Achy Smile

30/06/2024

This guy couldn’t handle this Texas heat.

20/06/2024

I wanted to share with you all that I will be stepping back from my advocacy efforts for the foreseeable future. Achy Smile Shop will remain open, but in a more limited capacity. I will only be making migraine alert cards and tracking journals. Shop changes will begin happening on July 1st.

After losing my brother to su***de, I am finding it incredibly difficult to manage working full-time alongside my advocacy efforts. While I am in therapy every week and it is helping, I need to focus on healing and sustaining my employment.

I have been a migraine advocate since 2005, and for almost 20 years, I have dedicated myself to supporting those who have been misunderstood, disbelieved, and left behind. Living with migraine has been one of the most challenging experiences of my life, and I have finally reached a point of acceptance and adaptation.

Although I will be less available to the migraine community as a whole, I am still just a message away. I may not respond right away and will be checking messages sporadically, but will return messages as I see them. Thank you all for your understanding and continued support.

Gentle hugs,
Erica

16/06/2024

Are you struggling with symptoms and you can’t figure it out? I created a symptom tracking journal you can fill out and take to your doctor. It’s helped so many people already see the patterns between their activities, their cycle, emotions, stress, whatever it is they are tracking. I have a few copies ready to mail out if you’re interested! You can learn more and order them here on my store.

Achy Smile Shop: https://achysmile.shop/products/physical-symptoms-and-mental-health-daily-and-monthly-tracker-and-guided-journal-track-for-90-days-and-see-the-patterns-in-your-physical-and-mental-health

You can also get it on Amazon (free shipping with Prime): https://amzn.to/4clM0cx

Do you feel like your symptoms are a jigsaw puzzle with pieces that don’t fit together? Get ahead of your symptoms and mental health with the Physical Symptoms & Mental Health Tracker planner and journal! This tool will help you identify patterns and triggers, allowing you to take control of y...

01/06/2024

❤️🧡💛💙💜

01/06/2024

I hope everyone has a very educational this year!! I will not be participating like I have in the past, but I’m still doing advocacy in a different way. I will be working in the background making tshirts for and running the Zoom webinar for on June 29th for called ComorbidityCon. I hope you take some time to give yourself some self-care and a mental health check. Sending hugs far and wide!!

04/05/2024

I had a really great virtual therapy session with my new therapist today. She was exactly what I hoped for in someone who can help me navigate my depression. For me, depression ebbs and flows. I was doing really well the last couple years with my mental health. Loosing Mijo brought all of that up again, the darkness and the scary thoughts. I knew I needed to get back into therapy and start using my tracking journal again, the one I developed a couple years ago. I showed it to her and she had good things to say about it, so it helps me to know I’m on the right track. I’m using a service that is only online and takes insurance. If anyone needs the link, let me know and I’ll put it in the comments. Same for the tracking journal, I can add that in the comments too if anyone wants to read about it. I see her again next week, just knowing she’s available to me now helps a lot. Sometimes just knowing a resource is readily available makes a difference. Hugs y’all!!!

02/05/2024

My brother Walter Garibay was a complicated person with many sides. He loved with all his heart, gave the shirt off his back if we asked for it, and made you smile right after you were pi**ed off at him for something. He annoyed the crap out of us, his sisters, like no one else could. I miss him so much. Everyday that passes is getting harder. I’m struggling with my own mental health, I have for quite some time. I’ve contemplated su***de and even had Stephen on alert and considered checking myself into a mental health facility a few years ago. I am one of the lucky ones. I leaned on my gifts and passions to learn what I needed to help me crawl out of the darkness of depression. Depression is part of me now and I know the tools I need to see my joys and how they outweigh my sadness. But being a survivor of someone who died by su***de is a world I never thought I’d live in. Today, I don’t know how to feel. But I do know we all deserve a healthy mind. I start therapy on Friday and it can’t come soon enough. I need help knowing what to do with these emotions. They are so overwhelming. My reality seems like fiction. I’m sharing this with you because it’s real life. I’ve usually been open like this on my social media accounts related to my migraine advocacy (Achy Smile). Su***de is all too common for people living with chronic pain. Over the last few years I’ve learned so much about myself and my diseases and I’m doing so well today. Now I am concentrating on my mind. I hope you do too.

