Migraine

This week is National Migraine Awareness Week and I would like to do just that - increase the awareness of Migraine. Migraine is not ‘just’ a headache, it is a very disabling complex neurological  condition that the ‘owner’ has  to learn to live with. Unfortunately, it is both the butt of jokes and can be the easy excuse for the work shy, which does migraine suffers and their families no favours at all. Everyone’s migraine is different.

As some of you know I am a migraine sufferer. I am fortunate in having seen some ‘top’ Doctors in my migraine career but the thing you learn is to help yourself. I thought my migraine started when I had an accident to my head in my first year of teaching. The accident ‘bruised’ my brain and left a small dent in my head. As I was living in London I was referred to Bart’s which In those days was a leading centre  of excellence. 

I learnt to live with the migraine, but it was life changing. I was more likely to develop migraine at weekends when I relaxed and if I had a lie in! I relied heavily on medication. 

But what I later learned was that migraine can change. Some people tend to grow out of it but for me retirement brought worsening migraine. The consultant I was referred too, announced on hearing my story that I had inherited  migraine. My father had been diagnosed with severe sinus problems, this is now thought to be what much undiagnosed migraine was called. So the accident to my head exacerbated it but I was going to have migraine for life, mine as a child was called ‘sinus problems too’. 

I went through a particularly bad period where I thought I was going mad, I was waking with migraine each morning, I could happily have banged my head against a wall. It was awful and I tried to distract  myself with sewing, knitting etc. I was on preventative medication, and had triptans which helped the pain  when it was really bad. The frequency of the migraine improved but I felt zombie like and tried to work out what was causing this near constant migraine. 

I came to believe it was other medication that I was prescribed for a gut problem...so each night I took a pill for that and each morning I had a migraine. So I started self medicating myself, ie weaned myself off the ‘gut’ tablets and hey ho the migraine improved. 

I have always felt that my migraine was closely connected with what and when I ate. Low blood sugar, through eating a meal late will be much more likely to give me migraine than virtually anything else. 

At this stage I attended one of The Migraine Trusts special Migraine Days (I went to York to attend one) where there are talks from a range of experts and I got lots of tips from this as well as realising that the day was a sell out, so lots of sufferers. 

But Migraine is a real beast and just as you think you have nailed it, it can change to a different form. One morning I woke up without a headache but feeling as if there was a line down the centre of my body, I could not feel my left side at all. My migraine had always had intense head pain, including my hair hurting....and now I had no pain but seemed to have ‘lost’ half my body. My first thought was that I was having a stroke. The answer was the Migraine  had now turned Hemiplegic. This was, and still is, quite scary. I usually get a warning, I get pins and needles in my left hand or more likely just my left lower leg bit.  I rarely  get the one sided thudding headache centred behind my right eye any more. The bad news is that the only medication I can take for such an attack is a massive aspirin dose, triptans  are out. (In my case I cannot take the normal ‘stomach lining’ tablets to counteract the effect of the aspirin as these induce migraine just as the gut tablets did). So I have to learn to do the best I can and realise that some days I loose the battle...for some reason the body needs a migraine. Frequently this lasts 3 days, the lead up, the migraine and then the feeling as if you are recovering from an anaesthetic day. 

I have always known  that eating regularly - little and often- works or rather is essential. I am best if I eat / drink every 2 hours and getting through the night without eating  leads to migraine. So this means I need supper, usually a bowl of cereal and I need to eat early in the morning. I have tried all sorts of things - cashew nuts, grapes, bananas.... but following a suggestion I have found a protein drink powder - really meant for bodybuilders - is just the thing. (I used to wake at 4.00 am and feel fine and then by 6.30 when I woke properly I would have a migraine. I suspect I ran out of fuel during that 2 hour period). I don’t much rate getting up and waking up enough to have a drink at 4.00am but if it means a no migraine day that is what I will do. 

I have, for some reason, had a particularly bad migraine summer, from April to August I have had lots of bad days. It has taken those 4-5 months to try and find out which combination of factors has been responsible for this latest migraine cycle. It is rarely one trigger that is responsible. I have thus  stopped running workshops and giving Textile talks. Both of these can disrupt my normal eating pattern and also mean I have several full days of activity together which can completely ‘wipe me out’. I have also spent time looking at every single thing I have been eating - I have virtually removed gluten from my diet and sulphites. You can’t believe how many things have sulphites slipped in, virtually all wine. I believe these three factors are helping me personally. 

