HEADLINES
VOLUME 2, ISSUE 11, NOVEMBER 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.)
November 11th Meeting:
NATURAL ALTERNATIVES FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF HEADACHES
Our featured speaker for the November meeting of the East Bay Headache Support Group will be Dr. Leonard Saputo. He is board certified in Internal Medicine and has been in medical practice at John Muir Medical Center for 27 years. His practice has evolved from his formal training in traditional Western Medicine and from his passionate interest in Health Medicine.
Dr. Saputo is self-trained in Process Oriented Medicine, which is based on metabolic function, as opposed to clinical syndromes. This has led him to realize the importance of nutrition in the restoration and maintenance of health and the prevention of disease. Because of their lack of toxicity and their long track record of success (often over thousands of years), he is interested in natural therapies rather than synthetic pharmaceuticals.
Dr. Saputo is the founder and director of the Health Medicine Forum, a grass roots organization in the San Francisco East Bay Area that is open to all health care practitioners. Over the past 18 months he has led more than 450 health care practitioners to explore ways of bringing Health Medicine into clinical medical practice. Health Medicine is based on integrative practice, holism and a "health care" rather than a "disease care" paradigm. It also embraces patient-centered care, where the focus is on "being with" rather than "doing to" patients, and encourages their self-empowerment in making choices of medical therapies.
Since May 1995, he has been the co-host on KEST radio of "An Ounce of Prevention," a weekly one-hour call-in medical talk show. Dr. Saputo has interviewed many national and international medical celebrities, and has helped teach the public about Health Medicine.
A strong advocate of balance in life and in physical exercise for himself and his patients, in 1995 Dr. Saputo was ranked #1 in the world in men’s 55 years and over singles competition by the International Tennis Federation.
HOLIDAY WARNING
With Halloween a few days behind us, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah and Christmas are fast approaching. Given that this is one of the most stressful times of the year for most people, we have some suggestions to help make your holidays as pain-free as possible.
Getting adequate rest should be a major priority. It is easy to try to squeeze a few more hours out of a day, but headache sufferers usually pay the price, so try to maintain your regular sleep pattern.
If you take preventative medication, make certain you follow your dosing schedule as prescribed by your doctor, and order your refills with adequate time. If you take abortive medication, take it at the first sign of a headache—don’t wait until it becomes more than you can handle. Take a break and allow some extra time for YOU!
Pay particular attention to your food and chemical triggers at this time of year. You may notice that when you are stressed you tolerate the triggers less well. If you are tyramine-sensitive, read labels, avoid aged cheeses, chocolate, red wine, cured meats, etc. In addition, some of you may be more prone to headache when your blood sugar is low. Eat regular, well-balanced meals. It may be necessary to eat four to six small meals a day rather than the usual three. Keep the sweets to a minimum. Keep snacks with you.
Keep holiday meals simple. Prepare some of the holiday foods ahead and freeze. Request the help of family members and friends for food preparation.
Take time out from the holiday rush to do something fun like going dancing or to the movies. Get a babysitter and spend quality time with your spouse. Even plan a weekend away from it all to re-energize.
Consider gift certificates for some of your gift giving, especially for out of town family and friends and for the hard to buy for. Pay a little extra for the stores to wrap and mail packages. Savings bonds and deposits into mutual funds are great gifts for children and adults alike.
This may be a time to say no to some requests by others who know you are always the one to be counted on for extra things. This is the time for you to take extra special care of you. Help others the other ten months of the year, and everyone will be happy and hopefully headache free. Happy Thanksgiving!
HEADACHE: THE INVISIBLE HANDICAP
A leg in a cast always receives sympathy. Even cuts and bruises command a certain amount of respect and concern. Sadly, this is not so for chronic headaches and their victims. People who can treat their own occasional headache with an aspirin or two may think severe headache sufferers "have a low pain threshold" (i.e., are weak), are exaggerating, or are malingering to escape work and other responsibilities.
The disbelief and discrediting can be as close to home as our own family and friends, or as distant and powerful as a health plan or insurance carrier that will not authorize or reimburse visits to head pain specialists.
Studies have shown that only a third of migraine sufferers consult a physician, instead relying on over-the-counter analgesics whose overuse may actually be causing headaches. Many victims of chronic head and neck pain choose to be invisible, to "suffer in silence" quite literally. They disguise and endure their pain as well as they can for fear of losing their jobs, or simply because of the skepticism and indifference that they have endured in the past.
ACHE (see information below) is a visible, vocal advocate for better treatment, medical and social, for all chronic headache sufferers.
