Dealing With Headaches

People with migraines and chronic headaches go through a lot of worries, one of which is that they will get Alzheimer’s. We’re not alone in this worry. A recent study from the MetLife foundation showed that more Americans are afraid of getting Alzheimer’s than they are of getting heart disease or diabetes. And we are far more prone to getting heart disease or diabetes than we are of getting Alzheiomer’s.

Yet, out of all the diseases you could be dealt with, Alzheimer’s seems to be the big one that we all fear. And will continue to do so.

The Bad News

A very promising drug, Flurizan, that passed one clinical trial has failed it’s latest one. It included volunteers from all over the nation, including those in the Greater Philadelphia area (mine). Today, Myriad Genetics Inc issued a rather terse statement that they found Flurizan to show no significant help to Alzheimer’s patients.

This is the second Alzheimer’s drug to fail in clinical trials this month. The other one was made by Wyeth with the eye-blinking name of Bapineuzumab. (Gezundheight).

The Good News

The good news is that two evil Big Pharma companies gained some karma points by being honest that a drug didn’t work BEFORE the drug was sold. You don’t hear about that every day. Usually, they never admit when a drug doesn’t work. They hint that the drug does work in some way but is not being developed due to financial reasons.

What Have We Learned?

Never trademark your experimental drug until its passed its Phase 3 Clinical Trial.

Since I keep banging on about how important it is to keep a headache journal, you might want a quick review of just what you’re supposed to write in the journal. This video is quite helpful. Keep in mind that it’s a guide and not Gospel. You don’t have to follow it’s suggestions exactly. For example, you can get a journal with lined paper rather than the blank paged version shown.

Also, I have no idea why it’s flanked by a bunch of sex-related videos. I see they are all put out by Illumistream (which sounds suspisciously close to Illuminati, doesn’t it?)

Then again, sex and headches just seem to go together, don’t they? Just thinking about sex can give many a headache. Any coincidence that this tip went onto YouTube of Valentine’s Day? Anyway, if you watch this on YouTube instead of here, try to ignore the thumbnail images of sexy couples groping and just concentrate on the Headache Journal video.

Since we don’t know what exactly causes migraines (despite what the doctor in the bright white coat says in the tape), we do know that if you are observant and keep a headche journal, you often can avoid some of the most common triggers unique to you. Hope this helps and have a pain free weekend.

First off, I still haven’t figured out how to pronounce it. I already have a stutter and trying to pronounce this beta blocker high blood pressure medication must really look comical to onlookers (I say through gritted teeth.) I’ve been on propranalol for about a month and I’m really not impressed (as you can probably tell from the title).

I’m fighting a migraine now. I’ve been getting migraines and headaches like barometric pressure headache at the same rate since before I was taking this stuff. The only noticeable change I see is that I have the squirts and I’ve been farting really loudly (much to my dog’s amusement). (I know, too much information, sorry). My doctor warned me that I would get constipated. Hah.

The Next Step

I’m suppossed to be on four mini pills a day of propranalol, but I haven’t been able to move past three because of the nasty digestive effects. Personally, I’d like to dump the rest of the pills down the toilet (it would save time) but there’s already too many prescription medicine in the public water supply.

My doctor said that the next drug I was to try was Imitrex, which I’m scared of. Not nightmares of huge Imitrex pills chasing me through a forest scared, but “how’m I gonna pay for this crap?” scared. “Maybe this stuff will make me feel TOO good” scared.

Don’t Be Put Off By My Reaction

Although my body doesn’t seem to like propranalol and your doctor sugests it for your migraines, don’t be afraid to try it. It works for a lot of people. I just happen to be one of the lucky ones where it makes me run to the bathroom a lot.

As always, be sure to let your doctor know about all the medications, vitamins and herbal prescriptions you are taking before you start popping propranalol. Even though your doctor will have your charts right in front of you, he or she can still not actually read it.

Some says, I think it’s easier to just suffer with the migraines and be done with it rather than try a new treatment.

