Migraine Awareness Month #3: Just Shoot Me Now!

What's your worst Migraine trigger? Can you avoid it?

 

 How do you handle it?

My absolute worst Migraine trigger is a tie between cigarette smoke and car/truck exhaust.  These have always been since I was a kid.  Perfumes and colognes cut a close second but tobacco smoke and exhaust always take the cake.  Cigars and pipes are even worse than cigarettes because the tobacco is so concentrated and strong.  The smell instantly makes me nauseous which then triggers the pain.  I hate having to walk past building entrances where people are grouped taking their smoke breaks.  Nothing is worse than sitting behind someone in traffic who is smoking because I get to smell their terrible habit through the vents in my van.  Every time I have to drive with a migraine, every car next to me or in front of me has a smoker behind the wheel making my trip agonizing.  I have to do all I can not to throw up all over my steering wheel.  

 

The only thing worse than the fresh smell of tobacco is that of an old, dirty, sour smelling smoker.  You know the kind.  The ones who smell like they smoke ten packs a day and never shower?  The ones who have that rancid tobacco stench?  Yeah, those people literally have me gagging.  I have no problem moving somewhere else to avoid throwing up all over them.  I also have no problem telling someone who just lit up around me to either put it out or move somewhere else because their habit makes me violently ill.  My husband and I had the pleasure of seeing one of our favorite reggae bands, Steel Pulse, in concert in Virginia Beach last summer.  Unfortunately, many thought that it was necessary to pull out the ganja and puff, puff, pass the night away.  I was ready to punch someone in the face that night.  Besides people who didn't pay for the VIP seats like we did bogarting their way into our section, we had to deal with high, belligerent, and smoking fools.  My husband was pissed because for one it was rude and two, it was causing me to get a migraine and I couldn't fully enjoy the band.  I've had to tell a few people to get to stepping with their cigarettes and weed because I'm not the one to mess with when it comes to that.  

Now add to the mix the diesel truck or someone's 1980 pickup with the worst exhaust system in the world passing by.  The smoke feels like it's sole purpose is to kill me.  Just thinking about it while typing is giving me sharp pains in my head (oh, the thoughts of triggers are enough to give me a migraine).  These are some of the worst smells ever.  I am starting to consider using a filtration mask whenever I drive to avoid having to smell these toxic odors.  It's dangerous and risky business stepping out of the safety of my house because I am always encountered with the worst odors.  I would say that about 95% of the time I wind up with some kind of migraine because of one of those culprits (or someone's need to douse a whole bottle of floral evil onto themselves).

 

There really is not way to avoid it because these are things that will always be out there in the world.  How do I handle it?  I either have to remove myself from the area as quickly as I can or have the person put out their cigarette.  As for the exhaust, there's no avoiding it and I have to either hold my breath until the perpetrator passes or pray to God that traffic will start moving if I'm stuck in a jam.  So, with these triggers I pretty much at the mercy of the situation and I have to cope as well as I can.  Those filtration masks are sounding pretty good right about now.  I might just pick up a pack to keep in my van just in case.  I'd rather look crazy than be in pain.

National Migraine Awareness Month is initiated by the National Headache Foundation. The Blogger's Challenge is initiated by www.FightingHeadacheDisorders.com.