Self-care to Prevent Headaches

Hey everyone, Christen here! If you listened to the podcast yesterday, then you are up to speed on our discussion this week regarding migraines, and you will have heard my take on migraines and headaches. During the podcast Amber and Cindy explained what their migraines were like and how they cope with them. I had mentioned that I rarely if ever get headaches. 

I feel really lucky that I don’t have that issue! It seems that I skipped out on getting frequent headaches. When I do manage to find my head feeling painful I can reason with why I had a headache, as mine are always self-induced due to lack of sleep and eye rest.

Since I work at a computer all day, play games, and read eBooks on my phone as well as binge watch on Netflix, it is common for me to get eye fatigue, otherwise known as eye strain. I also have a sensitivity to light and have allergies, so having eye discomfort can be a daily occurrence for me, and too much time in the sun will cause photokeratitis, a condition where the UV rays from the sun cause symptoms much like a sunburn.

To make matters worse, because I am a glutton for punishment, I tend to keep myself up way past my bedtime because I am enjoying my book or a particular show. When I wake up the next morning after a screen-viewing marathon, I will notice my eyes are very dry and will have a tight pulling sensation. It will feel like there is sand under my eyelids, and sometimes they will sting or feel warm under my eyelids. Overhead lighting and the sun will be exceedingly bright, and as the day passes, I find it more and more challenging to keep my eyes open. I will also have issues with watery eyes, which makes it even harder to see and focus. Taking a nap or resting my eyes will usually cure this pretty quickly.

If there are a lot of extra activities that go on beyond my normal routine, I don't ease up on my screen time, though, or take time for a nap. I enjoy the time away from the hustle and bustle when I am engrossed in a novel, or teaming up with my friends online to play a game. I make sure to have room in my busy schedule for screen time, even if I am exhausted and stretched too thin. I continue this same behavior for days on end, until I just crash and burn because I can barely hold my head up. Ultimately, what stops me like a brick wall is the headache. 

After pushing myself to the extreme, I will suddenly have a headache. When my head starts to hurt, then I know I am done for the day.  It’s not often that I let it get that far, but today, I can say that it has come to that; I noticed that I had a headache when I was at work today. I had headphones in and I was listening to a call. There was someone else in the office with me today, and it felt like they were yelling - my ears were so sensitive (I work in a call center, so it can be overwhelmingly noisy on a regular day). I know that my headache was induced by lack of sleep, as I have been keeping myself up too late these past couple of weeks. I have lots of fun things going on throughout the week in addition to working countless hours of overtime. On top of that, I still have a home to maintain, so I have been overdoing it. 

I want to be careful, though, not to push myself too hard; I need to make sure to schedule self-care time for things like sleeping, meditating, creative/art therapy, and personal care. If I skimp out on my sleep, my personal care time gets cut short, like my skin care routine for example. There has to be some type of balance.

Other areas of my life can be impacted negatively from lack of rest. It is not healthy for the brain or the heart to get partial sleep. The body and mind need that time to recuperate, rebuild and process the day. Not getting enough sleep can lead to heart disease, depression and obesity. My family can also feel the side effects, as our moods change when we are not rested. Your manifestation power is compromised and your ability to perform tasks at work can be similar to someone who is intoxicated. When you put it like that, forgoing a few hours of sleep just to read another chapter sounds like a horrible idea. 

Do you have something that you do that keeps you up at night, or things that you sacrifice sleep for? What do you do to overcome this? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below, or be sure to check us out on our Facebook chat group MMC Chat.

Coffee Versus Water: A Taste Buds Journey

Coffee Love

This week on the podcast we talked about tips to drink more water. I will be the first to admit that I don’t drink enough water, especially in the summertime. In fact, last week, I got really sick because I hadn’t been drinking enough water. More than a few times in my life I have been to the hospital due to dehydration. Now that my stomach is smaller, it makes it even harder to consume water. What I do consume a lot of, is coffee.

I’ve been called out a few times in the last year (by people who don’t drink coffee) that I drink too much coffee. I agree with them, it’s true. I even wrote in my blog about Powersheets® that coffee, especially coffee influencing on my Instagram reviews blog @ravenreviews_tx, is one of my motivations. One might even go as far as to say that I am obsessed with coffee. That wasn’t always the case. Unlike children today – case in point, my students come to class with Venti Starbucks™ Lattes – if I wanted coffee, I had to go to my grandma’s house or go to the local coffee shop with my grandpa on Saturday mornings. 

My parents didn’t even own a coffee maker (my mom was a tea drinker), so, I didn’t drink as much coffee as kids do today. My grandma only kept powdered creamer to put in her Folgers® and I thought it tasted disgusting. Starbucks™ was something you only saw in the movies – for example, Cher and her friends in the movie Clueless, drinking the fancy coffee brand. I didn’t even see a Starbucks™ in person until I went to Las Vegas for my high school senior trip and one of my friends pointed it out. Sure, the coffee chain had stores in Texas, but nowhere near where I lived.

I didn’t start drinking coffee until I was in college. Christen and I spent our first two years at South Plains College in a small town in West Texas called Levelland, which was not far from the somewhat big town of Lubbock. Levelland was about the size of the town I grew up in (so, not very big) but, unlike the town I grew up in, it had not just a coffee shop but a Cafe that served fancy coffee concoctions unlike any I ever tried. It was called Rhinobear and they served Day Break Coffee. Christen and I went all the time to get the frappe, and I was hooked. I was still just a casual coffee drinker. I was a poor college kid that worked in the financial aid office for $5.25 an hour. Fancy coffee was just a treat, and I certainly didn’t drink coffee every day. If I wanted caffeine, I usually drank Diet Coke, but only occasionally (I gave up soda with sugar in it when I was a junior in high school).

