I have noticed that things do come in seasons and we are in one of those interesting ones at the moment. Haven't had one for a while. Can't say I want one now.The Bosco adventure has faded into the distance as we deal with an epic migraine attack in Christian. No respite from drowsiness, vagueness, and the weirdest vision stuff since Saturday. For a teenager who has thought processes at the speed of light and a mind keenly honed, this is appalling. We are waiting on the results of the MRI, which should confirm that it is nothing more sinister. He's coping really well, even though I know it is really upsetting and frustrating him. He commented that it makes him feel like he has ADD as he can't concentrate on anything.
We are praying and internet researching. As a family of migraine sufferes we already know a lot. Now I know some more. Some doctors we have spoke to know very little. Christian has realised for the first time that they are just people too who don't know everything. We had to override a GP to get a referral to a specialist - never had to actually say to a doctor before 'I'm not happy with your treatment plan.' Feel vaguely naughty. Was the right decision though as we got an MRI.
Feeling quite powerless as there is no magic wand we can wave over this situation. Just have to sit tight and trust God.
I'm terribly sorry to hear about Christian's migraines (my Google Alert system found your blog because you link to "Slow Family Living" and the lead article there is about my Tinkering School program, so I got a report from Google that your blog referenced me - please forgive the intrusion if this is unwanted advice).
ReplyDeleteI suffered from debilitating migraine attacks as a young teenager. In my mother's frantic search for something (anything) that would help in our tiny community, she took me to visit a retired doctor who was experimenting with biofeedback. Let me just warn you that there is a lot of quackery on the internet about this topic. Biofeedback is simply the use of a medical instrument that tells you something about your body that you can't naturally sense. In my case, it was a simple temperature sensor (attached to a finger) that would make pleasing beeps if it measured an increase and unpleasant boops if it measured a decrease. I practiced with the device until I learned to deliberately raise the temperature in my hands by a few degrees, then I learned to do this when I noticed any of the pre-cursor symptoms of my migraines, and then I got so good at it that I would do it almost automatically when the migraine started. Now, thirty years later, I know when I'm not having a migraine because my hands get unnaturally warm.
Everyone is different, and what worked for me may not work for Christian. I wish you and Christian the best, and hope that you find a solution that works for you.
All the best,
-gever http://www.gevertulley.com
Thank you so much for your input. We may look into biofeedback so it's great to hear from someone that has found it useful.I'm really not keen on pumping him full opf drugs that alter his brain chemistry
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