I had a migraine this morning, so I could only begin work this afternoon, hours behind schedule. I was behind another hour because my computer wouldn’t get onto the Internet. It kept that little hourglass thingy going and a white screen as if to say, “Talk to the browser.” I finally just shut the computer down and rebooted. Now, it finally works.

Which gets me to thinking — do computers get migraines, too?

Stay With Me On This One

My computer acted very much like I did this morning — I had many false starts and wound up blinking inchoherently at the day. And then the pain hit suddenly (even though I already know I get migraines, the acutal intensity and suddenness of the pain still takes me by surprise). Because of the pain, and sounds and light becoming intolerable, I had to say, “Screw this” and go back to bed.

By 1pm, I was fine. Perhaps I needed rebooting.

Anyway, the similarities are too much of a coincidence.

Could My Computer Have Caught Migraines From Me?

Not that migraines are contagious, but that when you are not feeling your best, you can make some mistakes as to what buttons to push and when. My computer is about ten years old, so it’s a bit on the slow side, anyway. I’m used to that — usually. When it’s slow, I do filing, read a book, pick my nose, that sort of thing.

However, when I’m getting over a migraine, I’m a wee bit grumpy. My dog stays away from me. I’m more impatient and could perceive that the computer is “acting up” when, in fact, it’s acting the same way it always does.

The moral of the story? When it comes to migraines, sometimes everything around a migraineur needs a reboot.

One of the things migraineurs live in constant fear of is having a migraine strike at the most awkward times in our lives. Like at our wedding.

This has just happened to Kim and James Fisher of Arizona. The day before the wedding (gee, no stress for Kim on that day, eh?) a migraine came calling. It was so severe that she had to go to the hospital.

Determined to get married “no matter what”, the couple changed the wedding plans at the last minute — to get married at the hospital. I wonder if the wedding guests were able to get opiod painkillers as a wedding present for the bride — and groom.

Yet Another Reason Not To Have A Big Wedding

The reports on this event are not clear on a few issues, such as whether this was Kim’s first migraine. If she was riushed to the hospital, then it does suggest that it probably was a first time occassion — which can be incredibly frightening. When I had my first “official” migraine, my doctor wondered if I had an aneurysm. Perhaps Kim’s doctor thought the same thing.

But this leads to a point — migraines are event crashers. You wind up becoming an unreliable friend because of the sudden cancellations you have to do if a migraine should unexpectedly strike.

All is not lost if you stubbornly insist on having a big wedding and know that migraines can come crashing. If you keep a headache journal, you get to learn what your body’s warning signs are that a migraine is on the way. This is usually slightly different for each person, but many warning signs include (but are not limited to):

• Shakiness or dizziness
• Sudden intense irritability for no reason
• Two or three days before your period
• Pressure behind or over your eyes (or eye)
• Auras

There have been cases where migraines have started and then were cured about an hour or so later with medication and a lie down in a dark room. This happened to Denver Bronco’s Terrel Davis in the Super Bowl (who went on to become MVP of the game), so it might happen for you on your wedding day. Arguably, there’s more pressure on you than Davis had for a mere Super Bowl, but the principle applies.

You could also have a Zombie Wedding, where wearing sunglasses, vomiting and covering the wedding venue in black curtains is normal. If you feel like the living dead, you might as well milk it for all it’s worth.

George Carlin was one of my heroes, partially because of his love of wordplay and partially because his jokes could make me laugh even when I was suffering from migraines. For a while, I could bathe in his soothing absurdity (which often made a great deal more sense that just about anything else you’ll read.) No other human being could say the word F*** and make it sound like art.

As you’ve probably heard, George Carlin died on Sunday of heart failure. The news broke this morning. It makes me wonder if George did this on purpose, another “yet another reason to hate Mondays” sort of thing. I wouldn’t put it past him. He could be a cantankerous old sod at times.

