Category: Strategies

  • The military sleep method

    The military sleep method

    I recently wrote a post (here) about how I help myself fall asleep by saying the alphabet backwards as I practice deep breathing. Well, my computer must have overheard my typing, because it started to feed me news links to other sleep methods. The method I was most intrigued by…

  • What is “quiet cracking”?

    What is “quiet cracking”?

    It feels like only yesterday I learnt the term “quiet quitting”, which refers to employees all but giving up on their job. They turn up to the office each day, but they put in the bare minimum of effort, without enthusiasm, and without anything close to an “above and beyond”…

  • Ice-curling and chronic pain

    Ice-curling and chronic pain

    A short time ago I reviewed a piece of writing about migraines, plants and pain, written by Tan Tuck Ming. There was a phrase that he used that stood out to me at the time of reading, and has stayed with me since – he mentioned his pursuit of a…

  • Trapped in migraine postdrome

    Trapped in migraine postdrome

    Today’s post outlines what the 4 phases of a migraine are, including the fourth stage – ‘postdrome’ – and it explains why chronic migraine can feel like you’re permanently stuck in a state of postdrome. But it’s not all bad news; it also provides some ideas about how to change…

  • Aphasia armsand… what?

    Aphasia armsand… what?

    When you have chronic migraine, your brain doesn’t always brain the way it’s supposed to. Brain-fog is real. For me there are some days I feel as if I have lost several IQ points. Other days, the effect of migraine-overwhelm is more subtle… I don’t have complete confusion, I just……

  • When the doctor is your trigger

    When the doctor is your trigger

    When discussing your migraines with the doctor, it is fairly standard to refer to your triggers at some point in the consultation. “Flashing lights definitely cause migraines,” you might say, and “I’m pretty certain fatigue, stress and dehydration are not good for me either”. And as you think back over…

  • Brain freeze and migraines

    Brain freeze and migraines

    In Australia, we have a petrol station chain which is especially popular for the fast-food dispensers located near the pay counter. I can’t tell you how many (carless) teenagers go in and out of the petrol station in Summertime to get what we call “slushies” – a cup full of…

  • Shadow work (try it)

    Shadow work (try it)

    A little while ago, I wrote about a lingering pain I labelled “my migraine’s scar howl“. One of my lovely readers, the fabulous blogger Sue Dreamwalker, replied to the post with encouragement and kindness – and a reference to shadow work. I’ve never heard the phrase before, but it piqued…

  • JOMO versus FOMO

    JOMO versus FOMO

    No doubt you’ve heard of FOMO – the Fear Of Missing Out. We all get jealous of what other people get up to from time to time; we see other people going to exotic locations on the television and wish we had the time / money / energy to go…