around noon about 11:30
our digestive tract says hey
you know what she's gonna feed us in about a half hour
because that's what she does every day
if she eats lunch around noon
so you know
in preparation of what we're anticipating
what we're expecting
we're gonna start making hydrochloric acid
we're gonna start to get things moving
we're gonna get the pancreas
making some enzymes with gallbladders
ready to go to squirt some bile in there right
it's like that routine
of eating at a certain time of day
the body anticipates
and starts to prepare ahead of time
so that when we actually eat the food
we're not catching our digestive track off guard
it's prepared it's ready to go
we've got what we need to start the digestive process
so you know
we don't call it a eating ritual
we call it sort of a routine right
and the body becomes accustomed to that
and it starts to prepare ahead of time
and this can serve stressors
it's more stressful on the body
to just suddenly eat out of nowhere
and it's like oh
I wasn't prepared at all I got no acid
I got no enzymes I got no motility right
oh my goodness right now
it's gotta work a little bit harder
to accommodate that unexpected food
and so that's more stressful on the body
I want you to think back to that needle now right
when I'm eating routinely at noon
and my body is acclimated to that
and it starts revving everything up
and preparing for that ahead of time
then when I do actually eat at noon
that's not it it is a stressor
I mean literally
to eat food and break it down
and run your digestive track
is a stressor on your body
it's gonna push your needle down a little bit
but if I'm totally unprepared for that
it's gonna push my needle down a lot further
because the stress level is much larger
if I'm unprepared for it than if I'm prepared for it
so like I say um
the article right simple
morning and night time rituals
or routines to stabilize your nervous system okay
so again stabilize your nervous system
we're talking about conserving stressors
uh morning rituals for a grounded start okay
gentle awakening instead of jolting awake with an alarm
try using a sunrise alarm clock
or a soothing sound to wake up gradually
this signals to your nervous system
that it's safe to transition into
the day um
now this is something that is becoming very prominent
right now it's very prominent to use this approach
that our nervous system is
you know
on high alert and we've got to soothe it down okay
now it is true this is true
that people's nervous system is overactive
that is primarily generated because of a higher
toxin overload
if we're looking at physical causes for nervous system
disregulation that's a toxicity symptom um
this can also be related to people's past experiences
if they were say you know
their childhood
family environment was one that had a lot of chaos in
it would be very
normal for a nervous system in that environment to
become hyper vigilant okay
so there are a lot of reasons why the nervous system
can become disregulated
overactive there are physical reasons for this
there are mental and emotional reasons for this okay
but this is sort of
becoming a trending way of talking about it
but I think at the end of the day going
you know having a little bit deeper understanding
it's
it's sort of treating our nervous system as if it's um
some sort of separate entity
that's disconnected from our body
that's always the sense that I get
when I hear people talking about this
and that's not the case right
so it's like this signals to your nervous system
that it's safe to transition into the day
well right like
why would your nervous system
think it's unsafe to transition into the day right
like we
we need to
kind of do a little bit deeper thinking on this right
like we're we're evolved to get up in the morning right
like why would this be traumatic for the nervous system
okay so I think a little like a little deeper work
I'm I think some people yeah
their nervous system it does seem like
it feels like it's unsafe to transition into the day
but we want to understand like why is that the case
right this goes back to
if I'm accustomed to waking up at 6:00 in the morning
my whole biochemistry is acclimated to that
and so you know
my adrenals are gonna start making cortisol
it's gonna peak around 4 in the morning
so that I have the energy to get up
around 6 my melatonin is gonna start to drop
my digestive
my digestive track is gonna start warming up
so that I can break the overnight fast
with my breakfast right yes
the whole body gets acclimated to the routine
to a routine wake up time okay
and so if you're varying from that routine
you're gonna generate more stress on your body
so this is the classic phenomenon for migraine suffers
right if I if I sleep too late
I get a migraine if I wake up too early
I get a migraine right it's because the
stress of breaking the normal routine
is pushing the needle down
the individual
doesn't have enough resiliency and vitality to counter
that and boom
they're getting pushed into their migraine zone
so this advice right
if someone has very low vitality
this is very good advice okay
because if you are jolting awake
with some sort of really you know uh
you know irritating alarm and you're rattling yourself
you're definitely putting more of a stressor
on the needle
and if you have very low resilience and vitality yeah
let's avoid that I mean
this is kind of an easy thing easy fix to avoid
but here's the thing
the ultimate goal here is to restore our resilience
and vitality
