By popular demand, and the miracle of modern technology, you can now get Headache and Migraine News by email!

First, a clarification.  There’s an email sign-up form on the right sidebar here.  That is for HeadWay, which is a free monthly ezine (which will have its 73rd issue in November!).  HeadWay subscribers get these special articles first, and also have special input into this site.

However, now you can also get these posts by email.  To do that, click on one of the orange subscribe buttons to the right.

You should see a box which says Subscribe Now! with various subscription options.  Click the email option, enter your email address and the special word.  Then you’ll need to respond to the special email (so that you can’t subscribe someone else).

That’s it!  The system is all automated, and will only be used to send you the latest posts from Headache and Migraine News.

(Note – if you can’t see the email subscription link, you may need to click a link to see all subscribe options first)

As always, of course, you can subscribe with a news reader such as Google Reader.

Hopefully that will be a help to some of you!

From the Headache and Migraine News Blog

Get Headache and Migraine News by Email!

Random other posts:

• Brain reboot for migraine
• A new style of migraine drug
• Doctor found guilty of killing patient

I recently received a nice email from Dr. Edmund Messina.  You may remember him – he is the neurologist who was involved in the production of the documentary Life and Migraine, which I reviewed in September.

Dr Messina has a passion about helping patients become their own advocates.  He agreed with my assessment that the documentary was harsh – and that, he says, is exactly what he hears from his patients.  They are struggling with lives which are incredibly harsh.

Dr. Messina also told me a secret – he’s involved in a full length feature film.  As he described it, it’s about a woman who finally becomes her own advocate for controlling headaches and fixing a very dysfunctional life.  He’s hoping it will be released in the spring.

So stay tuned for that.  It’s great to see others recognizing the harsh reality of headaches and migraine – and the need to take action to fight back.

From the Headache and Migraine News Blog

Feature Length Movie in the works…

These other posts might relate:

• Life and Migraine: A Review of the Documentary

This week, start watching how your sleep schedule impacts your symptoms.

Now before you write me off, saying – oh, I get enough sleep or, I sleep just fine, stop and listen.  Sleep impacts us in a number of ways, and sometimes in ways we don’t think of.

For one thing, it’s not always the number of hours you sleep.  It’s also the quality of sleep (something you’re not always aware of), and it’s when you sleep.

One of the biggest triggers for many people is a change in sleep schedule.  There could be many reasons for this.  The body does get used to a schedule, and any change can cause problems for someone who has migraine, cluster headache or similar diseases.  It may also impact your blood sugar levels, when you’re used to eating or being up at certain times, and then you sleep in.

Sleep apnea (sleep apnoea) is something we’ve talked about a number of times, but it can impact your sleep without you being aware of it.  If you’re waking up tired, it may be worth going to a sleep clinic.  Grinding or clenching your teeth can also impact your sleep.

Some herbs and supplements that help you sleep have helped some with their symptoms, such as melatonin.

So things to watch for this week?

• Try getting up and going to bed at the same time every day – get into a schedule.  It’s especially important to get up at the same time every day.
• Be sure to get enough sleep each night.
• Watch to see if you’re waking up tired.  Do you have a headache when you wake up?  Do you wake up sore?  Where and how?  These are things worth mentioning to your doctor.
• Read these tips from our visitors for getting to sleep with migraine.

What is 1% Thursday?

Every Thursday at Headache and Migraine News (weather permitting) we’ll talk about one measurable, practical thing we can do to make our lives just 1% better.  Usually it will be something very easy, sometimes it will be a challenge.  Let us know if you try it, or share an idea of your own – and maybe a year from now we’ll see that things have really changed for the better!

From the Headache and Migraine News Blog

1% Thursday: Watch Your Sleep Schedule

These other posts might relate:

• 1% Thursday: Learn a Relaxation Technique
• 1% Thursday: Start to carefully read Food Labels
• 1% Thursday – One way to cut down on Medications

Learn and practise a new relaxation technique.

Relaxation techniques for migraine are actually among the best treatments, and yet they are so often written off as too difficult or time consuming to learn, or perhaps people don’t realize how mainstream and well researched this type of treatment is.

Yes, you can go to a professional and learn some excellent relaxation techniques.  However, you can get started very easily – in just a few minutes – and very quickly make that 1% (or more) difference in your life.

