Recognizing Stress Triggers Is Good First Step

Regarding “They Feel Your Pain” (Oct. 8): Sitting at my desk in a seventh-grade classroom, I looked at my arm--or what I thought was my arm--and the part above the wrist was missing. I felt a numbness in my hand and the left side of my face and an unforgettable fear that brought tears to my eyes. Within less than an hour, the pain began, but the vision returned.

This was the beginning of a childhood filled with episodes of headache and vomiting that took as much as two days to a week out of my life. Eliminating certain foods had no effect, but recognizing stressful situations reduced the number of attacks.

More recently, now in the grandmother stage, my headaches had been increasing in frequency and duration but not in severity. Against all advice, on Sept. 20, I left for Turkey on a sailing trip to swim, hike and sightsee for 10 days. My job became a distant memory, and the aspirin was forgotten. This is my current answer to the malady I inherited.

LEE BOTSFORD

Del Mar