The Migraine Diva: #MHAMBC Day 25 - There's Hope in Progress & Perspective

"YOUR Hope," What do you hope for most in your journey with Headaches or Migraines? Please share with us about what you hope for and why.

My journey has been a long one... Twenty-nine years long. Over the course of those years I have wished for and dreamt of a life without any Migraine. I have come to accept the fact that this is a life-long battle that I will face. I understand now that this will be with me for the long haul, but I have new hopes and dreams for what the rest of my life with Migraine will hold. This journey brought me to new understandings and revelations. In the past, I was hell bent on finding that miracle pill that would bring me back to being episodic and let me live my life again. I tried every abortive I was offered with the hope that each one would be the one that worked. I put all of my faith in medicine without even trying to look within for motivation or enlightenment. If my doctor said to try it, then no questions asked. But how well has the worked out for me? Not very well to be honest. At least, not until I was forced to look at my approach to treating my pain in a different light.

I was no longer willing to allow myself to be crippled by side effects and worsening conditions because of all the medications I was taking. It became very important to me to treat my entire body differently, including my mind and spirit. If all three are off kilter than how should I expect any form of healing to stick? Never once in my entire history with migraine has the whole body been addressed. Only when I sought help from someone who treated people with bioenergetic and naturopathic medicine was it brought up. Addressing everything that is out of order and bringing them back to full working order was necessary. Ever since I began to look at my pain from a different perspective, I have gotten a lot further in managing it than ever before. Am I where I need to be? No, not yet but I am also free of daily prescriptions and the fibromyalgia is in remission. New pain issues have cropped up but I have been able to successfully manage them without excessive use of pain medications or needing injections. Through physical therapy, nutrition and self-care I am able to cope with them.

So what do I hope for most? To be able to continue on this path I'm on where I remain in control of my pain destiny. I feel so much better not being tied to a pill schedule. Knowing how to effectively prepare for, handle and manage my triggers makes a huge difference in how my pain manifests. As long as I keep at what I am doing, I am sure that I will continue to see better results. I have started Botox again and my neurostimulator works much better now without all of the meds interfering with it. I still have a lot of work to do but I feel optimistic that I will get it all together. My next goal is to lose weight. I have been struggling for years with excess weight and I am slowly getting used to certain lifestyle and food changes that will help aid in shedding the pounds. I have slowly started walking again and I hope to continue and keep it up, even if I wake up with a mild migraine. I feel better getting it done, even if it means I spend the rest of the day in bed. At least I did it and am getting my head and body used to aerobic activity again. Everything is hard at first, but if you keep at it you will start to see and reap the benefits. I believe that getting fit and losing the extra pounds will help in lowering the frequency of attacks and help to keep my fibromyalgia in remission. It's all about perspective and whether or not you are willing to do what it takes to get better. Will I still have Migraine? I'm pretty sure I will but that doesn't mean that it can't be managed. There is always hope around the corner if you are willing to take needed steps to see it. That is my perspective anyway. Maybe it can work for you too.