because sometimes we do have to be jolted awake okay
I mean what if you know there's a uh
you know a severe thunderstorm
and a tree limb breaks
and comes crashing down on your house
and it jolts you awake well
you know No. 1 you're being jolted awake
awake because
your body is picking up on some signals
from the environment that you
you might want to wake up now
there might be a serious problem that you know
you wanna be awake for and then you know
you wanna be able to okay
you know did a window break right
you're gonna have to investigate
there's sometimes
there's good reasons to be jolted awake
and we need to have enough resilience and vitality
to weather the stressor of being jolted awake right
if your kid in the middle of the night
starts vomiting and crying and spikes a high fever
you're gonna be jolted awake
and you want to ultimately
have enough resilience and vitality
so that you're not getting a migraine
when your kid gets sick in the middle of the night
okay and jolts you awake
so like I say um
when I'm working with clients
one of the things that I do is assess
okay where is their resilience and vitality
if it's very low okay
until we get that restored
yeah let's look for things that we
you know let's look for stressors
that are kind of low hanging fruit
that we can easily eliminate
not going to add to the paranoia
that you inevitably already have
due to the chronic migraines
and your fear of triggers and
you know the
you know is this gonna be too much for me right
we don't want to contribute to that
but what are some low hanging fruit
that we can make some changes on
that are going to just eliminate
some additional stressors
you know conserve routines etcetera
that's a great idea
but we wanna keep our eye on the goal
which is increasing our resilience and vitality
cause I got news for you right
uh nobody wants to be jolted awake right
you know on a day to day basis
we shouldn't be jolting ourselves awake
but sometimes you're gonna be jolted awake
and you've gotta have the resiliency and vitality
to the weather
the stresser of that so um
deep breathing or meditation before getting out of bed
take a few minutes to engage in some deep breathing
or a short meditation again
this is like also trying to like
you know calm things down set a stable tone
you know I'm gonna get out of bed in a calm state
not in a stressed out state
this is this is great right
but again when we have resilience and vitality
we're waking up
we're ready to start the day we've got good energy
we're up and Adam right we're enthusiastic
we're motivated to start the day so yeah
if somebody has really low vitality okay yeah
let's carefully get out of bed
we're not jolting awake
we're gonna take a you know a little time here
that's fine you can do that but again
we're not emphasizing the ultimate goal here
which is to wake up feel good
get out of bed start the day right
we're we're
we're ready for what the day is gonna bring
a morning light exposure so
stepping outside for five to 10 minutes
in the natural daylight
especially in the first hour of waking
helps regulate your circadian rhythm
and supports mood stabilization
absolutely hundred percent we humans
we are designed to get up when the sun rises
we are not nocturnal animals right
the every animal on the planet has certain rhythm
certain time of day that they're supposed to be awake
that they're supposed to be asleep
and definitely it's well known that
that early morning sunlight hitting the retina
sinks up our hormones and and um
sets us up to be in sync with the normal rhythm of uh
the human being and when we are in sync
that adds vitality right
so this is something this is a this is a habit
this is a practice
it's going to add a little vitality to your bucket
right you know
if I'm staying up until 2 in the morning every night
playing video games
I'm running counter to the normal circadian
human rhythm okay
and that's gonna be vitality draining right
people realize that getting up when the sun rises
getting that early morning light
absolutely
that's going to add vitality gentle movement OK
light stretching yoga short walk okay
um stimulates circulation
gets the muscles loosened up after being
so still great idea right
you get the blood moving
you're gonna deliver nutrients to the cells
you're gonna flush out waste material
anytime we're moving the blood
we're also moving the vitality in the body
so gentle movement that's gonna hit all three of
what I call the three principles
that support your health so again
very health supporting habit here nourishing
hydration and breakfast drink
a glass of warm water with lemon or herbal tea
can support digestion and hydration
now here's where I'm gonna really uh
disagree here
warm water with lemon on an empty stomach for a lot
of migraine sufferers can make them feel sick
and can push them into a migraine
so in particular lemon can push the liver too hard
okay and this is why lemon juice is
is frequently mentioned in doing some of these
like home cleanses home detoxes and stuff like that
um so
I actually don't recommend that
chronic migraine suffers definitely
I would not recommend you have lemon water
first thing in the morning
for many of you that could tip you into a migraine
give you a migraine
and I don't recommend even a lot of lemon and water
and so on just out of an abundance of caution
cause it is known to push um
push the liver um
if you like a little citrus flavor
then I would recommend lime juice
instead of lemon juice if you like that in your water
