Migraine

A reputable professional at my church who once suffered from migraines encouraged me to listen to a self-hypnosis tape specifically directed to headache/migraine sufferers by Steven Gurgevich, Ph.D., who has some connection or other with Dr. Andrew Weil, called Tranceformation. As always, I was very skeptical and half-tuned out, but she's very nice and so I listened.

I visited the site today and the tapes and CDs are not inexpensive (as if our meds are!). They seem to run about $19.95 each.

I already own a Dr. Weil meditation package that comes complete with a relaxation CD.

Has anyone tried self-hypnosis (which is what I gather this is?) and is it very different than biofeedback and relaxation?

I'll order this if it has any beneficial value, but I have no other reference to go by. I would post the site here, but I don't want to appear as though I'm promoting the product. Thanks for any info on this specific product or self-hypnosis as compared to biofeedback.

I do self-hypnosis for migraines, and it does work well for me. I was very skeptical at first when a therapist I know thought it could help me and referred me to his wife. She's also a psychologist and works with a lot of chronic pain patients. She teaches self-hypnosis and mindfulness meditation as ways to manage.

I would describe self-hypnosis as a deep relaxation state. I can be as aware or unaware in it as I want to be depending on how deep I take myself. I typically do self-hypnosis when I am in a migraine. While I'm in the "trance state", I can usually do a fairly good job of controlling my pain levels, and it's a great alternative when I'm unable to take any more meds (I've run out, hit my weekly max, don't have it with me, etc). There are many research studies that have found self-hypnosis to be an effective tool for managing chronic pain.

I also do mindfulness meditation, which asks us to be aware of our present thoughts, emotions, and reactions with acceptance. I often imagine myself sitting by a river bank and my emotions and thoughts are floating by in the river. I'm passively just sitting there noticing them, not reacting to them, and then letting them go as they float on by. It has also been found to be an effective approach in treating chronic pain patients. Patients who are more mindfull have less depression, less pain-related disability, and use less pain medication.

I've only done very, very limited and precursory biofeedback work, so I really can't compare to that. The biggest difference I see between self-hypnosis and mindfulness meditation is that in self-hypnosis, I can let my mind wander, but in mindfulness meditation, I'm training myself to be attentive to the present moment. They're both very calming though, and I've noticed the mindfulness meditation has also been good for my depression/anxiety.

I was actually put under by a psychiatrist I worked for in hopes to eliminate the migraines all together. While the migraines did not go away (and I stroke my left temple as instructed to do during hynosis to "push the pain away") I did learn how to make myself relax while in pain.

I can actually close my eyes, focus on "pushing" the pain away for a bit (sometimes awhile, sometimes just enough to talk to get my point across) so, I think in that respect, it has helped me.

Being able to calm down is something I have a problem with during a migraine and I tend to get restless so whenever I can focus to relax, it helps a bunch....never tried a tape but hope this input helps

Yeah, I don't think hynosis (or anything) can eliminate migraines. I think it can help you manage the pain though. My therapist was realistic with me about it and said it's not a cure, it's a tool. I think Laura's exactly right about the relaxation part being what really helps during a migraine. During a bad migraine I can get really tense and worked up, which in turn makes the migraine worse (or seem worse). I think there's more to it than just that, but relaxation is a huge component.

Hi Migraineur and Laura,

Both the self-hypnosis and mindfulness meditation states you described sound wonderful. I don't have anyone to teach me self-hypnosis (and I'm by nature an anxious person), so perhaps I should get a reputable CD or tape to get me started.

As for mindfulness meditation, I really like the sound of that! Is that something I can research? If not, you both gave us details of both to point me in the right direction.

It sounds like it will really come in handy everyday (for my anxiety) as well as days when you need to take a further edge off the pain. I hope I don't fall asleep!

I haven't tried self-hypnosis or mindfulness meditation, but they sound like tools worth trying. I just started biofeedback last week, and it has already helped me quite a bit with the anxiety issues. I would imagine that self-hypnosis and meditation could help quite a bit as well.

