Perspecitve and Simplicity...

Go to any book store and you will find many, many books on how to lose weight. I'm not looking to do so at the moment, but it's a good place to start in terms of common sense and perspective. It's also on a lot of people's minds at the beginning of a new year.

You see, the truth is, all of those books pretty much say the same thing. Eat less - Move more. With a few adjustments regarding food, mostly that it's also about eating healthy food as opposed to eating only half the bag of cheesies instead of the whole thing (not that I've ever done that of course). The "moving more" or exercise part is about finding out what your body can tolerate in order to get your heart-rate up in the workout range and mostly it's about what you actually enjoy and can maintain in your life.

Simple. And stated in a gazillion different ways in a gazillion different books.

So it is with head pain.

Really, they pretty much all say the same thing. Get off of any meds that cause rebound pain (lifestyle). Find out your personal headache triggers (lifestyle and diet) and live in a way that allows you to avoid them. And exercise.

Lifestyle.
Diet.
Exercise.

Not rocket science.

And yet, neither is as easy as it sounds. Why can't headache triggers be yucky foods like lima beans? Chocolate? Seriously? Wow, that is harsh. Still, common sense tells every headache/migraine sufferer that it's worth giving up pretty much anything to avoid the Pain Monster.

The only headache book I've read that said anything different from those three items listed above was my least favourite - that 123 Headache Book - the one written by the arrogant guy who concludes the book by saying that if you've done his 123 steps and still have pain then it's your own darn fault and you're probably to blame for the pain in the first place. Ya. Thanks for all that help. I can't even tell you who wrote it because I gave it to the used book store and I don't feel like looking it up.

Otherwise, they all pretty much say the same thing. Empower yourself by knowing what your body (in particular your head and its particular pain threshold) needs from you and your daily practice of living. It all sounds so simple until a day when everyone you know is enjoying all of the foods you have to avoid, or when you would love to see a movie at the theater but you know the bright screen and loud noise will have you bed-bound with ice, darkness, and nausea. Then it's really easy to think, "This is really awful."

When that happens now, I stop and think again.

No.

Awful is fighting in Afghanistan. Awful is cancer. Awful is losing a loved one and feeling the hole that is left in your life when they are gone. Awful is a lot of things, but a few lifestyle and diet adjustments, those aren't awful - they are just changes that anyone can manage with the right perspective and the commitment to making it happen. This is not to diminish anyone's suffering. Having chronic pain is bad. I could never have imagined how bad. But even at its worst, I have excellent and available health care, family and friends who will wait out the pain with me and help me avoid the things I need to avoid (such as compulsively over-working) in order to get me through it.

It's hard at times to be sure, but it's not impossible.

To quote Sue Sylvester from Glee: "You think that's hard? Try auditioning for Baywatch and being told that they're taking the show in another direction. That's hard."

And that's how Sue - C's it.