but I definitely would not recommend this
first thing in the morning
um for migraine sufferers
um now she's saying
you know then eat a nutrient dense breakfast
rich in protein and healthy fats
to support blood sugar stability
absolutely every
everybody should be doing this
that's part of health supporting eating habits
okay and then particularly for migraine sufferers
most of us are very sensitive to uh
blood sugar you know
swings and drops and and so on
so eating in a way that supports blood sugar stability
it's a good idea for everybody
but particularly for migraine suffers
this is a good idea because when we have a
particularly when we have a drop in our blood sugar
when our blood sugar is going up and down
up and down and then when it goes down
that's a tremendous physical stressor on the body
and that's what's tipping us into a migraine
I used to be particularly sensitive to this
if I missed a meal if my blood sugar would drop
oh great way to get a migraine
and that's because
the stress of going through a low blood sugar episode
really pushes that needle down
and if I don't have enough resilience
and vitality to counter that
it's highly likely
that my needle is going to go into my migraine zone
so now
I have so much more resilience and vitality than I had
uh
years ago when I was struggling with chronic migraines
that I'm not so sensitive to this anymore
I can go I can go a couple hours past a meal
I can feel my you know
I can feel my blood sugar dropping
but I'll still be okay so it's again
it's not just the blood sugar dropping
it's not just missing the meal
it's do I have enough resilience
and vitality to weather the stress that
that disruption in my routine or my blood sugar has
right remember
if I'm used to eating lunch at noon
and I don't eat until 2 well
then my digestive tract started making all this acid
and enzymes and my gallbladder
was ready to squirt out bile but then no food appeared
right so that also generates a stressor on the body
when there's something unexpected that happens right
so that's part of why we become so sensitive
to missing a meal uh
because it it is a stressor
and we don't have the resiliency and vitality
to withstand it hi there
I wanna jump in real quick and tell you about my client
Beth she was getting 15 to 20 migraines and headaches
per month and as you can imagine
this was impacting her work performance
and her confidence she also has two small children
and she was
starting to feel like she was a horrible mom
because she had nothing left for them
at the end of the day but she reached out
and she booked a free consult call with me
and after I asked her about her migraines
and her health history
I felt confident that I could help her
I help women uncover
the root drivers of their migraines
and follow a step by step plan to dramatically reduce
the frequency by up to 90%
without adding more medication
or taking a bunch of supplements
so we built her personal migraine map
followed the plan
and now she will get one to two migraines per year
which she uses ibuprofen to treat if she needs to
verses up to 15 to 20 per month
when we first started working together
that weren't responding well to any medication
she just reached out to tell me that
she got a promotion at work
she's on top of her career again
and has been able to come off all of her migraine
medication but most importantly
she's a confident mom again
and she's attending birthday parties at Jump Zone
with her kids and saying yes
instead of saying maybe later
I've worked with women like Beth
from all over the United States
who were told this is the best we can do
but they were still willing to dig deeper
so
if you are serious about changing your migraine story
go to Doctor Leslie Caesar dot com slash apply
or tap the link in the show notes
and on our free consult
we'll map out why your migraines keep coming back
and the first three steps you can take
over the next 30 days
I do cap new client spots each month
so if the calendar is full
the doors are closed for now
but if you're done feeling helpless
and ready to do the work to heal
pause this episode for 30 seconds
and book that console call now
okay and then No. 6
um intentional gratitude or journaling
write down three things you're grateful for
or setting an intention for the day
can shift your nervous system into a more regulated
state by focusing on safety and abundance
rather than stress so again
this is a very nice um
nice routine or habit to cultivate
I will say that um
when you are in the throes of chronic migraines
this is gonna be a very difficult exercise okay
so you know
when we are experiencing chronic migraines
there's a an anxiety that is naturally generated
because of the condition itself
you know a migraine is
it's very different than other chronic pain conditions
so I'll give you an example like fibromyalgia
fibromyalgia is another chronic pain condition
and fibromyalgia certainly
people can have flares
and remissions of their fibromyalgia symptoms
but generally speaking people are experiencing
fibromyalgia symptoms in a much more
sort of predictable or constant pattern
whereas migraines the very nature of migraines is
is that it's a flaring and remitting condition
and so what this means is
you can wake up in the morning feeling perfectly fine
and by four PM
you're down for the count and you're in absolute agony
and you're you know
worried about making it somewhere canceling plans right
how you know now how am I gonna get home from work
all of these things
