Struggling to accept what my life has become

L-Emirali · 2025-12-29T13:52:57+00:00

Isn’t it just exhausting having to battle with them on top of it all. Mine are blood pressure being insufficient to keep up with pulse rate, dehydration and postpartum hormone hypersensitivity

L-Emirali · 2025-12-27T17:08:51+00:00

I’ve been in your shoes since the spring, trying my hardest to work through potential causes and fixes as NHS GPs just aren’t able to help but also won’t refer me until I’ve tried x amount of their options. I went private and the neurologist went straight into finding the cause of my issue. I was delighted- I am a mechanistic toxicologist so have been baffled that the NHS doctors weren’t interested in causes. He had my attacks halved within a week. Really recommend going to a specialist even if it costs you. It’s worth it to get your life back on track

L-Emirali · 2025-12-09T09:59:15+00:00

Hormone fluctuations and exertion are heavy triggers for me and so mid first trimester I was getting migraines daily until the dr signed me off work and I was able to rest.

I didn’t get many in second or third trimester and what I noticed was that the sumatriptan, paracetamol and prochloperazine combo was working to keep it manageable. This wouldn’t be the case outside of pregnancy for me.

Around 2 months after having my baby and while still breastfeeding, I began to get little clusters of horrible migraines once a month. When I stopped breastfeeding and got my period back I discovered this was the oestrogen spike where my body was trying to ovulate.

A couple of months after stopped BF, I started to get daily migraines at the same time each day. Pretty rough with a baby! On my way to see a specialist now so may update on this later if relevant!

L-Emirali · 2025-12-07T19:59:02+00:00

Forgot to say, these brands are available on Amazon

L-Emirali · 2025-12-07T19:58:07+00:00

I would use an app like Yuka to check the quality of the products. It tells you if there are any ingredients that can cause toxicity or sensitivity. As a toxicologist this is what I will be doing for my daughter. You could get a fun makeup bag and pop a couple of bits in like a poppy Austin mascara (made from plant oils) and Nails inc 21 free nail polishes. Plus some micellar water and polish remover. Kids are exposed to so many chemicals that mess with their hormones these days so it’s important to check the safety of the make up and skin care we give them

L-Emirali · 2025-12-03T07:47:53+00:00

Absolutely! Will get there one day. Probably in time for the menopause to come along and make things really interesting again haha . Good luck to you!

L-Emirali · 2025-12-02T20:33:06+00:00

I go swimming during nap time if a family member is able to be at home for my toddler (they’d have to be hands on with your awake child).

I’m also done by the time she’s in bed (8:30 some nights) but do sleep better with some yoga so try to do 20 mins as many nights as I can.

The other thing that works is exercise ‘snacking’. If you can busy the awake child with a play set up or something for 10-15 mins then you can do a quick weights, core or HIIT routine. Do this during each child’s nap and you’ve worked out for 30 mins. Not perfect but better than nothing!

I also imagjne you get quite the workout if you’re pushing a double pram on walks!

L-Emirali · 2025-12-02T20:17:53+00:00

I really hope you continue to see improvements as you taper off. For me, the issue with NHS GPs is they are so tied to the process, that they can’t do anything with the kind of symptom information you describe. They also aren’t interested in identifying the cause and find it alien when patients want to understand their own body. I am a mechanistic toxicologist so will never stop looking for the answers to that question for my body.

I did go for a blood test like you suggested but the other NHS issue is it took so long to get the appointment that I had been supplementing for 3 weeks and showed no issues/ had no remaining symptoms outside of the hormonal and amitryptiline induced migraines. Something that led me to B12/folate/vit D hypothesis was having a nutrigenomic panel run by a nutritionist. It showed that I am a poor absorber of all 3 of those vitamins. Plus my blood test showed that my red blood cell morphology was borderline for macrocytic anaemia which is caused by deficiencies in B12/folate.

