Book Recommendation

Heal Your Headache: The 1-2-3 Program for Taking Charge of Your Pain, by David Buchholz

http://www.amazon.com/Heal-Your-Headache-Program-Taking/dp/0761125663/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

I haven't started it yet but my mom is currently reading it (she also gets migraines). It goes into detail about triggers, medication, mechanism and treatment.

You will need to let us know what you think of it when you have finished it

I quickly read through the book over Thanksgiving, and it's pretty good. I am going to follow what he says because if it works I will *fingers crossed* finally be med free, or at least not be taking NEARLY as many.

His 3 steps are as follows:
1: Eliminate all meds.
2. Follow headache diet to increase threshold/reduce triggers you can control
3. Add in medicine if you are still getting headaches

1. His premise is that most migraine sufferers get stuck in a cycle of headache-medicine-headache-medicine, and it never ends. This causes rebounds, you end up taking more medicine, etc. Many people dont even realize they are rebounding because it builds up over time. The solution is to eliminate all meds--no triptans, caffeine, opiates, anything that you can rely on to "end" a migraine cycle. I do believe he says that regular ibuprofen, tylenol, aspirin, naproxen are okay.

When you do this your headaches will get WORSE. If you are rebounding, this will continue, but don't give in.

2. At the same time, begin the headache diet. The diet removes all of the most common trigger foods. He advises that you follow it for 4 months minimum, then you can try adding foods in if you are doing okay. Many people just stick to the diet.

If you are still getting headaches during the diet. You can take abortive meds (triptans, etc) ONLY 2 times a month.

3. After following the diet if headaches are still a problem, then he says think about a preventative medication.


This is just a summary and if this sounds interesting I definitely recommend you read the book. He goes into detail about each of the steps, the trigger foods, the medicines, and explains exactly what a migraine is and how it works (threshold level, and how to control that).

This brings me to my question... I am following his first two steps, diet + no more meds. I currently have a headache that has been pretty consistent for several days and I just wonder if it is my lapses in following the diet that are fueling the migraine.

Has anyone tried a headache elimination diet with success?

i hate to rain on anyone's parade, but i did read this book years ago, (it came out in 2002) and found it impossible to do what this author suggests. it's pretty obvious he has no clue as to the high pain level with which many of us function, even WITH meds.

personally i believe all this rebound stuff has very little study or science behind it. for the tylenol/NSAIDS, it may be true. but i never took any of those things and still have daily migraines.

my diet is as perfect as i can get it. i avoid all triggers, and it's very limited. but if i deviate from my chosen diet at all; as in eating one molecule of a suspected ingredient, i am in for major pain, the kind i used to get before the triptans and before i figured out diet stuff.

triptans are my saving grace. i think it's nuts for doctors to limit a person to two pills per week. i had to fight my insurance company to get an adequate number. now, i can go to work daily at age 72, and although i always have some degree of pain, this regimen keeps me out of bed.

uninformed neurologists will often suggest the "cold turkey" method of going off meds. one told me, 6 months. but how could i possibly survive that?

mind you, i'm not saying i'm speaking gospel here, just my opinion and experience.

if a person can do it, fine! i say. but for those who have to work, i don't see how it can be done. there is a REASON a person has migraines in the first place. stopping meds isn't going to fix the underlying problem, is it? dianne

Diane said:

there is a REASON a person has migraines in the first place. stopping meds isn't going to fix the underlying problem, is it?

My Osteopath agrees with Diane's statment, regular doctors do not look at what is causing the problem, they only take care of symptoms.

Martin

Hi All,

I was actually a patient of the author at one time. I did everything-diet elimation, getting off meds (except those preventatives he prescribed- Nortriptylene and Verapamil.)

I remember that the elimination diet was difficult as I was in boarding school at the time. The dining hall staff was kind enough to go through the list and make sure that I was able to avoid trigger foods. It was hard, but we did it. It didn't help much. I actually didn't discover any food triggers until I went into remission following bilateral radiofrequency several years later. There are only three- sodium nitrates (found in processed meat), mushrooms, and beer.

As to rebound- I was on Tylenol 3 at the time. He had me stop that, caffeine, and the food stuff at the same time. it was a nightmare- I ended up having to go home and take exams after Christmas break. When I was home, I saw a neuro here who prescribed injectable Imitrex. It helped for a while. I was only allowed to take imitrex and anaprox. I went into rebound while on the imitrex. I also became depressed on the medications and eventually switched neuros. I am very glad I did.

I have read the book and I know it works for some people- but it did not work well for me at all.

Pain free days,
sailingm

I didn't do the elimination diet, but I echo others on this whole rebound thing. It may exist for some people, but doctors put way too much stock in it. The end result is a lot more suffering for nothing.

My nuero insisted on no more three pain meds of any type per week. When I had headaches 6 days out of 7 that just meant I was even more miserable than ever. And it did nothing to reduce headache frequency.

well thanks guys, I can now throw this idea away and save myself a lot of suffering! so sorry to hear it worked out so poorly in your cases.

I guess I'm just stuck between a rock and a hard place right now, as I'm getting daily M's, don't have a good neuro to see, and the medicine I'm taking isn't working. But I'm optimistic I'll figure something out.

I am not convinced that rebound is always the trigger. Although, having said that I do believe it plays a part. My M started when I was 8 yrs old, I am now 62. They have always been weekly, lasting 3 days. But if I run into a spell of daily HA & start taking daily Triptans then I run into rebound & the only way to get out of it is to stop taking my Triptans for 4-5 days then easing back to the allowable 2/wk. currently I have been stable at that amount. I take 1 the 1st day of the M then a dose the 2nd day & by the 3rd day of my M I take only NSAIDs. But it is hard to stop so many Triptans if u are rebounding. I go through horrible pain for 3 days. Fortunately I have a great Neuro here in Indy who also gets migraines so he knows about that kind of pain! I do have triggers & know what to avoid, alcohol, aged cheese, nitrates, chocolate, too little sleep or too much, stress, missing a meal, and flying on planes. But my neuro told me u can eat something that triggers a M but not get one but do the same thing & add in stress or weather changes & u will get one. So the compounding of several or just 2 added in can cause a M where just the one didn't do it. Another time just 1 trigger is all it takes. They have so much more research to do. As migraine sufferers we seem to be low man on the totem pole as far as getting better treatments. When u consider the only major advance in all the yrs I have dealt w this is the "Triptans" that is over 50 yrs!

wow, indyjane!

this is the world's worst contest, but you appear to be the winner. me.....a piker at only 43 years. dianne

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324677204578185404253745608.html

Funny this comes up now--They interviewed the author of the book.