Relaxation techniques may be effective early in an attack, during an attack – maybe to help you get to sleep, or just help alleviate symptoms, or anytime.

For an introduction to some options, check this article on Relaxation Techniques for Migraines and Headaches from WebMD.  It’s a very short article that will actually give you some quick tips that will get you started.  Give it a try – experiment – you might be surprised how much it helps!

What is 1% Thursday?

Every Thursday at Headache and Migraine News (weather permitting) we’ll talk about one measurable, practical thing we can do to make our lives just 1% better.  Usually it will be something very easy, sometimes it will be a challenge.  Let us know if you try it, or share an idea of your own – and maybe a year from now we’ll see that things have really changed for the better!

From the Headache and Migraine News Blog

1% Thursday: Learn a Relaxation Technique

These other posts might relate:

• 1% Thursday: Watch Your Sleep Schedule
• 1% Thursday: Start to carefully read Food Labels
• 1% Thursday – One way to cut down on Medications

We’ve talked about magnesium for migraine a lot here, and we’re not going to stop because it’s something that actually helps a lot of people.

There have been quite the conversations going on here at Headache and Migraine News about magnesium, and I’m going to highlight one comment in a moment.  But first, let me just point out that we’re not the only ones talking about this.

For example, in the journal American Family Physician, a peer reviewed journal from the American Academy of Family Physicians, an article was published this past July on the Therapeutic uses of magnesium.  The summary stated (emphasis mine):

Magnesium is an essential mineral for optimal metabolic function.  Research has shown that the mineral content of magnesium in food sources is declining, and that magnesium depletion has been detected in persons with some chronic diseases.  This has led to an increased awareness of proper magnesium intake and its potential therapeutic role in a number of medical conditions.  Studies have shown the effectiveness of magnesium in eclampsia and preeclampsia, arrhythmia, severe asthma, and migraine.

In The Clinical Journal of Pain, also this summer, Drs Sun-Edelstein and Mauskop wrote an article entitled Foods and supplements in the management of migraine headaches.  In their list of supplements recommended for migraine, they put magnesium at the top of the list.

That means that a magnesium supplement should be one of the first things you’re considering if you have migraine.  Now, check out this comment from Angie, one of our visitors from this month (paragraphs mine):

If you suffer from migraines and haven’t tried Magnesium PLEASE TRY IT!!  I have had migraines since I was 6 years old.  I am now 39.  I have been on countless anti-depressants and anti-seizure type meds as preventatives…some worked – some did not, but all had some major side effects.  If you’ve taken them, you know what I mean.

5 months ago, I started developing "stroke-like" right sided hemiplegia with my migraines and then subsequently "seizure-type" episodes.  They were not strokes, as confirmed by an MRI and they were not seizures per se, as confirmed by an EEG….just all apart of my changing migraines.  After a neurologist told me that I needed psychiatric help when I kept complaining about the side effects from the "newest" seizure med they had me on, I knew I was on my own.

A friend from work told me that her Dr had told her about a Magnesium/Riboflavin (B2) combo that seemed to be helping her, I felt like I had nothing to lose by giving it a try.  IT WORKED!  The Mag Oxide was not overly helpful, but the Mag Citrate made all the difference in the world.

I still get migraines, but they are functional migraines (worse around menses) – no nausea, no need to stay in a dark room, I can go to work, etc.  But the hemiplegic and seizure type zone-out episodes are GONE completely.  And I feel like I have my mind back – the fog that I had experienced while on Topamax and Zonisamide, etc has lifted.  I CAN THINK AGAIN!!!  I am going to try adding the CoQ10 and upping my Mag dose (I’m only doing 400mg) and see if that helps the menstrual headaches anymore.

I always thought vitamin "pushers" were just plain weird (sorry), but here I am telling you it’s working for me!!  Good luck.

Now that’s just one experience of course, but it’s not an isolated one.  Even down to the "ate" type of magnesium which I have recommended here in the past.

If you think it’s "weird" to take supplements for migraine, like Angie once thought, think again.  This is a well researched, tried and true treatment.

Read more about taking magnesium for migraine here, and talk to your doctor.  You can also read more about the also well researched magnesium, riboflavin, feverfew combination supplement MigreLief here.  More about hemiplegic migraine here.  Here’s the post with the ongoing discussion about magnesium and migraine.

