Posted by lc bob on April 29, 1999 at 20:33:21:
hi y'all ... i wanna get this off my chest. not venting - sharing.
some caveats that work for me. knowing that our raging rivers of pain are as individual as we are - i'd need to post some things i've noticed about my CH. i've been dueling with HER (i personify my CH in the feminine - just can't imagine another male hating me this much *grin*) since august of 1998 with various degrees of success. in 3 more months i can pronounce myself chronic (is that a victory?). this is my first bout.
i am a proponent of 2 preventive/abortive strategies for my CH:neck and back manipulation (theorizing that muscles/bones are out of whack) and water (theorizing that dehydration plays a role). a few words about each.
muscles/bones: along with the meditative/relaxation techniques John Davis, Gus and i have posted where one imagines the muscle connecting to the base of the skull on the CH side simply "letting go" or untensing ... i find if i take a position (normally i can't do this sitting) where i try to pull my shoulders down (as if i had 50 pound weights in each hand) and push my head as high as possible (net of this is to stretch my neck and sort of "try to be taller"), i hear the newspaper-crunching sounds in my neck muscles and sometimes small "pops" at the base of my skull - something is loosening. coupled with imagining those neck muscles relaxing - i've killed some CHs. i notice that whatever i do, it takes at least 3-10 minutes to be effective. it's like massaging a cramp - after you get the muscle to relax it still hurts for a while. so i took this a step farther to see if it could help me sleep better. i sleep on my side. if i put my mattress-side arm way up under my pillow (all the way, arm completely extended) and make sure my pillows aren't just under my head but under my neck also, i sleep longer. i pull my 2 pillows toward my body until they almost bunch up where my neck and shoulder come together. sometimes i get through the night only getting up to tap a kidney periodically (downside of the water treatment). if i don't lay like this, i get a visit from my CHum after the conventional 60-90 minutes (albeit a minor one due to the lake of water i've been drinking). i put my upper arm behind my back to stretch my neck to the max. i know this sounds uncomfortable - but after a few sleepless nights comfort is simply a closed pair of eyes for me. anyhow, this posture seems to let me sleep better. a picture would be worth a thousand words here. hope i described it ok.
water: i've been thinking lately that HOW i drink it as important as THAT i drink it. i notice that although it's always (i think) effective ... two things help to speed and exaggerate it's effectiveness. one is to make the water as cold as possible - and keep drinking it even if it starts to be a bit uncomfortable in your mouth (like it borders on the old brain freeze thingie). i try to swallow at least 10 times, and breathe thru my nose between gulps. i notice that after a breath, some of the subsequent swallows produce a "squeak". hard to explain. as my throat comes together to effect the swallow/gulp, there's a sound, like a squeak, at the back of my nose where it meets my throat as if some water is almost entering my nose (normally this happens to kids drinking milk and it comes out a nostril! what i'm trying to describe is not that pronounced but along the same lines). so, if i drink "normally" it's less effective than if i gulp it, pausing to breathe thru my nose once or twice. i actively gulp it instead of just swallowing (as if i'm trying to cause a burp) and i feel a "watering" or wetting of the nasal/throat port ... and it works better and faster to shuck the CH - even helps diss a shadow. i really believe the water helps me because it hydrates me (and that would happen no matter how i drank it) but i think lately that the WAY i drink it may be important too.
i know this sounds like foolishness. i've been avoiding posting this info because it sounds like horse patootie even as i reread it. but as we've agreed (i think) anything and everything that seems to or might help others is worthy. so here it is, for what it's worth.
whether or not you experiment with these "methods", i recommend you try water (targeted to new arrivals who've asked for suggestions) ... i know some have not had much luck with it - but Margi's husband, Gus and i (and i suspect some others) have found it very effective. remember, it's got to be LOTS of water ... and it'll probably take a day or two to start pissing off your CH (what a lovely thought, huh?) so it leaves you some peace.
sorry about the length ... don't yell at me ...
-lcb