Allergy test

I met with an allergist last week to see if allergies were giving me headaches. I had awful allergies - ragweed, dogs, cats - as a kid, but I grew out of them (either that or they went away when I moved to the city). But I thought maybe they transformed into headaches instead. Crazy thought, but I at least wanted to rule it out.

So I got a scratch test (see image below). This is not me - I wanted to take a picture, but I wasn't allowed to move my arms so that would have been difficult.

(Phanie/Photo Researchers/NY Times)

The results were expected - allergic to ragweed and molds. Certainly not bad enough to cause headaches or even bother me much. I even had the doctor check for foods - tomatoes, chocolate and something else I forgot. No reaction, but I could still have intolerances. So my next plan is to do a food elimination diet to see if common migraine triggers affect me. I've checked out a ton of books from the library and hope to do some book reviews soon. I probably won't start the diet for a few weeks though because I just finished the gluten-free diet and I need a break from restricting my diet. That's a headache in and of itself!

A few more brief updates: acupuncture's going well. I've switched to private sessions with deep neck massage and they seem to be helping. I'm off all prescription medications (so no more Lyrica or Lexapro, woohoo!) except for when I have headaches; if they're bad enough I'll do rotations of Toradol (for REALLY bad migraines), Butalbital, 800 mg Ibuprofen and Aleve.

I'm also taking the following supplements:

• fish oil
• magnesium potassium
• B complex
• Iron (not for headaches but because I have low levels)

On a more personal note, my husband and I were talking the other night and I told him I was mad at God because he has the ability to heal my pain but he won't. I took it back right away and said that Christians shouldn't be exempt from pain. This is earth after all; the pain-free time is yet to come (heaven). But I still felt bad, and I feel like I settled it with God at church this morning - I had a feeling of peace and joy throughout the entire service and I asked God to forgive me...and yes, to heal me. It doesn't hurt to ask. God might want me to use my pain to witness to others. So if you're not religious and this paragraph is gibberish to you, know that God's helped me through the pain and really does provide strength and peace. I'm not saying he'll take it away, but there's always hope. :)

Blog Re-redesign

I decided to make my blog a little more migraine-friendly. My last design seemed too busy. I probably won't keep this one forever either, but it'll do for now. Also, regarding design - I just got a digital camera so I'm hoping to put up more pictures with my posts. Woohoo!

And one more bit of housekeeping; regarding the post below, I still have three free codes left. E-mail me if you're interested!

Hope everyone's doing well, or at least as good as possible. :)

Technology: New Headache App

I received an e-mail from BetterQOL (Quality of Life), a company that creates technology tools for patients and physicians. A headache sufferer and migraine specialist got together to develop iHeadache, an app for the iPhone and iPod touch (Blackberry coming soon) that tracks symptoms, meds and disability and uses the data entered to create reports for your doctor.

You can read more about the app here.

I don't have an iPhone or iPod touch, so I haven't tried this. BUT, I have five codes for a free download. Note - before I said it was a 30-day trial, but it's actually the code itself that expires in 30 days; the download is free to use as long as you'd like! If you're interested, e-mail me at waronheadaches at gmail dot com and I'll send you details!

(Image by BetterQOL)

Gluten Free Diet: The End

I'm a little ashamed to write this post. I feel like I might be letting people down. Two months or so ago I decided to do a six-month gluten-free diet to see if it helped my headaches. My celiac disease tests came back negative, but I figured I might be gluten intolerant. I blogged about going gluten free and was excited to be trying a natural way to fight my headaches. It wasn't too hard either, but I think that's because I'm used to reading food labels due to my MSG intolerance. I thought I'd miss cupcakes and such, but I found some awesome gluten-free places in town that make gfree cupcakes, zucchini bread, etc. and they were delicious! The one thing I did miss was pizza (which is odd because I hated pizza as a kid but it grew on me later in life). I tried gfree pizza and the crust, my favorite part, was disgusting. However, I only tried it at one place and was scared to try it again. If you do want to try gfree pizza, I hear Bella Monica's is good - they have a restaurant in Raleigh and Whole Foods carries their pizza - also they were very helpful to me on Twitter while I was gfree.

