Category: Community

Community, Reader Stories

American Migraine Foundation’s Blog a Day

Kerrie Smyres

The American Migraine Foundation (the group behind the 36 Million Migraine campaign) celebrated Migraine and Headache Awareness Month with daily featured posts from five different migraine bloggers. It was a ton of great information and I was honored to be chosen to participate. The other bloggers who participated were Lisa Jacobson from The Daily Migraine, Sarah Hackley from The Migraine Chronicles, Michelle Tracy from The Migraine Warrior, and Anna Eidt from Brain Storm. (Check out their great blogs!) If you didn’t get a chance to see all the posts, they’re worth a look. Here’s the lineup:

  1. Moms and Dads With Migraine (Lisa)
  2. Early Second Trimester Migraines (Sarah)
  3. Dehydration as Migraine Trigger (me)
  4. Chronic Caregiver (Michelle)
  5. On chronic pain and depression (Anna)
  6. Migraine-15 Steps to Create and Environment Conducive to Wellness (Sharron)
  7. When in Doubt, Nap: 64 Inspirational Quotes from Chronic Pain Sufferers (Lisa)
  8. An Open Letter to My Pre-Migraine Self (Sarah)
  9. Migraine Hangover (aka Postdrome) (me)
  10. A Vanilla Cupcake and a Whisper (Michelle)
  11. Cures (Anna)
  12. Migraine: ‘I am a Person, Not a Diagnosis’ (Sharron)
  13. TMJ and Migraine (Lisa)
  14. Coping With Occipital Neuralgia Without Medication (Sarah)
  15. Sleep, Schedules, and Migraine (me)
  16. Chronically in Love: The V-Day Edition (Michelle)
  17. Migraine ≠ Headache (Anna)
  18. Migraine: What’s Stress ‘Let Down’ Got to Do With It? And Did Someone Say Stress-Management (Sharron)
  19. Heat+Glare+Sun=Migraine (Lisa)
  20. no post today
  21. Managing Your Migraines in the E.R. (Lisa)
  22. I’ve Always Depended on the ‘KID’-ness of Strangers — Talking to Children About Chronic Migraine (Michelle)
  23. On Thriving With Chronic Migraine (Anna)
  24. Effective Use of Medications for Migraine Relief — 5 Ways to Overcome Unmet Needs and Improve Our Treatment Outcomes (Sharron)
  25. Are You a ‘Spoonie’? (Lisa)
  26. 32 Bizarre Migraine Treatments (Lisa)
  27. Sunny Weather = Fewer Migraines? The Everlasting Hunt for Triggers (me)
  28. From Migraine to Mygraine (Michelle)
  29. On Pondering Parenthood With Chronic Pain (Anna)
  30. A Role for Integrative (Complementary) Therapies in Preventing the Progression of Episodic to Chronic Migraine, and Remittance (Sharron)

 

 

30 Things Meme, Community, Reader Stories

Win a Pair of TheraSpecs or a Coaching Session With Kerrie!

Kerrie Smyres

MHAMgiveawayThe 30 Things meme is all about raising awareness of migraine and headache disorders… and you can win a prize, too!. Answer 30 questions about what it’s like to live with migraine or a headache disorder and submit your answers in the form at the end of the questions. By submitting your answers, you’ll be entered to win a 30-minute phone or Skype coaching session with me or your choice of any pair of indoor TheraSpecs. Your responses will be given a URL, which you can share to raise awareness. You’ll get an extra entry each time you share your 30 Things on Facebook or Twitter and tag The Daily Headache or @tdhblog (be sure to tag The Daily Headache so I see your entry!).

To be entered, simply submit your responses to the 30 Things meme by midnight June 29 (Pacific time). For extra entries, share your URL on Facebook or Twitter as many times as you wish before midnight June 29 (don’t forget to tag The Daily Headache or @tdhblog). On June 30, I will announce a randomly select a winner. To preserve anonymity of those who prefer it, I will only announce the winning entry, not the winner’s name.