How can you make a difference in su***de prevention? Learn about what to do if you think someone might be at risk for self-harm by reading these 5 Action Steps for Helping Someone in Emotional Pain: nimh.nih.gov/su***deprevention.

20/04/2024

In thinking of ways to honor my brother this week through advocacy I’ve nailed down a project I will work on to keep his memory alive and hopefully help others. I’m still in my hometown but as soon as I get back to my house next week I’ll be working on making this project come to fruition. I miss him but I know this project is something he’d get behind if he was still here. 💔

19/04/2024

Talking with my family helps. We’ve always been resilient, but this is so hard. I don’t have energy for much else. My apologies if you’ve reached out and I haven’t responded just yet. I do want to thank everyone who has reached out, paid for or brought us meals this week, and all the prayers. We have such an amazing support system in all of you!! You all have a special place in my heart.

17/04/2024

I’ve experienced the most difficult time in my whole life. I told a really good friend, “It feels surreal and last week is so foggy. I'm very grateful that [severe] migraine was never triggered. Trust me, I've been pushed beyond my threshold.” I’m so grateful because I was able to concentrate on my family, my brothers burial needs, his beautiful daughter and step-kids, and everything else. I have had some POTS attacks creep in, but nothing major. I just wish he was here. As someone who talks about mental health on this platform, I’m working through missing the signs of what he was going through. I feel a lot of emotions that I will be discussing with a therapist very soon. I will be journaling what happened, how I found out, and what followed to help me through this. For those who don’t know, my brother took his own life on April 7th. We miss him so much.

17/04/2024

10/04/2024

Please hold your siblings close! https://www.heavenlygatefh.com/obituary/walter-garibay-iii

Walter Garibay, III 1984-2024 With hearts filled with both sorrow and love, we announce the departure of Walter Mijo Garibay, III, from this earthly life on April 7, 2024. Born to Walter Jr. and Janie Garibay on April 21, 1984, in Midland, TX, Walters life was a testament to the

07/04/2024

Brother, you took my heart with you. I am so unbelievably sad. Unbelievably broken. Unbelievably thrown off balance. You have no idea just how loved you are. Rest in Peace bro, we will help lift up Alayna. We will check on Ita and the girls. We will love you and the little world you created with everything we have for the rest of our lives. I miss you so damn much!!!!! Walter Garibay please keep an eye on us, we need you.

30/03/2024

It’s been over a week since I tested positive with Covid and I tested again today and it is still positive. Started showing symptoms on Wednesday evening last week coming home from DC 😫. I’ve been in quarantine this whole time in a guest room of my house. I go outside a couple times a day just to get some fresh air ☀️. I am on an immunosuppressant and I’ve read this can make getting over Covid 🦠 take longer, sometimes around 4 weeks of being positive. When I tell you I’m so over it, I’m so over it!! Kicking myself for not taking better precautions when traveling 😷✈️, especially in busy airports like Dallas and DC. Trying not to stress about getting my shop orders out, but I do not want to work on anything until I test negative. I make a lot of the items I sell myself from my home office 🛍️. Thankfully, I work from home for my full time job, so I haven’t missed very much work. I’m able to take breaks as needed and work at odd hours when I’m able to. I get these burst of energy moments that I use to get work done 👩🏻‍💻. I had to cancel Easter 🐣, my whole family was coming into town and now everyone has to make alternate plans, including my kids 😭. I will probably have to also miss going to Midland for my grandpa’s 80th birthday party😔 next weekend. I don’t want to risk it. So thankful Stephen and Noah have been covid-free. We’ve been taking all the precautions. Hopefully next time I test it will be negative!!! Ok, I’ve vented all the negative feelings out. I am ready for some positivity!!!💜 I have been playing around with color analysis filters, which one in the photo do you think suits me best?? I have my favorite, can you guess?

