Vacations

By Pamela Burns Tuesday, December 11, 2007

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This might seem obvious to everyone, but I wanted to share my experience and advice. When we were planning our wedding last year (for Nov. 11, 2006) I was already suffering with daily migraine attacks. Although I was sick our entire wedding day, there was one decision that I am very glad we made.

We spent our honeymoon at Sandals, an all-inclusive resort. I was very concerned that we would plan this wonderful trip and I wouldn't be able to enjoy any of it due to a migraine attack! This decision we made took ALL of the pressure and expectations off. Since all of our activities were included (save Scuba Diving and massages), we could schedule an activity the day before or the day of - whenever I didn't have a headache! We didn't stress about how much we spent at dinner the night before when deciding what or where to eat the next night. It was so relaxing and took so much of the stress off, which as everyone knows, contributes to migraine attacks.

So, I don't have anything brilliant to say or a wonderful breakthrough treatment, but I hope that someone can find use from my experience.

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Comments (7) | Add comment

Cindy

12/11/07 9:58pm

Your comments are well worth sharing as vacations can be so stressful. As a single mother after my divorce I wanted to find a great vacation for my young (8 and 9) year old children. We went to a Guest Ranch. Like you, all activities were included. I did have whopper of a migraine one day, but I was in our cabin, in the woods, listening to the gentle rain, as someone kept the fire going, and the children busy, and bringing me tea. It was almost a wonderful experience. Blush If a migraine can be.

We have been back many times since then and continued to have wonderful relaxing times as a family and I cannot recommend things like that enough.

Cindy

Pamela Burns

12/11/07 10:34pm

Thank you for the support! Less stress is always good in my book, as is time with family. My mother is also divorced and has had migraines for over the last 20 years. I remember bringing her Coke or tea when she was in bed - even when I was a toddler! Sad

I'm so glad to hear your story

Cindy

12/11/07 11:30pm

Oh Pam, what made it so wonderful was the Ranch Staff was doing everything and the children were off playing with other kids having a grand time!! So no one had any worries.

But the vacations there with everything taken care of is heaven. The three of us are going back one last time (the 6th) before my daughter goes off to college this summer. We ride, hike, fish, swim and just laze for a week.

I hope you soon find some relief from the endless cyles of migraines you are having. You are at a wonderful time of your life.

Cindy

Nancy Harris Bonk, Health Guide

12/12/07 8:57am

Hello, and welcome to MyMigraineConnection.com!

What a good plan you came up with for enjoying a very special time in your life!

I saw in your post that your mom suffers from Migraines too. Since Migraine is thought to be a genetic neurolgocial disease, I guess we just found your link!

Thank you for creating a SharePost. SharePosts are a form of blogging, and there are many things you can do with them. You can share an experience, suggest something that's helped you, use SharePosts as a Migraine and headache journal, and many other things.

We also have a discussion forum that you may want to check out. Especially if you have questions or are looking for information, you may find the interaction on the forum to be quite helpful. To get to the forum, just look for the orange box marked "Manage" and click on the Migraine Forums link. Because our forums are maintained by a third party, you'll need to register for the forum. You can use the same information you used to create your community log-in if you like. If you want to go directly to the forum, you can click HERE.

Along with your personal "My Home" page and the discussion forum, you'll find links to a great deal of helpful information on the main page of our site, http://www.MyMigraineConnection.com.

If you have any questions, please feel free to post them to the forum or send me a message through my profile.

Welcome again,

Nancy Bonk
MyMigraineConnection.com Expert

PS: If you receive this message from more than one of us, please excuse the overlap. Thanks!

Barb

12/14/07 5:29pm

I suffer from chronic daily migraines some days way worse, on vacations we have taken cruises so that my husband can enjoy whatever is going on the boat or take a shore event in and I can stay in bed. Usually we go with another couple so it works out well. Not so stressful for me. As another note my mother also suffered from migraines horrendously. As a little girl I would have to help make supper, clean house and do wash and help look after her.There were 6 kids in the family and I was the oldest girl and the only one that got migraines.

Anonymous

12/15/07 6:49pm

Because of my migraines & other multiple overlapping conditions I always include a day of rest on the day after arrival at any travel destination & then again when I return home. I go to the spa & get a massage & eat lightly. I unwind by spending time in the room alone just resting. I no longer can do as much as I'd like, but I feel better and enjoy more what I can do.

I was recently married in Las Vegas in elegant casino chapel after I'd realized that I could not count on my body to cooperate thru the stress of planning & going thru even a small local wedding. Instead my husband & I invited a favorite couple to come out w/us to be our wedding attendants & to celebrate the evening w/us. It turned out to be the best decision I could have made. We spent our budget completely on us, had the ease of our wedding in the same location as our honeymoon & I had wedding coordinators who handled most of the details for me.

The trip was still stressful and I was sick the day after the wedding, having to rest in the room all day. But I'm convinced that I would have been completely debilitated w/a local wedding & reception. Sure, it would have been good to have been w/other family & friends, but this was how we adapted to accommodate my health limitations. We mailed announcements the day of the wedding & planned to have a party after we returned home that would allow us to really visit w/our guests instead of dealing w/the stress of same-day wedding.

I didn't see our wedding as settling for less than I wanted. Instead I received beautiful memories w/wedding video & pictures that we shared after our return home. Instead of planning a big party, we've gotten together w/smaller groups of family & friends so that we were able to give them our full attention.

I believe that our wedding was a sacred ceremony & I married the most supportive husband I could have ever had. He has seen me suffer terribly thru much of our 8 years together before our wedding so my illnesses aren't a suprise. He puts my well-being first & wants to do anything that will help me to enjoy activities & can participate in. Isn't that the most important outcome for a marriage anyway?

Pamela Burns

12/15/07 7:53pm

I understand about the wedding stress! My wedding day was a nightmare! I had some last minute things to do and I woke up with the worst migraine attack and tension headache I had ever had. I was vomiting every hour or so. Luckily, my family (cousins and their soon-to-be in-laws included) have always been very supportive and took care of my "to-do" list. My mom came over and helped me eat something. I had three Imitrex pills and 3 injections and it didn't even phase me (at the time, I didn't have an emergency plan). I didn't get any relieft whatsoever until halfway through the reception.

At first, it made me really mad - that I would always remember my wedding day with all the pain. Looking back on it a year later though, I remember being in pain but not like I did. I mostly remember all the happiness! However, if I had to do it again, I would SERIOUSLY take my mom up on her offer to fly the two of us anywhere!!! Big Grin

Vacations

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