Dealing With Headaches

I forgot all about submitting to the March 2009 edition of the Headache and Migraine Blog Carnival. (DUH!) And I get two reminders, as well. I guess I could blame the ear raisins for blocking my memory neurons as well as my ear canals.

This month’s blog topic was admittedly a tough subject to write about this time around — creating a migraine-friendly environment. This means living in a way to keep migraines at a minimum, not inviting them inside your home to party. This is best expressed in Diana Lee’s Coping with a Migraine: My Three Step Approach. (Meds, darken the room, get as comfy as possible).

Other Links

Since I screwed up in forgettting to submit an article to this blog carnival, I thought I’d bounce around the web and find a few hopefully helpful websites about how to best survive a migraine attack. Think of this as March 2009 Headache Blog Carnival, Part 2:

• Living With Migraines: What to Expect is a HubPages testimony of one young migraineur’s struggle with her chronic pain. The article stumbles a bit in the beginning, but smooths out once she gets going. There are some nice tips in side grey boxes. She also can’t use triptans like Imitrex because of the cost (something many migrainuers can identify with).
• Migraine Prevention: Early Success by the ever-reliable Megan Oltman includes a very important tip for all migraineurs — keep your voices down when discussing migraine treatments or the migraine monsters might hear and come get you. These monsters are the offspring of Sod’s Law. Another important tip — don’t skip breakfast or lunch.
• And, for general all around advice about migraines, there’s Migraine Headaches: Ways to Deal with the Pain over at FamilyDoctor.org.

Let’s see if I forget to submit an article for next month’s blog carnival, which won’t have a theme. Darn, now I have too many choices!

Two years ago, my Mom almost died from Staph-A contracted from a dirty needle at a doctor’s private office. Thankfully, she was saved by an emergency crew at a hospital where the evil doctor does not work. Lawyers have told us that it will be impossible to prosecute this doctor because it would be impossible to prove the needle was dirty. (Long story).

Anyway, if you are entering a hospital or or at a doctor’s office getting blood tests for whatever reason, you need to speak up when you know the medical people working on you are screwing up. They are not perfect and you are just one of a thousand patients they will see that day. Scream bloody murder should any of the following happens:

• The nurse/doctor will not wash their hands
• The nurse/doctor drops a needle on the floor and picks it up to use it on you anyway
• The nurse/doctor does not clean the injection site prior to injecting you
• The nurse/doctor calls you by the wrong name
• The nurse/doctor is about to give you a new medication you are allergic to. Never assume they know what drugs you are allergic to. If you are conscious, you must have them tell you what drugs they are about to give you

This clip was made by the New Jersey chapter of AARP and focuses on a surgical error, but it can work for just about any other state or country. Doctors and pharmacists do not have to report any errors they perform, even years later when the error is confirmed. So, until some laws change, you have to look out for yourself when in a doctor’s office or hospital.

When I moved back home with my Mom, she hadn’t quite remembered that I had migraines. At one point, she was convinced I had carbon monoxide poisoning and so got a carbon monoxide detector, which of course showed that the carbon monoxide level in the house was okay (except when the dog ran by it, for some reason, then that would set it off.) I’m not sure why she thought I had carbon monoxide poisoning while she didn’t, but that’s a subject for another blog post.

But Seriously

But one of the first symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning is a very severe headache. Soon after that (depending on how much carbon monoxide you’re inhaling), you get nausea, dizzy, sleepy and disorentated. You really need to get help before the mental confusion sets in, or you’re screwed.

This kind of headache comes on suddenly and tends to cause pain on both sides of the head. I did have carbon monoxide poisoning twice in my life that I know of (looong story), and that was the pain I felt. The doses I was exposed to were apparently quite high, so my experience may be atypical.

Low Dose Exposure

Usually, when you hear about some poor soul dying of carbon monoxide poisoning, they were sitting in a car with the engine on. They fell asleep and that’s that.

It is possible to get very low doses of carbon monoxide over a long period of time and not die quickly like people in running cars. In this case, you feel like you have the flu, including headaches and nausea.

Yes, I am aware that the title of this blog is Dealing With Headaches, but fear of geting Alzheimer’s is a very real fear for many people with migraines and chronic headaches. One head problem can so easily lead to another head problem. According to a new study from Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, the culprit for Alzheimer’s may also be the culprit for some headaches: low blood sugar.