so it's it's different than fibromyalgia again
people with fibromyalgia will say oh
you know
I'm kind of having a bad day about now you know
the past three weeks have been bad
with my fibromyalgia but fibromyalgia is not you know
I I woke up feeling great in the morning
and by the end of the day
I'm completely debilitated in in in agony
so because of this flaring and remitting
characteristic that migraines has
it generates a a very predictable anxiety
right because then we start to worry well
okay just because I'm feeling good now
does that really mean anything right
I've had many experiences where I was feeling really
really good at 10 in the morning and by two PM right
I'm taking medication I'm going through you know
this whole struggle of you know
what do I need to do next
I'm in agony etcetera so
you know when someone experiences that
over and over and over again
it's very sort of predictable
so it's a reasonable response
that someone
would start to get a tremendous amount of anxiety
and in fact it would be a little strange if someone
didn't develop anxiety in this situation right
it would be a little strange if somebody said yeah
you know
I wake up at wake up in the morning feeling fine
but who knows you know
maybe by the end of the day I'll be vomiting and
you know everything else but yeah
it doesn't bother me at all
I don't think twice about it
I don't worry about it
that would that would be a little unusual right
so when you're in the throes of this right
and you're dealing with that anxiety
that's naturally going to result
because of the migraine flaring
it's a little difficult to start the day and say okay
I'm gonna set this intention and I'm gonna you know
be have gratitude and you know
I'm gonna think positive a little tough with my clients
um I might use something like this if it if it's
you know
good fit for the client if it resonates with her
we might do a little intention setting or looking
you know
sort of on the bright side of things so to speak
but I wouldn't have a client start to do that
until after they start feeling better
and then I'm also doing some specific work with again
most of my clients working through and recovering from
this anxiety that naturally develops
because of the flaring and remitting
nature of the chronic migraines so
you know I think like I say this is this is nice advice
but it's sort of one of those things like
well you know
if everybody could do this
nobody would have any problems right
if we could just sort of positive affirmation
our way out of out of pain
nobody would have any pain
nobody would have any problems right
so I think that for a lot of women
who are really in the throes of chronic migraines
you'll read something like this and it's like well
you know okay sure uh
will you know easy for you to say or you know
we'll see how that goes so you know again
nice advice
but I think for really chronic migraine suffers
this is gonna be a real tough one to resonate with
so that's the morning
you know rituals or routines that are recommended
let's take a look at the nighttime rituals or routines
or habits okay
so um
No. 1 screen free wind down right
so about an hour before bed
dim the lights
reduce your blue light exposure from your phone
your laptop right
all of these devices that are addictive by design
and we're particularly susceptible to
as we're winding down right
because you know
we do need to have a wind down period
you just can't go you know
from 60 to zero right
there is a natural cadence to winding down
slowing things down slowing the mind down
preparing for sleep you know
this is a time where we're not gonna
really start anything new
we're not gonna do something really strenuous
and now we've got these addictive by design devices
the phones the ipads
etcetera that kind of are really are gonna pull us in
particularly at this time of day uh
the light emitted from these screens is a blue light
so it's very similar to daylight
and what we don't really appreciate is just how much
light hitting our retina stimulating the optic nerve
right that whole experience of
the light changing throughout the day
the dawn the noontime
the dusk the evening
that whole rhythm of light and dark
has a tremendous impact on our hormones okay
and so like I said before
we humans we are not nocturnal animals okay
we are supposed to get up around the time that the
sun rises and so when we again
before this technology right
when the sun went down people had a campfire
they had you know lamps candles
you know uh things
but that light admitted from those sources
was not a blue daylight type light
it was a red light a fire is red right
not blue
when we are on these blue light emitted screens
that signals to the brain
oh it's daylight right
so then it's very like
well what I thought we were going to bed here right
but is it daylight right
and so this will um have an impact on hormones okay
and so
we do want to limit our exposure to this blue light
now most devices have a setting right
that you can put on on my devices
it's just sort of like an automatic timer that's
I can turn on or off on the device that says hey
you know at 9:00
shift the light on this device
from sort of the blue light
daylight type to more of a reddish
it kind of puts like a reddish light filter over it
um I don't think that this is going to be an exact uh
mimic of candle lighter that campfire that
you know actual you know real red light
but this is definitely going to be an improvement
over that blue light hitting um
hitting your retina and disrupting things
