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I've gone through the archives on SR and migraines and read the articles and the section of a medical book I have that covered it. Now I tried the technique last week, with limited success. I'm having a couple of problems. First, when I come back to here and now, I am very irritable and have had periods of shakiness for a couple hours afterwards. Yesterday when I tried it, I developed one of the worst migraine headaches I have ever had and spent the rest of the afternoon bowing to the "white porcelin god" I have meds for this so eventually I was able to get the pain under control, but it took 2 Imitrex and a heavy duty narcotic called stadol to stop the vomiting and pain ( yes I know stadol is dangerous and I use it only in desperate circumstances when nothing else works )
The migraines are usually cycle and weather related. I was trying SR to see if I could prevent them from happening. I can reach a relaxed state, but have a great deal of difficulty staying there, but havnt had a lot of practice either.
Today I still have it but not to the extent that I had it yesterday. I feel shaky achy and nausiated part of it is due to the stadol ( it takes 24 hours for it to clear out) Anyways, does anyone have any suggestions on this? Diet wise, I've been on Weight Watchers since November,so its been pretty good. I have been focusing on whole foods diet, and do all of my own cooking.
I can't afford to have those kinds of episodes in the summer. I was hospitalized 3 times last year from the dehydration due to the vomiting. summer heat makes the dehydration process go very fast and I can't keep up with the fluids ( it comes right backup)
In Reply to: SR, backfire? posted by Jen on June 01, 1999 at 14:37:18:
I don't know if this will work for you or not because different people have different trigger points for headaches. Also, in addition to massage, heat helps some people but makes others sicker whereas cold packs help some but make others sicker.
Two of the areas for me are around the shoulder blades. I can massage this area with a handheld messager or put a large heating pad over both shoulders. (Cold makes me worse.) Just these two areas are enough for me if the headache is on the left side.
However, I tended to have most of my headaches on the right side, and they were always worse than the ones on the left. In addition to the heating pad and/or massage of the shoulder blade areas, I also needed to massage and/or slap a heating pad over an area just below my waist just to the right of my spine.
Eventually I discovered that holding the SI 3 (Small Intestine 3) acupressure point also worked wonders. It's located on the hand, adjacent to the knuckle of the small finger toward the wrist and toward the outside of the bone. But I would be very careful about trying this one unless you have a problem with cold and are helped by heat. But, if you tend to have TMJ symptoms only when you have a severe headache when storms are moving in, that may be an indication that SI 3 needs to be pressed. (I'm still learning about this.)
Constipation can be a factor in headaches in some people, and the Li4 point (Liver 4) will help with both the constipation and the headache. It's located in the most fleshy part of the webbing between the thumb and index finger angled into the bone of the index finger. Warning: This point is contraindicated in pregnant women as holding it can bring on premature labor.
Low blood sugar can be a factor in headaches. The shakiness and irritability can come from low blood sugar. So can nausea (in addition to being a side effect of the medication). Talk about a double whammy, getting hit with low blood sugar at the same time you're getting hit with the factor of a storm moving in! I used to have some really bad headaches. BTW, hot, humid weather can aggravate hypoglycemia. And I have no idea why this happens, but sometimes after I meditate I feel really hungry.
These areas may or may not work for you. But, I strongly suspect that there are points that will help just about every individual who suffers from severe headaches. The advantage of finding the trigger points for the individual is that trigger points - unlike drugs - will actually reduce the tendency to the headaches. It's also free. You don't have to go to the doctor or ER in the middle of one of these. (Yeah, I really wanted to be riding in a car when I had incredible nausea and pain from one of these headaches.) You don't have to wait (in misery) in the ER or convince a doctor that you really need the medication. Also, finding the trigger points will tend to clear up other problems.
You didn't mention if you get the cold hand prior to one of the headaches and if warming the hand will prevent the headache. As far as identifying possible trigger points, note any areas of your body that feel cold or hot, numb, tingly, or strange prior to or during one of the headaches. This could be a clue as to the area that needs massage, holding, or heat or cold applied to it. For anyone who wants to explore this further, get a book that shows the energy meridians. Very often if you have a rough idea of where the meridians flow and you note that you're having problems such as cold, heat, numbness, tingling, etc. along the course of a meridian, this can give you a lot of clues into treatments for a particular conditon.
