| When I was a kid one of the games my brother | | | | illuminate the room more indirectly and can give |
| and sister and I used to love to play on a | | | | plenty of light without glare. Many Migraineurs find |
| Saturday was the Farm Game. It involved the | | | | that fluorescents, even compact fluorescents, |
| Encyclopedia, and a pad and pen. We designed an | | | | trigger them. Good old-fashioned shaded |
| imaginary farm for the three of us to live on and | | | | incandescent lamps can be good. We just recently |
| run, and we would draw it and plan it, and use the | | | | got some of the brand new soft-white LED lights, |
| Encyclopedia to select our location and all our | | | | which we have put in the "high-hat" sockets, and |
| animals and plants. I'm sure the farms we created | | | | they are terrific. Non-flickering, soft illumination, but |
| would have been impossible to run, with animals | | | | plenty of it. For the first time, I can have light |
| that wouldn't get along, and plant species that | | | | coming down from above that doesn't trigger me! |
| wouldn't grow wherever it was that we were | | | | They are very good for the environment, too. |
| going to be. But it kept us busy for hours, and | | | | Having a quiet place to escape to is key. Lots of |
| we loved it. | | | | my Migraineur friends spend time on the couch, |
| Creating the Migraine-friendly home environment is | | | | for me it's my bed. I have 2 kids and a husband |
| a little like that. I could spend hours, and use home | | | | who like lots of music and tvs on and I need a |
| design and architecture magazines, catalogs, the | | | | place where I can control the light, sound and |
| web, and a lot of imagination. I could spend | | | | stimulation level. If you could really set it all up |
| bottomless amounts of money I don't have, to | | | | beforehand like the Farm Game you would |
| create this environment, have a great time doing | | | | choose yourself a quiet partner and quiet kids, but |
| it, and I don't know how practical it would be at | | | | I wouldn't trade the ones I have. I just have to |
| the end. But what I'll try to do here, instead, is | | | | buffer them at times. |
| mix fantasy and reality, pie in the sky with down | | | | Ideally, the Migraine-Friendly home environment |
| to earth, and see if we can come up with some | | | | would be tidy enough that the Migraineur was not |
| things you can actually use. | | | | tripping over stuff all the time, without the |
| Starting outside, the Migraine-friendly home should | | | | Migraineur having to be the one to tidy it up all |
| be well-shaded, with deep covered porches and | | | | the time. This also falls into the realm of the Farm |
| pollen-free trees. Migraineurs need fresh air and | | | | Game - the ideal Migraine-friendly home |
| good circulation, but have trouble with extreme | | | | environment comes with enough money to hire |
| heat and bright sun, and often get triggered in | | | | someone to do the house-keeping. Either that or |
| high-pollen season. So let's make it possible to get | | | | choose your spouse based on their neatness and |
| outside even with a Migraine, and to open the | | | | housekeeping abilities, though that may not be the |
| windows and enjoy the fresh air. | | | | best reason to choose your life companion. |
| Inside, lighting is very important. If you can | | | | Don't forget to keep what you need for comfort |
| choose lighting fixtures, great. I discovered the | | | | on hand, whether it's pillows, blankets, eye-shades, |
| hard way that "high-hat" spot-lights are terrible for | | | | ice-packs, comedy DVDs, kitties, doggies, books |
| me, bright lighting coming down into the top of | | | | on tape, spouses, children, best friends, rocking |
| my eyes is about the worst from a triggering | | | | chairs, ginger Altoids, Ben & Jerry's Heath |
| standpoint. Torchiere type lights, which point the | | | | Bar Crunch, you name it. What else would you |
| light upwards and spread it gently on the ceiling, | | | | add to the design for the Migraine-friendly home? |