Dealing With Headaches

Last year, when my Mom was getting consultations for spinal sugery, (which turned out to be successful), we walked into her surgeon’s office. It was stacked with trays of gourmet food. “Ah,” said Mom. “I see the drug reps have been here.”

“I don’t prescribe drugs,” said the surgeon, and then laughed at the absurdity of his statement.

Mom’s surgeon will still be able to get free food sent to his office by representatives of Big Pharma, but that’s about it. All of the free office supplies emblazoned with logos (making a pen, coffe mug or notepad look like it was ready for NASCAR). All of that has now been banned by the Phramecuetical and Research Manufacturers of America (The ban is, of course, just in America). The ban takes effect in January, 2009.

Why The Free Stuff?

Since doctors are the only legal people to prescribe drugs, companies make sure they court evey doctor they come across with the same ardour as Howard Hughes collecting actresses (except the doctors see the drug reps a lot more than Hughes was suppossed to see his harem). They shower doctors with all kinds of goodies — not just lunches and office supplies. Years ago, doctors were given such perks as free vacations, free concert tickets or even free small appliances. They got all of this whether they actually prescribed the company’s drugs or not.

Those more expensive gifts were dropped to legal pressure on Big Pharma to stop wasting on so much money pimping their drugs. That’s when the first annoying drug television ad campaign hit American airwaves. Big Pharma does anything it can to keep the costs of their drugs high — and that means big bucks spent in advertising. In this way, they can “justify” costs.

No Free Lunch

Gradually, the general public and lawmakers are catching on to all of Big Pharma’s tricks. This ban is the latest modification to start forcing Big Pharma to lower the costs of their products. It remains to be seen whether Big Pharma will actually lower their costs — chances are, they will just find some other way of blowing a huge bundle on advertising. I can just see Imitrex logos now on race cars.

The Non-Profit Group No Free Lunch offers a “pen anmesty program” where it offers to replace pens that doctors would otherwise receive from drug companies. The doctors have to send the drug-emblazoned pens to them in exchange for pristine pens that only have the brand of the penmaker on them. The group then donates the evil druggie pens “to a worthwhile cause”.

Just on a personal note, when my doctors discover that I am a freelance writer, I suddenly get showered with pens before I leave the office. The pen I’m using right now (when not on the keyboard, that is) has a Zaditor logo on it (Zaditor has nothing to do with treating any medical problem I have, sadly). My doctors are clearly as sick of free pens from drug companies as the Pharmecuetical Reasearch and Manufactuerers of America.

However, they won’t give me any of their coffee mugs.

This post is aimed more for American readers. My apologies to non-American readers. You can go look at Brad Pitt photos here.

Anyway, American Migraineurs…

A petition to Congress has been started by Diana Lee of Headache Blog Carnival and Somebody Heal Me fame. It’s currently up on iPeteitions.com. This is a non-profit site, so expect to be asked for a donation after you electronically sign the petition.

This petition is to ask Congress to rethink the Energy Independence & Security Act of 2007, which suggests all public places replace their lighting with CFL bulbs. (I’m really paraphrasing the Act here, so if I painted the picture of potential public lighting with too broad a brush, I apologize.) These bulbs have been proven to trigger migraines in the headache-prone.

Although the makers of CFL bulbs constantly say their bulbs do not flicker, they sure do. It’s very slight, but it is enough to make my life and the lives of many other American migraineurs miserable. I can’t have them in my house. I hate to think I’ll be trapped in my house because I can’t tolerate the lighting anywhere else. I think they’re a great idea, but needs a design overhaul to elimnate the flickering.

What About the Planet

Considering all of the crap things we humans are doing to the planet, lightbulbs are really far down the list. Cutting out human overpopulation, strengthening public transportation, curbing our ridiculous buying habits, dropping our consumption of red meat and taxing the tar out of Big Oil will should be far up on our priority list because they have far more impact ont he planet than trying to these little piddling things like ban cigarette smoking, ban trans fats and change out lightbulbs.