I don’t write this for sympathy, there are people with far bigger health burdens to carry than me. I am writing this to try and help get the message out for all those genuine migraine suffers, and there are lots of us. Migraine is one of those invisible but very debilitating conditions affecting not just the suffer  but often the immediate family and friends. My advice, to sufferers, is be forensic in your approach to what is causing the migraine. Try and reduce your use of drugs as in time these can lead to even more migraine attacks. Particularly look carefully at your diet, read the small print on food labels. Is there a pattern developing? Learn to say ‘no’ when asked to do more than you know is sensible. You are likely to be very conscientious by nature and people will ‘expect’ things of you. I have been really surprised at some of the negative reactions   I have received as I have reduced my commitments  but I know myself I have done the right thing for my health. 

Useful sources of information

The Migraine Trust, do try and attend a day seminar if you can. It was invaluable for me and gave me more leads and things to try to help improve my situation. www.migrainetrust.org 

Dr T’s Migraine Miracle Group - on facebook - an American Doctor who is a migraine sufferer and who writes a lot about diet. 

Do feel free to contact me personally if you want to know more about some aspects of this.  

 

Shetland Wool Week: Day 18: a quiet day planned: Sat 30 Sept

We planned a nice quiet morning in Lerwick, so decided to park for a full day on the quay. It was a glorious day and the light was fantastic. It was one of those days when you were filled with joy at being in such a beautiful place. 

Image from early morning

We hadn’t been in the tourist information for a few days and I needed to check on an address so we popped in to get that sorted. As so often happens I found a friend to chat to, this time it was Minnie from Unst. She was down with her daughter who was wearing a superb lace jumper which I understand she had knitted. I had in fact  been in some classes with Minnie’s daughter but not realised the link. Then it was on to Jamieson’s, I was on the hunt for Elizabeth Johnston’s Lunklet Lace Jacket pattern. It seemed to be sold out everywhere and Elizabeth didn’t have any more herself. I was in luck, there was a copy of the pattern for sale. I had designs on naturally dyeing yarn for this and would buy the yarn on Monday. 

 Elizabeth’s pattern. 

This pattern has taken some writing...... I am in awe! 

Saturday morning at the end of Wool Week is special as there is a Maker’s Market. In previous years  I have been to the market in a wonderful panelled room in The Town Hall. This year the venue had changed as the Town Hall was being renovated, it was in Isleburgh where I had attended  some of my workshops. We were keen to get a coffee, but it was like a scrum inside and it seemed that the whole population of Lerwick must be in there. We got separated and I had no idea even which room Michael was in. We eventually found each other at the cafe and managed to sit at a table - by chance with Minnie and her daughter again. I was also able to talk to Marta and Hildur and thank them for such a great evening hearing about the Warp Weighted Loom. I kept my hand firmly on my credit card as I had a spending spree planned for Monday  but couldn’t resist these..... more buttons (with lace imprint) and fair isle wooden pegs. These would brighten up my desk.

It was so great to see so many people at the market and it was clearly good for the local economy. 

We decided to stop at Tesco for a mini shop and it was actually busy, but then of course half term had started here as the children go back to school earlier than in England. We decided that THE place for lunch would be Mackenzie’s Farm Shop and we were not disappointed. We both had steak and kidney pudding with lots of steak and kidney and a tiny puff of pastry unlike too many others where the puff pastry is the predominate item. We decided we had made an excellent choice in choosing  here again. Unfortunately I realised that I was getting a migraine attack. Fortunately this was the first in a month minus a day and for me to go so long was quite a record. The bad news for me is that if I get a bad attack it is now ‘hemiplegic’ meaning I get pins and needles in my left leg ( the warning sign) and in fact can feel as if I have no left side. Since the migraine turned this way, I am only allowed large doses of aspirin.... no more tryptans. (1) We drove down to Hoswick, so I could  lie down and Michael could go in search of an elusive migrant bird.(2)  Tomorrow would be another day. 

(1) I write this not for sympathy, but to raise the profile of Migraine. It is an awful condition and one which can be quite disabling. It is not a normal headache and rarely do I actually have a head ‘ache’, although my hair can hurt when touched. My consultant told me I have always suffered (my early ‘sinus’ problems were likely to be migraine) and he believes it is genetic. I do know that it was  much worse after I had an accident to my head in my first year of teaching many moons ago. Over the years, the nature of the migraine has changed, including a dark spell when every day was a migraine day as it had gone ‘chronic’. That is now past. Migraine is something I (and many others) live with and I try not to beat myself up too much these days when I ‘miss a day of life’ or more to the condition. I have to tell myself that it is a warning, I am doing too much, something I am prone to!