• I did take Plaxovid and I feel it helped so much.
• I am going to start a few supplements that worked well for me last time I got Covid. A, C, D, Zinc.
• I did see my doctor on Thursday because I was having concerns about some of my symptoms but I think it’s all good. Prob acid reflux. EKG was normal. It isn’t my costochondritis, so we’re “keeping an eye on it.”
• Doc wants me to add 5 more days to quarantine when I test positive. So, I’m going to listen to her and try to make the best of it.
• I’ve only had a mild migraine once this whole time and I feel very fortunate for that!!

26/03/2024

Oh man, definitely don’t recommend experiencing covid. I wish I could say it was my first time. I’m FINALLY starting to feel human. Thank you for all the well wishes!!! They’ve helped me get through these last few days. 💜

22/03/2024

Wearing my camo leggings preparing to fight off whatever it is I caught on my trip to DC! Urgent care waiting room, took a Lyft, and I just want my bed TBH. Hope to update you guys on my experience at HOH as soon as I can start feeling a little better 💜

22/03/2024

Ughh! Unfortunately, I feel like I have caught a bug after returning home 🤒. Despite going to work today and fighting through the struggle, hoping that all I needed was some well deserved shut eye. 🤞

20/03/2024

I will post pics throughout the week of our visits and some of our favorite moments, in the meantime, here’s a pic of us at the Capitol 💜🏛️🇺🇸

20/03/2024

Shareable graphics that relate to our Headache on the Hill legislative event today.

20/03/2024

Today was everything I could imagine for a Legislative day like today. Headache on the Hill never disappoints!! I am both fulfilled and purely exhausted. But you are all so worth it!!! Stephen did an amazing job telling our story to Texas Congressional officials (their staff were so open to hearing what we had to say). We joined nearly 300 advocates representing all 50 states!! Here’s a peek at what we discussed today:

• Advance policy proposals to ensure timely access to the treatments patients need and deserve,
• To make sure research is inclusive of all people impacted by headache disorders, and
• To ensure our veterans experiencing headache disorders are well taken care of.

As a person living with several headache disorders, a parent of children with headache disorders , and as a sister and aunt to family who live with headache disorders these issues are very near to my heart. You can support my efforts at home by sending a quick message to your representatives! https://secure.everyaction.com/vM031iL9DkW64SpZlHmfLA2

19/03/2024

Such an amazing honor for Jill Oglesby Dehlin 💜💜💜 Jill, you are an inspiration to so many and to me you are exceptional!! Congratulations 🎉

19/03/2024

Shades for Migraine is a global awareness campaign that asks people to wear a pair of sunglasses on June 21 to show their support for people living with migraine.

18/03/2024

Stephen and I are headed to DC in the morning for Headache on the Hill and I have an inkling I’m not going to fall asleep very easily. I’m too excited!!! Alliance for Headache Disorders Advocacy Achy Smile Achy Smile Shop Chronic Migraine Awareness, Inc.

14/03/2024

I see a lot of people ordering shirts with awareness ribbons, butterflies, and flowers, so I had AI create me a design that I felt would resonate with some of our customers. I'm also thinking of changing out the word Migraine for other conditions that are represented with purple, like Fibromyalgia, Alzheimer's, etc. What do you think? I'd love your feedback!

Show your support for Migraine Awareness with this tee featuring a playful purple ribbon and butterflies design. Spread awareness and style while doing it! (Butterfly kisses not included.) Features This product is made on demand, please allow up to 2 weeks for production. Shipping is 6-9 business da...

10/03/2024

Oso and I hanging outside this afternoon, still in our pajamas! 🤗

08/03/2024

Chronic Migraine Awareness, Inc. is so fortunate to have Cat leading the way. She's one of my favorite people! Read her story and you'll understand why. 💜❤️💜

Chronic illness can feel like it’s taking over, but it may hide a new purpose.

08/03/2024

Have you checked out Achy Smile Shop lately? https://achysmile.shop 💜 Migraine and Mental Health Awareness, gifts, and tools to get you through attacks. Gentle hugs!!

18/02/2024

Stephen and I celebrated 23 years of marriage today!! Still so crazy to me. Time flies sooo fast. We are high school sweethearts with our share of drama. We’ve endured so much, but we find our way to each other everyday. Not easy, but I’m so glad he’s the one by my side through it all. Love you baby!! …oh, and that cake!! The chocolate one on the plate 😉