Lent and the Unintended Migraine Trigger

I've never been a fan of lent. I won't bore you with all the reasons but I do want to talk about why it bothers me as a migraineur. It's all about the stench of rotting fish in the garbage and my sensitivity to smells. For those of you who don't know, one way many people observe lent (the time between ash Wednesday and Easter) is by eating fish on Fridays. The increased fish consumption in homes means there is suddenly all kinds of fish parts and fish soaked trash left to rot in garbage bins.

This is a real problem for people like me, who live with chronic migraines that are easily triggered by smells. It has been more of a problem since we moved into our current neighborhood about 3 years ago because so many people keep their garbage bins outside. Making matters worse, garbage gets collected here on Thursdays so the Friday fish has the whole week to rot and work up a terrible stench. This year has been especially bad because we've also had warmer than usual weather.

It has gotten so bad that I can't stand walking anywhere near what I'm calling the lent houses. That might not sound like a big deal but the daily walking I do with our dog is very important to both of us physically and mentally. Our neighborhood consists of one main road only a few blocks long, with two small cul-de-sacs. The lent houses are at the beginning and the end of our neighborhood, with our house near the middle. Our walking now consists of going a few houses in one direction, turning around and going the other direction a few houses and then back home.

The poor dog doesn't understand why I won't take her on a full walk and the decreased exercise leads to frustration. Even avoiding the worst of the stench I feel like the it follows me back inside the house. I don't know if it gets stuck in my nose or if some of it gets on me. Either way it takes a bit to shake the smell off.

The smell is so bad this year I find it impossible to believe that it doesn't bother people who have a regular sense of smell and no migraines. This year lent doesn't just bother me. Now I rue lent and can't wait for it to be over.

I guess I should just be glad the houses immediately surrounding our house do not do this and that the wind pushes the scent away from our house instead of towards it. At least I'm safe home. That's certainly a plus.