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You finally survived the migraine. So why do you still feel like your brain got hit by a truck
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the next day? Today we're talking about the migraine hangover nobody explains, the exhaustion,
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the sadness, the fogginess and the strange off feeling that can linger long after the pain is
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gone. Welcome to Migraine Heroes, a podcast for people living with chronic migraines with years
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of pain, misunderstanding and lack of answers. I'm Diane Ducarne. I've helped more than a thousand
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people reduce the burden of migraines and feel more in control. My mission in life? To help a
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million people. Each episode brings you grounded insight into what your body might be asking for
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and what can truly help. Just to keep you fully supported, this podcast is educational.
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For diagnosis or medication, always work with your doctor. Now take a breath and let's dive in.
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In this episode, you will learn why you can feel emotionally wrecked,
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foggy, shaky or deeply exhausted for hours or even days after the migraine pain disappears.
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What your nervous body may actually be trying to recover from during the migraine hangover phase
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and why pushing through often makes it worse and simple things you can do today to help your
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brain recover faster instead of staying trapped in the migraine aftershock cycle. Stay with me
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till the end because at the end of this episode, you will understand why the migraine attack is so
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often not the real end of the migraine and what your body desperately needs afterward instead of
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more pressure, guilt and overstimulation. Now let's be honest, one of the most confusing and
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frustrating part of migraines is this. The pain finally stops but you still don't feel normal.
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You wake up feeling hungover, your brain feels swollen, your body feels heavy, you can't think
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straight, words disappear, you feel emotionally fragile. Sometimes you even feel guilty for
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still not functioning. And because nobody talks about this phase, many people think maybe I'm
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lazy, maybe I'm depressed, maybe I'm imagining this. But you're not imagining it. This phase is
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very real and in neurology it's called the postdrome phase, sometimes nicknamed as the migraine
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hangover. And so the symptoms can include fatigue, brain fog, dizziness, thirst, mood changes, body aches,
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food cravings, cognitive slowing and still sensitivity to light or to sound. A study published
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by neurology by Dr Goadsby described migraine not as a simple headache disorder but as a full
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brain neurological event involving multiple stages before, during and after pain. And this changes
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everything because the migraine is not just pain, it's a nervous system storm. During a migraine
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attack, several things happen simultaneously inside the brain. Changes in blood vessel signaling,
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alerted serotonin and dopamine activity, heightened inflammation, sensitization of pain pathways,
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massive energy demands on brain cells, disturbances in sensory processing. In simple terms, your brain
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goes through an energy crisis. And researchers have increasingly linked migraine to mitochondrial
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dysfunction, meaning the brain struggles to produce and regulate its energy efficiently.
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And after the attack ends, your nervous system often looks like a city after sort of a blackout.
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It looks drained, disorganized, sensitive and trying to restore balance. And this may explain
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why post-traumatic symptoms can feel so sort of emotional. And a study in the journal Brain
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highlighted how migraines involve deeper brain regions associated not only with pain but also
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emotion, fatigue, stress, regulation and sensory filtering. Which means the migraine hangover is
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not just tiredness, it's your entire system sort of recalibrating. And here's the part almost nobody
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says out loud, is migraine sufferers become the hardest on themselves, the hardest during this
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phase. The attack is over, so they immediately check emails, clean the house, power through work,
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socialize, parent at full speed, exercise or mentally punish themselves for losing yet another
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day. But neurologically, your brain may still be in recovery. Imagine sprinting on a broken ankle
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because the sharpest pain feels slightly. That is often what we do to our nervous system. Researchers
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also believe the hypothalamus, the brain region involved in sleep, hormones, stress, appetite and
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circadian rhythms, plays a major role through the migraine cycle. So this may explain why after
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migraines, people often report crying easily, or feeling unusually vulnerable, or feeling detached,
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or feeling emotionally meh, flat. The nervous system is depleted and depletion changes perception.
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This is why so many migraine sufferers say things like I don't feel like myself after a migraine.
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Because temporarily, your brain chemistry genuinely shifted. Not forever, but enough to deeply affect
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how you feel in your body and in your mind. And perhaps the biggest strategy is that most people
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not only measure migraine severity by the pain itself, but for many sufferers, the aftermath steals
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just as much life. The cancelled plans, the mental fog, the shame, the exhaustion, the feeling that
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you're still trying to crawl back into yourself. That part deserves compassion too. Traditional
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Chinese medicine sees migraine a bit differently. Instead of asking how do we silence the symptom,
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it often asks why is the system overwhelmed in the first place. And the migraine hangover phase
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becomes incredibly important from this perspective. In traditional Chinese medicine, migraine often
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links to imbalance involving the liver, gallbladders, spleen and nervous system energy flow. But what's
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fascinating is this. After an intense migraine episode, the body is considered to enter a state
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of depletion, almost like the storm consumed too much internal energy. There's an old Chinese saying
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that says when the wind passes, the forest still trembles. And that perfectly describes post-traum.
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The pain may be gone, but the body is still shaking internally. Traditional Chinese medicine often
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describes migraines as a rising or chaotic movement of energy that goes upward. Sort of the
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heat rising, the pressure rising, the internal wind rising. In aftermath, the same system may feel
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emptied out. This can look like brain fog, weak digestion, emotional sensitivity, fatigue or feeling
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disconnected from yourself. In Ayurveda, migraines are sometimes associated with aggravated vata
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energy, movement, overstimulation, instability, often followed by collapse, depletion. And modern life
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unfortunately feeds this cycle beautifully. Too much stimulation, too much pressure, too much strain,
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too much internal tension, not enough recovery. And then we expect the body to instantly bounce
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back. But healing rhythms in Asian medicine are slower and they're more respectful. There's a
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deep understanding that after intense neurological events, the body needs quiet, warmth, hydration,
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grounding, stillness and safety. Not punishment and not productivity and not proving yourself.
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Many migraine sufferers live in a constant state of bracing. Bracing against the light, bracing
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against stress, against unpredictability, against disappointment, against letting others down.
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And eventually, the nervous system starts living as though danger is always near. These constant
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visions can weaken the body over time, especially when recovery phases are skipped. There is also a
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beautiful philosophical idea here. Symptoms are not always enemies. Sometimes there are messages
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about limits. The migraine hangover, maybe your body saying, I survived a storm, please do not
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throw me back into the battle immediately. And honestly, many people listening to this episode
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have probably never truly allowed themselves recovery. You may have allowed yourself the
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migraine, but not the healing afterwards. And that's a very different thing. So next time, when
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the migraine ends, try treating the next 24 hours as a recovery window instead of a performance
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window. And at the same time, let's be honest, many people do not have the luxury of completely slowing
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down. You may have children, work deadlines, responsibilities, bills, messages waiting, and a
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mountain of catch-up after losing hours or days to pay. So this is not about perfection. It's not
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about guilt or disappearing from life. It's simply an invitation, when possible, when realistic, and when
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consciously available to you, to give your nervous system a little more softness instead of immediately
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demanding full performance again. Lower stimulation, drink mineral-rich fluids, eat grounding foods with
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protein and warmth, dim the lights, avoid forcing productivity, and then 10 minutes with your eyes
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closed and your hands on your chest, simply asking, what would help my nervous system feel safe right now?
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Not efficient, not impressive to others, just safe. Because sometimes, the fastest way back is not
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pushing harder, it's allowing recovery to actually happen. And remember, every small step you take
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moves you closer to freedom. You are powerful,
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you are resilient, and you're not alone. Keep rising, My Green Hero.