so this is great advice for everyone okay
so particularly like uh for kids
um this is very important because it's
you know sleep is critical for everybody
but particularly for children
that they get adequate sleep uh
because their brain is you know
in the throes of development
and sleep is very important for the brain
so this is great advice
I wouldn't say that it's specific for migraine
sufferers but great advice in general
um No. 2
slow and intentional breathing
okay so this is um
doing some breathing cadences
that have been shown to sort of stimulate
or in encourage the parasympathetic nervous system
which counters the sympathetic nervous system
so kind of if you generally think about this
the sympathetic nervous system is the nervous system
that's alert and doing things
it's definitely the one that's activated
when we're under stress
the parasympathetic nervous system
is the nervous system that's active
they call it rest and digest right
so we're we're calm
we're resting in order for your digestive tract
to break your food down
you have to have parasympathetic nervous system
control over that so actually
you know part of the stress response
the sympathetic nervous system response
part of that stress response
is to shut our digestive tract down
because if we're under
like a life threatening situation
we're not worried about digesting our food
we're worrying about surviving for
for the next 15 minutes and so the stress response
I mean obviously
usually we're not in like a life threatening situation
thank goodness where we're get having that full
full blown fight or flight response
most of us are under a lower level
maybe more like a continuous lower level stress
when we're at work for eight hours a day
but that even that lower level is going to um
inhibit the parasympathetic nervous system and impair
or inhibit our digestive function so
um sort of doing this in the evening
try to you know
trying to bring up the parasympathetic nervous system
to counterbalance the sympathetic nervous system again
that's a great idea okay
that's a great idea for everybody um
gentle body work so light stretching
self massage
a warm bath with Epsom salts can help release tension
okay yep great
I mean I'm gonna be honest with you
you know you
you've been at work you've got kids
you've you know
helped your husband um
you know you're taking care of the house uh
you're suffering from chronic migraines
are you gonna be able to do this at the end of the day
I mean uh
this is kind of it's kind of a lot right
so I think for a lot of women
this is gonna feel more like
oh no I got one more thing on my to do list and I'm
I'm done I'm spent right
so again good advice
but I think how practical is it
are you really going to be able to implement
something like this and
you know the um
you know you
let's be honest
you take a bath now you gotta clean the bathtub right
it's like some some of these things
it's just generates even more work unfortunately
so like I say are you gonna be able to implement this
I always tell my clients
a recommendation from me is worthless
if you can't implement it
so with all of my clients I tell them
you know
I'm I'm gonna ahead of time try to figure out you know
based on what I know about
everything else you have on your plate
I'm gonna do my best to come up with a recommendation
that's gonna move you towards health
but it's something that you can actually implement
right and so this is one of those things
like a recommendation like this is nice
but can you implement it um
that's where hmm might be a little difficult um
No. 4 is herbal or caffeine free tea like chamomile
valerian root lemon balm
can have calming effects on the nervous system
supporting restful sleep
so these are three herbs that are sedating herbs
and they are commonly found in like a sleepy time tea
that type of thing or little herbal formulas
that have sedating herbs in them to help people sleep
now I would be very cautious with valerian root okay
so valerian root
I if I remember it is in sleepy time tea
I mean it's it's not any sort of restricted herb
it's very available in health food stores in
the grocery store and
you know sleepy time teas and things like that
but valerian root
what I have found in my work is frequently
people will wake up with a headache
if they take valerian root
so um
some people are not that sensitive to it
but a lot of migraine suffers right
we're just we're a little bit more sensitive
than the typical person
and so I have found the valerian root
a lot of migraine suffers
they will wake up with a headache
if they take valerian root
or they take too much
I personally have experienced this
so if I need a little you know
sleepy time tea or something like that
sometimes it's nice to do something like this
when you're traveling and
you know you're in a new space
it's noisy in the hotel something like that
sometimes these little sedating herbs can be helpful
but I I'm very cautious with Valerian Root myself
let alone with my clients
that are in the throes of head pain
I just um
I I go with other herbs
chamomile is usually well tolerated
um a very nice
gentle herb called California Poppy is another really
really nice little bit of a sedating herb
a little bit of a sedating effect
but it's usually very well tolerated
by migraine sufferers so again
this one it just seems like
it's not really dialed in to migraine sufferers
just my opinion um
No. 5 gratitude reflection or journaling
so again this is sort of like okay
we're going to reflect on the day now