Rules summary: Giveaway valid in the US and Canada only, except Quebec. (Sorry, the variation in local laws makes it too difficult to do elsewhere!) No purchase necessary. Winner will be randomly selected from all entries. Entries can be made through the 30 Things meme on The Daily Headache and sharing your answers on Facebook or Twitter (be sure to tag The Daily Headache so I see that you shared!). You can also enter by emailing kerrie[at]thedailyheadache[dot]com with the subject “Giveaway Entry.” Entries will be accepted from June 1 through midnight on June 29, Pacific time. The winning entry will be announced on June 30 on The Daily Headache, Facebook, and Twitter. The winner will have until midnight on July 3 to contact me to claim the prize. If the winner does not contact me, I will draw another winner. Email kerrie[at]thedailyheadache[dot]com for complete giveaway rules.
Community, Coping, Resources

ChronicBabe Book Kickstarter

Kerrie Smyres

ChronicBabe has been an incredible resource for me, particularly in my early days of trying to figure out how to live well with chronic illness. And a book is on the way! Jenni Prokopy, ChronicBabe’s founder, has spent the last two years creating a book and multimedia resource that sounds incredible. The 10 key concepts she addresses are:

  • Embracing acceptance
  • Kicking bad habits to the curb
  • Turning around negative thinking
  • Establishing healthy boundaries
  • Practicing self-acceptance and love
  • Building a solid support team
  • Strengthening personal relationships
  • Exploring school and career options
  • Boosting your communication skills
  • Organizing your complicated life

Jenni running a Kickstarter to help her through the final push of editing (both to cover her salary over the next few months and to hire a professional editor) and book marketing, among other things. People are so excited about this book that Jenni has met all her funding goals three days early! Now everyone who who donates $1 or more to the Kickstarter will receive a free ebook.

ChronicBabe has been a labor of love for Jenni for 10 years. If the website been helpful resource for you or you’d like to get your eyes on all the goodness the book has to offer, you have until 11:30 a.m. ET on Friday, March 27 to make your pledge. She’s offering lots of goodies depending on pledge level, but $1 will get you the ebook. Watch the video below and check out the Kickstarter details for more information.

Community, News & Research, Reader Stories

Migraine Documentary in the Works

Kerrie Smyres

Out of My Head migraine documentary Kickstarter“Out of My Head,” the documentary that the Migraine Project is producing, looks to be an excellent film detailing the intricacies of migraine in an engaging, thought-provoking way. The filmmakers, director Susanna Styron and producer Jacki Ochs, have interviewed top experts in the field and many people who have migraine. The trailer includes top-notch information and illustrative descriptions of symptoms. As professional filmmakers, Styron and Ochs are working on what looks to be a high-quality film.

Neither Styron or Ochs have migraine. You may be surprised that I find this encouraging. To me, it signals a deep commitment to telling the broad story of migraine and its impact, rather than only the story of one or two people. I also think it provides an advantage in creating a film that appeals to people without migraine, which improves the chances of raising awareness. That’s not to say they’re disconnected from the emotional landscape — they’re both motivated by their love of people with migraine, including Styron’s daughter.

“Out of My Head” promises to be an excellent film that reaches a wide audience — the filmmakers have a distribution plan that includes screenings at film festivals, educational institutions, medical schools, clinics, hospitals and patient/advocacy organizations. But it’s not quite ready.

The Migraine Project is doing a Kickstarter campaign to fund the work necessary to finish the film. As I type, they’re $13,224 away from their all-or-nothing goal of $92,000, which they must reach by 6 p.m. MST on . Please watch the trailer and read about Out of My Head on Kickstarter and consider making a donation if you’re able. It’s an impressive project spearheaded by experienced professionals that I believe will result in an excellent awareness-raising migraine documentary.

Community, Reader Stories

Migraine and Chronic Pain in Teenagers

Kerrie Smyres

Having a chronic illness or chronic pain is life-altering and the stigma of invisible illness can be infuriating for anyone, but it can be especially difficult for teenagers. Sometimes the very people who are supposed to support and protect them — teachers, coaches, school nurses, doctors and even parents — don’t even believe them. (Sadly, many of you don’t have to imagine this scenario because you lived it.)

Psychology professor and Psychology Today blogger Nancy Darling, whose teen son has migraine, provides an insightful and touching take on migraine and chronic pain in teenagers.

Withdrawn, Irritable Teen? Is It A Migraine? points out that migraine often doesn’t look like migraine and that the associated absentmindedness, irritability and isolation can look like a normal “teenage funk.” She also explains why migraine looks so much like a kid trying to get out of going to school.

Children Who Go to School in Pain walks readers through a day when her son has a migraine. The most poignant part is “faking being well.” That’s right, despite the common accusation that the chronically ill are faking illness, many of us are actually faking being well. Whether you’re a teenager or adult, I’m betting that resonates with many of you; it certainly does me.

Please take a look at Dr. Darling’s posts. Even if you’re not a parent, the struggles she describes are important for everyone to be aware of. As a former teenager with chronic illness, I’m relieved to read about a topic that gets far too little attention.