About Erica Nicole Carrasco

Last updated September 7, 2022

Trying to smile through the pain? Yea, me too. If you’re here, reading my thoughts and opinions, then you understand my life with Chronic Migraine, a neurological disease. It might be your life too. My name is Erica Carrasco and I’m from a place called Midland, Texas where high school football and oil rigs reign. Stephen, Noah, and I now live in Garland, TX while Marissa finishes her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology at University of Houston in Houston, TX. Noah’s in college too working on his basics at Dallas College Richland before he moves on to University. The four of us all deal with medical and mental conditions, so we know: pain, depression, anxiety, and obsessive thoughts well. We smile at our downfalls every day. I’m sure there will be a blog or two on each of these things here and there, so stay tuned!

Together, we work diligently to climb out of this negative and cavernous pit into bright, beautiful sunlight through our daily diet (which we constantly fail at), counseling, and supplementation of deficient vitamins. Plus, a few inappropriate memes we find on Facebook or silly videos from TikTok.

I remember having symptoms of migraine when I was a child. They weren’t typical migraine symptoms though, so I never went to the doctor. I remember my grandmother bringing me food to school because I’d start to feel sick for an hour or so after breakfast, but before lunch or shortly after lunch, usually before going home. Eating sometimes helped with vertigo and nausea, sometimes headache, I’d suddenly come down with. As long as eating helped calm the symptoms, we just kept doing what worked. I still have to do this today and when it happens I notice I’m more vulnerable to stronger migraine attacks. I had no migraine pain with my symptoms until my early 20s.

I was diagnosed with a rare neurological disease known as Hemiplegic Migraine (HM) in 2009 after battling symptoms similar to stroke and epilepsy since 2004. It didn’t take long for these strange set of symptoms to become chronic. HM causes stroke-like symptoms and seizure-like spasms (in my body anyway) over and over every time I have a migraine, definitely not your typical migraine. I scare the @#$%! out of people when they see it happen. It’s definitely frightening. It’s also comical when others see my family act like it’s just another day, not too worried because they’ve dealt with these attacks as long as I have. Though, they do freak out when I have a cluster of them and need to be taken to the ER. Those are frightful ones because, honestly, they can get dangerous. My teens were babies when these started, they were 2 and 4 years old. Sometimes migraine pain isn’t part of the symptoms, which makes this condition very hard to diagnose.

The following lists contain both non-monetized and monetized links. These links are products I use personally and work for me to help keep symptoms down as much as possible. Everyone is different, what works for me may not work for you and vice versa. If you try any of these products, I truly hope they help you like they help me!!

Diagnosis:

Supplements and My Dosages:

Please do not start any of the following supplements without first discussing with your doctor or provider. These dosages are not meant for you. I manage these dosages with a qualified professional who reviews my blood tests regularly to ensure there is no toxicity or adverse side effects, as I am very sensitive to some medications and supplements.

Magnesium Glycinate

Electrolytes & Drinks:

Nuun Tablets : Easy to carry, just dissolves right into a bottle of water.
Zico Coconut Water : I buy the bottles that have 1010mg of Potassium since I am a bit deficient, these work best for me
HydroCoco Electrolyte Water : I personally like the Pineapple flavor 🙂
Evolution Essential Greens 5.2 oz -or- Evolution Essential Greens 32 oz : These drinks are really great for migraines in my opinion, but I have a difficult time drinking them. I don’t really like green veggies, so I force it down since it helps so much.
Organic Peppermint Tea and Organic Green Tea Peppermint: My daughter and I drink for nausea, nothing works better for her! To sweeten, I use raw honey, Stevia, Pure Maple Syrup, and Swerve. Be aware of the Stevia brand you buy, not all are created equal. Check that the Stevia leaf is the only ingredient.

Non-pharmacological Migraine Management

I NEVER leave home without my homemade migraine emergency kit. I always have a few items that I consider the basics:

migraine pouch
blackout eye mask
turkey jerky
Nuun Electrolytes
BioFreeze muscle rub
MigraineX Earplugs
essential oils suspected to help migraine (Peppermint, Eucalyptus, Lavender, or get all in the Let There Be Peace & Quiet pack)
Avulux migraine glasses

In my home, I use the following items:

Allay Lamp

Disclosures

Please be advised that some of the links provided are affiliate/referral links and I do receive a small commission/store credit if you make a purchase using those links. This does not cost you any extra when you make a purchase. I very much appreciate your support of this blog in doing so!

Comments are closely monitored in an effort to maintain a positive environment. While constructive criticism and suggestions are welcome, negative comments with no purpose other than to spread malice will be deleted. All opinions are genuinely my own.

I am a former Amgen and Novartis Spokesperson. This content reflects my own personal opinions and was not created or reviewed by Amgen and Novartis.

I am a partner with the American Migraine Foundation, Association of Migraine Disorders, Chronic Migraine Awareness Inc., Shades for Migraine, NeuraHealth, Avulux, and Theranica.