Totally in the dark about hubby's MIGRAINE when I married him,
no wonder my sis-in-law (hubby's sister) said this to me on my wedding day,
no wonder my sis-in-law (hubby's sister) said this to me on my wedding day,
"Kesian N kahwin dgn WH. Harap sabar banyak2 & jaga dia molek2!"
(Pity you for marrying him. Please take good care of him!)
Way back in early 80's, where internet is not the norm, my only sources of information are through written medias ~ books, journals, newspapers, and magazines. The other reliable source are the `experts' (in my quest of finding more about this monster called MIGRAINE) are of course the DOCTORS themselves!!. But over time, in between trips in & out of the hospitals (when his migraines became untolerable and he became aggressive), some doctors are also in the dark about MIGRAINE and cannot give me satisfactory answers. Their diagnoses are that, its uncurable, not life threatening and can be controlled by doses of painkillers and this will go on forever until (hopefully) it cures itself!? Some also did not even know how to deal with MIGRAINE patient. Ignorant of the facts that when a person is attacked by Migraine, they need a quiet, dark place to rest. On one occasion, I switched off the light in the treatment room, the doctor switced it on again. I switched it off on, and he switched it off again. This goes on off a few more time until he scolded me for doing so. Pissed-off, I rebuked saying that as a doctor he should be sensitive enough to know that a migraine sufferer needs quite & dark place to deal with their 'aura' & pain. With that, I took hubby home & that was the last time I went to that clinic.
Over time also, noticed that he kept taking this daily doses of pills (which he always carry along in his pocket). These pills are painkillers that can only be prescribed by doctors (1 small green-pea sizes pill = 10 panadols, & to my horror ... he took 2 pills daily!! Like taking vitamins). No wonder when his Migraine attacked, the pills cannot do anything for him. His body is immune to it already! Prolonged consumption of the prescribed pills also took tools on him ..., he got addicted to it & became phobia should he forgot to bring along his pills. Like drugs addict, he is thin, his eyes are red & had trouble sleeping (till now). Thus began my quest of weaning my hubby slowly from his pills (which I'm scared will do more harm than good in the long terms ...).
I began monitoring his diets & other factors that can triggers his Migraine (base on my readings & his helps). My findings are;
1. Foods ~ citrus fruits, chocolates, gula melaka, cheese & mayonnaise, instant coffee, MSG, fatty meats
2. Extreme weathers ~ too cold, too hot
3. Extreme conditions ~ noises, bright lights, crowded places, sudden frights, too excited, too depressed
4. Hunger/Without foods more than 4 hours
5. Stress & lack of sleep
As much as we could, we tried to avoid running into the above ... and eliminating the pills altogether (which is the hardest). This, is of course a different story. Next ... without the pills!!!
Over time also, noticed that he kept taking this daily doses of pills (which he always carry along in his pocket). These pills are painkillers that can only be prescribed by doctors (1 small green-pea sizes pill = 10 panadols, & to my horror ... he took 2 pills daily!! Like taking vitamins). No wonder when his Migraine attacked, the pills cannot do anything for him. His body is immune to it already! Prolonged consumption of the prescribed pills also took tools on him ..., he got addicted to it & became phobia should he forgot to bring along his pills. Like drugs addict, he is thin, his eyes are red & had trouble sleeping (till now). Thus began my quest of weaning my hubby slowly from his pills (which I'm scared will do more harm than good in the long terms ...).
I began monitoring his diets & other factors that can triggers his Migraine (base on my readings & his helps). My findings are;
1. Foods ~ citrus fruits, chocolates, gula melaka, cheese & mayonnaise, instant coffee, MSG, fatty meats
2. Extreme weathers ~ too cold, too hot
3. Extreme conditions ~ noises, bright lights, crowded places, sudden frights, too excited, too depressed
4. Hunger/Without foods more than 4 hours
5. Stress & lack of sleep
As much as we could, we tried to avoid running into the above ... and eliminating the pills altogether (which is the hardest). This, is of course a different story. Next ... without the pills!!!