But then again, according to his own jokes about euphamisims help brainwash people into things are much better than they really are, no one ever dies any more. “Dies” is too harsh and final-sounding of a word. They just “pass away”.

I discovered that he’s not very well known in England (to my advantage). George’s monologues helped me adjust to the culture shock of moving to England (especially his diatribes against airplane travel) — and then moving back to America. One of the ways to break the ice with strangers in a country you are not native to is to tell a few jokes. Boy, was I looked on a comic genius in the Bath homeless community, or what? And since I didn’t revcieve any money for those jokes, I don’t think it quie falls under the category of “plagerism”.

Life is full of headaches, both real and metaphorical. Just look at the evening news. Just makes you want to curl up in a ball in the basement, coat your thumb with tramadol and suck on it, doesn’t it? George was a preacher, in a way, but with a far more catholic message than from…well, from Catholics. He wanted to try and get people to think for themselves and demand better from big companies and governments, but he also made you laugh while subtly getting his underlying message across.

At least there are recordings from George’s routines from vinyl to DVDs to help soothe us when life’s headaches get to be too much.

Thanks, George. Hope you’re reunited with Tiny the dog and having the Bong to End All Bongs.

There’s a bit of a buzz throughout the British press about a class of migraine drugs called “gap blockers” that are available in the UK on a limited basis. Unfortunately, these drugs don’t remove Gap stores from the face of the planet. That’s another type of headache altogether. No, these gap blockers are to help prevent migraines by directly affecting brain chemistry to keep certain nuerons from firing. Many of these drugs are still in the clinical trial stage.

Don’t We Already Have Those?

There are a lot of drugs available to prevent migraines, including Imitrex (which yours truly might be moved onto soon if her current medication doesn’t pan out). However, these drugs tend to have some really heavy-duty side efffects, including asthma, hair loss and sudden wieght gain. There’s also the usual “risk of harming foetal development”, but that tends not to apply to most migraineurs because we’re too busy having migraines to have sex.

The big buzz about the gap junction blockers for migraines is that they work just as well as a drug like Imitrex, but without the side effects.

As a point of interest, an article in the Daily Telegraph went on to explain how migraines are treated:

Once attacks happen they can be treated with powerful painkillers such as codeine and anti sickness medication.

Day -YAM! When I lived in England, I was NEVER offered codeine for my multitide of migraines. Where’s my codeine? I think I’m due some codeine!

Tonabersat

Get used to that name if you have migraines. That’s suppossed to be THE migraine drug of the future, although it is still in development. It’ll probably cost an arm and both legs when it comes out. The good news (financially speaking) is that dosage seems to be less than for other drugs.

The thing that really, really bothers me about gap blockers is that I can’t remember if I ever wrote about them before on this blog along with other migraine drugs in development. Obviously, this is proof that all of my neurons definately aren’t firing.

Although my pets can greatly help comfort me when I’m in pain, occassionally they are the cause of me being in pain in the first place. I currently am battling sleep deprivation headache because of my pets. Sometimes I think they act really scary once in a while to let me know how much I should appreciate it when they behave.

Either that, or it’s just a reminder at who’s really calling the shots.

Two in the morning and I can’t sleep because on one side of me the dog is snoring and the othe side the goldfish are attacking the tank lid. I’m not entirely sure why they attack the lid at two in the morning. Perhaps they are trying to eat the patches of algae I can’t reach to clean. Perhaps they have algae rage. Who knows.

Now, I can’t have the dog not sleep in the same room with me. That’s out of the question. This is because she chases my nightmares away. I’ve had nightmares since the womb and it’s great to be able to forget even the most disturbing dream because the dog is acting goofy.

And I can’t just tell the goldfish to sleep on the couch. The weight of the tank would break all of the springs, for one thing.

And I can’t sleep on the couch with the dog because that way I would hear my Mom snoring. I love my Mom and she is a saint on earth, but one of the reasons I sleep in the basement is because that’s the only room in the house where her snoring won’t wake you up.