like at the beginning of the day was
set the intention and kind of
you know positive vibes out for the day
and this one is sort of reflecting
now that the day is over right
you know
kind of noting sort of like a gratitude journal right
what were some of the great things that happened today
uh it's a nice practice
it can be very helpful for people
but uh
what I actually do with my clients
um not with every client
but many clients
will actually do what I call a win list
and so this is different than a gratitude journal OK
because with my work with my clients right
we're trying to get rid of the migraines
we're trying to get rid of the headaches
we're trying to get rid of other symptoms
and so I will have some clients reflect on
you know what were the wins
what were the improvements that they noticed
that they were able to do that day
based on how they were feeling
you know when we have chronic migraines
even doing you know
getting the laundry in the washing machine
into the dryer
out of the dryer and fold it and put away
that is a major accomplishment
um I've had many
many clients over the years
where they cannot do that whole sequence in one day
they have to divide it out
into multiple days until the day comes where they say
wow I actually did I
I did the laundry and I folded it and I put it away
all on the same day what a win right
and I was able to do that because I was feeling better
right these I think are do a gratitude journal great
but we want to also reflect and notice
the changes in symptoms the improvement in symptoms
the accomplishments that we were able to accomplish
because we were feeling a little bit better
we wanna document those
so that we have sort of that proof
because if we go into a migraine flare
our mind is not gonna remember hey
remember that what like that day two days ago
you were feeling so well
that you got all the laundry put away
that was a great day no
when we're in the throes of a flare
that's out the window
our mind isn't gonna remember that at all
and so we wanna record those and document those
so that we can remind our mind
of those wins and those improvements
and then No. 6 consistent sleep schedule
so
going to bed and waking up at the same time every day
reinforces circadian rhythm stability
making it easier for the body to regulate energy
stress and sleep cycles
so now we're kind of back to the beginning here
what removes stressors or what conserves stressors
are routines right
the body becomes uh acclimated it things become routine
the body anticipates okay
what's going to happen next
let me start preparing now
so when we go to bed at the same you know
approximately the same time
get up around the same time again
our whole body is like okay
I know
she's gonna start getting ready for bed in a half hour
let's get the melatonin up
let's calm things up right
the body's anticipating that consistency
and that conserves stressors
that's one less thing that's pushing our needle down
if we have no consistency
the body is like
I don't know what's gonna happen at any moment
whatever happens
I'm just gonna have to immediately adapt to
that's very stressful
and you're gonna push your needle down more and more
when that happens but again
it's our own resilience and vitality
that's always countering the needle
so this is a message you know
particularly the sleep time and wake up
situation for migraine suffers right
it's notorious right
oh if I go to bed too late
I'm gonna wake up with a migraine
if I get up if I get up too late
I'm gonna wake up with a migraine oh
if I have to get up early to catch a flight
or start a trip oh
I'm probably gonna get a migraine right
so we can really feel
when the body is sort of caught off guard right
cause our body is acclimated to getting up around 6
and then if we gotta get up at 4 to catch a flight oops
that's outside of the routine
our body is caught off guard
it's not anticipating that
that generates a stressor on the needle
and pushes the needle down into the migraine zone
if we don't have enough resilience and vitality
we can't keep the needle up okay
so on a day to day basis yes
we wanna have routines if our vitality is very low
we want to be more conscientious around routines
because it will conserve stressors
and that's gonna benefit us if our vitality is low
but what's the goal here
the goal is to restore our resilience and vitality
so that
if we do have to wake up early to catch a flight
we're not gonna get a migraine because of that okay
that's what we wanna shoot for you know
we can't this is um you know
this is the problem that we're in here right now
sort of culturally OK
this is very very well meaning advice
for someone who has very low vitality
and has not yet restored their vitality
I I fear that the mindset behind this blog is that
once you have chronic migraines
this is gonna be your life
so let me give you a little checklist of things
that are going to conserve stressors
so that you will feel a little bit better
because this is gonna be your life from now on
you're gonna have to be so gentle
you're gonna have to be you know
extremely careful how you're winding down
you're gonna have to you know
really be consistent yeah
when I'm first working with a client
and their vitality is very low
I will say you know
this week I want you to be really conscientious
I want you to put a priority on your sleep schedule
because we wanna remove that
you know stressor of you breaking your routine
we you know
we can we have control over that right
