Regarding Bad Migraine Advice or... Go Stick your Head in a Bucket!

Everyone who suffers from migraine knows that when the pain hits, people can be separated into four types of people.  My guess is that if you're reading this, you''ll recognize at least one person you know from each category! 

1. The sympathetic, understanding type who will quietly let you do what you need to do until your pain is gone. (This person is either just very compassionate or is very possibly a fellow migrainer.)
2. The utterly clueless type.  They know you're in pain and five-minutes later, they stand next to you and yell across the room, turn the lights on high, and decide this would be a great time to try out that new drill they just bought. 
3. The callous type.  This type knows you have pain, but their agenda comes first.  They're not necessarily bad people though, perhaps it's a boss who just doesn't trust her employees anymore or maybe it's a man whose self-esteem has just been knocked back one too many times when you call to cancel that blind date.  Either way, these are people who obviously don't know the pain of migraine and clearly, they don't care.
4. These are the people who have a friend, or maybe they have a friend of a friend who suffer from migraine, and they are sure they solved their issue by... wait a minute, did I hear you right?  You want me to, what?  At this point, migrainers have learned to smile and nod, although if the "solution" is too outrageous, laughter is the only option.

Type 4 people are the people I'm interested in for this post, because we've all met these people, haven't we?  We've heard some outrageous ideas and home remedies, but let's be serious for a moment, shall we?  When the pain gets bad, and our super-duper designer prescription drugs have failed us once again, haven't we all thought back to some of these conversations and wondered... could it really work?


I once had a man tell me that when his sister felt a migraine coming on, she filled a bucket with ice water and dunked her head into it - really fast.  I don't know if there is any scientific basis to this suggestion, he told me this idea about fifteen years ago and I've not tried it. All I know is that a cold cloth sounds like heaven, a fast dunk into a bucket of ice water sounds like torture - migraine or not - and I just can't bring myself to go there.

Another person suggested sniffing either pepper or a coffee filter soaked in vinegar, presumably to promote sneezing.  Hmmm... another one to skip, I think.

Alternative therapies are one thing - acupuncture, chiropractic, meditation, biofeedback - these are viable options, but I've been told to stand on my head, get pregnant, have sex, refrain from sex, and to go exercise.  Other than the completely ludicrous suggestion of bringing a child into the world just to alleviate my pain, the other ideas just show me how little others know about migraine pain. Think nausea, think sensitivity to light, now I'm supposed to think about standing on my head or having a rip-roaring roll in the hay? Seriously?

I work from home and see less people these days and when I am out, I've stopped telling most people about my migraines so I don't hear suggestions much anymore.  I'd love to know if there is any new creative inspiration out there, as long as it doesn't require a bucket of ice or a pepper grinder, I'd love to hear about it. I could use a good laugh.