Carol’s story

Carol suffered from migraine about once or twice each month, but occasionally more often.  They would vary in intensity.  Sometimes Carol could work through them, but often they would become so bad that she just had to abandon the day and go to bed.  In a darkened room, feeling nauseous with a pounding headache, Carol would spend the whole of the day just waiting for it to pass.  The following day, Carol would feel battered and the worse for wear, but she could go to work.  She knew that she wouldn’t feel normal again until the next day.

The problem with migraine is that it is so unpredictable...

Carol never knew what engagement she would miss because of her migraine. Carol began the Migraine Resolution Programme in the summer of 2005.  I visited her in her own home and spent two hours running through the various aspects of the programme. In those days, I had not yet written the educational package. Finally, all Carol had to do was to remember how to do the special routine when the next migraine attack threatened.  When that moment came, Carole tried hard to do her routine, but the migraine was pounding so hard it made it difficult for her to even think clearly. 

Carol was sure that she had ‘done it all wrong’....

Carol telephoned Olivia the following day, and told her what had happened.  I ran through the routine with Carol once again, ready for the next attack.  One week later, the next attack came earlier than expected.  Carol began the routine, this time with more confidence.  It seemed as though there was going to be no letting up.   The migraine went into full flow, and Carol lay on her settee, just doing the routine, and hoping for the best.  She was so disappointed that the programme didn’t seem to be working, and told me so when I phoned her later that day.  I made a second appointment to see Carol, to reinforce the programme.  On the morning of the appointment, Carol had a pain over her right eye.  It was the beginning of a migraine.  Carol did her routine, and the pain over her eye hovered there for a few hours.  By the time I sat down with Carol, the pain had subsided, and was recorded on the daily chart.

Gradually Reducing with each subsequent migraine ...

Immediately, I could see what Carol had not noticed.  Her normal migraine used to last about 11-12 hours.  The first migraine after Carol’s first therapy session lasted 11 hours, and it was grade 9 on the scale of 1-10.   The second migraine lasted 5 hours and it was a grade 5.  The third migraine was that pain over one eye, grade one, and lasted three hours. 

This was a textbook response to the Migraine Resolution Programme.  

I was over the moon.  Carol was incredulous that this could be true.  She expected the most horrendous migraine attack would be just around the corner.  Over the next few weeks, Carol’s confidence grew, and she noticed that there were many times when a migraine would begin, and she could just send it away.  All she had to do was to find somewhere quiet where she could just sit down for five minutes and concentrate, and then the migraine would melt away.