Migraine when I finish a project ????

[secretstasher]

Right I love crocheting so much, I really do, but I also suffer with release migraine. When I have been stressed even if I don`t realise and the stress is releived I get a stinking migraine. for example if I have done lots of hours at work and rushed round all week I wake on a saturday morning with the tell tale signs of tingling face weak arm and leg and the most evil headache down the left side. Don`t panick it is definitly migraine I have a definite diagnosis after panicking the hospital a few years ago as I couldnt speak properly lol.

I finished a huge blanket last saturday in pinks and purples and I looked at it and thought "oooh lovely". woke sunday morning with the migraine.

I am slowly getting over it now and at least now I can talk without stumbling over the words.

I am begining to think I should have lots of projects nearly finished and finish them at the same time and get one migraine rather than have a migraine everytime I finish something.

Anyone else get migraine and any tips for keeping calm?. I don`t feel stressed thats the point I love crocheting but it seems that I get one after finishing a project. I don`t know anyone localy who crochets so I could ask someone else to finish it for me.

Thanks for letting me rant tc Sian

[Elle]

What a horrible situation! I feel so bad for you! I used to get really vicious migraines before my neck surgery, but since the surgery they have stopped, so while I can identify totally with the pain and the weakness and problems speaking, etc., I didn't get them for the same reason. This has to be so frustrating for you!

 

Do you know what causes the tension? Is it the anticipation of finishing? It can't be the actual crocheting because otherwise you would get the headaches all throughout the creation of the items and not when they are finished. I know that you love to crochet, but in the interest of pain control and prevention, maybe when you are getting to the point where you are ready to wrap up a project, and have, say, an hour's worth of work left on it, could you maybe try breaking up that hour over three or four nights so that you're not going for such a long span anticipating that moment of finishing it? Could you maybe take muscle relaxers or something when you're about to finish a project? <sigh> I know I'm not being any help here and I'm just babbling, but I don't know what else to say. I feel so awful for you having to go through that.

 

Elle

[WendyLee]

I used to get a lot of migraines. The neurologist told me they were probably menopause driven and I guess she was right because they are mostly gone now, but so has 96 pounds of extra me so it could have been some of that too. I did all of the menopause stuff early, I am only 51 and it has been over for a while now!

 

Any way I used to wake up Saturday mornings with a beaut, or after a trip had gone smoothly, probably tension release. The only thing I can recommend is to learn ways to relax yourself. If you can afford it a massage helps greatly and a jacuzzi/whirlpool tub does too. I had a gift of a spa facial and got the whole treatment just as a headache was starting. This particular spa during the spa facial, massages the shoulders, neck, arms, and feet. It was pretty expensive but truly wonderful and a full massage is even better! My sister told me that for her headaches if she sat in a whirlpool and just relaxed it help a lot.

 

Imitrex is the drug they gave me, it does help but sometimes the cure is as bad as the headache.

[Selune]

It's probably that crocheting relaxes you and lets you concentrate on the simpleness of the hook and yarn. Once that's gone, headache!

[HomekeepingGran]

Ah, the Post-Stress Migraine — how well do I know it! No, I don't get migraines upon finishing a crochet project, but I certainly do at the end of other stress. I used to have a job with our local hospital in the PR department. We were very project-oriented and I would find myself with a wicked migraine at the end of the project, nearly every time. Often the headache would start during, say, a health fair we had worked so hard toward. It was right at the end, you see, the culmination of all the planning and intense work to pull everything off. Not fun at all. I'm guessing you really put a lot into your crochet projects and work with the same kind of intensity on them as I did at that job. Do you typically rush to finish? If so, can you make yourself slow-down, kind of laze around instead of a mad dash? Or like you suggested, perhaps you should begin another project when you near the finish line of one and see if the anticipation of your new "baby" helps.

 

As far as keeping calm, I think sometimes I am tense without realizing it. But tense crocheting usually happens if I have a finish-deadline looming and am struggling to meet it. Is that what you're doing? Trying to meet difficult deadlines? If so, can that be changed somehow?

