So this morning I went for a run. Just a short one, because
it was the same day as my running club’s monthly handicap race, but I wanted to
get a few more miles in now that I’m less than a month from half-marathon day.
So a quick 3-mile dash early in the morning, followed by a relaxed day, then
the handicap in the evening didn’t seem like too much to ask.
Except that within the first mile or so, something odd
started happening to my vision. I started developing blind spots and lost the
peripheral vision on my right side. They came on gradually, and at first I just
put it down to a little bit of sun blindness (though that was maybe a bit of
wishful thinking – the weather isn’t that great today!). By the two mile mark
it was clear that wasn’t the case, and I had to resign myself to the knowledge
that I was getting a migraine…
I’ve had migraines for years. My first was an unexpected and
rather scary experience whilst sat in the canteen at school. Since then, I’ve
had one every 4-6 months. I’ve never been able to identify a specific trigger,
except that – slightly counter-intuitively – they tend to come on when I’ve
just come through a stressful period. And usually, I stop what I’m doing as
soon as I get the aura (the blind spots and changes in my vision), take some
painkillers and curl up under my duvet.
But that’s not so easy when you’re more than halfway through
a run. I’ve never had a migraine related to running before, so I don’t yet have
a strategy for coping with the situation. And needless to say, I didn’t have
any painkillers with me! The question was, should I stop running and walk home,
or should I press on, get home as quickly as possible and then revert to my
normal routine. Sensible or not, I went with the second option.
My migraines are relatively short, in the grand scheme of
things. The headache itself usually subsides within 5-6 hours. What does drag
on though is the post-migraine (or post-dromal) phase. As a rule, once I’ve had
a migraine, I’m more or less out of action for the next 24 hours: it feels like
being horribly jet-lagged (or having just worked a night shift). But I have
always found that gentle exercise helps: though usually I do stick with just a
walk! Today I decided I’d jog to the club run, then maybe offer to help out
rather than race, and hope that does the trick. And it did make me feel a
little less thick-headed, so goal reached.
Migraines are a pretty common condition – according to http://www.migrainetrust.org/, there
are 190,000 migraines every day in the UK. There are several different types of
migraines. The most common – referred to as “migraine without aura” or “typical
migraines” are severe, one-sided headaches, which are usually throbbing or pulsating
in nature and affect everyday life. They are usually associated with nausea,
and can also be associated with sensitivity to light or noise. Most people who
suffer from migraines (between 70-90%) have this kind of migraine. The next
most common type, and the type I suffer from, are “migraine with aura”, which
is the same type of headache but preceded by neurological symptoms – these can
involve visual changes, numbness or tingling, speech problems or even weakness
of one side of the body.
One of the big parts of treating migraines is identifying
what triggers them. Lots of things can trigger migraines, and it’s different
for everyone – chocolate, wine, exercise, stress… the list goes on. And some
people, like me, can’t pinpoint anything (though I’m not sure I mind that too
much. At least they’ve never stopped me eating chocolate, drinking wine or
going running!). For that reason, one of the mainstays of diagnosis is keeping
a headache diary. The diary is also helpful for treatment, because you can
assess what works for you. Of course, this is all usually done in conjunction
with a doctor!
So – who else out there gets migraines, and what’s your
coping strategy? Any more specifically, for all you runners – what do you do if
you get a migraine mid run? And when do you feel ready to go back to running?
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