Is it time to make a change?

You’ve just heard about a new treatment.  Maybe it’s a lifestyle change.  You’re finally convinced that this could really improve your life.  If you’re like me, you may be tempted to jump in with both feet right away!

Now that’s not always a bad thing.  It’s good to get started when you’re motivated, when you have that extra psychological boost.  But an article in a recent HealthQuest newsletter from Mayo Clinic is a good reminder to think carefully before making a major change.

Let me combine some of their advice with some advice that may be more headache or migraine specific:

• Think about what’s going on in your life over the next little while.  How will this change make a difference?
• What other changes or treatments are you using?  How will these interact?  Will you be able to tell what’s making an improvement?
• Will you be able to keep up this change for the length of time needed?  Not just the trial period.  If it works well, will you be able to keep it up permanently?
• Do you have family and friends that you can talk to, that will support you?
• What are the things that will get in your way?  Do you have a strategy for dealing with them?
• Have you discussed this change with a doctor that you trust?  How will she support you?
• Are you positive about the possibilities?  Or are you already telling yourself that it won’t work?

Thinking through some of these things ahead of time will make your lifestyle change or new treatment worth trying, and you won’t be left wondering,"What if I’d followed through?"  Then you just have to start over.

Have you made a major change to combat a chronic illness?  What was it that helped you be successful?