 

I hope you find your answer. Crocheting ought to be a pleasure, not a literal pain! Good luck!

[FelixLake]

I feel your pain too. I get 'let-down' migraines as well. Not after finishing a project though. Maybe if you had more than one going at a time so that when you finished one you would have another one already started that you could then continue with. Then you would never really be completely 'done'. Just a thought.

 

I'm getting the menopause ones right now as well. I just wish I would hurry through this quickly.

[Mermaiden]

I found that I got less headaches when I started to remember to drink enough water. Especially before bed. I used to wake up with awful headaches on Saturdays too, usually because that's the one day I sleep in the longest, so I was dehydrated for the longest on that morning.

 

Another thought, do you find yourself physically tensed up, like in the shoulders, when you're crocheting?

[missamorphosis]

I so feel your pain!

 

I get migraines, although, thankfully, lately not as much as I used to. Maybe it's not your body that is stressing--instead, maybe it's your eyes. I know sometimes when I work on an intricate project that requires a lot of attention, I end up with a tension headache. I have near 20/20 vision, but I know for a fact that my eyes strain alot, and was told by the eye doctor to get otc reading glasses in the very least amount of magnification. I did, and I wear them when I'm crocheting with thread. It seems to help some, although I still get headaches around my eyes occasionally.

 

When I first feel a migraine coming on, I take a couple of homeopathic migraine headache relief pills. I also use lavender oil on my forehead and around my temples and eyes, and I meditate. These, together with some rest, seem to help alliviate my symptoms and lessens the migraine, although the things usually just drain me completely.

 

Try the lavender oil. My daughter uses it, too, when she gets a headache, and it really seems to help. It'll help you relax and rest as well.

[itsgeetee]

I also get migraines, but I get them less frequently since a doctor helped me identify a lot of the triggers. I noticed you said mentioned this latest migraine came on a Sunday morning... do you frequently get migraines on weekend mornings?

 

Doctors used to think that many migraine sufferers got them on weekends due to the let down of stress from the week, and this can be the case, but another cause they have found is the change in sleep habits. Many people have a tendency to sleep late on weekend mornings, and getting too much as well as too little sleep can trigger a migraine.

 

If you find that part of the big push to finish a project involves staying up later than usual and then sleeping in the next day, this might contribute to the migraine.

 

Keeping to a consistent sleep pattern has greatly decreased the migraines I get on the weekends – the ones I wake up with anyway! There are still plenty of other factors around here that contribute to my weekend migraines.

[strebekah]

I too have suffered from migraines for about 20 yrs. Over the past 5 yrs they have gotten worse and worse. Mine are vey much cycle related but also stress related.

 

I recently read a book called, "What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Migraines". He suggests taking magnesium, riboflavin and feverfew. I found a combo pill called Butterbur Extra at my local health food store. I have been taking it for about a month and have not had ANY migraines. I was getting them every 7-10 days. I also did not get one before my period which ALWAYS happens. I have been pleased with the results I have gotten. And it is all natural stuff!

 

I hope you get some relief and can find something that works for you.

[everkutz]

While I haven't gotten a migraine when I finish crocheting an item, I do usually get them after a stressful week, weekend, etc., after the stress is over! I use Imitrex and want to try Maxalt soon. The Imitrex does help!

[luckybmr]

Glenda makes a good point. I suffer from them as well as most of the female members in my family - only a few of the males.

 

Change in sleep patterns is a trigger for some - staying up later (to finish a project) or just because it is Friday and then sleeping in. I try and keep my sleep habits the same and that does help alot.

 

If you drink a lot of caffine products during the week, but not as much on the weekends, that can also cause them as can drinking on weekends.

 

Common triggers are nuts, chocolate, wine, hot dogs, licorice.

 

Can you maybe have another project started that you just continue to work on when you finish one? Maybe trick yourself into thinking that a project isn't really finished.