There is no magic bullet to climate change and the environmental crisis. Heck, in the state of Pennsylvannia, you can’t even get the citizens to agree that there IS such a thing as a climate crisis. But making everyone in the country use light bulbs that make us sick is not going to help anything exept get the 30 million or so American migraineurs really ticked off.

Thank you and good light…I mean, good night!

Thanks as always to Diana Lee for hosting a fabulous Headache & Migraine Blog Carnival for most of the months of this year. It almost makes having chronic headaches and migraines worth while (almost, mind). As you can tell from this posts title, this months blg carny focused on “Migraines & Spirituality“, although anyone experiencing a head pain from all demoniminations and sects are invited.

My Top Picks

Personally, I feel that this is one of the strongest carnivals yet of the series. There’s nothing like trying to attach some meaning to your suffering in order to help you bear the pain. Although not all of the posts dealt with the specific topic, they did tie in and are interesting reads in and of their own right.

The best title for this month’s blog carnival goes to Rain Gem for Visualization Techniques for Migraines, Headaches, Pain and Increasing Breast Size. For some people, the female breast is certainly a religion. For females like me, they are merely twin sources of headaches. Check out the fluffy kitten picture.

The best common sense for those with migraines goes to Rhymes with Migraine’s On Migraines and a Path to Harmony. Don’t let the title fool you. It’s a very down to earth post that probably could apply to a lot of people today.

The Me, Me, Me award goes to my own Could Migraines Try to Help Us Cope with Stress? from one of the other blogs I write for, Where We Relax. Remember, if you are looking for a name for a band, why not try Comatose Locusts?

And the best post that sums it all up is yet another brilliantly written post from Megan at Free My Brain from Migraine Pain called God Grant Me the Serenity to Accept the Migraines I Cannot Change.

If I didn’t mention your post here, it’s not because it was poorly written or anything like that. It just didn’t catch my fancy today. Not your fault — mine.

Next Month

The theme for August’s Blog Carnival is yet another good topic, “Handling People who Don’t Get Migraines or Headaches”. Entries are due Friday, August 8th. You don’t get paid, but you do get mega publicity and access to information you might otherwise miss. Your blog does not have to be about head pains in particular, but the post should be related to headaches or migraines in some fashion.

See you next month!

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.

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.

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 Narcotis: 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.

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.

Actually, the NHF’s YouTube channel went up late last month and I’ve only just discovered it now. What can I tell you? I get headaches. They eat up your time researching for blog posts and goofing around on YouTube. The National Headache Foundation wanted to be sure there were some videos available in time for this week, National Headache Awareness Week.

There are only eight videos up as of this writing, but they do give some good general information geared at people who DON’T get chronic headaches. At least, this is my impression. For example, the “Headache Overview” film (seen below) mentions that most people get at least one headache during the course of their lives. I think those of us who get chronic headaches already figured that out. But there is a lot of ignorance and intolerance about migraines and chronic headaches by those who don’t suffer from them, so any easily digestible information is welcomed by me.

So, celebrate National Headache Week by taking in the National Headache Foundation’s YouTube channel. It’s yet another good excuse to devote precious hours of your mortal life at YouTube.

(And try to ignore the background music sounding alarmingly like an eighties soft-core porn film’s soundtrack. Not that I would know.)

A blog post about my English Mongrel Pony made it to May’s Headache & Blog Carnival, and I’ve already gottena couple of compliments on how cute Pony is. Actually, the doggy in Walking Dog Helps Ease My Head Pain is NOT my dog. I didn’t have a scanner then. Now I do, and so here is a picture of Pony (and me) when we both lived in Bath, England. Let’s see if I can get the image to work on WordPress, shall we?

Exercise And Migraines

This month’s topic was handling exercise even when you suffer from chronic headaches or migraines. Although you won’t feel like moving, regular exercise can help lessen your pain intensity and duration. It also helps with just about every other physical aspect of your health. And, as usual, the blog carnival will also exercise your brain and your smiling muscles when you read it.

