Migraine

I've determined there are four main triggers that I face every day at work:

* Fluorescent lighting (both tube and CFL)
* Computer screen (LCD but it still bothers me)
* Food smells (I sit near our kitchen)
* Noise (people talking on phones, in the kitchen, playing ping pong, etc)


I'm at a loss at how else I can mitigate these. What I've done so far:

* Both fluorescent fixtures over my cube are turned off and I have a desk lamp with an incandescent bulb. However, our cubes have low walls, meaning there's still a lot of fluorescent lighting around. And as soon as I have a meeting away from my desk I'm under fluorescents again. And if I'm very photophobic (which is many days), I can't turn on the desk lamp because it's too bright.

* Computer screen brightness is turned *way* down, around 15%. It is a flat panel LCD monitor, not the big chunky CRT.

* Air purifier helps with the smells, but doesn't eliminate them fast enough. And it makes noise.

* Lavender/peppermint oil I use both as a comfort measure and to help when the food smells are strong.

* Listen to my iPod at work when I can, but sometimes this makes the noise problem worse.


Does anyone have any other suggestions? All four of these triggers stack every day, and it's rare when my pain doesn't escalate to a 6 or above. The Botox seems to be helping, but until I have a better treatment regimen I'm very susceptible to these triggers.

I'm at a loss here, so any ideas are appreciated. Thanks!

EDIT: Mods, I meant to put this post under the "triggers" folder, so perhaps you could be so kind and move it over there for me?

I don't know how your office space is organized. Could you ask to have your desk moved further from the kitchen and ping-pong areas?

First of all - I want to work where you can play ping pong!!!!

Although - yeah, I can see how that noise would be a huge trigger.

Do you have the type of cubicle that you can use the cube shield on?

Cindy had talked about it in the Healthy Lifestyle section...

The Cube Shield topic

Food smells are gross anyway, much less when you are migraining. I'm with Nut on seeing if you can get a desk move or something.

Could be worse, you could be near the bathroom!!!

As far as volume in your office, can you have a white noise machine on? Or even a fan? Something consistant and not as bothersome (like the ping pong annoying sound!) that would drown out the other noise?

What about a glare filter for your computer monitor? It helped with the glare when I was at work- they make them for LCD monitors too... they're just more expensive. It's a relatively cheap solution for sore eyes- my migraine frequency at work went WAY down after my former company bought me one of these. You can get 'em at Staples from the catalogue, I think.

I also used a fan, or just headphones with nothing playing- noise cancelling ones would be better than the cheap ones that I used... I think you can get them online too... or at Staples also...

Just my $.02!

MJ,
I saw your post yesterday and really had to give it some thought. It's a sticky situation.

My office has very specific rules on speaker phone usage in open cubes. People were being rather rude in the usage. It was disruptive to others. People cannot use speaker phones in open cubes any longer. I was suprised at how much that helped. We have alot of conference calls.

Cell phones in the office. Oh my. There are also a bone of contention as many people find the rings very disruptive and loud. People are so creative with them. While there has been no specific work rules issued, people are lowering the volume level greatly on their phones and again that has helped.

I would second moving as far away from the kitchen as possible. The smells that come from our kitchen at lunch time bother me even when I am not migraining. I cannot go near it when I am. If your workspace is near the kitchen I don't know how you deal with it.

The noise canceling headphones that can be used with your iPod would also be a good idea. You could use them with music when you want and just not have the noise when you want.

Funny the sound of our ping pong room doesn't bother me. Our developers so rarely loosen up that for me it's a relief to hear them having fun, migraine or not.

Good luck MJ.

Cindy

Thanks for your suggestions, ladies. I think part of my problem is that I'm still very reluctant to ask for accommodations at work. Being the only woman on my team, and the youngest, I don't like to be seen as a complainer or whiner. I know I'm not, but I also know how my team already perceives me from my erratic working hours (between the migraines themselves and the frequent doctors' appointments) and other special needs. My boss knows I'm a good worker, but I feel like I walk a very thin line with meeting performance expectations.

My profession (architecture) is notorious for treating its interns/junior staff very poorly, especially women. My firm is much better than most, and accommodating, but the whole field is still stuck with the good-ol'-boys habits. Plus we had some layoffs last month, and the very sympathetic migraineur in charge of office equipment was one of the ones let go. The woman who has taken over some of her responsibilities is anything but accommodating, and in fact is the one who fired her.

In order for me to move away from where I'm sitting, I would have to switch with someone else on my team. There's one other junior member of the team I could possibly switch with that would get me away from the worst of the kitchen smells, but the noise problem wouldn't go away. Unfortunately, even when the guys on my team talk on the phone not on speaker phone, they're still loud. And when 3 or 4 of them are on the phone at once it drives my brain crazy. I don't need to tell you guys about the problems I have with "tuning out" background noise.

We have a foosball table, too, so when both of those are going I crank up my music. I have an air purifier on my desk, which helps with some of the white noise, but sometimes even the noise of that is intolerable.

Ugh. It is a sticky situation. I'm going to give this some more thought over the weekend. I do appreciate your suggestions though, as they've given me some more ideas.

Hi MJ -- I'm with the others on seeing if you can move your cube. I finally had mine moved to an end cube where my company would turn my lights out and it also got me away from this guy who ate his lunch at his desk everyday. His lunch smell would infest the whole work area. The moving of my cube finally came about after I obtained a letter from my doctor about my light sensitivities. Getting away from the lunch smell was an added bonus.

My new cube also had higher walls. Is there any possibility of that for you? It has helped some with light and sound, but every little bit helps. Luckily, we don't use speaker phones either. I will have to try the computer monitor filter. Sometimes my screen is even too dull for me since the brightness is turned way down.

I also have a non-fluorescent lamp on my desk. This light has a dimmer switch. When it is on, I usually have it set to the lowest setting and have it hidden behind my monitor since I have a hard time with any direct light source.

It wouldn't hurt to request to switch cubes with the other Junior member. The worst that would happen is that it wouldn't happen, but maybe he would switch with you. Is it possible to switch with a non-Junior member?

I wish you the best. I really feel your dilemma. Work is one of my fun places too because it is where I spend too much time and run into too many triggers I can't avoid. Good luck, MJ.

Noise cancellation headphones are a big must for me, and might be a help for you.

Maybe some fans blowing away from you regarding the smell of food? That is a tough one other than changing your desk.

Hope that you can glean some tips from this place and make them work for you! Good luck!