I have just had another bad migraine. Most of my migraines are stress related and I think if I could deal with stress better maybe I could relieve my migraines or the length and severity of an attack. I find when I am stressed I cannot cope with anything else and even the smallest tasks seem like mountains. I am irritable, tired and weepy and I get terrible tension in my neck and shoulders. I also suffer from fibromyalgia which doesn't help. I wondered how other people cope when stressed and what you do to help yourself relax.
jane

What I shouldn't do - come on here and say things that I shouldn't :D

What I should - plenty of deep breathing and relaxation :)

Daisy

lol:-) That brought a smile to my face. So you don't always say the wrong things:-D I knew I coud count on CD to cheer me up
jane

Hug my horses :D

a long fast walk with the dog or a stroll along the beach - especially if it is windy.  The one I do a lot but shouldn't is eat chocolate - it just makes me fat and stressed rather than just stressed.

When I'm really down sit on the floor with the dogs and have a biiiiiiiiiiiggggggggggg hug :d  Always cheers me up until Carina nearly smacks me in the face and nearly breaks my nose!

When I'm feeling a bit down go for a long walk with the dogs.  See the cheer me up all the time :d :d :d

I find that exercising helps me to relax. I also find that if i play on my playstation I forget about everything else that is bothering me.

I am on medication daily and also for acute migraine! I know some of it comes with stress, some with various food and drink things too, but that varies.
I am always irrational, denying that I am 'getting a headache'. My family recognise it before me!
The triptan drug is brilliant, swithches it off like a light switch, having suffered for many years it came as quite a revelation.
I still dont know what else to do but take that tablet! At least it works. After years of suffering....
Karen.

I find if I get really stressed I take out my gloves and spend ahalf hour on the bag.
Mary

If it gets so bad that walks or other diversions don't help, you could try a really good reflexologist or an amatsu practitioner.
I ued to go to a reflexologist who could either 'switch me off' when I was running on overdrive and stressed, or boost my energy when I was lethargic & down. Her husband is an Amatsu practitioner, and as I was getting that tension pain in shoulders, back & neck, had a few sessions with him - brilliant!
In both cases, I'd gone thinking that if I only had an hour of calm & relaxation it would be worth it, but the results were really very good.

I usually work late, and can feel wide awake when most people have been asleep a few hours - I always have a book and read in bed just propped up slightly - after a few pages, my mind is empty and I usually sleep soundly.
Not getting enough sleep leads to stress and related problems, and the one causes a vicious circle with the other.

There are some very good alternative remedies for both migraine and fibromyalgia, some of which can also work well in synergy with conventional medicine. A friend who suffered terrible migraines got a great deal of improvement after seeing a herbalist.
A good informative site for Fibromyalgia, CFS and similar ailments is immunesupport.com 

Stress can easily put up BP to unwelcome levels on top of everything else, as I found out early this year - so it's good to try and get it under control if possible.

I agree with TrishaH on the reflexology front.  I have been having reflexology, massage and reiki done just lately and I feel great.  Another thing I find helps is to lay in a dark room with some nice music on at very low volume, again I use music that is played when I have reiki etc, but it depends if you are into that sort of music.

if im feeling stressed i find a good shout helps, if its raining i tend to comfort eat :( not a good idea otherwise i take the dogs out or see to my animals, that usually helps to de stress me, animals are great at de-stressing :D

tanya

i too take the triptan drug, but after using it successfully for many years it suddenly stopped working! the doc said it was overuse and my body got used to it. i tried propranalol as a preventative and that has worked, only 5 a month instead of 20 but i have stopped that now as it gave me irregular heart beats non stop. so im back to square one :0(

Grounding really helps.  It's a visualisation technique which helps move energy around the body.  The more you do it the easier it gets.

Stand in bare feet (preferably on grass but anywhere will do) and imagine tree roots growing out of the soles of your feet.  Then imagine all the negative energy and stress going down through the roots and dispersing into the ground.
If you're a water person rather than an earth person you can also do this in the bath or shower.  Just visualise it going down to your feet and then being washed down the plughole.

Make sure you drink water afterwards as this should be done after any energy shifting.
HTH

Debs

I find that my migraines are brought on my stress too.  Not just a stressful day but stressful episodes that run for weeks.  It's a tricky one because if something in your life is stressing you and you cannot remove the stressor then you're stuffed (for me anyway).  The frequency of my migraines increase if the stressful situation is also running along side lack of sleep, poor diet and dehydration.  If you are working hard then these things tend to go hand in hand and lack of sleep might be because you are working long hours or that the stressful situation is keeping you awake. Don't forget that hormones can also play a big part (in my case certainly). 

The only way to reduce the migraines is to try and relax which is obviously a lot easier said than done.  Also diet is important. Even though I am overweight my fat is of good quality :P Seriously, I eat very little processed food and eat plenty of fresh fruit, veg and salad.  When I'm stressed this goes out the window.  I rarely drink coffee these days and try to drink more water as dehydration is a definite link. (I do drink a lot of tea though with no ill effect).

Other than medication, the only thing I've had to stop a migraine once it had started was reflexology.  Unfortunately I found that a course of reflexology didn't prevent migraine but did stop one while I was being treated.  Not much help unless you have a personal reflexologist on call 24/7

Hot baths, showers, dark rooms or cold compresses don't help me one bit. 

I used to get newsletters from Migraine Association and if it taught me anything it was that migraine symptoms vary a lot between people, causes vary, treatments vary.  It often seems to be a combination of factors that set a migraine off rather than one single thing.  I love red wine and drink my fair share most weekend with no ill effect at all but once in a while it will trigger an almighty migraine.

i either take the dogs out or clean-mostly while f'ing and blinding. Sometimes i'll watch a daft film which cheers me up. Or sleep it off. It depends on how stressed i am! Most of all, i try not to worry about it or its a losing battle-for me anyway.

When stressed out or angry I walk Kassie (4 1/2 yr GSD) since I can go further and have a brisk walk with her to clear my head.  When sad or upset I take Mara (nickname 'Moo', 7 mth GSD) since she clowns around and makes me laugh, she is so comical :-)

Stacey x

Have you visited the Fibromyalgia support network??   http://www.ukfibromyalgia.com/frames.html and http://www.fibromyalgia-associationuk.org/component/option,com_frontpage/Itemid,1/

Hope this helps! All the best,Dawn XX