Judy
In Reply to: SR, backfire? posted by Jen on June 01, 1999 at 14:37:18:
Sorry, but I meant to type LI 4 and Large Intestine 4 instead of Li and Liver 4. I can do a lot of things well, but spelling, typing, and proofreading aren't among them. Judy
In Reply to: Re: SR, backfire? (I meant LI 4, not Li 4) posted by Judy on June 01, 1999 at 16:23:05:
The SI3 point I've not tried. The other usual headache points LI 4, GB20, GV16, and B2 in this particular case aggrivated the headache. They sometimes help for mild headaches if its not a rapidly progressing type of headache. I am still concerned that something I did in the SR sessions is not agreeing with me. The episodes and the severe headache occured right after the sessions. I think if it were a chronic LBS problem I would experience symptoms at other times. The more relaxed I get during the session the more symptoms I have. And according to my information it should be decreasing symptoms.
Most of the time I can use either heat or ice and get some relief. I can also sleep off most headaches.
In Reply to: Re: SR, backfire? (I meant LI 4, not Li 4) posted by Jen on June 02, 1999 at 12:05:43:
I think the reason the heating pad over or massage of the shoulder blade area helped in my case is that part of the SI meridian runs through that area.
When you find which points helps you, please let me know because I'm always looking to expand my knowledge of headache points and acupressure in general.
The SI3 point is not one of the traditional headache points. (Not that I've been able to find in any reading so far.) I got suspicious about the SI meridian because I noticed that I was getting cold and numbness along its course prior to and during my severe headaches. Also, if a weather front was moving in, I got TMJ pain, and the meridian does run through the area for that pain.
What you find that helps you may not be one of the traditional acupressure/acupuncture points for headaches.
Dehydration can definitely trigger headaches. I have a niece that suffered from very severe migraines until she started drinking at least 8 glasses of water per day. Wind also can help to trigger a headache in her. Oh, that reminds me. She does relaxation exercises too, and she can't do beach scenes. The wind blows at the beach a lot. She said that when she visualizes the beach, it bothers her because she associates the beach with wind and headaches.
One of the best books I've found for acupressure is Acupressure's Potent Points. I forget who wrote it. I eventually want to buy my own copy as it's good, and the local library's copy stays checked out a lot. It doesn't list all the acupressure point and it's general info, but it does have good pictures on where points are. If I had a copy of the book here, I could look up the points I use for headaches. The one just below the waist on the back and just to the right of the spine is one of the Bladder points but I can't remember which one. It's also one of the 4 points that make up the Sea of Vitality. BTW, that SI3 point - in addition to tonifying the SI meridian also is a command point for the GV.
I also used to get headaches if I overused an arm. Like if I was having a good day and tackled some weeding (I love gardening) and pulled too hard, too long, I'd end up with a headache on that side. Or, if I did some carpentry and hammered too long.
Please let me know when you find out why the relaxation is aggravating symptoms because I want to know more about relaxation and visualization too.
Judy
In Reply to: SR, backfire? posted by Jen on June 01, 1999 at 14:37:18:
Hi, Jen.
First of all, if this is really migraine, it is a vascular headache. You will have cold hands & feet before the headache comes (or even the "aura" that is typical of the migraine type of vascular headache). The headache will be throbbing to the extent that you can count every heatbeat with the pain.
If the above is an exact description of your experience, you need to go to the home page for this 'site an use the hot arms remedy for the pain. This is not a solution for the condition but a solution for the pain from the condition.
If the above is NOT a description of your experience, this is NOT a migraine or even a vascular headache and the approaches are totally different.
To deal with the SR abberation, you should consider Rolfing or deep, total-body, therapeutic massages at least 3 times a week for 2 weeks. THEN, you will be past this "reaction" IF you will keep up effective SR at least twice a day for 20 minutes. This is NOT something you can "dabble" at. Either do it or not do it.
As you come up with more questions, write again.
Walt
Follow Ups:
Re: SR, backfire? (I meant LI 4, not Li 4)
Posted by Jen on June 02, 1999 at 12:05:43:
LBS might be a posibility, as my activity level was unusually high this weekend, and the temp outside jumped up considerably. Constipation isn't a problem.
Follow Ups:
Re: SR, backfire? (I meant LI 4, not Li 4)
Posted by Judy on June 02, 1999 at 13:14:41:
Re: SR, backfire? (Archive under headache)
Posted by Walt Stoll on June 02, 1999 at 14:43:54:
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