Some of the articles that really stuck out to me were:

• Calming Down the Migraine Brain by Megan Oltman, the poet who doesn’t know it from Free My Brain From Migraine Pain. This focuses on how to relax even when life sucks. Practical and doable stuff.
• Teri Robert at My Migraine Connection offers a post I wish I had written with a killer title, 10 Ways for Migraineurs to Sneak in Some Exercise. Because if we consiously make the decision to exercise, God knows we never will. Unless, of course, you live with Pony. Then you wont have much of a choice.
• The MAV Experience (aka Pat) also extolls the cirtues of dogs, the Great Outdoors and elephants re-enacting Riverdance with Keeping Active When Your Body Says No.
• And when the body can’t be budged, but your inner you can, here’s Kerrie’s Mindfulness & Meditation: An Introduction. (You have to scroll down a little bit to actually get to the post).

If I haven’t mentioned your post that made it onto the blog, it’s not because of your writing abilities, it’s because I suck.

As always, please don’t use any of these posts of blog carnivals in the place of a qualified doctor’s diagnosis and recommendations.

Next month’s topic is “How to Have a Fun, Healthy Vacation in Spite of Your Migraines” hosted at Somebody Heal Me. I think I’ll skip submitting anything for that one, but I’m looking forward to reading everyone else’s tips and tricks. Remember, you don’t have to have a blog specifically devoted to heads or head pains in order to submit. You don’t get money, but you do get a lot of traffic and you have a chance of getting mentioned on this blog.

(Ooo. Ahh.)

AHHH!!! Tom Cruise made me forget!!!

Perhaps you are not the only one who has completely forgotton about the submission deadline for May’s Blog Carnival. I know I have. Well, there are a few hours left to sneak that submission in under the wire. Entries are due midnight tonight. The topic is “Migraines and Physical Activity: How do You Remain Active?”

Although it might seem contradictory, light regular exercise can help reduce the frequency and intensity of chronic headaches and migraines. It also helps in getting you regular sleep (lack of sleep can make you more prone to chronic headaches and migraines). I’m not advocating moving when the migraine has it’s teeth into you, but exercising when you can. Although if you know of ways to still be active when the migraine’s teeth is clamping down hard, please share…please.

I’ve got to admit that sometimes when in a migraine attack, I get really bored after a few hours go by and I can’t sleep. When the worst of the pain wears off, and my hands stop shaking, I sometimes go back to work on the computer just because I’m so bored. I don’t really recommend this, but my wallet does.

This month, the carnival is being hosted at Atomic City. It’ll be published on Monday, May 12 (the day after Mother’s Day, hint hint).

Your blog doesn’t have to be exclusively about head pains (such as this one). But your article does need to be on the web so a link can be set for it for all the blogosphere to read. If you think your article would be of general benefit for people with chronic headaches or migraines, give it a try and submit it. There’s not money involved, but it gives your blog incredible publicity. And, personally, I’ve gotten a lot of helpful information from the incredible writers out there in BlogLand.

Well, I’ve got to go and try to beat this deadline before I forget. For more information about where to send your submission, topics for the summer months and if you would like to host a future Headche & Migraine Blog Carnival, go to Somebody Heal Me. If you’d rather skip this month’s carnival (or are reading this after midnight tonight), next month’s topic is “How to Have a Fun, Healthy Vacation — In Spite of Your Migraines”.

Have a pain-free weekend, everybody.

Right. My fabulously expensive health insurance card has finally arrived in my hot little hand and I was able to get some much needed Prozac. Now, with a level head and a little less frothing at the mouth, let us turn now to this month’s Headache Blog Carnival, once again generously hosted by Diane Lee at Somebody Heal Me. This month’s theme was “Strategies for coping with headaches and migraines”.

