Living with Migraines
Living with migraines has played in integral role in my interest in health and wellness and the knowledge and insight I’ve developed in my studying and working as an Integrative Nutrition Health Coach has been fundamental in managing them and ultimately curing them.
In 2009, aged 34, I started getting severe headaches. At the time, I was living a fast-paced life in Dubai, with great responsibility. I worked hard and my career was thriving but behind the scenes, my life was one of high stress and my lifestyle involved too much alcohol, too many late nights and too little sleep.
These headaches were alien to me. I couldn’t call in sick for a ‘headache.’ I didn’t have time to get sick! But one day, I was forced to leave the office. The pain was immense, I felt nauseous, had tunnel vision and had to be driven home. Soon enough, I learnt that I had been struck by a migraine.
These episodes became more frequent, often leaving me bed-bound for a couple of days. There started my quest to figure out what was going on and get back to normal. I was eating and moving well, so why was I suffering from this debilitating disease? No doctor was able to tell me clearly what was causing these incidents or how to stop them.
New Year 2017 plans cancelled due to my migraine. Paulo improvised with a romantic dinner for 2 at home!
I took the alternative route and tried various methods… acupuncture, Reiki, yoga, homeopathy together with colonics. Around the same time, I was introduced to the idea of training for an Ironman Triathlon with some friends. This seemed to be a way to divert my sorrows and throw myself into getting fit and strong again. I got some help from a Triathlon coach, which led to frequent training sessions with a wider group of people. As I began training more regularly, I was forced to work less overtime and I clearly remember that my digestion started to improve and my whole lifestyle started shifting. A year into training and I felt fitter and healthier all round and my migraines had subsided. I felt cured! Life seemed to back on track and some serious soul searching pushed me into following my heart and taking up a new role in the health and wellness space.
Fast forward to 2017 and the migraines started to creep back. In hindsight, in the run-up to their return, I was really depleting my body and probably on the brink of burnout. Work had taken over again and my training had become sporadic. My rhythm was completely off.
End 2018, my now husband and I made a decision to leave the UAE and return to Europe. After living in Dubai for 14 years, this was a big decision and during my first few months of being in Europe, I was dramatically low on energy and suffering from migraines which were coming on more regularly again.
With the move came the opportunity for me to start a new chapter and I enrolled with the Institute of Integrative Nutrition with the view of becoming a health coach. As my studies commenced, my migraines became more and more frequent. I was seeing a physio for some other injuries that I had and knowing about my migraines and how tired and emotionally deplete I was feeling, she recommended that I contact Dr. Pfeiffer, who had lectured her on migraines during her course in osteopathy.
I did my research, booked an appointment and took a three-hour train ride to get there. I had a total of four appointments spread over three months. I was grateful to have found a friend in a fellow migraine sufferer. Cindy came with me to the appointments and we became valuable supports and accountability partners to each other.
With Dr. Pfeiffer’s findings and recommendations, along with implementing all I had learnt on my course, I finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel in January 2020. Since then, the migraines have been infrequent and the more that I look after myself in terms of managing stress, nutritional choices and slowing down during various times of my cycle, the fewer symptoms I am getting.
Living free of migraines again.
I have my life back and I just can’t believe how simple some of these remedies have been. In hindsight, I can see why my body started shutting down. The migraines, it seems, have been a clear signal to slow down and look after myself. The ongoing stress and anxiety I went through to discover my life purpose has also made a huge impact on my overall wellbeing, which is, of course, something that no doctor can diagnose. Had I had a coach able to look at my life holistically, then maybe, an approach that considered all aspects of my life including visits to a functional doctor, would have been part of the game plan.
The support and input from Dr. Pfeiffer has been truly life-changing. Various vitamin and mineral deficiencies emerged, presence of H. Pylori bacteria was diagnosed which explained the serious digestion issues, effects of an old whiplash injury probably explained some of the vertical spine instability, and food sensitivities to dairy and wheat were also adding to stress on the body. These were all successfully managed. My own learnings include quality sleep, daily walks, regular exercise & eating patterns, a 95% plant-based lifestyle, increased consumption of prebiotic foods and occasional probiotic cures, detoxes, home cooking, cutting out gluten and embracing rest when required.
I graduated from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition in July 2020 and set out to set up my business Your Optimal Health. Today, I really feel I have found my purpose and it seems fitting that I’m now supporting others to find optimal health after so long, figuring it out for myself. Everything goes full circle!
If you suffer from migraines, or if you know someone who does, I invite you to sign up to a FREE migraine webinar with Dr. medic Pfeiffer on Wednesday 28 April from 18:00 - 19:30 CET. During this 90 minute session, I believe you will gain knowledge, insights and hope into managing and hopefully, reversing your migraines for good.
Please click on the following link to register: https://www.annepetersencosta.com/events
Alternatively, feel free to connect and arrange a complimentary Discovery Call to chat about how I can help you achieve optimal health. I work with clients in all four corners, helping them feel their best, look their best and function their best.
Call: +49 176 43403836
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Email: anne@petersen-costa.com
Visit: www.annepetersencosta.com