Migraine Art

Please share any creative projects you have created as a result of a migraine. Here is one of mine.

Just when you thought life was normal

It creeps up

It is bigger and more powerful

It rules – your life

Remember me – I am your ritual, your obstacle

Feed me your desires, your life

Tend to me and do not forget me

I am your unwanted companion

Keeper of the status quo – imposing limits

We take comfort in knowing- we must rest and it will end later than we want

Endurance

Silence

Agony

‘til we become whole again

Balanced

Happy

Able to cope

Forgetting the episode

And

Entering the world again

What helps you get through a migraine?

I find myself listening to music. For me listening to music is a distraction. Please post what helps you through the most difficult, painful phase of a migraine.

504 Plan and Accommodations

Earlier during my son's schooling, the school suggested creating a 504 Plan, which enabled my son to receive accommodations, making schoolwork more manageable.

He was allowed to leave the classroom at the onset of a migraine. Rest in the nurse's office. Complete a smaller sample of math problems assigned for homework. Drink and eat when needed and more.

This was created in a public school. As time went on, he still couldn't function in school. He missed school due to migraines and had difficulty keeping up with the work when he was absent or in the nurse's office.

Eventually, we sent him to a private school where he received the individualized attention he needed. He didn't have a 504 Plan, but he was able to succeed in school because he received unconditional support every minute of the day.

Now, he is a self-sufficient high school student who is back in a public school setting. Four years of individualized attention, and he is able to both handle migraines and his school work

Homework Help

Sometimes it's just too hard to complete homework especially when a migraine hits. Over the years I have made accommodations for my son to make the work manageable. First, we assess how much homework there is. Then we assess the level of difficulty. Lastly, we determine how he can get the work done while having a migraine. Often I have read his assigned readings out loud or typed homework he has dictated to me.

I also taught him how to study over a period of time rather than the night before a test. This is critical because he is always prepared for a test even if a migraine hits!

He reads over his notes almost every day as a means of studying. So, when he gets to the night before he really doesn't have much to do. He can focus on the more difficult concepts because he has the fundamental information mastered.

Fox News: Kids and Migraines Article and Video

Recently Fox News did a story on adolescents and migraines. See how this conditions impacts school and family life.

Read the full article and watch the video here:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,545201,00.html

School

Being in a supportive environment has resulted in fewer migraines. Making sure your child has teachers who understand your child's triggers, support the headache hygiene your child needs, and help to draw your child's attention away from the pain will enable your child to cope during school.

Learn more about the impact of migraines during the school day.

Running Around the House, and Having a Migraine at the Same Time

Often it was hard to believe that our son was experiencing a migraine. One moment he would be crying out in pain, irritable, and even oppositional; and the next moment, he would be running around the house playing. He did not look like he was experiencing a migraine, but he was. I learned from my son's neurologist that sometimes children experience migraines that do not last more than a few minutes. In my son's case, he was still having a migraine, but the pain he was experiencing had decreased to a tolerable level or his attention was so focused on something else that he didn't sense the pain.