DIY Help for Migraines - Build Your Own Tool Kit

Written and verified by Holly Hazen

Get help for migraines by building your own prevention tool kit. There are 11 steps below with lots of forms you can print out and step by step instructions to help navigate your way through effective chronic pain management.

And of course, some of my Holly's helpful tips as well.

It took me years to gather this information. I hope you find it as useful as I do.

I still use my monthly calendar to make notes of any changes.

If I change supplements, medications, or try new teal tinted migraine lenses on Nov. 21st, that gets written down.

I still record the time and date I take my abortives. This helps me reduce pain more effectively which is crucial with the long ten day migraine attacks and avoid any chance of overdose. 

Your Help for Migraines Tool Kit
11 Steps to Effective Pain Management

Here they are - the forms to print out and step by step instructions to navigate your way through effective pain management once you have your correct diagnosis.

If it says html on the end you can read it, and if it says pdf on the end you can print it out.

It’s this simple – just click on whatever links you need now and bookmark or make note of this page so you can to come back again if you need to.

Step 1

The number one help for migraines is to keep good records.

Keep a migraine diary; migraine journal and monthly calendar.

Many sources show that keeping a journal is helpful to rid yourself of extreme emotions. But you need one to help identify triggers and patterns too.

The monthly calendar is both for you and your doctors to help decipher your migraine pattern, should they have one. Join the mailing list to get a free copy of the one I use.

My course has a very detailed daily diary, with codes to help identify patterns in your symptoms and triggers. It also has a monthly diary to help you summarize an overall snap shot for your doctor. Click here for my course.

This is an essential tool for your detective work to help identify what works and what doesn't.

Step 2

Know what medications to take for migraine.

Review this list of migraine medications for acute medications and the designer migraine medications called triptans.

Find out what other alternatives are available in the way of natural relief options.

If you cannot find natural relief you may need to consider medications and the most effective migraine abortives made today is in the family of triptan drugs.

It is an option you should consider, even if you refuse to take meds, like I did initially.

It's better to be safe and work through what might be most effective for you just in case you change your mind in the intense pain phase and you need some fast, effective pain relief. 

Did I mention you'll need it FAST?

My #1 Choice in Magnesium Supplements

Step 3

Find out if you need preventive medications too.

Using prescribed and targeted migraine prevention medications is another option for you if you find your pattern to be chronic.

Regular occurrence of migraines may be best treated with a prophylactic medication.

Find out if there are other effective alternatives, like Feverfew or Butterbur, that might be worth trying for prevention. For me it was B12 that made a huge difference.

Step 4

Learn about living a more healthy lifestyle.

Make healthy lifestyle choices... this is up to you.

It is up to you to choose a more healthy lifestyle in order to help the body deal with these assaults.

Educate yourself on what healthy looks like (for you) and experiment to see what will help you move forward to create every opportunity to minimize the chance of migraine attacks.

Step 5

Work closely with your doctor.

Having your doctor write up a detailed medication treatment plan is imperative to gaining some degree of control over your migraine episodes and shortening their duration.

There are a number of forms in this article to print. It should be up at number one. See your doctor at first sign of pain ... yes! But, you know that bit.

Here's my favorite one - the medication treatment plan for your doctor to use with you in the office.

Details, details, details. SO important.

Plus, you need to get the right diagnosis so you know what and how to deal with your headaches or your medical condition, or if it's something else entirely.

Step 6

Form a diet plan.

Avoiding whatever food triggers you have by controlling your diet will greatly improve your chances of avoiding another attack.

For some, this might be the easiest help for migraines they find.

If not, I have an 8 week food and supplement experiment in my course. It's free to enroll...

Step 7

Learn to relax and reduce stress.

Relaxation and Biofeedback therapies are proven to reduce the amount of stress created by your mind and anxiety caused during the on coming onslaught of migraine.

A body scan or meditation for migraine pain management, if not too intense, is perfect to acknowledge the pain and watch it shift. If you can manage that.

A guided mindfulness meditation for migraine is much more gentle. I love all of these, I listen for about a year or two and then I find a new one.

I've done a meditation course too, here's the link...

It is so important to learn to calm ourselves down with an impending attack, and all during the phases. And after work, and before the kids get home, and...

Step 8

Retrain your brain! 

You can do this... have you heard of neuroplasticity? It has been proven that our brains can change with little effort.

Cognitive Behavior Modification (CBT) - has also been proven to help integrate a more realistic thought process around regular migraine attacks and the destruction they cause.

Positive Affirmations for Migraines are also proven to create a more positive thought process for the mind to follow instead of negative anxiety ridden thoughts.

Step 9

Educate yourself on migraine.

Knowing about migraine medications (as I've stressed above) and prevention is essential.

If you can, listen to The Migraine World Summit when it comes around, you will be able to soak up expert advice in just hours. FOR FREE!

I can't tell you how much information I've learned through watching the summit every year. Even the ones that don't apply to me. I've written all about some insights that have totally surprised me here - The Migraine World Summit.

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WATCH >> THE MIGRAINE WORLD SUMMIT << FOR THE LATEST RESEARCH & PRACTICAL TIPS

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Step 10

Form a solid support network.

Know who to ask for help and when. Plan ahead for this, ask your doctor, call a local migraine awareness group, or contact a local community center with a counseling service if you do not already have a support system set up around your migraine attacks.

If they are occurring regularly, getting help for migraines is essential.

If you can not access any of those, and you need to talk to someone, a good migraine Facebook group can help too.

Feel free to join my free workshop here - Free Migraine Relief Workshop.

How I can help right now...

Step 11

Get regular exercise.

And include exercises that work the areas that get tense from having lots of migraines.

This article – Easy Migraine Headache Neck Pain Stretches are a main part of my week.

Exercise can act like a painkiller and is considered great help for migraines by most experts.

In my meditation course, I've recorded a Qigong Master doing a routine to release head, neck and shoulders... it's fantastic. Specific help for migraines.

Here are the links again...
 

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_{More Help For Migraines Resources:
This is an exceptionally good Migraine Patient Toolkit as well from the Society for Women’s Health Research. Please Click Here.} 

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Ways I can help right now...