References: Therapeutic uses of magnesium and Foods and supplements in the management of migraine headaches

From the Headache and Migraine News Blog

Magnesium: Top of the List for Migraine

These other posts might relate:

• Migraine and Magnesium – new study
• What is Verapamil?
• 1% Thursday: Green Smoothies

I liked this book.  You probably wouldn’t, but I sure did.

All right, let me qualify that a little bit.  The book I’m talking about is the brand new Menstrual Migraine, edited by Dr Susan Hutchinson and Dr B. Lee Peterlin.  And you may like it after all – if you’re a health professional, like a doctor or nurse.  That’s really the target of the book.  But let me give you a bit of an overview.

Actually, the back of the book gives a very good summary:

Tailored to the needs of busy health-care professionals treating female patients in the primary care setting, the book focuses on essential clinical information for physicians, nurse practitioners, and assistants in family practice, internal medicine and OB/GYN.

Using some of the statistics in this book, it’s quite possible that 10% of women have migraine related to their menstrual cycles.  That’s not 10% of women with migraine, that’s 10% of the general population!  So as a health professional, you can see why it would be important to have the best information about something that impacts 1 in 10 of the women you see.  Of course, it will probably be more than 1 in 10, because those with menstrual migraine will, I hope, be more likely to see their doctor.

And this book is exactly that – the latest, cutting edge information about migraine and specifically menstrual migraine, in a small package.  The book is only 95 pages including indexes.  It’s actually a series of write-ups by various experts on related topics, such as:

• Hormonal therapy and menstrual migraine
• Tips and pearls for the diagnosis of migraine and menstrually related migraine
• Pharmacotherapy
• Nonpharmacological interventions for the management of menstrually related migraine

Though of course even the experts don’t always agree with one another, I was very impressed that this was really cutting-edge information.  Published only last year, Menstrual Migraine has brought together the latest in research so that you can get a quick overview of where the science is and where it’s going, and how it relates to treatment in a practical way.

You can already see from the titles above, the book doesn’t make an attempt to be accessible to the layperson.  There’s a lot of technical language, scientific charts and numbers, and terms and short hand that most people will have trouble following without some medical background.  But the book is very well organized for those who will make the best use of it.

With so many out-dated or poorly researched works out there, this one was a relief to read.  I know I will keep it handy and will be using it as a reference frequently (in fact I’ve already found myself reaching for it to check on various things).

Menstrual Migraine also includes some handy appendices, with further resources, questionnaires for use with patients, and headache diaries.

Menstrual Migraine, a part of the Oxford American Pain Library, is a small handbook that provides practical, up-to-date information on a widespread issue.  It would be of value to every doctor and health professional that have female patients, and certain other people who want to see essential aspects of the latest research.

From the Headache and Migraine News Blog

A Review of Menstrual Migraine (the book)

These other posts might relate:

• Frova now an option in Canada
• What is Verapamil?
• When Menstrually Related Migraine isn’t Alone

Here are the posts that have been the most popular with our visitors over the past three months.  The ones in bold are very hot topics – popular two months in a row.

If you see something here that might be helpful to a friend, pass it on!  You’ll find the most popular posts first…

• Deeper into Migraine, Glucose and Insulin…  New research gives us insight into how these work together
• My Hair Hurts! Migraine and Allodynia  Paying attention to this common migraine symptom
• Migraine: Does your face hurt?  An often overlooked migraine symptom examined
• New Migraine Drug Telcagepant – Not Dead Yet  The latest news on the drug many are hoping for
• Generic Medications – The same but different?  Using generic drugs wisely
• How to avoid that Altitude Headache  Some studies offer important reminders
• Migraine and Cardiovascular Disease – Why?  One of the most important questions for a migraineur
• What is Verapamil?  A closer look at a drug used for cluster headache and migraine
• New Botox Trials – Encouraging News on the bumpy road to acceptance  The title says it all.
• Taking Control of TMJ: A Review of the Book  One of the most practical headache-fighting books I’ve read

From the Headache and Migraine News Blog

Highlights from the last 3 Months (October 2009 edition)

Random other posts:

• The Headache Screening Questionnaire
• Take the headache test
• What your triggers may be telling you…

In their 30s, 40s, and 50s many women become concerned about the symptoms of perimenopause, but for some reason treatment of migraine at this time is sometimes overlooked.  The symptoms, which often include hot flushes, breast tenderness, fatigue, and irregular periods, may continue for several months or several years (typically 2-8 years before menopause and the year after cessation of menses).