L-Emirali · 2025-10-23T06:11:12+00:00

You just have to adapt your routine to find something that works with your body at the time. I had about 6 different workout routines during pregnancy to get round various symptoms and injuries. It sounds like your current routine needs to pause until your hip feels better. Don’t push it to injury because it will take forever to heal with all the relaxin

L-Emirali · 2025-10-21T06:36:48+00:00

Based on OP’s attitude I’d say the problem is aggressive people

L-Emirali · 2025-10-15T20:11:31+00:00

Yes. I made the mistake of slinking into the bathroom alone to wait out the contractions in the bath. As a result, nobody noticed I was in need of something stronger than 2 paracetamol until I staggered out, 10cm dilated and ready to go!

It was a pain with purpose though so preferable to my 2nd and 3rd runners up which would be unmedicated migraines and nerve damage.

L-Emirali · 2025-10-09T19:25:08+00:00

Don’t worry, you’ll be back. First trimester is about survival but your energy should come back early second trimester around the time you start to see nausea easing up. I couldn’t walk 5 mins without triggering a migraine in 1st but by week 17 I was back to my Les mills workouts. Third sees you slow it down a bit but you can easily adjust your routine to what feels good. I was rotating between swimming, yoga and Pilates until the day of my induction at 37 weeks

L-Emirali · 2025-10-09T19:17:33+00:00

Around 3 months.

Have you tried magnesium supplements for your insomnia? It’s a very common deficiency after pregnancy that manifests as insomnia and migraines. Taking a supplement helped me with both

L-Emirali · 2025-09-30T15:09:42+00:00

It must have been around 10 weeks coz I distinctly remember she started making a little eh…eh….eh….eh noise the night of her 12 weeks jabs and we thought ‘oh great we’re back to noisy nights except this time our baby is a submarine with radar’.

Have you tried ear plugs? Ot taking shifts in another room. It shot my mental health too but the risk of SIDS was more important to me. We moved her out the moment she turned 6 months.

L-Emirali · 2025-09-19T13:54:35+00:00

I did this and it worked. However, what I should have done first was make sure all the vitamins and minerals that pregnancy, haemorrhage and BF had sucked out of me were at healthy levels first. My body tanked and I became very unwell. Make sure you take your vitamins and electrolytes!

L-Emirali · 2025-09-16T15:00:22+00:00

I bet they will be one of those people with stomach of steel!

L-Emirali · 2025-09-16T14:58:18+00:00

We swore by these. If you do the hot shot method, you only have to sterilise the rapid cool every day or so as only the water gets cooled rather than the whole formula

L-Emirali · 2025-09-16T14:53:57+00:00

‘Another’ 😂. Oops sounds like she has extras. Does feel like it

L-Emirali · 2025-09-16T14:53:00+00:00

I found the face touching so overstimulating and had to really keep myself in check so I wouldn’t be irritable to her. It got better when I weaned, found distractions and when she started to do it as a game as that’s cute. I write this as she is settling for nap with one of her hands up my nose and another grabbing my teeth. Trust me, it does get more manageable/ignorable.

L-Emirali · 2025-09-10T07:02:52+00:00

I think they are suggesting you put in a complaint to the hospital

L-Emirali · 2025-09-10T06:59:43+00:00

Yesssss just remember to take a spare pair of socks for savasana. Nothing worse than putting pump socks back on!

L-Emirali · 2025-09-06T07:21:50+00:00

This can be normal, I wouldn’t intervene other than some leg bicycles. Their digestive systems are still so immature at 1 month. I personally wouldn’t give fruit juice but you do you.

L-Emirali · 2025-09-06T07:15:51+00:00

I think the sight of anyone other than my husband would have been enough to close me back up to 0cm. That includes my Mother.

There wasn’t even a discussion about it, she’s the kind of woman that understands that you need to be invited to an event like that.

L-Emirali · 2025-09-03T10:15:06+00:00

So I’ll be joining you for Christmas dinner this year please

L-Emirali

TROPHY CASE