To those of you who have stopped working

Did it help?

Here I am sitting at work and just am not dealing with it at all well.

When you stopped work did your symptoms decrease? Did you actually manage to find time to eat well, exercise well - or am I just kidding myself that it will make a difference?

I co-own a small retail store and earlier this year I took a leave of absence. I have a lot of trouble with fluorescent lights and so not being there has been very helpful. On the days when I do drop in at work I usually end up with a bad migraine. As much as I miss it I can tell you that not having to go into work has been beneficial to my migraines. The hard part for me has been convincing myself that it is okay to stay home and take care of myself - there is that cultural or societal pressure to work, to be productive and I do struggle with that. I have found that without having to work I have taken advantage of exercise classes and also do enjoy having time to read, crochet, cook etc... But I guess the thing that has made my migraines better is that I can control my exposure to light and that really does help. Afraid that I will end up staying home more and more but for now it is a good idea for me..............on the days I do behave and stay in and putter my migraines are less severe.

Sorry if this is rambling! Went in to work today to visit with my partner and ended up with a bad migraine tonight!

I had to stop my practice 20 years ago.
I just couldnt work with the pain.

I dont know if it helped, but I surely couldnt work now.
I spend most of my life on this couch.

P

jewishgirl - Can't you remove the fluorescent lights? I did in my office and just use a small desk lamp. My office is pretty dark. Fluorescent lights are bad for everyone, not just migraineurs. They make a big deal about people wearing perfume but look at how many places use fluorescent lights.

I am in a similiar position in a business partnership. Guilt if I'm not there just makes me stress - makes health worse - take more time off - stress gets bigger - round and round I go.

The biggest catch is my business partner is my husband - so if I can't get to work his workload goes up and he stresses - comes home rather antzey - my stress level goes through the roof.

Hope we pick the lotto numbers tonight!!

I stopped working a formal job July of 2003. I am still in pain, I am still tired, and I am still incapacitated. I tried to find time to relax and persue "therapeutic" and "relaxing" interests, but I just can't. I am resigned to knowing this is my lot in life. I don't necessarily like it, but I accept it.

I left my job of 5 years for low stress part time work. I worked that job for a year but quit that as I was getting daily M.

Had two years for almost daily M of 7, 8, 9 intensity. So for me it was not work. I moved once in case it was the house!

I guess it can help, but not necessarily. I am better than I was when I quit work, but the worse stretch of migraines I had were about 3 years ago and I hadn't worked in years during that period. Now I'm thinking about stress management and trying to do some program that will enable me to deal with stress without making myself sick. The best thing I think about not working is that it gives you time to keep journals, do some research and analyze what you eat and what drugs you take, the weather, etc and maybe see some patterns.

I have not had a full time ob since my odest daughter was born. I always struggled to keep my jobs because of migraine. It was so stressful to let people down! Since then, I have almost always had a part time job. The last 10 years, I have done petsitting about as low stress as you can get. I own my own business, but dont take a lot of new business, and mostly do cats.

Sometimes I work for several weeks straight, sometimes no work for a few weeks. I do have my best friends and my daughters as back up in an emergency. Luckily, there are few days I cant drag myself a few blocks to a quiet house and take care of the kitties. During holiday times or right after are awful migraine times for me. So, yes, if I didnt work, I would be better. Not an option and my husband is always after me to work more. I have a second part time job as a substitute asisstant in the public school system, but I havent done a day yet this year.
Hugs,
Cindy

Thanks everyone.
Didn't win lotto, guess I'll just have to wait and see if not working helps when the time comes.