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        New Message Board Archives >> 2006 General Board Posts >> In an emergency....
        
(Message started by: Neekwa on Mar 26^th, 2006, 5:56am)

Title: In an emergency....
Post by Neekwa on Mar 26^th, 2006, 5:56am

I'm fairly new to the forum as of late. I'm not too sure this has been covered before, anyway im curious as to what measures alot of you take during an emergency attack.

For example on one occasion I was caught on the local light rail (similar to a trolly car) during an attack. It was early on a weekday so the car was filled and I was standing while the familiar pain set in. I had no alternative to do anything except just grit my teeth. I didn't want to draw attention and was relieved that I had brought along a pair of dark sun glasses because my right eye was literally tearing up. The glasses hid this however, and I held out for the next available stop.

So in effect what im getting at is if you are caught off gaurd somewhere similar as that without the aid of oxygen or injections etc. This is a regular for me as I have yet to even expierience relief from oxygen during an attack.

Heres mainly what I do to keep the pain at bay to a degree. As mentioned above have dark eyeglasses handy.

Also if available to me I seek out a bathroom for cold running water and lower the problem side of my head underneath it. From my expierience for a brief few seconds this alieviates the dull pain, then it returns. So what I end up doing is dunking my head in sort of for a minute or two, then draw back from the water then repeat the cycle.

Also during the beggining of an attack my right sinus seems to clog. So I try to free up my sinus, preferrably if I have a sinus blocker mist on hand. Later on while the pain is fading (for me anyway) my sinus seems to unclog and drip wether or not I tend to attempting to free it up.

Also I find it maybe more mentally helping to be moving as opposed to sitting somewhere taking the pain, walking for instance. Unless of course I have the means to lie down, then I will find a pillow and apply pressure to my head into it (normally over my right eye)..until I get actual impressions on my forehead from the pillow folds.

Just my ritual that im all too familiar with at this point. Curious to see if maybe there is other useful little tips to take a little bit of the bite out of these little torture sessions.

Title: Re: In an emergency....
Post by Jonny on Mar 26^th, 2006, 6:01am

on 03/26/06 at 05:56:01, Neekwa wrote:

So in effect what im getting at is if you are caught off gaurd .

Rule #1.......Always have an abortive with you!

Title: Re: In an emergency....
Post by Neekwa on Mar 26^th, 2006, 6:18am

Quote:

Rule #1.......Always have an abortive with you!

That about sums it up. Oddly though I have never had a really bad attack while driving for example. I take that back, actually I have had attacks while driving but for whatever reason the actual act of driving gives me something to concentrate on as opposed to just sitting at home and in a fixed position with no real distraction from the building pain. Of course if it climaxed to a worse case headache I would pull over not to endanger myself or anybody else if the attack progressed to that before I reached whatever destination.

That ties into what I mentioned with walking. Just the act of movement, concentrating on just walking detracts however small from concentrating soley on the pain. But im not kidding myself either, be it walking, flying, or banging yourself in the head...it does little to actaully cap that crazy pain really.

Title: Re: In an emergency....
Post by chewy on Mar 26^th, 2006, 11:05am

Rule #2.......Have no shame when using the abortive.

BUT If its injection DO have an explanation for the cops. Trust me.

Title: Re: In an emergency....
Post by thebbz on Mar 26^th, 2006, 9:44pm

Imitrex stat dose..never leave home without it.
O2 is always preferred.
jb 8)

Title: Re: In an emergency....
Post by Skyhawk5 on Mar 26^th, 2006, 11:18pm

I have stopped attacks using a breathing exercise that I read in a book titled "The Relaxation Response'. At the first sign I breath in as deeply as possible then let out every last bit of air. Letting out all air in your lungs is the key. Continue this for several minutes. It's a little difficult to do at first as the body can react and not let you completly exhaust your lungs. This has worked for me but not everytime. Hang in there.
Skyhawk5