Ah, the view from my beach chair last week.  Oh how I miss that little thatched roof gazebo on the water.  I disappeared last week to this beautiful place and left all my worries behind. I spent seven days without a computer, phone service or children.  You would have thought it would have been more of a shock to my system than it was.  I adapted quite nicely to absolutely no responsibilities.  When your biggest stress is what to eat for breakfast, you know you have it good.

Stress reduction is key to overall health status.  At least most normal medical personnel will give you such advice.  The first neurologist I saw as a result of my migraines basically poo-pooed my stress stating that "women in war-torn countries may suffer from stress...not women in suburban Tulsa". 

When under acute stress our bodies release cortisol and adrenaline, hormones that help when stress is acute so that we can either fight or flee the stressful encounter.  However, when our bodies experience chronic stress everyday during our normal routines i.e. bad employers, chronic pain, child-rearing, driving in traffic, and the list goes on.  This chronic exposure to hormones over time damages blood vessels due to inflammation.  There are numerous studies available chronicling the benefits of vacation on heart disease.  I would argue the benefits of decreasing the inflammation of blood vessels goes beyond just heart disease and extends to a variety of disease states--migraine being one of them.  A study by Gretchen Tietjen out of the University of Toledo found that a third of study participants with migraines had blood vessel damage, which was five times higher than the control group.  The verdict is still out on the exact cause of migraines, but most helpful medications for migraines reduce vessel inflammation.

Remembering that traveling itself can be and issue for the migrainuer, proper planning is a must.  Adequate sleep and hydration are vital the days prior to a tropical destination.  Unless of course your lucky enough to be in driving distance from such a location.  That first travel day is always kind of a struggle for me...probably due to sleep alterations (if it's an early flight), barometric pressure changes, and yes-- stress (and not the stress endured by women of war-torn countries, but  stress endured by women with migraines who have their passport and flight ticket taken from them by a Spanish-only speaking security worker and told they were randomly selected for an extra security screening).

But once I am beach side listening to the sounds of the ocean the stress seems to disappear.  For seven days my worries become which bathing suit to wear to the beach, which book I should read, whether to swim in the ocean or the pool, or whether or not "Frank the Iguana" will be there to greet me when I head home from the beach.  Everyone should be lucky enough to endure the above listed stresses for at least one week a year.

"Frank The Iguana"

Traveling makes this migrainuer a little anxious.  There are numerous factors that can create complications with adherence to  my Migraine Plan when traveling.  I try to plan for all of these factors accordingly.
 
Factor 1.  Sleep changes: My flight left at 7 am in the morning, which means I needed to be at the airport by 6 am. 

--Solution: I set my  alarm for the latest possible time that I could in order to get to the airport and check-in on time.  This meant I  had my bags packed the night before with the exception of items I needed to use the morning of the flight.  My work bag was packed and ready to go, all chargers, phones, and laptops were packed up and all I had to do was put them in my car.  I attempted to get to bed earlier than usual to try to offset the early awakening.  This may have been a great idea had I been successful in getting to bed sooner.  My net sleep lost ended up being one hour.

Factor 2.  Airplane travel:  Flight travel means changes in altitude, barometric pressure, cabin oxygenation, and humidity.  Cabin humidity levels are usually 10-20% and normal indoor humidity levels are 30-65%.  My little migraine brain likes stability in all these things.  Changes in altitude alters blood oxygenation making my vessels compensate by constricting and expanding depending on barometric changes, potentially initiating a headache. 

--Solution:  I hydrated well in order to fend off dehydration and hoped for the best.  I avoid caffeine and alcohol while flying.

Factor 3.  Unpredictable food selections: When traveling on business or even for pleasure for that matter food options are different from those I keep in my home.  Meals are eaten out and I can't control whether or not lemon is squeezed onto my grouper or whether or not my spinach is cooked with parmesan cheese (I think I was tyramined and glutamated last night). 

--Solution: I pack snacks and try to pick the most migraine-friendly selections offered.  I stuck some snacks in my checked luggage and I passed on the alcohol last night.

Factor 4.  Being stuck next to a woman on my flight who overdosed on her perfume bottle.  I hadn't counted on this factor.

--Solution: I hold my breath for the 2 hour flight.  Ok, that wasn't a possibilty.  Lucky for me, I was wearing a scarf this day.  In hindsight, I may make this a travel staple.  I was able to pull my scarf up over my nose and create a barrier between myself and her offensive odor.  My need to be migraine-free trumps the need to look cool.

I did the best I could to prevent a headache from creeping into my trip.  As you can see it's almost impossible to control all the factors, but I did the best I could.  Around 7 pm on my travel day a headache started to appear and I immediately took some ibuprofen.  On day 2 of my trip I woke up without a headache and feeling good...another migraine avoided!