Traveling Migraineur

It took me several years to understand that migraine is a neurological disease and to accept that I will be a person with migraine as long as there is no cure.

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For some, the acceptance of having a life long chronic illness could spiral into a depression quite quickly. For me, this acceptance allowed me to focus on what I could do to manage the illness, instead of being in denial and fighting the illness. After the acceptance, my whole energy shifted to making lifestyle changes in order to live my life the way I wanted to, or as close as possible.

My journey to acceptance started with participating in the Migraine World Summit in 2016. This online event provided an abundance of migraine education. Having access to this information started me down a life path focusing on my health, which led me to where I am today – a traveling, climbing, exploring migraineur.

As a traveler I have leaned over the CN Tower in Toronto, hiked to secluded beaches in the US Virgin Islands and climbed up a waterfall in Puerto Rico. These are experiences I never would have dreamed of doing when my symptoms were chronic – prior to my shift to focus on my health.

It has been a long, looooong, challenging road – one that I will likely share more about on our blog in the future.

Today I am able to manage my symptoms through healthy lifestyle habits, vitamins, acupuncture and chiropractic care. I do still have abortive medications available when the acute attacks occur, but they are thankfully very rare.

This year I was inspired to finally start to share my migraine story, it was first published here on Migraine Again. But I don’t want to stop there. Migraine is an invisible illness, and those who suffer or have loved ones who suffer can work to increase awareness and education.

I’ve unfortunately suffered acute symptoms in the past when traveling. I plan to write more about my experiences traveling with migraine, along with migraine travel tips.

According to the Migraine Research Foundation “migraine is the 3^rd most prevalent illness in the world” with “12% of the population” suffering. Millions of people in the world are affected by migraine. I hope to connect with other traveling migraineurs who have had travel plans derailed due to migraine and identified strategies for making travel easier. I also hope to inspire those who have been too afraid to travel to find the treatment they need to manage their symptoms and overcome those fears.

I know that term migraineur is controversial for some, but for me it is fitting. I know I am more than my migraine diagnosis, but migraine is a part of who I am. I make decisions every day to manage the disease so I can travel and do the things I want to do in this lifetime. Recognizing the disease is part of who I am -whether I like it or not- has led me to where I am today.