There were a TON of selections this month (blame Tom Cruise) and here are the ones I gravitated to immediately:

• Megan at the wonderfully titled Free My Brain From Migraine Pain blog has an equally wonderfully entitled article called Coping, Hoping, Moping And Other Strategies. Here, Megan becomes a willing lab rat in order to help science stumble onwards. Check out the ticker “How many days since my last migraine?”
• A thought provoking little article by Eileen Gray is Fighting the Good Fight from My Life With Migraine (at least it’s not My Dinner With Godzilla). She also gives her personal acount of life with Topamax.
• A blogger named simply Anthony (like Madonna or Sting) on the interestingly (but weirdly) named Joyful Digesting postulates on what might be causing some kinds of headaches with Your GI Problems May Be Giving You A Headache! Heck, everything else in my life seems to be hurting my head — why not acid reflux, too?
• Now with cool kitten pictures, RainGem researched an intersting link list entitled 18 Best Sites fro Migraine and Headache News. (Erm, shouldn’t that really be 19 Best sites, RainGem? Blatant hint?)

There were a lot of selections this month, and I’m sorry if I didn’t mention everyone. This is not a reflection on anyone’s writing ability. Actually, I haven’t had time to read the entire April Headache Blog Carnival yet. (Story of my life).

Next month, Diane is taking a break and so the carny will be held at Atomic City, hosted by Bobblehead. Hey, I feel better already.

Here’s a book I highly recommend for everyone, especaily people who go through chronic often-misunderstood ailments like cluster headaches or migraines. The author, Viktor Frankl, survived two Nazi concentration camps (including Auschwitz) and writes a bit about life in the camps, but them mostly about how anyone can find the will to survive when they think there’s a point to life. (The original German title translated to Saying Yes to Life Reguardless instead of Man’s Search for Meaning).

Get rid of all those self-help or thinking positively Louise Hay crapola. I mean, seriously — who do you think knows more about handling the sucky areas of life — an Auschwitz survivor, or someone who chats with Oprah?

Ok, A Migraine Ain’t Auschwitz, But…

Those of us with chronic pain often feel like we are helpless under totalitarian figures. Our pain tortures us at whim, no seems to believe us and getting any relief costs a fortune, which means we often have to choose between healthcare and necessities like food and the rent. There are many days when I think, “What’s the effing use? No matter how hard I try, I’m still gonna fail.”

Frankl’s book isn’t full of self-pity or rage against the Nazis. He’s a bit like a twentieth century Job. Bad things happen because bad things happen — end of argument. Get on with getting through the bad times instead of railing at the injustice of it all. Frankl reasons that he and all other concentration camp survivors manged to live because they thought there was a greater meaning to their lives. Everyone found their own meaning.

Viktor’s meaning was to survive long enough to write a book and teach others about logotherapy in which by finding a meaning to our lives, we can become healthier (or at least be able to get on with life).

Perhaps yours is to put food on the table for your family. Both are equally noble purposes.

Granted, there are many medical conditions which are the patient’s fault, in a way (especailly those who choose to smoke and drink), but chronic pain and migraine disease aren’t among them. If you are tired of all the self-help books which blame you for all your medical migraines and depression (such as You Can Heal Your Life by the afore-mentioned Louise Hay) and want some REAL comfort, then I recommed Man’s Search for Meaning.

Hope this helps.

Whoops! If you’ve been putting off sending anything to the April Headache Blog Carnival over at Somebody Heal Me, then you better get your skates on. Submissions close at midnight TONIGHT. You don’t need to have a blog that deals exclusinvely with headaches and migraines; just as long as your post is up on the blogoshpere somewhere where we can link to it, that’s really all you need.

The Headache Blog Carnivals usually orbit around a theme, and April’s is no exception. This month, it’s “your best coping strategies for headaches and migraines”. However, if you have a post that would be of particular interest to those with chronic head pains, then Diane urges you to give it a try. Past Headache Blog Carnivals have been like the Migraineur’s Reader’s Digest of information and really interesting reads. Let’s see what magic we can mixup this time, eh?

Let’s see if I can remember to shoot that Tom Crusie post over before midnight tonight (if I forget, then I can blame Tom. In fact, if YOU forget, you can also blame Tom. I mean, what CAN’T you blame on Tom? It’s all so simple, really.)

Diane Lee, who hosts the Carnival, says she needs a few things along with your submisssion:

1) The name of your blog
(2) The address of your blog
(3) The name of your post
(4) The address of your post
(5) A brief description (2-3 lines or less) of your post

Or, you can just go over to Somebody Heal Me to see the new design changes and get filled in on the medical news of help to those with chronic pain that often shoots right over my head.