Brain Makes Glucose

For the last few years, scientists have wondered if Alzheimer’s is really Diabetes Type III, because the brain makes glucose and not just the pancreas. Sugar is good for your head, in a way (as long as it’s blood sugar). The new study theorizes that when the brain is depreived or starved of glucose, then this triggers the beginning of Alzheimer’s.

How do they know that? Alzheimer’s patients have “sticky clumps of protein” (amyloid plagues) inside of the arteries in the brain. It’s thought that those clumps are produced by an enzyme (BACE1)which is caused by a protein known as “elF2alpha” (which I swear was on a vanity license plate I saw last week). But what causes the proteiun — well, that’s kinda the mystery. But it’s now thought the process starts by the brain not getting enough oxygen and glucose.

The study worked on the brains of mice and humans in order to come to its conclusions.

Preventing Alzheimer’s

The study gave some recommendations for preventing brain malnourishment — and they are very close to recommendations for depressives, diabetics, migraineurs or those with chronic headaches. These tips include:

• Regular exercise. This helps keep the arteries in all your body parts working, not just your brain. This can slso help with stress, which can contibute to the next tip.
• Manage hyptertension (high blood pressure) and do whatever you can to avoid high blood pressure. This includes regular exercise, eating a low-fat diet, not smoking and not abusing alcohol (which is all calories and no nutrition). Of course, you still need to see your doctor for help in this area, too.
• Manage your stress, preferably through non-chemical ways. Stress can make you make very unhealthy food choices or make you want to smoke and drink in the first place. The study didn’t recommend any particular type of stress management technique.

Hope this helps.

Well, the easiest hangover remedy is just not to drink alcohol. That clears that problem up pretty darn quick. But, that kind of thinking is too logical for most people on New Year’s Eve, so let’s list some hangover remedies you’ll need tomorrow morning — even though you really don’t deserve it because you were so stupid.

Don’t you hate smug teetotalars? (Evil grin).

Anyway, let’s proceed:

Prevention

If you’re determined to have a hangover the next morning, at least make the misery a little more bearable. Well, that’s the thoery at least. I have yet to see these work with anyone, but if you’re in for a penny, in for pound:

• Eat a lot of almonds before drinking
• Eat a lot of peanut butter before drinking
• Take two teaspoons of evening primrose oil before drinking. And if you can afford evening primrose oil, you should be able to afford to hire someone to have your hangover for you.
• Wear an amethyst. I always love this one. It never works, and yet go to a party and see how many drunk people are wearing amethysts.

Food Remedies

There are a whole bunch of foods that help ease the transition back to planet Earth. Of course, back in my college days when I stupid enough to drink, I tried a lot of these and none of them worked. However, I had such a low tolerance for alcohol than one four-pack could make me drunk for a week. But, who knows? Trying something makes you feel useful and can help distract you from the pounding pain behind your eyeballs. These include:

• Chicken soup
• Ginger tea or candied ginger
• The juice of one fresh lemon added to a cup of black coffee (okay, this is a new one for me)
• Raw cabbage (because, honestly, what other time are you going to eat it?)
• An apple or a bananna eaten as soon as you can become vertical.
• A teaspoon of honey every twenty minutes as soon as you realize you can move.
• Peppermint anything (except schnapps). This one though, can help ease a turbulent tummy, whether it’s a peppermint hard candy, peppermint tea or snorting peppermint essential oil.

Reassure Yourself

It could be worse. Much worse. You could wake up after a night of drinking and feel no hangover at all. That’s the sign of an alcoholic. So, having a hangover is good, in avery teeny-tiny way.

Surgeons in Arizona operating on 37 year old Rosemary Alvarez’ brain were surprised to find a worm angrily cursing them out at the place they expected a brain tumor to be. Lo and behold, it turns out that the squatter in her brain was a tapeworm. The species has the Latinized name of Teania solium.

The good news is that Rosemary Alvarez is expected to make a full recovery, although currently is experiencing “a numb feeling in the back of her head”.

