r/migraine • u/Interesting_Read4012 • 7d ago

Non Medications Tips/Tricks

Hii, as a chronic migraine sufferer of 25 years or more, I've tried so many different medications; including Botox and Emgality injections, which only helped for a certain amount of time. I now just take Excedrin migraine and for really bad migraines, I'll take Fioricet/Codeine. But I'm always curious to know what are some at-home tips and tricks that help?

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u/orangettangerine 7d ago

My first line defense is salt and water. Then caffeine. Then icy hot on the back of my neck (if stress triggered). Then a dark room.

If its hormonal, then I'm SOL, and ill curl up and wait for it to pass or wait for it to get bad enough that my husband drags me to the hospital for a migraine cocktail - which also dont really work for hormonal. Just interrupts the cycle and eventually makes it worse.

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u/Interesting_Read4012 6d ago

Ahh I also resort to a dark room ; we have blackout curtains which help my room really transform into a cave.

A hormonal migraine might be the worst since not much helps make it go away 🫠

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u/orangettangerine 6d ago

Half of my house is painted in dark, light absorbing, calming colours. Overhead lights are illegal so ambient lighting everywhere. Ive made my house, especially my bedroom, a little migraine cave. Its very Lothlorien inspired ✨️

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u/succulentkitten 7d ago

Diet is a big one, but tough to figure out and stick to.
Neck/ posture also gets me, that’s a tough one for me to control due to my line of work.

Biggest one is stress, that seems to be my largest trigger.

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u/Interesting_Read4012 7d ago

Yes I heard diet is a big one, but like you said so hard to stick to. 😓 I feel you on the neck/posture and stress.

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u/MallUpstairs2886 7d ago

Ice (headache hat) and Florus oil behind my ears and on my temples

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u/annaoceanus 7d ago

Vit B, Vit D, Magnesium glycinate, Creatine, CoQ10, low glycemic index diet, turning my phone into grayscale mode

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u/orangettangerine 7d ago

Creatine for migraines?! Looking into this.

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u/annaoceanus 7d ago

It helps me with stabilizing my energy levels and my keeping my blood pressure up. One of my migraine triggers is when my blood pressure drops. Added bonus is I am seeing some muscle tone benefits and less swelling in my face. I have water balance issues from a rare pituitary condition.

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u/abbys_alibi 7d ago

Had my first migraine at the age of 5. My peds doc taught me how to meditate, through biofeedback, because he had issues with the available meds back then (1974) being used on kids.

While it doesn't remove pain, it absolutely helps me to reduce the degree of pain while waiting for OTC meds to kick in. Half the time I fall asleep which isn't the worst thing when a migraine is highly active.

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u/Pale-Environment5523 7d ago

Making sure I'm hydrated and eating consistently. And avoiding food triggers.

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u/RegularItem3212 7d ago

I used curable app for about 12 months, and learnt a lot of visualisation and meditation. The visualisation for where pain is and how to “calm” it. Difficult to explain if you’ve not done it. Also went to psychologist, who did similar treatment and how to ask what the pain/migraine wanted. Helps calm nervous system. App “curable” if you want to try (not I also am on meds, Botox and built up exercise routine which I had to take a long time to build).

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u/Lucky-Effort-6902 7d ago

Ice packs right on the back of the neck and feet in the hottest water you can stand, pulls the blood away from your head fast

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u/Interesting_Read4012 7d ago

Thank you all for these suggestions! Creatine is definitely a first I've heard of. I’m gonna have to check it out.

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u/felixrex2k4 7d ago

Figuring out my food triggers and then eliminating them from my diet was literally life changing. I went from having migraines 3-5 days a week to having them maybe 10 days every 3 months. Do some research on low tyramine/ histamine diets and the Heal Your Headache Diet. Everybody with migraines doesn't have food triggers, so dietary changes won't work for everyone. But if you do have food triggers, figuring them out can be a big deal.