Even though I’m loosing my hearing and can’t understand what people are saying most of the time I can still hear snores and goldfish algae rage as clear as a bell. What’s up with that? I’ve got a feeling when I go completely deaf (which will probably coincide with the day Peter Gabriel finally releases a new album) I will still be able to hear snores, car alarms and lawn mowers.

So, What Have We Learned?

The good thing about when the pets wake me up at night is that I can scream bloody murder at them and they don’t take it personally. In fact, they don’t pay attention to it at all.

The second thing I’ve learned is that the best way to deal with sleep derivation headache is to have a glass of water, a cup of tea and then write a long blog post complaining about your sleep deprivation headache. Sure, my head still hurts, but my conscious feels so much better.

Off to down some more Excedrin…

The American Medical Association grew a bigger set of balls when it released a report blasting one of its main sources of revenue — the health insurance industry. Even brain surgeons are complaining that health insurance forms are too complex (see — it’s not just you!) They also report that it’s taking doctors 14% of their salaries just to try and get the money owed to them from health insurance companies.

What’s Up, Doc?

This report blasts the industry as a whole and not just one particular health insurance company, although the AMA did give a sobering diagnosis to some of the nation’s most prominant health insurance companies. This is the number based on how often the particular company did not argue with the doctor when he or she wanted to be paid:

• United Health Care: 62%
• Aetna 71%
• Medicare 98%

Wow. Do you mean doctors may actually be concerned with getting their patients better without bankrupting them? Stranger things have happened.

A Case Study

I remember back when I worked at Macy’s and got a concussion on the job from a Macy’s fixture (don’t ask). Macy’s called an ambulance to take me to the closest emergency room. After waiting ten hours, I finally got examined.

A year later, long after I quit Macy’s, I was still getting reminders about the bill. I just forwarded them to Macy’s, which, to its credit, paid up and I wound up not having to pay anything. But this was over a year of back and forth letters, print outs, postage, yadayadayada between the Macy’s and their health insurance company.

And this is considered normal in this country. And we wonder why our health care industry is so screwed up? Going to voodoo healers makes more sense because insurance forms aren’t involved. You walk in, get some bones shaken at you, given a potion or two, you pay up front and then when you walk out and get on with your life.

Thank you, AMA, for actually giving a damn. And I think bodypaint and grassskirts would look great on you lot.

I can’t recommend a lot of the videos listed under “migraine headache” in YouTube, as they are usually hawking one product or another. Some of them also have very strange “facts” to present. But every now and then, you get a really helpful video, such as this one from FYINowHealth (which is a YouTube user name, not a website or a magazine). It very clearly lists in layman’s terms how to tell the difference between a miraine and a tension type headache.

In case you didn’t know, it does make a difference as to what kind of had pain you have in order to get proper drugs and other treatments. And also to know whether you can move around or stay as still as possible. Personally, I think migraines are worse than tension-type headaches, but I’m admittedly biased.

Speaking of headaches, I’m not doing so well today. I’m off. Enjoy the video.

Oh, for Pete’s sake. Was it a slow news day in the non-profit community or what? We have war, famine, the ecological crisis, natural disasters like Paris Hilton and all the Center for Enviornmantal Health and Justice (CHEJ) can point the middle finger at is PVC shower curtains. On Friday June 13, CHEJ put out an a press release that calls PVC shower curtains toxic. I’ve been dying to get my mits wrapped around this press release, but first 451 Press went down and then my Internet went down. So, stand back, this has been brewing all damn weekend.

Anyway

Granted, new shower curtains suck. They have that new shower curtain smell which I’ve noted has never been duplicated in a line of perfume or as a special aromatherapy candle scent. Strong smells can certainly trigger bad headaches.

CHEJ (which I assume is pronounced either “cheese” or “chez”) claim that new shower smell can kill you…eventually. This is because, in 28 days since the bag is opened, the PVC released 108 different VOCs (volitale organic compunds) which are generally bad news and do every bad thing you have ever imagined (including headaches) and things that only Stephen King could imagine.

