Migraine

A positive note about "Heal Your Headaches" is that Dr. Buchholz does make one stop and think, partly because he challenges so much of what is now considered to be basic headache and Migraine knowledge backed by significant bodies of verified and published research. In the introduction to the book, he states, "In scientific terms, my beliefs are hypotheses; potential explanations of certain cause and effect relationships." This is a good, honest statement; one I'm glad he included in this book that has resulted in a few raised eyebrows...

Continue reading “Heal Your Headache” - Review .

This book was so helpful to me!

I know it has some short comings, but it is a great place to start.

I agree with Teri's review about the book. Use it as a buffet and take away from it what you can use, but don't get caught up in it word for word. It helped me a lot as I was newly diagnosed. So, I didn't know much about rebound. But only "twice a month" to use pain meds or triptans is not realistic or proven as Teri said in her review.

My old doctor and now my new doctor has said that no more than "twice a week" is the rule. And even that sounds unrealistic if you have chronic migraines like me. The first couple of preventatives didn't really work for me so now I am trying Zonegran.

And I also follow a strict migraine diet that I learned about in the book. Without doing that, I would have more migraines. So, I am doing everything right, but when you have chronic migraines that are triggered by fragrances and smells, it is a real challenge to overcome those. You can't just sit in your house 24/7.

So, yes, the book helped me a great deal. I just didn't take EVERYTHING he said as gospel. I did my homework and research and came to my own conclusions which was mostly gained from these forums.

Hope this info helps you and anyone else.
parisbabe

Yes, I was surprised, he was so adamant about not taking pain relievers, especially opiates.

It is helpful to know I can take meds 2x per week. I think my Dr. had said the Axert is OK as long as I don't exceed 6 per month.

Does this apply to opiates too? Like there are some occasions where I'm crying over the pain I'm in, and a Vicoden would provide some relief, but I'm afraid to take them, worried about getting back into a rebound headache cycle.

MoniMe,
Yes, from what I have read and been told by my doctors, "all pain meds and abortives", which includes over the counter and all prescriptions, which would include opiates, can cause rebound headaches.

I had switched to Ultram or Tramadol as was told it did not cause rebound but my doctor says no, it can also. And yes, I hear ya on the being in so much pain but afraid to take something.

What I have done since I am currently not working right now is to take a calendar and figure out what big social or other events I have to go to or want to go to and then plot out 4 days around it. So, I figure that I will be taking pain meds or abortives on the 2 or 3 days that I have plans and on the other 4 days of that week, I will not and so I plan accordingly.

I say that because my migraines are triggered by smells and just about any time I go out in public, there's a good chance I am going to get a migraine.

And, when someone says, "Oh, just take a pill for it", I want to shoot them! Little do they know, we migraine sufferers can't always do that!
parisbabe

I stumbled onto this book a little over a year ago. I follow almost all of the advice in the book. I am now doing better. The first few weeks were very difficult! But, after the transition I noticed that my migraines were not as intense and I did not vomit as much. I was averaging 15 to 18 migraines a month and now I'm averaging around 10 to 12 a month, some months are a little worse.

Even though I still have a lot of migraines, the easing of the intensity of pain and nausea is worth every bit of trouble of following the advice in the book.