Brain Based Therapy

Have you ever heard of it? Have you heard of it working for anyone?

There's a doctor in my area that I am getting a free evaluation with on Wednesday. He's a chiropractor but he says he focuses on Brain Based Therapy more and uses chiropractic tools to help people get there.

Just curious on whether this is a crock or if it could definitely be legit. After the 8 days of headache I just had, I am just trying to think of the next thing...b/c I am still hopeful that some day one of them will work for me...

hello and sorry you have to post here. hope you do find some help here.

I had chronic daily headache/ or M five times a week. I saw a chiro for severe back pain and the treatment really helped.

The chiro I saw for head pain was not able to help at all. I had 15 visits and even with insurance I paid 1k... He was positive he could help me but did not. I think you have to try. I have not heard of that particular treatment.

after 6.5 years I have been doing pretty good for just over one year. I take clonodine 3 x day for preventive. I hope you find your relief soon.

Thanks for your post. I guess I'll give this a go and see if it works for me...I'm willing to try a lot of things at this point!

i tried it for 2 years and ended up having a stroke caused by damage to the an artery at top of neck by the chiro!

Hi, and welcome to our forum Adventuregirl.
You will probably also find that many people here after suffering migraine and meeting other people who suffer with migraine, would be very suspicious of anyone who claims that they can cure migraine, no matter what they say, or how well qualified they are.

Few years ago I did try a chiropractor who said that my problem is all in the neck ,and that this is the cause of my migraines and that once this is sorted my migraines will go away.
I was very doubtful but, but I was desperate for some help so we did have few sessions and this was really good to relieve stifness in my neck, but did nothing for my migraines.

From what I read here we all know that there are no miracle cures, we just learn over the years what works for each of us.

Do you have any good neurologist who specialises in migraine, near you?
Have you had any other treatment for migraine, so far?
Have you tried something like Imitrex, or any other treatment? Triptans make life more bearable for many people on this forum, when everything else fails.

I think this would be the best point to start.

Some people here get very good results, and long periods of being pain free, from steroid and painkiller injections at the back of the skull, some get relief from botox - some are helped by the right preventative such as topomax, gabapentin or others. But I cannot say that you will find anyone whose migraine was cured by any chiropractor. So, be careful specially in view of what Dawn said - it is not worth taking such risks.

Hi Dawn - I am so sorry to hear that it gave you a stroke. That's scary stuff. I've always been leery of chiros but the last few months of my life have been just so painful with these migraines.

Mini -

Thanks for your reply. I appreciate you taking the time to write such a comprehensive response to me.

To answer your question about previous treatment...I have seen several doctors including a neurologist. I've taken 5 different triptans. For this last 8 day headache that just ended I took 7 triptans over that period and it didn't help at all. I've done steroids and that has provided relief for the 6 days I am on them...but then I go back to being in pain.

I also have tried verapamil and and currently taking 40 mg of propranolol a day. That doesn't really seem to work either.

So, I am feeling like I'm grasping for straws for sure. I know that I haven't found a doctor that really listens to me...I'm so grateful to have found this forum to read about people who are struggling with the same thing I am.

Are drugs really the only thing that seems to help us? I know there are no miracle treatments...although I wish their were. It amazes me that we have to suffer with this chronic pain the way we do.

Thank you for your warning. It's helpful to hear from others who have tried other treatments than I have at this point.

i feel your frustration, migrainegirl. just another word of caution to you, about chiros in general. i was a TRUE BELIEVER, for many years. after all, i was young and idealistic, and thought drugs were poison, so why would i want to take them, ever?

the first 25 years of my migraines i never took so much as an aspirin. i just went to bed (highly inconvenient, since i had 5 children) and threw up a lot. my reluctant and non-sympathetic husband kept things going, in a less-than-great way.

long ago i lost count of how many practitioners of every kind i saw (and handed over LOTS of money), but there must've been at least 30 chiros. all promised they could help. none did, and one (the NUCCA practitioner) caused terrible damage at the top of my spine, and i had to have very serious surgery to fix the ruptured disc at C3-4.

unfortunately to admit, there just aren't any magic helps for this terrible condition we have. mine came after what was probably lyme disease at age 29, and had nothing to do with hormones, ever. many people on this forum have found a connection with hormones, and that's pretty great, because at least you have something to try, in that scenario.

yep, i've been thru all the vitamins, minerals, amino acids, acupuncture, fasting clinic, sauna clinic, wacky junk ad nauseum. also i tried every dietary plan, including eating NO FRUIT OR SWEET STUFF AT ALL for 10 years.

none of it helped at all. then i started the rounds of neurologists (the listening kind and the non-listening) and other medical specialties. i tried many preventives, steroids, had multitudes of tests, and none of that helped, either. how depressing. when imitrex was invented, that was how i got my life back.