However, your shower water also releases VOCs. Are you going to stop taking a shower? And, quite frankly, how much time DO you spend in the bathroom?

Should We Ban Shower Curtains?

Great, that’s all we need — a black market for new shower curtains. “Psst, lady — you lookin’ for a new shower curtain? I got florals, tropicals and pastels.”

First we can’t feed ourselves right and they have a trans fat ban. Then, we can’t ride in a moving vehicle right and have to strap our kids into incredibly expensive car seats. Now, they’re trying to get us in the shower. Hey, there’s naked people in here — go get your bans somewhere else!

Folks, how STUPID do we have to be that we need a ban or a warning label on common household items? (Don’t answer that). If you know the new shower curtain is gonna stink, open it up and stick it in a room where no one spends a lot time in (like a basement or attic) and let it air out. Either that, or stick it outside for a couple of days. THEN install it in the bathroom.

Imagine a world without new shower curtains. Remember, folks, extinct is forever. Save the new shower curtains!

Ahhh…I feel so much better now. Was it good for you, too?

This month’s Blog Carnival is hosted by The Migraine Girl. It’s topic is “Vacations & Migraines”. Of course, with skyrocketing food and fuel prices, you’ll probably won’t have a vacation this year, but you can still use this advice for any other trips or for general day-to-day use. And, of course, there’s always good reading.

The Highlights

These highlights are picked by me in a manner based on my tastes. This doesn’t imply that my tastes are better than your writing. If I have not mentioned your Headache Blog Carnival post, no offence is intended.

• Let’s start off with the Migraine Girl herself and her post How to Survive a Vacation Tip #1: Don’t Trust the Website. My tip is this: how long do you plan on being in the hotel room? Plot accordingly.
• Down the Rabbit Hole gives a practical and encouraging list of things migraineurs and anyone else with chronic pain needs to be aware of before they head out for misadventure.
• I’ll admit it — I’ve chosen this one as a highlight just for the title: 90 Days of Narcotics: How To Best Use the New Drug Laws. This is a good overview of some changes made in American law in February.
• I’m also picking Power of Pearl not because I beleive that a string of pearls is better for a headache than Excedrin and a lie-down, but because I really dig folklore and legends. Also, as a Pagan, I’m always on the lookout for tips on creystal healing. Yes, I know pearls are technically not crystals, but we needed a short label and “crystals” was chosen for some reason. I wasn’t invited to the convention, nor did I vote for the Superdelegates that went.

None from me this month, as I was in too much pain and missed the deadline.

Next Month

Good topic next month — “How Spirituality Helps Us Cope with Chronic Pain.” The due date for sumbissions is Friday, 11 July. The carnival is going back to regular host Diana Lee at Somebody Heal Me. Remember, your blog doesn’t have to be centered on migraines or headaches in order for your submission to be considered. You don’t get any money, but it’s great publicity and great reading.

The Associated Press and CNN have reported on the rise in survivalists and Americans learning to farm vegeatbles, slaughter their own chickens and stockpile canned goods. In one sense, this is good planning. The future does look a tad bit bleak, what with skyrocketing food, fuel and health care costs and no corresponding rise in wages. Anyone can be forgiven to thik the days of the Revolution — or at least, a really funky riot with a lot of explosions — are soon to come.

Which got me to thinking — will migrainuers have more migraines or less migraines after Armageddon is over?

I Vote Less

I actually have been a survivalist by necessity and not by choice when I was homeless in England. I wasn’t a proper survivialist — I still used stores whenever I had money and begged what I could when I didn’t — but I still lived in the woods in a home I built myself. I used a converted iron stove to heat the place and also had an outdoor fire pit. So I know a little bit about what I speak.

I truly think that many migrainuers will have LESS migraines after then end of the world as we know it (and I feel fine). (In case you’re wondering why the REM clip is there below, now you do). I think this will happen even with the lack of access to modern medicines (even my beloved Excedrin Migraine).