But with all these symptoms, many women may think that headache naturally comes along with this stage, and some may not even mention it to their doctors.  This is a mistake, because headache and migraine symptoms often can be treated and avoided.

Migraine is unpredictable.  It’s common in the elderly, but then again many women (thankfully) see a lessening or disappearing of their symptoms during menopause.

But one reason why migraine is so common in women of this age could be perimenopause.  This could have something to do with hormonal fluctuations, though the connection should be studied a lot more.

Are you at greater risk?

The studies so far seem to indicate that the group most at risk are women who already have a history of migriane without aura and premenstrual syndrome.  If this is you, you have an even more important reason to keep your eyes open to changes in migraine symptoms.

Doctors need to ask the question too.  Women may just think headache is s symptom of PMS – some may not feel comfortable even mentioning it.  But because it’s so common, and because it can so often be treated so successfully, doctors need to take the lead.

There are many treatments available, from the common medications to magnesium supplements, biofeedback, hormonal replacement therapy, and others.

If you’re experiencing a worsening or change in your migraine symptoms during perimenopause, you’re not alone.  Talk to your doctor about the disability you’re experiencing, and don’t just "live with it" as a "normal part of life".

References:  Ovarian Hormones and Migraine Headache: Perimenopause by Drs Behbehani and Martin of University of Cincinnati College of Medicine 2006; Migraines by Dr Christiane Northrup accessed October 2009; Migraine headache in perimenopausal and menopausal women. The City of London Migraine Clinic October 2009; Perimenopause Reviewed by the doctors at The Cleveland Clinic Women’s Health Center 2006

From the Headache and Migraine News Blog

Don’t Ignore Migraine During Perimenopause

These other posts might relate:

• Magnesium: Top of the List for Migraine
• A Review of Menstrual Migraine (the book)
• The Migraineur’s Quick Guide to Reading Food Labels

Last week on 1% Thursday I told you we were going to talk a little more about reading food labels.  I also said that this could have a major impact on your health – especially if it’s something you’ve never really taken the time to do before.

So today we’re going to look at 8 guidelines to help you be a better food label reader.  Though I said these are for the migraineur, they should also be generally useful for anyone with cluster or chronic headache.

First, there are some things you need to know, if you don’t already.  Food labels are not clear, accurate fountains of information.  Sometimes they’re very well done, other times they’re downright deceptive.  Yes, even in this day and age.  Food manufacturers are not required to list every detail of what’s in their food.  You need to realize that.  And though there are loose regulations, there’s a lot of leeway – caveat emptor (let the buyer beware) is the real rule, just as it always has been.

And one more thing, before we begin.  This is not a defense of why certain foods are good or bad for you.  We’ve talked about that before, and will again.  Today we’re just talking about finding those foods…