The bad news is that after making a full recovery, Rosemary Alvarez has to spend the rest of her life realizing a worm was in her brain. Makes Alien look like Mother Goose, doesn’t it? I hope she doesn’t have to spend the rest of her life being the butt of fish bait jokes. (”Ah, we’re out of bait. Better call Rosemary.”)

Oh, To Be A Fly On The Wall

Can you imagine having to explain this to this poor woman and her anxious family after her operation? Hear that sound? That’s lawyers drooling.

I wonder if there was a moment when the doctors thought they should lie and say it was brain tumor after all, just to keep the patient from going into shock.

This Does Not Mean That There’s A Worm In Your Head

Now that you’ve read this, you’re probably wondering what the chances are that a tapeworm has taken residence in your grey matter. The chances are actually quite slim. If you eat meat and prefer it cooked, then you prevent a lot of chances of contracting tapeworm. If you routinely wash your hands after going to the toilet, then you prevent even more chances of getting tapeworm.

It’s unknown just how the tapeworm came to be in this poor woman’s head. I doubt if it was the Tooth Fairy’s evil twin visiting. The leading theory is that she ate pork that was handles by a cook that had fecal matter on his or her hands.

Rosemary Alvarez realized something was wrong when she had trouble swallowing and felt numb in one arm. Good thing she then went to a doctor.

I don’t drive anymore. That’s not because of my migraines — it’s because my vision has deteriorated. But I did drive for nearly ten years, with or without migraines. I had to miss time off of work not because I couldn’t do the job when I got there (migraines or not), but because I could not drive when in the full grip of a migraine. Heck — when a migraine had me in it’s teeth, I couldn’t even find my car, let alone drive it.

Now, I’m lucky enough to telecommute. But not everyone who has migraines is so lucky. Often, not driving is not optional. You could be in the middle of a family vacation and have to get to the next hotel where you’ve already paid one night; you could have to drive for your job; you could have to get someone to the hospital — there’s all kinds of circumstances where driving may be unavoidable, even if you have a migraine.

Store In Glove Compartment

Take out some of the junk in your glove compartment and stick a bottle of pain killers in there. Stick in an extra pair of sunglasses if you have to. If you know that a certain smell helps you relax (lavender, for example), then keep a small bottle of lavender essential oil in there to sniff in case of emergency.

At the first sign that a migraine is on it’s way or if you start getting an aura, you need to pull over into the nearest safe parking place and take your pills and sniff your aromatherapy oil.

Before Driving

You need to eat regularly if you are prone to migraines or chronic headaches. There’s more an more evidence floating to the surface that having unpredictable meal times can trigger bad headaches. If you know that you are in for a long trip, keep some snack in the car or pack a little lunch box.

If you are caffeine dependant (like me), then you need to plan on having a break in driving just to have a good dose of caffeine. Either that, or keep caffeine-laden painkillers in your glove compartment.

While Driving

If you are driving in pain, keep breathing deeply. I find that some music helps me take my mind off some of the pain. I also find that complaining about my pain takes care of the rest. Praise yourself for still driving, even when you have a migraine.

As always, please don’t use this blog post as a substitute for your doctor’s advice.

Ok, that’s a corny title, but in one sense, it’s true. I did begin a headache before Mom and I left to go vote. It could have mutated into a migraine, but thankfully, I won’t know. When I felt pressure on a few points of my head, I just popped one Execedrin and crossed my fingers. By the time we were done voting, all traces of the pressure was gone.

Oh, Rena, Come On!

I’ll be the first to admit that it was probably sheer coincidence that all traces of the headache went away as soon as I voted. Mom and I decided to plan our whole day around voting. It was predicted that the lines would be long around the greater Philadelphia area, so we decided to get up at the ungodly hour of 8am to vote early.

And, of course, I had to be stupid enough to watch television until late last night, making sure that I wouldn’t get the sleep I needed in order to throw off a sleep deprivation headache. So, I guess I was a little tense this morning.

Planning Life Around Your Headache

When you have chronic headaches or migraines, just trying to plan a day trip can be an adventure in nerves. You never know when the tiny terrorist in your head is going to set off another blast. Anticipation of getting a headahce at the worst possible time can trigger a cycle that gives you a headache.

