#self-care
Headaches are the bane of my existence.
As someone with ADHD, my brain is always ticking and processing something regardless of my choice. It may happen in the background i.e. subconsciously, or in tandem with other thought process, to top it all off it also varies from person to person and while I appear to have mild ADHD, it's more severe the more I provide perspective on how my mind works.
As someone that is effectively a thought processing machine and a programmer, solving problems on a basis with a headache is counter-intuitive, a huge pain to have around, can render me incapacitated at important times, and provide other side-effects that vary from person to person.
However, I am not writing to solely complain (yes I admit that I partially am lol) but to also document what I do to resolve my headaches, you may read only the bold text to skim read or in full to understand roughly why they help:
- Drink tea - the small hit of caffeine is what helps the most due to it acting as a blood thinner (headaches are like bloodclots from what I've researched), though forms of relaxation and/or feeling happy can also help
- Drink water - most cases of headaches are caused by dehydration (in my case anyway, your personal mileage may vary)
- Eat a filling meal (if I haven't already) - lack of food in belly can cause your brain to push itself without the necessary nutrients and sugars, don't let it get that far
- (Optional) Drink coffee - some days I notice that the caffeine does help, so when I am in a healthier nutritional state I'm safe to opt for "the big guns", though if you'd rather not do this you're welcome to skip this step (I sometimes do)
- Open a window to freshen the room - too much heat leads to stuffiness, which can make head pains worse
- Drink citric drinks - orange/lemon and lime juice with 1/4 tsp salt or 1/8 tsp rock salt creates a natural isotonic drink with electrolytes, which helps to hydrate and give your body the salt it needs in case you're lacking
- Minor exercise routine - don't work up a sweat, the adrenaline will kick in during and after which acts as a natural painkiller (don't forget to stretch beforehand)
- Massage your temples - easy to do so long as you have the innate ability to apply pressure, it's best with fingers but can still be done without:
- Have a hot bath/shower - the temperature can help with head colds, the steam helps with hydrating the body if only a little bit, just remember if you're cold after getting out, get warm ASAP to prevent having a/worsening your head cold
- Have a 1h 30m+ nap - specific timing means you go through a full REM cycle, and this is good for people that lack sleep as well, though if you're tight on time then 20m power naps can help, just ensure you're only woken up by your alarm of choice
- Take painkillers - I am not a pharmacist in the UK, I will not elaborate on this step, but instead I recommend skipping this step until you can get professional advice from a real pharmacist
- Call it a day and KO - after exhausting all possible options and nothing working, I am officially incapacitated and will need the day off (thankfully this is very rare as prior steps help before getting to this point)
The point of writing this is to self-document my routine, as well as to encourage others to create their own "headache routines." The order for mine is particular partly due to my autism and liking structure alongside my laziness and wanting something to "simply follow and get it over with", however you can set yours up in whatever way you like.
Some steps that involve caffeine/medicine are what I consider nuclear due to my preferring natural/herbal remedies before I have to resort to antibiotics. I recommend you make your own routine, even taking steps from mine if you like, when your head doesn't feel like you have a brick inside of it to help you follow simple, digestible steps.