As I grew older and became a teacher, I started drinking more coffee mainly because free coffee existed in the teacher’s lounge. At the same time, I began treatments for my chronic migraines (a topic I will explore in a future blog) and the preventative medication that was given to me made all carbonated drinks taste terrible, so I turned more toward coffee and tea for a caffeine fix. When I moved back to Vernon a few years later, my grandma received a Keurig® for her birthday, and I began experimenting with different flavors and styles of coffee through their k-cup subscription program. Thus, my taste became more refined. I realized the taste difference between brands, flavors, and roasts and I started drinking coffee for the flavor aspect, but I usually only had a cup a day unless it was a tough day at work. Still, if I was ever in a town with a Starbucks™ or other fancy coffee shop, I would stop and try a new type of drink. 

After surgery, everything changed. I wrote in my last blog about my struggles before and after bariatric surgery. That was only a part of it. My taste buds completely changed after surgery. For example, I only occasionally ate eggs before surgery, and now eggs are a regular part of my diet. I could eat dairy without getting sick before surgery, and now I can't drink a glass of milk or eat yogurt without getting sick. In the weeks prior to surgery, I had to stop all caffeine and I couldn’t drink it again until three months after my surgery – I was fine with it. However, the first cup of coffee post-surgery was an experience that I will never forget. I went to Starbucks™ and ordered a grande cold brew for the first time. I drank it as I still drink it – with one pump of sugar-free vanilla and a splash of heavy cream – and it was heavenly. Aside from my first coffee in four months, I had never tasted a cold brew before. I thought it was amazing, and it tasted strong. Before surgery, I didn’t crave dark or strong coffee, and now I can’t drink it any other way. In fact, I don’t want to drink anything else but coffee. I crave coffee all the time.

Therein lies my problem. Before surgery, I was never one to chug water, and now that I can’t chug water, it’s hard to get enough water in my body. Now I’m always dehydrated because the first thing I reach for in the morning is coffee and not water. I’ve studied nutrition and taken nutrition classes, so I know the right thing to do is immediately start drinking water when you get up in the morning. My life would be so much better if I wasn’t chronically dehydrated, but I’d rather drink coffee, and if I’m being honest, I’d rather drink coffee over eating food. That’s why I have to mix protein in my coffee now to get enough protein post-surgery. It really is a daily struggle.

How have I tried to combat this craving? Well, psychologically, I’ve figured out that it’s not the caffeine that I crave. I am perfectly fine with drinking decaf coffee. It’s the flavor that I crave. Unfortunately, they don’t make coffee flavor water enhancements that I could use to trick myself into thinking I’m drinking coffee when in reality, I’m drinking water. The closest thing that I’ve found is a vanilla-flavored additive–which helps but it is not a perfect solution. As a goal for my summer, I’ve decided to cut back on my coffee consumption and make an effort to track the water I drink daily as well as keep water readily available to grab when I need it. Maybe this will help me get my 64 ounces of water in daily.

I want to hear from our readers. What are some tips and tricks you use to drink more water? If you have a hard time drinking water, what are some tips to stay hydrated? Let’s continue the conversation on our Facebook Page and Facebook Group MMC Chat.

Mental Health Awareness Month

Did you know that May is Mental Health Awareness Month? When we decided to discuss this topic, we had no idea that there was a month dedicated to its awareness, we just knew that it was something that we all three wanted to talk about through Modern Musings. 

I really hope that you got a chance to listen to the podcast yesterday! We were so fortunate to have Ashely Roberts, a student of Psychology, join us and weigh in on the discussion. It was comforting to have someone with that background helping guide our discussion. Sadly, in today’s society, many of us have not had much opportunity to speak with others about mental health. It almost seems that we are coming out from under the constraints, and speaking about mental health- is no longer taboo. Even so, it is still a challenge, and we are all learning. 

One thing that everyone must consider, is that humanity’s ignorance as a whole is not in any way malicious; it is just ignorance. The general population of the world is still trying to grapple with the idea that no one is perfect, and that it is okay to be different. We need to be patient with those who do not understand mental health and cannot comprehend what it is like to live with a mental health condition. Since many have felt silenced regarding their mental health and have not found that safe haven yet, 

we must be sensitive to those around us; you can never know what people are going through. There are some staggering statistics that you can review in The State Of Mental Health In America.  

Mental health is a very broad topic, and according to mentalhealth.gov, it covers everything about how you think, feel and act. It also encompasses how you handle stress and relate to others, and how you make choices. These are all determined by key factors, including genetics and brain chemistry, life experiences, and family history.

The biggest term that is cropping up online in the past decade (or more) is “self-care”. On the surface, self-care looks or sounds like taking bubble baths, relaxing, having a quiet moment of reflection, or treating yourself to some dark chocolate. In reality, self-care can be so much more. It means “taking care of yourself”, and can be whatever you need in order to have a stable environment. Sometimes self-care is ending an unhealthy relationship, and sometimes that relationship is a person, but it can also be a thing. I know that we have talked about self-care in various forms, and we will probably touch on the subject many more times.

I am grateful that we are normalizing mental health. It felt so good to talk about my own battle with depression and get it off my chest. People should not feel ashamed to talk about their feelings, stress, fears, etc. These days, you can get information just about anywhere online for anything you need regarding mental health. By normalizing mental health, it could save a life. Someone who is feeling suicidal might feel more compelled to share their feelings knowing that they are not going to be shamed and having the comfort of talking with someone who understands. 

Starting on July 16, 2022, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline will be available by dialing 988 for the United States. Please pass this along, and let others know that people who care are standing by, ready to help!