What I do is that I just plan on getting the headache. Sometimes this works — sometimes this backfires. For example, I popped an Excedrin at the first hint of a headache. I’ve been having headaches for so long that I can practically smell them coming. But it’s not a good idea to just pop an over the counter pain killer as a preventative medicine. That’s hard on the stomach and can lead to other health problems.

So, what I usually do is walk around with a backpack or large bag that includes a bottle of tap water, Excedrin and sunglasses. That way, if I’m far from home and a migraine should hit, I can at least take the edge off until I can come home and completely collapse. And really, isn’t that what America is all about?

Yeah, I hear you — I can kiss that dream job at MSNBC goodbye.

“We’re cursed. This doesn’t happen to any other city. Only here.” — Soaked Phillies fan Steve Levay, quotes in the Philadelphia Inquirer.

If you are thinking of traveling, phoning or even emailing anyone in the greater Philadelphia area — DON’T. As you’ve probably heard by now, the Philadelphia Philles are in some big sporting event and was looking to have a parade today. Didn’t happen. The game was suspended due to rain, rain and rain. That’s left a lot of people cranky.

The continuing icy mini-monsoon of today’s weather certainly hasn’t helped. I watched the garbage men (sanitation engineers) work today, shrouded in their neon-yellow rain slickers. I don’t remember them ever kicking and punching the trash cans like that before.

It’s not exactly Murphy’s Law, or Sod’s Law. It’s more like Philly Law.

I’d Rather Be In Philadelphia?

One of the reasons I stopped watching Philly sports teams on TV is that I really don’t ned the stress and the headaches. And when you are rooting for a Philly sports team, the headaches are not just metaphorical. With the stress, the holding of the breath, the bizarre plays, the shock of disbelief — this does stress your body out and can trigger headaches in those who are migraine-prone.

I now only follow the Philly sports scene from a very far distant place — I read about it in the newspapers the next day and see the highlights on the local news stations when I’m in the mood for a good laugh and have fully digested my Excedrin dose.

I slipped last year and actually watched a few minutes of the Flyers (or was it the Eagles?) when they were in the playoffs. Not suprizingly, they lost and that was it for their season. So now, I think the best way I can root for the Philly sports teams is not watching a single second of the game as it’s being played.

This also saves more time for me to get regular sleep and make wiser food choices. When I’m in front of the television for a sporting event like the Olympics or the Presidential election, I tend to have incredible cravings for junk food. And then it’s hard to keep track of just how much I’ve eaten. Having your diet and sleep patterns thrown off can also trigger headaches.

Someone please send everyone in Philly a free bottle of Excedrin.

No matter what clinical study, health care book or newspaper article you read, the importance of early detection is stressed. We’re going through the whole rounds of storoes about breast self-checks and mammagrams since October is now Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Urban legends and true stories litter our subconscious, such as the tragic death of Jim Henson, who may still be alive today if he decided to take his flu a little more seriously.

The Pros

The medical experts are correct in that early detection of a new or really strange problem is often the best first step to lead to a successful cure. But in the case of Migraines or chronic headaches, a cure is often a Holy Grail that’s lost in time and space.

But annual checkups can help you get to know your doctor better and help communicate with him or her better. This helps keep you in the doctor’s mind, so if he or she suddenly hears of a new treatment or drug, they can suggest it to you, but you have to ask.

The Cons

Annual check ups are free and relatively easy to get as a child, but once you hit 18, you’re on your own. Migraines tend to begin to occur in people’s mid-twnties, long after they’ve been dropped by their parents’ health iunsurance or state child health coverage. The onset of cripplingly painful cluster headaches also happens mostly to adults in their 20’s -40’s. Annual check ups for those suffering chronic headaches and migraines are always recommended. But none of these experts seem to realize that no one except the rich can afford them.

We have laws in several countires requiring yearly inspections of our cars and trucks in order to make them safer and reduce accidents. However, we don’t have anything of the sort for human check ups. Making them required is not enough — they need to be affordable as well, and not just for the rich.

Until that day happens, it’s a pipe dream for the average person to be be able to get yearly check ups at just the primary care doctor — let alone the dentist, the gynecologist or whatever specialist you are doomed to go see. I wish experts would stop recommending annual check ups until they can be affordable.

