HEADLINES
VOLUME 2, ISSUE 9, SEPTEMBER 1997
A Publication of the East Bay Headache Support Group
(The text of this newsletter has been simplified with all graphics removed to suit all users' browsers and computer speeds.)
September 9th Meeting:
WHAT'S THE LATEST
Jerome Goldstein, M.D., will be speaking to the East Bay Headache Support Group on Tuesday, September 9th, about new and experimental treatments for headache sufferers.
Dr. Goldstein, a neurologist, has been the director of the San Francisco Headache Clinic since 1978, which was the first center in the United States to study Sumatriptan (Imitrex). He is currently working on a number of new diagnostic techniques as well as treatments for headache. This promises to be a very informative and interesting meeting.
For information, call (925) 938-5252.
Past Meetings:
October 14th: Dr. Roger Johnson — Stress and headaches.
November 11th: Dr. Leonard Saputo — Natural approaches to treating headaches.
December 9th: Dr. Peter Visendi — Headaches and your eyes.
Note: Notes from each of the above-listed meetings are available on line by going to the site directory and clicking on the date of the meeting.
THE PHASES OF MIGRAINE
As all migraine sufferers know, there are different phases to a migraine attack. Four different phases have been identified, but not all sufferers will experience every phase during each attack.
Phase 1: The prodrome occurs days or hours before an attack. The migraine sufferer may experience extreme sensitivity to light or sounds, mood changes, food cravings or loss of appetite, tiredness, and constipation or diarrhea.
Phase 2: The aura usually precedes the head-ache by 5 to 30 minutes. The most common symptoms of the aura are disturbances of vision, such as partial blindness, "spots" before the eyes, or extreme sensitivity to light. The aura may also include other symptoms, such as hypersensitivity to touch, dizziness, or ringing in the ears.
Phase 3: The headache may last from several hours to a week and is often accompanied by symptoms that include disturbances of the senses, stomach upset, and depression.
Phase 4: During the postdrome, which is sometimes called the resolution, patients often feel "drained," listless, weak, and irritable. A few patients feel elated or agitated.
Excerpted from A Patient’s Guide to Migraine Prevention and Treatment published by the National Headache Foundation, August 1996.
HERBAL TEAS
In the October 1996 issue of American Health, the author of "Herbal Teas: Comfort or Cure?" explores the increasingly popular realm of herbal teas. Frequently troubled with migraines, she decided to take the advice of a friend, who urged her to compare the healing powers of both over-the-counter and prescription remedies to those of "headache tea" from the local health food store.
The author of the article is not alone. Headache sufferers are emptying their medicine cabinets and making a run for the kettle. With the success of brands such as Celestial Seasonings™—more readily available on most supermarket shelves—and more and more health food stores offering personalized preparations for a variety of ailments, consumers can’t seem to drink enough herbal tea. Does it work? American Health turned to an expert for the answer.
Herbal and pharmacology specialist Varro Tyler, Ph.D., noted that hundreds of herbs offer healing properties in tea form (feverfew is especially useful in the treatment of headache); however, some may actually make one sick and others simply are not yet understood, according to the American Health article. The Food and Drug Administration has singled out a number of potentially harmful herbs including chapparral, comfrey and mahuang, all of which should be avoided in every form, including tea.
Dr. Tyler offers some guidelines for the herbal novice: Find out if the herb you’re interested in sampling is actually available in tea form, inquire about potential side effects or adverse drug reactions associated with the herb, and bone up on "long term safety data." Meanwhile, experiment with reliable stand-bys like catnip, chicory root, chamomile and ginger.
Resist the urge to stock the cupboard, as herbs are most effective when they’re fresh, according to the American Health article. Depending on whether or not your brew is made with flowers and leaves or bark and seeds, preparations may vary. Concoctions made with the latter must be boiled along with water and then steeped, while the herbal ingredients are added after the water boils for the former. The author’s "headache tea," a blend of feverfew (known to fight the effects of migraine), lavender, and valerian (valued for its relaxing quality), cured her migraine the first time she sipped it, and prevented early-stage headaches several times since, though it "was no café mocha."
Excerpted from SCIENTIA™, Volume II, Issue 1, 1997
YOUR SUPPORT GROUP NEEDS YOUR HELP
The East Bay Headache Support Group is a nonprofit organization dependent on both monetary donations and volunteer labor. A small group of volunteers organizes the meetings and publishes this newsletter, and our major operating expenses are printing, bulk mail postage, and maintaining our web site.
What can you do to help?
* Consider making a tax-deductible donation to assist the group with its mission to provide education and support for headache sufferers.
* The Organizing Committee meets the third Tuesday of each month in Walnut Creek and needs new members with fresh ideas.
* Write up a personal profile of your struggles and/or successes in dealing with your headaches and submit it for the next newsletter.
Call (510) 938-5252 to volunteer.
PERSISTENCE PAYS OFF
Do patients really have the power to influence their health plans? Read how a little persistence paid off for Randy Trudeau, a migraine sufferer from California.
When her local health plan instituted a formulary, Randy discovered that the drug her doctor had prescribed was not included on the list of approved medications. "The prescription was returned with a notice that I should check with my doctor for other medications that are on formulary that might work just as well," she says. When she checked, her doctor told her that her prescription drug was the only medication that worked the way it did, and that in his opinion, its exclusion from the formulary was "ridiculous."
"I decided to follow up on this discrepancy," Randy says, "and I became something of a thorn in the side of my health plan."
She discovered that she could petition for a "temporary exception" to the formulary to get her prescription covered. She had her doctor write a detailed letter describing her condition and providing an explanation for why this drug was necessary. Randy calls the experience a "real pain" but, she’s quick to add, it got results.
After much bureaucratic delay, her health plan finally made an exception and her prescription was covered.
Excerpted from Headway, Shawnee Mission, KS, March 1996.
MIGRAINES: ONE OF MANKIND'S OLDEST AFFLICTIONS
Descriptions of migraines appear in some of the oldest surviving writings. There is a reference to a "sick headache" found in a Sumerian epic poem dating from 3,000 B.C. Since then, there have been numerous, surprisingly accurate descriptions of migraine symptoms in both historical accounts and literature. A few examples: In Shakespeare’s Othello, Desdemona treats her husband’s headache by binding his head with a handkerchief, a remedy still used by migraine sufferers today. In his memoirs, Ulysses S. Grant describes one "sick headache" that resolved spontaneously when word came of Robert E. Lee’s surrender. Finally, migraines may have helped to give Lewis Carroll his unique creative vision. Critics have found in Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass amazingly accurate and vivid descriptions of the visual symptoms of a migraine aura.
Excerpted from A Patient’s Guide to Migraine Prevention and Treatment published by the National Headache Foundation, August 1996.
Featured Speakers' Outlines
At the August meeting, Nathan Schultz, M.D., brought his expertise about allergies to the support group. Notes from this meeting are available, as well as other past meetings covering the following topics: Biofeedback therapy, genetics, caregiving, dietary triggers, chiropractic treatment, pharmaceutical remedies, hormonal triggers, reducing stress in the workplace, dealing with holiday stress (and all stressors), acupuncture, children’s headaches, temporomandibular joint disease (TMJ), somatic headache relief, and compounding medications. To obtain a copy of the meeting notes, either go to the site directory and print them out, or contact the EBHSG at (510) 938-5252 for a copy(s) at a donation of $2 for each set.
East Bay Headache Support Group
1844 San Miguel Drive, Suite 316
Walnut Creek, CA 94596
Phone: (510) 938-5252
Fax: (510) 938-1343