(2) The bird stayed elusive or had decided to move place, it was a hawfinch. 

Tuesday October 7th Migraine in Shetland!

I guess it was inevitable that after such an action packed day yesterday I would wake with a very bad migraine. ( I was suffering from chronic migraine and just so pleased I had managed to get to Shetland). So decisions had to be taken and reluctantly we had to cancel our tour of the organic croft  Uradale while I took my medication and waited. We needed to travel up to Unst during the day ready for the highlight of my trip the Lace Knitting workshop on Wednesday. Michael drove us up , I can't remember much about the day other than it was less windy than yesterday. When we arrived at Gardiesfauld Youth Hostel the weather was good and I decided to take more seaweed photos and to try and clear my head by walking along the beach. We had company, Sally Anthill and Michael (from Brampton) were camping also. All attempts at getting rid of my migraine had failed - sleeping, eating, fresh air, lesser painkillers so I went to bed early with a triptan and fingers crossed for tomorrow. Unst is too nice a place to have a migraine!Seaweed that will be inspiration for yarn or weaving - or both

Thursday 2nd October The journey catches up on us

Well I guess it was inevitable. The journey from home was 645miles and we have been on the go ever since. 230 of these were by ferry but it was still quite a bit of driving. We both felt as though we needed a rest day. Michael was happy to potter, look for birds, chat to the resident bird expert at the hostel and I decided I would plan a pair of fingerless gloves with the remaining wool from my shwook hat.
This is the picture of the seaweed from Skaw beach that inspired the hat - it was on Facebook but some people seem not to have seen it.

I was worried about not having enough wool, but the result of this was that I have plenty to spare. I spent what seemed like all day trying to get a good tension and length for the gloves with endless different sized needles. I aimed to knit Old Shale Lace sideways as I've done a pair like this before ( based on alchemilla mollis ) and found them effective. I will wear these ( when finished!) when I am taking photos and they will be a wonderful reminder of Wool Week. The plan is to make them in spare moments during the week.

I thought I brought a good range of needles with me - but as it turned out I didn't bring a large enough pair so Friday when we drive back to mainland I have a wonderful reason for going into Jamieson and Smiths. So not being able to get started on the knitting I decided to organise yesterday's photos into folders on the laptop - more about this later.
As the day progressed it became increasingly obvious that my slowness was my chronic migraine getting to me - so I had to 'go with the flow' take myself to bed with the medication. Only positive thinking works, I was able to get to Shetland Wool Week and some months ago that was not looking a possibility, the wonderful NHS have helped make my life so much better - for most of the time! Tomorrow would be a new day and hopefully I would be feeling a whole lot better.

Postscript: These are the finished fingerless gloves, they did not get done during the week - there was far too much of interest to occupy me. But they are now finished and I am really pleased with them. The reverse side contains the other colours of the hat.

Repurposing vintage embroidered linen

As some of you know life has been a little difficult for me over the past few months. In hindsight this is been for about nine months now, although I didn't realise how bad I was getting until about November! I have now been diagnosed with chronic migraine. This is a relief as it is nothing more sinister but for those of us with chronic migraine it is a challenging & unpredictable condition. I am gradually getting to grips with the situation but still in the position of only having occasional days when I am completely headache free. The challenge at the moment is not to try and run around headless doing everything that I previously did on those days.

I have treated myself to a mini iPad that I can dictate to and hence spend less time at the laptop. This is being a big success.

I am on the look out for enjoyable textile projects that I can complete while headache free. It is a long time since I have done any real embroidery so I have set myself one!  It is to make a sleeve for my mini iPad for when in my handbag. I have a linen chair back saved while clearing my aunt's house.

 

It have used the 1950's floral arrangement for the sleeve front – apologies for the photos- the linen has played havoc with the photography!

I have researched some ideas from my textile library for a complimentary embroidery for the back of the case and enjoyed working this bluebell one.

 

I have backed this with iron on interfacing & padded it to give the case some body. Then I formed the sleeve and added some vintage mother of pearl buttons and two matching loops.

 I am delighted with my new iPad sleeve I hope you enjoy seeing it too.

There is more of her vintage needlework in the drawer - I have a plan for a case for the paper tissues I carry in my handbag too! So watch this space!