Chronic Migraines & Raiding

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According to my parents, I’ve had migraines since I was 2 years old. I used to have fewer as a teenager but over the past few years they’ve taken on a more chronic nature. These days, I have about 15 migraine days per month on average.

I haven’t nailed down all of my triggers (few migraine sufferers ever actually do) but a big one for me is skipping meals. If I don’t eat a proper meal every 2.5 to 3 hours, I’m guaranteed a migraine. That’s not to say eating regularly is a miracle cure for my migraines, it’s just one more thing I have to plan my life around to reduce the amount of attacks. I can do everything right and still end up with a migraine.

I have medication to treat my migraines but it doesn’t work as effectively as one would hope. It basically just puts my migraine in limbo and makes me feel nauseated. The pain is still severe enough that l have to stop playing and rest. I’ll essentially be out of commission for the rest of the day as my migraines last several hours (sometimes days).

My every single raiding experience over the past few years has ended in a migraine that knocks me off my feet, which is the main reason why I’ve decided to quit raiding altogether. These days I don’t even run M+ because it tends to have the same results.

It sucks, because I would love to play with my friends and experience the content the game has to offer, but you do the best you can with the cards you’re dealt in life.

I’m curious to hear how other chronic migraine sufferers cope with their symptoms and how it limits their ability to play games in general.

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Hmmph, that’s harsh.

Just brainstorming here, if raiding does it, what in raiding specifically do you think it is?

Spell flashes and flickering? Have you tried playing with sunglasses? Sry if I sound stupid😝

Or idk, if food makes it better and raiding doesn’t, have you tried snacking in raids? Between bosses for example

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I have had them also since I was a child. I am in my 40’s and have found they have become far less frequent as I got older… I used to have them weekly… now it’s one really bad one every few months.

My trigger is going out on a hot day or stress. I eat dark chocolate and have a coffee, take meds and sleep it off. Sometimes I am sick, sometimes just nausea.

I get aura ones… so will get spots in front of my eyes causing me to lose vision and then one of my hands goes numb… I also slur speech and forget how to talk - a bit like a stroke.

… it really sucks :frowning:

I had them pretty bad while pregnant too.

Takes me 24 hours to fully recover, but always stop whatever you are doing and sleep in a quiet dark room after your meds.

Hugs :hugs:

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I suffer chronic migraine too.

I started with them when I was around 16 (so that’s about coughtwentyonecough years ago) but over the last 20 months or so I’ve had the worst time with daily/multiple times daily attacks over a space of about 2 weeks then nothing for a week or so then the cycle starts again. I’m on an epilepsy medication to try and curb them.

I find light, strong sunlight and bare light bulbs set mine off. Nothing so much in WoW I’ve noticed.

Stress can be a trigger too so I’d imagine that might be a reason why raiding affects you?

I’ve had so many in the past 20 months that I’m resigned to migraine aura being my actual eyesight and meat cleaver head pain is normal

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Visual effects, stressful environment, disrupted eating pattern, etc. I think there are too many factors to pin anything down to one or two specific causes.

I’ve tried snacking but I’ve noticed that I need to sit down and eat a more fulfilling meal to keep me going for the next 2 to 3 hours.

I can’t wear sunglasses while I play because I need to have my prescription glasses on to be able to see anything at all.

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I found raiding gave me awful headaches, also in higher mythic+

I think I concentrate really hard and sometimes forget to blink… I also get a bit anxious too. It is a high stress situation.

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I’ve heard that for some people migraines can become less frequent and less severe with age. I’m glad to hear you’re not having them as often anymore! I get a head-splitting migraine attack at least twice a week on average and I spend about half of each month with a milder, lingering headache (prodrome, most likely).

My migraines are mostly just pain and nausea, I rarely ever get the aura symptoms. Not everyone does. I had it a few times when I was younger (temporarily lost vision in one eye, scary stuff).

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I also added to my post that I slur speech and then forget how to talk… it’s confusion… it is pretty scary :frowning:

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Mine have gotten significantly worse and more frequent in the past two years as well. I wonder if they made some kind of graphical changes to the game that our migraine brains don’t agree with.

Definitely.

I’m sorry to hear that you have to go through that, I can only imagine what that must be like. I usually feel a bit sluggish and confused in the following days after battling a migraine. Tons of fatigue as well.

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Hello! Im just thinking about a friend of mine that had migranes one of his triggers was not eating right. And he found out that being on a strict ketogenic lifestyle,(low to no carbs, more fat). He is nearly never bothered with migranes. Keep in mind that it could take up to 3-4 weeks before its stabilizes. And it can be pretty hard to get started. I myself uses this low carb lifestyle, even tho i never had problemswith my health, but i feel much more energetic and awake that way. Maybe you should check it out, hope you find a way to get better👍

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If you haven’t already I’d definitely get f.lux or “gaming glasses”, as well as turn the graphics down and turn your lights on.

Sounds like eye strain is a big issue for you.

I’d probably get black out curtains and rely on soft room lighting.

Make sure you’re focusing your eyes on something far away every few mins for a little while, even mid fight a few seconds of looking away won’t usually matter.

And I’d highly recommend changing to a slow ranged class. Being ranged has far less screen clutter, much easier to see what’s going on with a slight glance.

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