 

Did your doc give you meds? Maybe take one as you are nearing the completion of the project.

 

I am one of the lucky ones that can usually sleep with a bad headache and just take the meds and a cool washcloth to the forehead and doze off. But, when the really bad ones come, I just want to die!

 

Hope you can figure out what exactly is causing it and try and see if you can change something around. Can't be fun to finish a project you work so hard on and then be sick over it.

[lindamry]

Wow, lots of fellow migraine sufferers here! I don't have a whole lot to add except that there are a lot of different migraine medications available now, so if you don't like how one works for you ask your doctor to try a different one. My main trigger seems to be looking at computer and TV screens. So I'd better get off the computer soon. . .

 

Linda Y

[secretstasher]

Gosh its nice to know I am not alone with my migraines you have given me so much good advice here. I went to work yesterday on a long day and felt not to bad, boom on the way home I was so nauseous and the weakness came back. I went to bed at 7pm and woke this morning at 6 I think i will go and harrass my Doctor today. as it is now day four.

I crochet or knit everynight in front of the telly and feel like I am missing something vital if I am not crafting. I do really enjoy crocheting and working with wool.

I am going to have a word with the doctor, I like the lavender tip I might try that. Thing is I am not the type of person to think "oooh I am stressed" I used to break out in huge blister type rashes called hives, years ago and it was prozac that stopped them.

I will definitly start having some me time and think of my crocheting as a chill out hobby not one project to get finished then another. Also the idea of having the projects overlap is a great one I will have to try that.

Thank you all for the advice You are all great. big Hugs Sian xxxxxxxx

[terrijo]

I have had migraines for years. I also get the "stress-release" headaches. I have been on 40 mgs of Corgard twice a day for about 25 years just to keep from getting one everyday. When I get a migraine I take Maxalt and it works great. I have never had to take a second dose and my headache is usually gone in 30 minutes. When I had my periods my neurologist had me take hormone patches for the week prior to my period starting and that worked very well. My 2 sisters, my brother, my daughter and 2 sons also get migraines. My neurologist said that pain pills do not help migraines because it is a neurological disorder.

There's my 2 cents worth.

[secretstasher]

Ah I will put that to the doctor today that pain killers dont work If it is a neurological problem. I felt so sick yesterday I tried to crochet but I couldn`t concentrate Its the nausea that is getting to me. I am forcing myself to eat but it is usually just crackers that i have manage to take in. I will definitly go to the open surgery today and ask to see someone who knows about migraine.

Thankyou all again will keep you all posted all my love sian xxxx

[Vicktoriannah]

Hey, wow. When I get migraines the left side goes numb too. Including my tongue. Wow. I didn't think anybody else had that problem. I hope you find a "cure" for it, somehow. I stopped getting them a few years ago. I think I've got a headache now though. Ah well.

[Misa]

Wow! Amazing how many of us get migraine! I had one whopper of one last night I went outside yesterday though and the allergens are high. I also spent waaayy too much time on the puter yesteray. Like Linda the computer sets mine off. Thank goodness I don't work anymore. It was a nightmare! I use the Imitrex, too. I've found the key to it working well is to take it right way when the pain starts. I didn't do that last night I ended up sicking up and laying down with an ice bag which helped tons.

 

Hokey as it sounds, I also meditate. I find that if I skip several days (like I have lately) the headaches get worse. I've had two in one week so back to the void I go

[secretstasher]

I have no got medication but can only take one per migraine. I can now walk normaly not like I am on a yacht in high seas. I staggered into the doctors room bless her she said "take a seat....If you want to take a seat" lol she must have thought i had a boil somewhere personal. I explained my five day migraine and she was so kind gave me this prescription and I am now getting back to normal.

Oh Vicktoriannah That numbness glad I am not the only one, yes not very nice.

I will definitly give meditation a go.

But again a great big thankyou for all your ideas and sympathy all my love Sian xxxx