The Migraineur’s 8 Rules for Reading Food Labels

Follow these rules by reading the label carefully, especially the ingredients…

1. Taglines: Taglines are those many advertising type words on the label that mean… almost nothing.  "lite" for example.  Meaning… light flavour?  Less of it?  That’s a brand name?  Also could include things like "all natural".  "multigrain flavour".  even "whole grain".  And that ridiculous "real fruit" claim.  And let’s make one thing clear – "natural flavor" is not necessarily any better than "artificial flavor".  Don’t waste your time with all these.  Skip.  Most often they’re almost meaningless.  You’ll find the real information elsewhere.
2. Number of ingredients:  A general rule of thumb – the longer the list of ingredients, the greater the chance there’s stuff in there you don’t want in your body.  If you want to make a quick decision, watch out for lists that will take you a half hour to read.
3. Order of ingredients:  Hopefully most of you know this, but generally speaking if something is earlier in the list there’s more of it.  I hate to pick on "whole grain", but it drives me crazy how often something claims to be whole grain and then lists something like "white flour" or "enriched wheat flour" first.  I’m looking at the label of some popular whole wheat crackers now – enriched flour is the number 1 ingredient.  There’s no way to know how much whole wheat flour they added to make the crackers whole wheat, but there’s more white flour than whole wheat.  Fail.
4. Great-Grandma Rule:  If you’re Great-Grandma wouldn’t recognize the ingredient, chances are it’s not good for you.  This goes hand in hand with the how-do-you-pronounce-that rule and the what-plant-does-that-come-from rule.
5. Et cetera:  As I mentioned, food manufacturers don’t have to list every detail.  In fact, some packages can claim to have 0 (zero) of something, and in reality have a small amount (can you say trans fat?)  Sometimes, though, key ingredients are hidden under phrases such as "natural flavours", "spices" and the like.  Hidden in there can be ingredients that could trigger your migraine attack.  Watch out for the et ceteras!
6. No really, it’s healthy:  If a food makes health claims, chances are it’s less healthy.  What??  Why is that?!  Here’s what happens.  A natural food is taken, and things are taken out so that it can be preserved, shipped, made a nicer colour, whatever.  Then all the experts try to add back in some health benefits.  But all the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put Humpty together again.  The fact it, you’ll find that almost every time the original food has the solid, healthy balance that we’re only starting to understand.  If we don’t even understand yet why food is healthy, how can we expect to "manufacture" something better?  Claims of health benefits usually mean that it’s a cheap imitation of a whole food which would be 100x better for you.
7. Whole foods:  Are there issues with buying whole foods?  You bet.  But after all this stress reading food labels, you’ll find that almost every time you’d be better buying a food with just 1 (one) ingredient.  You know, like an apple.  Brown rice.  Spinach.  They don’t have the advertising budget to make the pretty ads and put all the health claims on the label.  But they’re amazingly healthy, and the labels will cause you a lot less of a headache.
8. Watch for triggers:  There are some ingredients to specifically watch for, yes.  Now there are literally hundreds of ingredients you could try to learn – I’m trying to simplify things with the above rules and by encouraging you to buy more whole foods.  But if you must buy foods with long ingredients lists, common migraine triggers include:  anything related to MSG (monosodium glutamate, hydrolized or autolized (anything), malt extract, gelatin, glutamate, yeast extract/food/nutrient, sodium caseinate, textured protein, anything that says natural or artificial flavourings or spices, and more…), artificial sweeteners (such as saccharin, aspartame, sucralose, neotame, acesulfame potassium, nutrasweet and stevia), yeast (especially if it’s fresh), alcohol, white flours (including enriched flour) and sugars (including high fructose corn syrup), nitrates, nitrites – and many more.

I didn’t list the many other ingredients that are harmful or at least controversial, such as partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, BHA and BHT, food colouring, and so on.  The list could be huge – and that’s the problem.

Want to make it easy on yourself?  Start with Rule 7.  Then move to Rule 2,3 and 4 if you must.  After that, it gets more complicated, as you can see – and we like simple.

Remember that there are other issues related to migraine triggers besides certain chemicals in foods (which I focused on here).  More on migraine and food here.

Some of these ideas, particularly Rules 4 and 6, were passed on by Michael Pollan’s book In Defense of Food.  If you’re really ready to move your eating habits to the next level, and want to understand how the food in the grocery store got to where it is today, and especially why Rule 6 is so strangely true, I recommend it to your consideration.

Now, go do your grocery shopping – and see open your eyes to what you’re really buying.

From the Headache and Migraine News Blog

The Migraineur’s Quick Guide to Reading Food Labels

These other posts might relate:

• Magnesium: Top of the List for Migraine
• A Review of Menstrual Migraine (the book)
• Don’t Ignore Migraine During Perimenopause

The theme of this month’s Headache and Migraine Disease Blog Carnival was Alternative therapies.  There weren’t a lot of posts, and they were all good ones, so why not click the link and read through them?

I especially appreciated the simple but important post complementary vs alternative medicine.  If you just read one, this might be the one to consider.

Thanks again to Diana at Somebody Heal Me for the hard work she does putting up this blog carnival each month.

From the Headache and Migraine News Blog

Alternative therapies – this month’s blog carnival

These other posts might relate:

• July 2009 Headache and Migraine Disease Blog Carnival
• Blog Carnival: Misunderstanding Migraine
• Finding Support: May 2009 Headache and Migraine Blog Carnival