Get writing and posting and emailing to Diane at SomebodyHealMe@DianeLee.net and have a pain free weekend.

And if you don’t have a pain free weekend, then it’s all Tom Cruise’s fault.

Whenever I get a migraine or severe headache (I get several kinds — lucky me), I always try to remind myself that I could have it a lot worse. And here is one of those stories to remind all of us with migraines and chronic headaches that we could have it much worse, too.

So, what’s worse than migraines or cluster headaches?

How about going onto an Internet forum to find advice and solidarity from fellow sufferers and then have it hacked into by sadists who suddenly flash animated gifs at you to trigger migraines and eplieptic seizures?

Yipperdoodle, that might do it.

A lot of epileptics also have migraines, which is one reason I’m venting about this here. About 3% of epileptics can have migraines and severe seizures (even grand mal seizures) triggered by flashing lights.

I Wish I Was Making This Up

I found this story (appropriately entitled “Pure Concentrated Evil”) from Topix, which in turn found it from the blog Scribal Terror, who in turn found it from Wired, who got it from God, I guess. Or perhaps the Epilepsy Foundation, which ran the forum.

It is currently thought that the hackers were members of Anonymous, but that’s just a theory and nothing’s been proven yet. The Wired article went on to report this:

Circumstantial evidence suggests the attack was the work of members of Anonymous, an informal collective of griefers best known for their recent war on the Church of Scientology. The first flurry of posts on the epilepsy forum referenced the site EBaumsWorld, which is much hated by Anonymous. And forum members claim they found a message board thread — since deleted — planning the attack at 7chan.org, a group stronghold.

But you know how the Web is — we’ll probably never find out who did it and even if we did, we might not have enough evidence to prove it.

But Whoever It Turns Out To Be

There was no reason for the attack or to target eplieptics. It sounds as if, perhaps, somebody needs a part time job? Hanging’s too good for them. We should hang them, bury them, then unbury them and shoot them. And then pee on them, for good measure.

On that happy mental picture, have a pain free weekend.

Diane Lee at Somebody Heal Me Blog was to helpfully host another blog carnival for all of us suffering from migraines and chronic headaches. However, the migraines came knocking (presumably) and so the carnival was unexpectedly shifted to Teri Robert at My Migraine Connection.

Well, part of the fun of a carnival is trying to find it, eh?

Last month, the Blog Carnial focused on Love & Migraines (more or less the same thing, really) and this month it’s Friends & Migraines (and we ain’t talkin’ the TV show.) The theme, more specifically, is advice on how to maintain friendships when you have migraines or chronic headaches.

Highlights

• “It’s A Migraine, My Friends” from the best named migraine blog in the universe, Free My Brain From Migraine Pain, written by migraineur Megan. It’s a longer post than usual, but worth the time to read. She’s had a much, much better time of keeping friends than most people with migraines. It’s nice to know these people exist.
• Over at The Daily Headache, there’s a Letter To People Without Chronic Pain that you can shove in the face of those “friends” who think you are faking the pain. Another helping is about guilt we feel when our migraines let our friends down. Thank you, Kerrie.
• Lori Jewett at Between Us Girls, which deals with all kinds of woemen’s issues other than head pain, brings us “Migraione Pain — What’s A Girl To Do?” (Why, suffer, of course!) This is an overview of migraines for those who haven’t a clue as to what they are.

Am I In It?

Somehow, I’m in the Friends & Migraines Blog Carnival twice (The Daily Headache also has two). I’m greatly complimented. Send me Prozac. Posts are “Friends and Migraines” and “Animal Magic for Headaches”. I’ve had tremendous bad luck trying to keep human friends who did not have chronic pain, but amazingly good luck with animal friends.

Next month, Diane Lee intends on hosting the Blog Carnival, but no topic has been picked out yet. The Blog Carnival is open to any blogger who might have a post that would interest those with chronic head pains. Sorry — no money is invloved. But you do get publicity.