Getting regular sleep is so important, it’s insane. It’s not only important for emotional reasons, such as helping you concentrate better and keep in things in perspective better, but it also can help you reduce the frequency or intensity of headaches and migraines. This is not to be confused with treatment for insomnia, which needs a more heavy-duty approach. Remember, I’m not a doctor, so please don’t use this article as a substitute for a doctor’s advice.

Sleep Deprivation Headache

Many of us remember our teen age years as bopping from one sleep deprivation headache to another…at least, I do. This is why I don’t really look back in longing to my teen years, even though the music was a heck of a lot better and there weren’t any cell phones.

Don’t Sleep Too Much

You need to get seven hours of sleep per 24. If you’re a woman, you really need eight hours. Small children and people getting over illnesses will need more sleep, too. Unfortunately, with sleep, more is not necessarily better. You can get a miserable sleep deprivation headache — even though you’ve been in bed for thirteen hours.

Too much sleep is just as bad for you as too little sleep. So, the first tip for better sleep is to not get too much sleep.

Keep It Steady

The next tip for better sleep is to get up and go to bed at the same times each day — whether it’s the wekend ot not. I remember as a kid staying up all hours on the weekend and then wondered why I couldn’t get any sleep during school nights. This was because my body was programmed to stay up all night and sleep all day, like I did on the weekends (well, those weekends where I could get away with it).

No OTC Sleeping Pills For Sleep

Over the counter sleeping pills (illegal in the UK but legal in the US) should be used sparingly or avoided altogether. On the whole, they don’t work and you can get addicted to them. They also will not work for the kind of sleep problems where you suddenly wake up in the middle of the night and fall back asleep. Basically, over the counter sleep aids are just decongestants.

There are tons more tips for better sleep I could give you, but let’s just start with those three for now. Hope this helps.

This post is going to focus on caffeine withdrawal migraines, since I know them so intimately. Hopefully, it will have some bearings on your migraines, but if not, I apologize. There are days like today where I pop and Excedrin Migraine pill in order to avoid a migraine (Panadol Extra in the UK). Sometimes it works and sometimes it backfires.

As always, please don’t use this article in the place of your doctor’s advice.

The Pros

If you know that lack of caffeine triggers a migraine, then taking a pill loaded with caffeine when you can’t have a cup of tea or coffee can help head a migraine off at the pass. I had to rush and do errands this morning and only had time for one cup of tea. I didn’t know when I was coming home, so I took one Excedrin migraine before heading out. I do not have amigraine now (knock on wood).

The Cons

Lots of caffeine isn’t good for you. Some people can’t tolerate it at all. I’m embarrassed to be caffeine-dependent, but at least I’m down from three liters of Pepsi a day. Ideally, the best way to get rid of caffeine withdrawla migraines is to cut out caffeine from your life.

However, this requires an excrutiatingly painful cold turkey period that I am not strong enough to go through. So, I’ve gradually been cutting down on caffeine consumption instead.

In conclusion, I’d say that you really have to know your migraine’s triggers before you rely on taking Excedrin as a preventative. If you know that events A, B and C have always resulted in a migraine in the past and now you have to do evnts A, B and C, you better take some medicine. Otherwise, you should only take it after an aura or a migraine starts. You don’t want to get rid of one type of migraine only to develop rebound migraines.

Hope this helps.

I’m currently reading a book entitled Touching Peace: Practicing the Art of Mindful Living by Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh. Although not a book devoted to pain management, he does give an original approach as to how you could deal with your pain.

Greet your pain and treat it with affection as you would a guest in your house. “If you embrace a minor pain with mindfullness, it will be transformed in a few minutes.” (p 30). In my case, the minor pain would be transformed into screaming agony, but I do see his point.

Anticipation and Panic

One of the things Buddhists talk about is mindfulness, which means living in the present moment instead of dwelling on the past or fearing the future. (I know there is a lot more to the concept of mindfullness than that, so to any Buddhists out there, please forgive me). It has long been known that meditation or at least being calm and relaxed can help your pain be less intense.

When you have chronic headaches or migraines, it’s not just the attacks that are fearsome. It’s the time between the attacks, when you are afraid when the next one is going to hit and how severe it’s going to be and how long will you be out of comission and will be able to pay the bills and OHMYGAWD! The fear starts small and then rolls on very quickly to a huge problem.

