Tips

20 August 2007

I wish everyone could read this…

There’s a new page on the website – not one I wrote, but one that you wrote! It’s the latest "Community article", and it’s a great one.

The question that visitors were answering was: What one thing do you wish family and friends understood about your headache or migraine?

The answers were brilliant. I think that this is one of those pages you’re going to want to share with family and friends – the people that care about you, but who often "don’t get it". The page is broken up into five sections – five things that you wish they knew – with quotes from people from 6 countries.

Click here to read What I wish you knew…

This was such a success that I’m going to look for more ways that you can participate here. Thanks so much for your great answers! They’re a help to all of us – the tens of thousands who visit this site each month. Meanwhile, read our previous article (on sleep and migraine) – or there is another question you can answer…

31 July 2007

Nitrates and Nitrites

James Tips 1

Nitrates and Nitrites. Migraine triggers? What are they and what’s the difference?

Well now, that’s a tricky question. The two words are tossed around and confused with one another, and really the "layperson" may not need to know all the details. They are two different things – nitrate is a salt of nitric acid, and nitrite is a salt of nitrous acid. Does that help?

Nitrates are found all over the place. It’s found in some processed meats, many vegetables, and drinking water. It’s naturally occurring, but there are concerns that too much can be a problem. This is why water needs to be tested for nitrate levels. Some heart medications also contain nitrates.

Nitrite is much more toxic, and is commonly used in cured meats for colour and to inhibit growth of bacteria. Though use of nitrites is strictly regulated around the world, there is less regulation on labelling. Meat may read "no nitrite added", for example, when in reality natural sources of nitrite were used (read more about nitrite labels here).

Photo courtesy of scottfeldstein
Nitrates and nitrites do seem to be migraine triggers for some people. The term "hot dog headache" has come in to use to refer to headaches that are triggered by meats like hot dog wieners.

It’s tricky to know what is truly causing the headaches, because there’s an intertwining of related triggers in many of these foods – MSG, tyramine and nitrites. But many people have found that avoiding foods with nitrates/nitrites has helped cut down their migraine attacks.

23 June 2007

When things get worse (a personal note)

James Tips 0

Sometimes it happens so gradually, you don’t notice it. You just start to realize you’ve been having a lot of migraine attacks, tension headaches, or whatever, lately. That bottle of painkillers is emptying a lot faster than it normally does.

This has happened to me once in a while, and actually the last few weeks have been pretty rough. I’ve been thinking that there are usually two possibilities when this happens:

1. I’ve just started taking too many painkillers; I just need to get a grip and get moving.

2. There’s something else wrong that is triggering the migraines

Now too often doctors seem to assume that everyone with migraine is in category 1. Certainly there are times when medication can cause further headaches. It’s a real, serious problem, and it’s not always that patient’s "fault".

If you see an increase in your headaches, it’s quite possible that something else has caused the problem – a change in diet, a change in schedule, or perhaps another illness. That was it with me – I was sick … just a little … and that was causing the migraines to flare up.

But when it happens gradually, and you’re just a little sick, it’s easy to miss. It’s easy to think you’re just being lazy. But often that’s not the case.

So if you’re finding it harder and harder to get going, and the headaches are getting worse, don’t assume you just need to grit your teeth and deal with it. Listen to what else your body may be telling you, and you may find the answer is different than what you expected.

1 June 2007

It’s the hair spray

James Tips 6

Did you ever think that your hair spray, mousse, gel or cream may be causing headaches? Of course you did. But I’m not just talking about the odor. After your hairspray dries, it may flake ever so slightly and drift down into your eyes and into your nose. You may wonder what’s causing the problem, you might not even notice.

I write from personal experience on this one. I get sore eyes, that are in some way related to the migraine attacks I get. Well, after years I discovered that one thing that made the problem much worse was – my mousse. It just bothered my eyes.

So if you’ve got sore eyes and headaches, try changing your hair products. You might be surprised at the results!

Photo courtesy of StarMama

14 May 2007

My monitor is too BRIGHT!

James Tips 7

When I’m in the middle of a major migraine attack, there are few things worse than a bright computer screen. On the other hand, sometimes doing something on the computer can get my mind off the pain. So, I dim the screen a lot.

On some computers, this is easy. On others, it isn’t. Here are some quick tips for getting that screen dim when you want it dim…

Dim the internet: This is the killer idea that inspired me to write this post. It’s called the Darken bookmarklet. Open up that page using Firefox, Internet Explorer or Opera, and install the bookmarklet as directed. Then, whenever you need less light, wherever you are on the net, click the button. BANG! The page now has a dark background with grey type. Much better.

The drawback is that you do need to do this for each page you visit. If you’re surfing wildly, that could be difficult. However, if you use the Firefox browser (and you might as well – it’s free), you can use the Greasemonkey extension to do all kinds of nifty things to the websites you visit. In this case, you can install a Darken script that allows you to permanently darken certain pages.

A couple other dim ideas? Here’s a screen dimmer for Mac, with a lot of options. Finally, a screensaver that simply gradually dims your screen – great if you’re stuck in the same room with your computer and you need to leave it on. All three of these ideas came from Lifehacker, the Productivity and Software Guide (no, they didn’t pay me for the mention!).

One final idea for you. On some computers, especially laptops, there are settings for dimming your monitor. You may need to make sure you have the latest software from your laptop’s manufacturer, especially if you’ve upgraded your laptop since you bought it (ie to XP or Vista). You might even be able to have a setting on your computer labeled Ack! I have a headache!, so that you can click it and automatically dim your screen.

Any other good tips out there for dimming your computer screen?