One more quick tangent. A lot of people don't understand Twitter or think it's dumb, but I am an advocate. If you want to try going gluten-free, you can search "#gfree" and find a ton of people who are helpful in answering questions or sharing tips. I also use Twitter for migraine support. If you find the right people, it's a great community. So a special thank you to my gfree friends who helped me the last two months.

But, I'm sorry to say I've ended my gluten-free diet. I saw an internal medicine doctor last week and we discussed my headache history and things I'm currently trying, including the diet. He said that I could keep trying it if I wanted, but I probably would have noticed a difference by now. Also, my acupuncturist said he supports having a balanced diet. So I slowly started adding gluten back the past week, and my headaches haven't gotten worse.

In fact, they've been better, and I think it's due to my acupuncture. I've been doing private sessions where I lie down and the acupuncture points are more intense (somewhat painful). Also, my acupuncturist has been doing deep neck massages at the end of the last two sessions, and I think that is making a difference. It's painful to the point where I'm almost in tears and am sore for days afterward (I go once a week) but I honestly think this is what's helping my headaches. I've had maybe one or two headaches a week now instead of every day or every other day.

I'm terrified to say I'm getting better, but I'm definitely making progress. :)

Oh and also my internal medicine doc gave me permission to taper off the Lyrica and Lexapro, so soon I'll be taking only vitamins and minerals. WOOT!

War on Headaches Design

Edited: Ok I think I'm sticking with this redesign for a while. It's a free background I found online, but it'll work.

Thanks for the feedback on my earlier change. I decided it was too bright so I'm back to a dark one. Don't want my blog triggering any migraines. That'd be extremely counterproductive. ;)

Internal Medicine Doctor

Gotta keep this one brief since I'm on my lunch break. Quick update...

My mom who is a nurse wanted me to try a different avenue other than neurologists since I've seen five with no luck. She recommended seeing an internal medicine doctor or "internist" (not to be confused with "intern"). They're like primary physicians but more in-depth and according to the American College of Physicians (see the link), "they are specially trained to solve puzzling diagnostic problems and can handle severe chronic illnesses and situations where several different illnesses may strike at the same time."

The bad news is, of my migraine friends on Twitter, only one has had luck with an internal medicine doctor. The good news is, someone HAS had luck with one. My desire has always been to find the cause of my headaches to treat them, and I feel that an internist might be the way to go since they cover such a broad spectrum.

Another reason for seeing an internist is I want to get off Lexapro and Lyrica which do not work and I need a doctor to do this. My neurologist will not be happy with me, but I haven't seen her since April and her new facility is still trying to get in United Healthcare's network (my insurance), so there's no telling when I'll be able to see her next.

My appointment is in one week. Wish me luck!

P.S. - When I spoke to appointment scheduler and asked if they handled chronic headaches, she said they'd see me and then refer me to a specialist, but I said been there done that - I want to be treated by an internal medicine doc and find the cause, and then she had me speak to the triage nurse who said she'd have to schedule the appointment first to see what they could do.

Overwhelmed

I'm overwhelmed with - everything.

I'm in a hole at work and I can't dig out. I think it's because all I've had lately is writing assignment after writing assignment, and I have major trouble concentrating which I blame Lexapro and/or Lyrica for. This is causing me lots of stress.

Plus I've been having trouble sleeping which throws off everything.

Also my headaches seem to be out of control. At least I haven't had any really bad migraines lately, since I've said goodbye to hormonal birth control. But I still have almost daily headaches, and some get so bad that medicine doesn't have an impact on them.

But I always try to end on a positive note, so here are some things I'm grateful for:

* God. He fills me with hope and gives me strength to deal with my pain.