Being afraid of when the next attack hits puts you in a constant state of stress, which is not goog for healing or to maintain good health. So, your fear can make you more prone to having the very attack you fear. Not being in a constant state of dread can help you in managing your chronic headaches and migraines. It also makes life a lot more comfortable in between attacks.

What To Do

Thich Nhat Hanh gives some suggestions on how to greet your pain with mindfulness. He does not claim to be a doctor and still says you should see a doctor for pain. When you realize a headache or migraine is coming, still take your meds, but also welcome the visit of your pain and even the guest it brings along, Fear.

Say to it, “Hey, how are you? Take a load off. Some weather, huh?” or whatever you would say to a houseguest. Thich Nhat Hanh suggested, “Fear, my old friend, I recognize you.” He also says you should smile at your fear and pain, greeting them as clamly as you can. In this way, they won’t be such bullies.

I’m going to try this approach. It certainly won’t give me any bad side effects.

Today, I was reminded of the importance of eating regularly in the management of migraines. Yes, you still need to take the medication, see your doctor and get a decent amount of sleep, but you also need to eat at times your body is used to. This is harder to do when you’re broke from paying for medication and doctor bills, but if you can afford to eat at least twice a day (even just a slice of bread) then you may be able to help prevent migraine attacks.

Dog Fancy Sucks

I’ve only subscribed to Dog Fancy since June and noticed things were getting weirder and weirder. This morning, I cracked open my October 2008 issue and read a huge editorial denouncing animal rights groups, even animal rights groups working hard to shut down puppy mills, ban chaining dogs to trees for years on end and prosecute dog abusers.

Guess who’s a member of a few animal rights groups.

Now, I don’t mean to turn this post into a discussion of animal rights. Just take the words “animal rights” and insert your favorite cause there — gun rights, free speech rights, human rights, whatever. The point is, the Dog Fancy editorial got me very upset. I was so upset that I couldn’t eat. I decided to burn off the nerves by walking my dog, Pony.

When I came home is when I felt a migraine coming on.

Nausea Sucks

By that time, I could barely look at food, let alone shove it down my gob. But if you manage to get the first three bites down, it gets easier to eat. Your nausea may even subside just from the first couple of bites. If you can’t take pills on an empty stomach, than you need to first take a couple of bites of food (or at least a good swallow of milk) and THEN take your pills.

And then you can go cancel your subscription to Dog Fancy and send the money to the Humane Society of the United States or your favorite charity.

Oh, uh, I guess that last point doesn’t actually help manage migraine pain — although it certainly helped in my case.

Are you sick of the Olympics yet, or am I the only one? Technically, my body is the one that is sick and tired of the Olympics — my mind and my stomach is enjoying it just fine. There’s nothing like settling down with a couch full of junk food to watch the world’s greatest athletes in painted-on outfits bust their lack of guts. God bless America!

Whoa, Nellie

I refuse to have a Tivo. It wasn’t around when I wanted it as a kid and I will not forgive it trying to suck up to me now in my late 30’s. I stayed up for an entire fortnight back in 1984 to watch the Los Angeles Olympics and if I could do it then, I could certainly do it now.

However (and you knew a “however” was coming), trying to follow the sports I actually give a darn about has proven to be next to impossible. I decided to focus on the horse sports (equestrian events). The fun thing about Oylmpic coverage is that you never know when your event is going to come on. You are lucky when you know what DAY it’s going to come on, let alone what time.

Following the equestrian events has proven to be impossible, even when I did decide to stay up all night to try and finally glimpse the half hour of horseflesh at four in the morning, which means they only showed about ten horses of the actual sixty-odd that competed. I was so exhausted, I can’t even remeber what happened. I have to go to the newspaper for that.

Why Am I Banging On About This?

When you have migraines or chronic headaches, you can’t stay up all night watching television, even if it is the Olympics. In fact, you can’t stay up doing ANYTHING all night (insert your favorite all night activity here) because this will trigger a sleep deprevation migraine.

Part of managing your headache pain is accepting your limitations. You also can’t rely on being entirely well the next day. If you are going to do something stupid like watch the Olympics for nearly 24 hours straight when you’re in your late thirties, make sure you have nothing going on the next day and that you make no commitments to keep on this recovery day.

And, for God’s sakes, don’t watch beach volleyball.