We’ll feel so much better because of two reasons:

1) We won’t have any choice
2) A lot of the things that stress us out will be gone

Let Me Explain

When we say “we won’t have any choice”, I’m not implying that migraineurs choose to have migraines. 99.9% of the time, we don’t. However, our bodies seem to choose to go into rebellion mode whenever we run into the chipper and shredders of life like paying for health care costs, not getting a raise and having to deal with the evil dark shadow on civilization that is Tom Cruise.

We also might sleep better and get to shoot and eat the 1% of the super rich who thrive off the misery of the rest of us. My head feels better already just from thinking about it.

But until then, viva drugs. Sleep tight, kids.

If sheep, spectacular scenery and bungee jumping weren’t enough, here’s yet another good reason to move to New Zealand. Maxalt MLT (rizatriptan benzoate) is now being fully funded by the government there through subsidies. The estimated 400,000 migraineurs in New Zealand would cheer, but that would be too painful.

What Is Maxalt MLT?

This is a fast acting triptan that you don’t need to swallow (a plus for those you are prone to sudden extreme nausea during migraines). It’s a 10 mg wafer that dissolves on your tongue. Some clinical studies show that the drug can work as quickly as thirty minutes after taking it, although the average time is about an hour. It came out in 1998 and has been legal in New Zealand for some time — although paying for it made it far out of reach for most. You can legally get it on over 60 countries, including Canada, England and the United States.

What If You Live In America?

It’s a shame this kind of stuff can’t happen in other countries like the US. But then again, health care is not seen as a right in America. The governement health services are apparantly too cash-strapped to help out the millions of migrainuers in America — or any American with just about any sickness, aliment or injury known to mankind.

And heaven forbid the governement tries to take one penny of profit away from Big Pharma. Who would pay them off for turning the other way when they are in office? Although the massive profits and the words “price gauging” is now under investigation from Big Oil, Satan will be skating to work before any Congressperson aims the words “proice gauging” in the direction of Big Pharma.

I can’t be the only one who sees a new Maxalt MLT drug route happening from New Zealand to America. Great — turf wars over triptans. Gives “trippin’” a whole new meaning.

To get you hooked, Merck is offering a 3 pill trial offer, pending a prescription from your doctor. This offer ends on New Year’s Eve, 2008.

OK, calm down, all of you REM fans. This isn’t about a new song or anything. (However, “Daysleeper” from Up does accurately describe working the night shift as “colored headache grey”. Brilliant. I couldn’t resist adding that video, too.) I was parusing YouTube again, wondering about art based on migraine pain, aura and other physical and mental issues, when I came across this privately made video, which consists of a slideshow set to REM’s immortal “Losing My Religion”.

Is It Any Good?

I still haven’t decided whether I like this YouTube musical slideshow or not. I don’t know where the art is from or how many artists worked on it or even who the artists were, for that matter. All of that information is kindly left out of the YouTube video description. In one sense, I like that, because a detailed description can give you preconceived notions that can interfere with your enjoyment of a video.

Personally, I think “Daysleeper” sounds more like a migraine. So I have both up for your comparison. Then, of course, there’s “Everybody Hurts” and “It’s the End of the World As We Know It (and I feel fine).”

And remeber, REM is no stranger to head pain. Their drummer Bill Berry decided to leave the band after suffering from an aneuyrism on stage. I’m still amazed he survived — and so is he, apparently.

Warning: there are images in the slideshow which may be a wee bit disturbing. Well, it’s apparantly about migraines, so being disturned just goes naturally under thant subject heading.

Why Losing My Religion?

No explanation is given as to why the song “Losing My Religion” was chosen. The subject matter has nothing to do with migraines, although it does have a lot to do with suffering. The title is Southern American slang for “I’m breaking up with my significant other”. However, the song is vague enough to put your own interpetation on, so perhaps that’s why it was chosen.

Enjoy. Or not. I don’t mean to sound bossy.