you said you've tried 5 triptans. you should definitely try the other two. only two of the seven work for me, and that's the common story with those drugs. you'd be very fortunate to fine even one that worked, and then you'd be ecstatic, right?

they are very safe drugs, according to many experts, including dr. robbins, who reads and posts on this forum. they are probably far safer than many of the preventives thrown at us, which are seizure drugs and screw around with brain chemistry......not to say that triptans don't, but really, with most drugs, nobody knows how they work at all. it's just guesswork.

it IS possible to change one's whole mindset; i did it. i take several drugs now, all for my head pain and sleep disorders, and am very very grateful for the ones that do work for me. 41 years of migraines is a pretty discouraging story, but i'm still alive at 70, have a very full life, and so it's not all bad!

keep studying, and i sincerely hope you do find the key to the cause of your pain. that was my theme-song for years, I NEED TO FIND THE CAUSE. well, i actually never did pin it down for good (had 4 surgeries and many "procedures' which were supposed to fix everything, but sadly, did not.)

one more thing; i wholeheartedly believe that diet is vitally important. in my case, i found by long trial and error, that i cannot eat ANY food chemicals. none at all. i cook simply, everything from scratch, with real ingredients, and organic when i can afford it. and i still have migraines, but the killer ones are very rare anymore.

yet i never lost hope that something would get me through life, and my triptans and sleep drugs are the things i've found. you will find help also. just be really careful of letting chiropractors manipulate your neck!! dianne

WOW, Dianne. Thank you for such a thorough message.

41 years of migraine...that's a lot of pain. It's good to know that you've continued to live a full life through all the pain. You started getting these at the age I currently am. I've been getting them really bad for the 7 years or so but have gotten them my whole life.

Thank you for your caution on the chiros. Based on your response and others, I decided to postpone until I can do more research. I've always been skeptical, but the last few months have just been terrible pain for me. I needed something...

what drugs would you consider "safe"? I'm taking propranolol now after trying verapamil. I think verapamil was better for me, but overall, I don't think either has worked. Plus, I'm not very happy with the side effects of propranolol.

Regarding diet--where did you learn about what to eat? I eat pretty healthy compared to a lot of people I know, but I know that I eat more processed foods than I should. I wonder if I should schedule a consult with a dietician. I am really dumb when it comes to combining foods. My husband does all of our cooking.

What sleep drugs do you take? I don't sleep...my doctor gave me the generic version of Ambien, but I don't want to be on it forever.

Thanks again for your response.
Kim

this'll be a short answer now. much to do today! we have a foot of snow on the ground, it's begun to melt, and is an enormous mess out there on the roads. impassable at residential intersections.

and here i am with a wrecked car; son smashed it on thanksgiving day on our way to family gathering. we missed it. car totaled. driving rental which doesn't go well in the snow at all. yikes!

as for "safe" drugs, all drugs have side effects and unintended consequences. i am not a medical professional, but have observed thru my life and fibromyalgia diagnosis 20 years ago, that i do MUCH BETTER with older drugs; those with a long track record.

the newer ones tend to have much more frequent side effects, at least for fibro folks. many of "us" react backward to drugs, or they give us every bad effect possible.

blood pressure drugs are not suitable for me, because i have extremely LOW blood pressure. they would put me on the floor, i think. although i did try a couple of them, years ago, they did nothing good for the head.

sleeping drugs are another huge issue. ambien made me feel terrible and didn't help me sleep at all. (another instance of backward reaction?) i've tried a bunch of those, also, since i haven't slept properly for over 25 years. they ALL have a severe downside.

i've settled on vistaril, an old antihistamine, and phenergan, an anti-nausea drug with sedative properties. i find that if i take these on alternate days, i'm not so apt to build up a tolerance. (meaning one must take more and more to get the same effect). this is NOT addiction. completely different issue.

two doctors have told me that all drugs will eventually stop working if you take them long enough. that's what happened to me and imitrex; after 4 years, it just quit, even though it had worked marvelously at first.

an overnight sleep study is definitely in order for you. this is the "diagnosis of the decade"; sleep apnea and related disorders. when you know what's really going on while you try to sleep, then you and the sleep doc can make more intelligent treatment decisions.

diet........you have a saint of a husband! if he does the cooking, then perhaps you can take over the grocery shopping? just read every label of anything processed, and if there's a long list of chemical crap, just leave the box/can/package in the store.

here's another idea: go to www.msgmyth.com and/or www.msgtruth.com. these are wonderful sites for learning about the deceptive practices of the food-processing industry. there are at least 80 OTHER names for MSG. really. it is a killer to my body, and many people have found migraine relief by just that route alone; eliminating all msg and clones.

ask me q's privately or on here, if you wish. good fortune; keep learning. dianne