Much has written about taking your abortives early as the earlier to take them, the better they work. There are some good reasons for this. If your headache isn’t so severe, the medication has a better chance of working. If your headache starts out severe, it stops the pain process of reaching the state of “allodynia”. Allodynia is the feeling of pain or discomfort from something that does not normally bother you. Some examples are avoiding brushing your hair when you have a headache because it bothers you or wearing necklaces drives you crazy. There are studies showing that once you get to the point that allodynia has developed, medications have a decreased chance of working.
Take your medications early when you don’t have a chance to use alterative methods such as meditation, guided imagery, hypnosis, biofeedback. However, here are some tips to help you keep them close.
1. Keep your medications, at least one abortive, in your purse or wallet. Keep two tablets at all times. Restock them.
2. Buy a small pouch that hangs from your keychain and keep your medications in those.
3. Do not keep your medications in the car. Cars get very hot and very cold. These temperature extremes are not good for the stability of the medications.
4. If you keep injections with you, make sure you keep other needed supplies, such as alcohol pads with them. Also, know in advance where you can go to give yourself an injection or who could administer it to you in the event that you can’t.
5. Have a small kit at home where your medications are kept. Make sure that someone else other than you knows what it looks like and where it is kept. If your headache is really bad, you aren’t going to be able to think or speak clearly. Trying to explain to someone what your kit looks like and where it is kept requires too much effort at this time of pain! Saying something like “headache kit” versus “Please go to the bathroom and get the red bag underneath the counter and bring it back to me” is probably more than you can muster.
6. Make sure your headache kit is stocked. Opening that bag when you have a severe headache is not the time to find out you are out of medication. Believe me, I have gotten many calls in the middle of the night to refill medication. It can be avoided.
What helps you? Please share any tips that you have to make another migraineur’s day go smoother.