ABOUT ACHE:
The East Bay Headache Support Group is one of forty-seven active support groups across the country which are under the auspices of the American Council for Headache Education (ACHE). ACHE is a nonprofit patient-physician partnership with two primary goals: helping head pain sufferers find effective treatment, and educating non-sufferers about this misunderstood and misdiagnosed illness.
ACHE provides electronic live chat sessions and conferences, bulletin boards, and support groups on Prodigy, CompuServe, America On Line, and GEnie. ACHE’s Home Page address is www.achenet.org.
We encourage you to join ACHE—membership is $20 per year and includes a newsletter subscription. Other benefits of membership: discounts on prescription medications, vitamins and other supplements, and travel. To join, send your check to ACHE, 875 Kings Highway, Suite 200, Woodbury, NJ 08096. Phone: 1-800-255-ACHE.
East Bay Headache Support Group - Support ...
With the end of the year rapidly approaching, I’m sure you have been bombarded with requests from various charities and non-profit organizations for tax-deductible donations. Can you stand just one more plea? The East Bay Headache Support Group is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing information and support for headache sufferers in our local area. The meetings are organized by volunteers, the speakers donate their time and expertise, and our only expenses are for printing and bulk mail postage. We are officially recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, and can provide a receipt for your records, if requested. Make out your check to East Bay Headache Support Group and either mail it to 1844 San Miguel Dr., Ste. 316, Walnut Creek, CA 94596, or bring it to the next meeting. Thank you for your support.
SINUS HEADACHE: AN OVERRATED CONDITION
Probably no other realm of head pain receives so much self-misdiagnosis or self-treatment as the area of sinus headaches. Headache sufferers are easily swayed by the TV advertisements on decongestants and nasal sprays that suggest sinuses are the major cause of headaches. In fact, sinus infections rarely are the cause of chronic recurrent headaches.
True sinus headache involves acute sinusitis, described as a swelling and tenderness over the sinus area, fever, and a generalized feeling of sickness which is apparent "all over the body"—not simply in the head area.
As many headache experts have noted, just because a headache occurs when you are experiencing a clogged or runny nose, does not signify an allergy basis. Similarly, if allergy testing reveals a sensitivity to dust, pollen or other allergens, it does not mean that the headaches are caused by allergies.
X-ray examinations are required to detect true sinus headaches, but a slight thickening of the sinus lining is not proof alone of sinus headache. This is why it is imperative to work closely with your doctor and describe all of your symptoms in detail, logging these accompanying symptoms in a headache diary.
Many headache sufferers who think they are afflicted with sinus headaches really are experiencing migraine, tension or cluster headache pain. Migraine without aura has commonly been concealed as sinus headache. Cluster headaches in particular can be confused as sinus headaches, especially since a blocked or discharged nostril tends to be a common clinical feature in both.
If you are taking over-the-counter sinus medication your treating physician should be aware of it. Experts in the field all suggest that you should not be taking sinus medication more than three or four times per month. In addition, be aware that decongestants may increase your blood pressure or circulation—a real danger signal for people who suffer from "vascular headaches."
Certainly acute infection of the paranasal sinuses (around the nose) will cause pain in the head and facial area. The pain would be severe in intensity and accompanied by a yellow-green discharge from the back of the nostrils. However, specialists in headache diagnosis cite chronic tension-type headache as the usual pain culprit that initially responded to sinus medication.
Overall, sinus headache sufferers represent a very small percentage of the millions of people who suffer from head pain.
BLUE? DRAW THE HUE
Turn pain into pleasure by entering the "Migraine Masterpieces" art competition, in which migraine sufferers are asked to express, through art, the impact headaches can have on their day-to-day lives. It could win you up to $4,000.
In this year’s contest, participants are encouraged to depict the ways life improves when migraines are prevented or managed. Sponsored by the National Headache Foundation, the competition is open to any U.S. citizen who has been diagnosed as a sufferer of migraines.
The top three winners will each receive cash awards and round-trip air fare and accommodations to attend the opening of the subsequent Migraine Masterpieces art exhibit.
To obtain an entry form detailing the rules, deadlines and prizes for the art contest, call Delphia Johnson at (312) 729-4235 or check out the competition
Notes...
On October 14th Roger Johnson, D.V.M., presented his practical approach to the prevention of stress headaches. An outline of his presentation will be available at the November meeting, as well as notes from 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, compounding medications, allergies, and experimental drugs. Suggested donation is $2 for each set of notes, or find them on our website by going to our site directory .
East Bay Headache Support Group
1844 San Miguel Drive, Suite 316
Walnut Creek, CA 94596
Phone: (510) 938-5252
Fax: (510) 938-1343