so let's remove controllable stressors this week
so that we're giving your
your vitality a little break so that we can rebuild it
right but you don't want to live your life like this
and I feel like this you know again
I'm not trying to be critical here
I have no doubt that the
curator of this blog has only the best intentions
for migraine sufferers at heart
but again the dominant view within the culture is
once you have migraines you're doomed
and the best thing you can hope for is to cope with it
through you know
wrapping yourself in bubble wrap basically
I mean this is what this list does
it's just more bubble wrap
that you've got to worry about
and then you know
hope for uh improvements in medications right
so unfortunately this is false
just because millions
of people believe something to be true
doesn't mean it's true we can improve our health
we can identify what our body needs to function better
and then we can put a game plan together
to give our body what it needs
and when we do that
our body will respond for some people
it may respond very quickly
other people it might take longer
but the body will respond
so this this does not communicate that okay
this is just you know sort of okay
let me give you some bubble wrap ideas
let me give you some ideas for more bubble wrap
and give a few of them a try
you know
try that bubble wrap on for size and see what you think
that that
that breaks my heart it absolutely breaks my heart
because there's not a doubt in my mind
that
when I went into my medical doctor for the first time
and I thought
she was going to get to the root cause of my migraines
and you know
guide me and yada yada yada
and instead she gave me a prescription
I know that if I had taken that prescription
the medication would have worked
I I don't see why it wouldn't have
and so then I would have gotten on that train
because when we're in the throes of a migraine
we're desperate for relief
I get it I've I've laid on the bathroom floor too OK
so we're so desperate for relief
because migraines are so horrible
it's like yeah I'll I'll take the pill
let me just get out of this situation right
and you know
I know I don't want to take medication
but if I just you know
maybe if I just have to take it a couple times a year
it'll be okay but unfortunately
once we get on that train
the migraines keep getting worse and worse
more and more medication is required
the medication stops working
our body stops responding to the medication
now we gotta add more medication
eventually you're taking too many abortive medications
and the doctor says
now I need to send you to a neurologist
because
we've got to put you on preventative medication
so then you start with a preventative
and at first that works but
you know then you don't have to take so much Imitrex
but then eventually
the preventative medication stops working as well
your abortives are going up again
now we need a second prevent
I mean
this is the cycle right
and I know that if I had gotten on that train
I would have ridden it all the way into the station
just like many of you have inadvertently
who are listening to this podcast right
it's like wait a minute
I didn't know I was getting on this train
I didn't know I was going to that station right
I thought I was
I thought I was just going on a short ride
I didn't know I was going on a cross country
you know Amtrak
you know in into a whole another city
that I don't even recognize
so there's no doubt in my mind that
had I followed that advice
I would have horrible
horrible chronic migraines I'd be probably bedridden
I'd be on multiple medications
and I would feel terrible
I would feel 10 to 15 years older than I do right now
in fact
I feel about 10 years younger than I actually am
this is why I do the work that I do
this is why I'm so passionate about this
because every woman that I talk to
I I I see myself in her
this is why when I read things like this
that are well meaning advice
but they're coming from this perspective of yeah
chronic migraines
you're just gonna have to cope with it
let's try on some different bubble wrap approaches
and let's you know
hope that the migraine foundation uh
help the pharmaceutical industry
generate more effective medication
it's not gonna work it's not gonna work so um
we've got to break through right
this false understanding that we have culturally
it's the dominant
understanding of migraines that we have in the culture
and this is my mission
that's why I'm doing this podcast to break through that
okay like I say here
even at the end you know
start your journey what kind of journey are we starting
are we starting a journey of
healing and health restoration
or are we starting a journey on trying on
new bubble wrap right
start your journey
which of these rituals will you try first
I hope this was helpful I hope this um
gave you a little bit of insight
into the underlying assumptions
around migraines that
unfortunately are false and if this resonated with you
um I'd encourage you to reach out to me
book a free consult call with me
we'll talk through what you're going through right now
with your migraines
and any other health concerns that you have
and if I can help you I will definitely tell you that
but if I don't think I'm going to be able to help you
I will tell you that too so like I say
if if this has been your journey so far
let's get you on a different path
let's let's get you transferred to another train
and get you arriving into a new station
alright
thanks so much for listening and I'll talk to you soon
