Living the life of a migrainista, it is easy to get either in a rut or out of practice in the art of self-care. I'm in one now after what has been a tough month of problem medications and the intrusion of additional health issues. During the worst of the bad days, it seems impossible to exercise, do much food prep, relaxation and such. But having been on this down slope before I know I can find my way back and regain some balance.
Some of regaining this balance is a little out of my control like when I had that reaction to Neurontin and there was nothing I could do but hang on until I could titrate down. If anyone has figured out how to maintain any level of self-care through these toughest derailments I would love to hear all about it - really.
These derailments aside, sometimes it feels like the self-care I'm doing is no longer really providing the balance and relief that should come from good self-care. Mostly I chalk it up to my need for variety. But it can be so difficult to seek out and add this variety, or even adjusting these techniques to address new stresses and/or ailments.
I try to set aside some time each month to work on different areas of self-care. For example I spend a couple days each month looking for new healthy recipes to try so I can continue to eat healthy without getting sick of my foods. I like to spend some time looking at YouTube videos for new exercise ideas. Then I can try different things until I find what will work for me and my pain situations. I've only recently begun meditating, well trying to meditate. I won't really be able to get in a rut until I actually get the hang of it.
Perhaps the toughest area of self-care since I started living with chronic pain has been in caring for my creative side. This is not because I haven't put in the time and effort, but rather because my creative side has gone into hiding. I simply can't find it to feed and nourish it. I used to draw and paint and do theatre. The arts were very much a part of who I was. The migraines seems to have rendered that part of me unconscious.
As I think about it right now I wonder if what really happened is that all of my creative energy has been focused on migraine management and altering my environment to accommodate my chronic pain. Of course, the question then becomes, how does one nourish and feed that kind of creativity? I wouldn't even know where to begin. Maybe the fact that I need to use it so frequently at least keeps it in good shape. Either way, I haven't been able to get the creative artist in me out of a rut for more than 5 years.
