Donna Johnson, a migraine sufferer, will speak about her experiences, and Michael Stein, M.D., will outline specific steps a migraineur can take to defend her/his lifestyle against the often devastating effects of migraine headaches. There will also be a question and answer session, and brochures with helpful information about managing your headaches.

Come to this informational meeting and bring family members and friends, especially other headache sufferers who may not know of the latest treatment options available.

Headache causes personal suffering, disrupts families and interferes with work and leisure time. Striking unpredictably, an attack shatters a sense of self-control. Medications are often less than effective or produce unwanted side effects.

Present day myths about headache often induce a sense of isolation, shame and helplessness. Before healing can begin, the headache sufferer needs to know that headaches are a treatable and significant disorder. Psychological conflicts are generally the result, not the cause of chronic headache.

Fact: Headaches are the result of biochemical changes in the brain. Stress, acting on the nervous system, makes headaches more likely to occur. The stress may be chemical, emotional, biological, or psychological. Psychological problems can arise from poorly managed headaches but, for the most part, psychological problems do not cause headaches.

Myth #2: Recurrent headaches are something I have to learn to live with.

Fact: Headaches can be managed, not cured. With proper medical care, education and effort, almost all head-ache sufferers can reduce the pain and disability of headache.

Myth #3: The only way to stop my headache is to stop living a normal life. Headaches have taken over my life.

Fact: Frequent disabling headaches occur in an unpredictable fashion and create fear of the next headache attack. As headache frequency increases, the greater the fear grows. This can lead to a vicious cycle where anticipation of the next headache becomes the stress that generates more headaches. Proper headache management addressing medical care and lifestyle can break this cycle and restore control.

Myth #4: Recurrent headaches are not serious. After all, it’s just a headache.

Fact: Most headaches are not life-threatening, but may seriously influence an individual’s quality of life and coping abilities. They strain family life, disrupt leisure activity, and diminish career opportunities.

Myth #5: My children will suffer headaches because I do.

Fact: Children learn how to deal with stress from the behaviors of their parents. Research suggests that the threshold of handling incoming stimuli to the brain may be inherited. However, by learning how to manage stress effectively, children experience coping alternatives which will boost their resistance to headache.

Fact: Headaches are the result of many interacting factors. There is no simple answer. Medication is often a necessary part of headache treatment, but rarely is it the complete answer. Some medications when used too frequently can actually cause headaches. Optimal headache care almost always involves a partnership between the headache sufferer and the physician.

Myth #7: Recurrent headaches mean that I am more likely to have a stroke or brain tumor.

Fact: The sudden onset of frequent, severe headaches should be investigated by a physician. But research suggests that heavy cigarette smoking combined with using birth control pills by women over the age of 30 is more predictive of the possibility of a stroke than the occurrence of head-ache. Brain tumors are a rare cause of headaches.

Myth #8: My headaches are caused by my neck being out-of-line.

Fact: The status of the neck needs to be medically evaluated because headache pain may originate with neck and back problems. However, pain during headache is often projected or referred to the neck and shoulders. Usually, tension in the neck is the result, not the cause, of headache.

Myth #9: Severe headaches must be migraines.

Fact: There are many different types of headaches. The diagnosis of most headaches rests solely on the medical history because there are no tests that substantiate the diagnosis. Severe headaches should be diagnosed by a physician to begin proper treatment.

Myth #10: Recurrent headaches are a female disorder.

Fact: Migraines are influenced by hormonal factors. This is reflected in the fact that 3 times more women have migraine than do men. However, 6% of adult men suffer migraine, and studies show that the disability is not influenced by gender.

Myth #11: Headaches are an excuse for getting out of doing what I don’t want to do.

Fact: Headaches can be a serious disabling illness. Quality of life studies of those patients with migraine demonstrate greater impairment of lifestyle than with most other chronic illnesses. There are easier ways of avoiding an undesired activity than with headache.

Myth #12: Headaches are not worth the time and expense of seeing a physician.

Fact: Not managing headaches is far more costly than caring for them. Each year the average headache sufferer loses time and income due to headache disability; these losses exceed the cost of quality medical treatment.

For further information, call the HMF office at (925) 934-7311.  Cost is $10.

A Communication Headache
By Nick Fox, specialist registrar in neurology, London, England

Found on the Web site of the British Medical Journal: www.bmj.com

*Editor’s Note: Hemicrania continua is a chronic headache characterized by brief sharp pains on one side of the head, and which is typically relieved by indomethacin, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug.

Future Meetings:

The East Bay Headache Support Group is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing a forum for headache sufferers.  The support group meets the second Tuesday every other month at John Muir Medical Center from 7:30 to 9:00 pm. It is open to all headache sufferers and their families; the meetings are free (however, donations to cover printing, postage, and Web site expenses are appreciated!). The support group meetings include lectures by guest speakers, question and answer sessions, and informational materials.

Directions to John Muir Medical Center: Take Highway 680 to the Ygnacio Valley Road exit in Walnut Creek; go East approximately 1-1/2 miles, and turn right onto La Casa Via.  Turn left into the medical center parking lot, and enter at the Main Lobby. Take stairs or elevator to the lower level and follow signs to the meeting room. 

We value your input! Call, fax, write, or e-mail us if you have any comments or suggestions, or would like to help. The planning committee meets the third Tuesday evening every other month and welcomes new members. Michael Stein, M.D., Advisor; Leslie Davis, Editor; Dana Giese, Webmaster; Donna Johnson, Treasurer; Reg Fong, Meg Johnson, Joan Kelley, Richard Tomchalk.

Do you know others who suffer from headaches?  Make copies of this newsletter and pass it on!