1% Thursday: Patience

He had had migraine for many years.  He’d been through many treatments.  He’d been to see the doctors, and the neurologists.  And tried the medications.

When a close family member was diagnosed with a chronic illness, something surprising happened.  He didn’t panic, didn’t sink into depression.  He was actually the one calming other members of the family as the months passed.  Why?

There’s one thing that you can learn after dealing with a chronic illness like migraine long-term.  There aren’t necessarily quick answers.

When you’ve never had serious health problems, and then suddenly start getting migraine attacks, it’s easy to be impatient.  You want to get rid of the pain NOW.  And with all our modern science, and access to hundreds of years of history of headache and migraine, surely there’s something that can be done!

Well, there likely is.  But it will likely take time.  Sure, there’s the occasional person that tries one thing and has great results.  But that’s not the case with many diseases.

When trying a new medicine or supplement for migraine, it’s common to try it for 3 months before changing the medication or even the dose.  And migraine is different for everyone, as is cluster and various chronic headaches.

Expecting instant answers can make you needlessly anxious, and can lead to bad choices.

Hear me out – I’m not saying you should give up hope or become sceptical.  Be determined, and be filled with hope.  But when one medication isn’t a success after trying for a year, or when everything was fine, and the migraine attacks return, don’t panic.  There’s still lots to be done.

This week, practise patience.  Take the time to find the right doctor, the right combination of treatments, take care of yourself.  Don’t give up.  Be an example, for those with a chronic illness and without, that you can be hopeful, determined, and patient at the same time.

What is 1% Thursday?

Every Thursday at Headache and Migraine News (weather permitting) we’ll talk about one measurable, practical thing we can do to make our lives just 1% better.  Usually it will be something very easy, sometimes it will be a challenge.  Let us know if you try it, or share an idea of your own – and maybe a year from now we’ll see that things have really changed for the better!