This site, I thought was brilliant Lessons4 living
The de-tensing really works (although wouldn't claim to get rid of my auras but my unrelated muscle pain just evaporated.
Look at the rest fo the site the Wheel of Life thing is great (think mine is stuck on the bottom)..and its FREE

I do the mindfull living as I call it. I learned meditation and focused breathing by myself, it took me about a year or so to "master" it. The focused breathing does wonders for the pain when I do have migraine, I would say it is almost as effective as some of my pain medications.

You never know, sleep might be what the anxiety ordered! So long as you are home of course.

Yeah, the relaxation part stemmed from hypnosis and from years of experience. The whole, deep breath and out and all that.

The library may be able to point you in the right direction before you spend the $$$

quote:

Originally posted by marvel:
Hi Migraineur and Laura,

Both the self-hypnosis and mindfulness meditation states you described sound wonderful. I don't have anyone to teach me self-hypnosis (and I'm by nature an anxious person), so perhaps I should get a reputable CD or tape to get me started.

As for mindfulness meditation, I really like the sound of that! Is that something I can research? If not, you both gave us details of both to point me in the right direction.

It sounds like it will really come in handy everyday (for my anxiety) as well as days when you need to take a further edge off the pain. I hope I don't fall asleep!

Oh yeah, I forgot, when I went to a class for my DH diabetes a therapist came in and talked about people who don't sleep well (I could have sworn she was looking my way LOL) and she shared something I had totally forgotten I had learned in psych 101 in college:

You focus on one part of the body, allow it to tense up and mentally relase the tension, you do that for every part of your body (I think with the head first) until your entire body has been expelled of the tension.

Guess you can tell I haven't used it yet since I can't even remember where to start

quote:

Originally posted by LauraM:
Oh yeah, I forgot, when I went to a class for my DH diabetes a therapist came in and talked about people who don't sleep well (I could have sworn she was looking my way LOL) and she shared something I had totally forgotten I had learned in psych 101 in college:

You focus on one part of the body, allow it to tense up and mentally relase the tension, you do that for every part of your body (I think with the head first) until your entire body has been expelled of the tension.

Guess you can tell I haven't used it yet since I can't even remember where to start

My biofeedback therapist took me through this at my appointment on Monday, and she had me start at my feet and work up to my head. It's great, and is a technique I should use more often.

Also, I forgot to mention, another technique she taught me:

She had me visualize my mind as a blue sky, and my pain as a cloud in the sky. The idea is to "zoom out" to a wide-angle view, so most of what you visualize is the blue sky, and don't focus on the cloud (the pain). It helps, but I have to be careful not to picture a super sunny day or it makes me feel worse! (Bright sunlight is a big trigger for me - good thing I live in rainy WA!)

Migraineur, thanks so much for the great links and your description of what mindfulness. I bookmarked the links about mindfulness and can't wait to read them when I'm feeling better.

Thanks to everyone else as well, who all provided your relaxation techniques and how you specfically apply them. I do perform biofeedback (the relaxing and tensing) as well as other types of biofeedback with tapes and one with respirations. I find it somewhat helpful, but I'm always open to new ideas!

Thanks again, all!

Cool, now I will know where to begin! As for the visual cloud/sky...I have to admit, I would start thinking about a front moving in and causing a migraine LOL

how about a field?

quote:

My biofeedback therapist took me through this at my appointment on Monday, and she had me start at my feet and work up to my head. It's great, and is a technique I should use more often

Haha, sometimes it does take a lot of effort not to picture a stormy sky when I'm migraining. Though sometimes it helps to put effort into thinking about something else - then I'm not thinking about how much my head hurts.

Sometimes I picture a field, or the ocean. I grew up on the Jersey Shore so sometimes picturing the water calms me down better than picturing the sky!

quote:

Originally posted by LauraM:
Cool, now I will know where to begin! As for the visual cloud/sky...I have to admit, I would start thinking about a front moving in and causing a migraine LOL

how about a field?