* My acupuncturist. Although the six sessions I've had so far don't seem to be helping, I still have hope. Some of my fellow blog and Twitter migraine sufferers have had success with acupuncture and say it takes a while. Today my acupuncturist told me to show up at 2:00 next week, which is when community acupuncture ends, because he wants me to do a private session where I can lay down - for the $20 community acupuncture cost!!! :) I'm excited to try another approach.

* My job. Even though it's stressful, my boss is flexible with my doctor's appointments. Plus, I'm blessed to have a job and health insurance.

* Family. They are all supportive and understanding. Plus my husband and I finally booked a trip to Seattle for next month. Can't wait!

* "No." I've finally been able to say no to people (I don't have a choice really) and it feels great. Having a more open schedule and taking a break from things is wonderful...or at least it will be once work calms down.

Remember that no matter what you're going through, it always helps to count your blessings.

One Month Gluten Free

First of all, an inspiring read on migraines and going gluten free. This blog post is by the person I met on Twitter who inspired me to try a gluten-free diet. She has celiac disease, and when she cut gluten from her diet, her migraines went away. While I do not have celiac disease (according to a blood test) I'm still thinking there could be a chance I have some level of gluten intolerance, which is why I'm trying a gluten-free diet. Here's her blog post, My Migraine Story - A Gluten Free Miracle.

Second, a VERY helpful read if you're planning to start a gluten-free diet, How to Start Living Gluten-Free.

And to add my own experience...I started a little over a month ago by eating up all my food and giving away extra flour, Bisquick, Kashi bars, etc. Then I went completely gluten free immediately by eating mostly unseasoned and unbreaded fruits, vegetables, meat, rice and potatoes. Throughout the past month I've tried gluten-free foods from Whole Foods, Kroger, Harris Teeter and Earthfare. They all have pretty good selections, and I was happy to learn that Kroger, which is my primary grocery store, labels gluten-free items (such as cookies or cereal that would typically contain gluten). When I shop I carry a list of ingredients that contain gluten so I can check foods I'm unsure about.

For breakfast I have gluten-free breakfast bars or fruit, for lunch gluten-free frozen dinners or a salad, and for dinner I'll usually have a veggie, rice and meat. I've also tried GF pasta (made from rice or other grains), quinoa (pronounced KEEN-wah), which is a healthy herb/grain that you can eat like rice or use in recipes like meatloaf, and Tamari - gluten-free soy sauce (yes, soy sauce contains wheat). For snacks, I have corn chips or gluten-free cookies. Eating out has not been too difficult. I'm used to having to check to see if restaurants have MSG-free options since it makes me sick, so now I check online menus for gluten-free options as well. Many places like PF Changs, Chili's, and Outback Steakhouse even have special gluten-free menus online. I've also tried a kitchen in Raleigh that lets you pick up meals that are guaranteed gluten free. They have a killer zucchini bread! And just yesterday I bought a gluten-free chocolate cupcake from a bakery selling at the local Farmer's Market that was out of this world! :)

I went an entire month without cheating, although I wasn't 100% strict either. I did check my pills and lip gloss, but I don't worry about lotion, shampoo, makeup, and cross-contamination issues. Since I don't have celiac disease, I'm guessing I don't need to be super-sensitive. BUT yesterday, I could not resist a bite of wedding cake and the crepes station at a wedding. I wanted to see if I'd get an instead headache. However, I already had a headache before the wedding, and although it did get worse, I think it's because of the two strawberry mojitos I drank!!!

So the big question is have my headaches improved? In June I had 26 headaches. Today is July 12 and I've had nine headaches so far. But the three non-headache days were in a row, which is unusual.

Of course if you read my blog, you know that I'm also doing acupuncture, Chinese herbs, and some different types of vitamins. Any of those might be helping.

For now, I'm going to stick to my gluten-free diet for five more months, or at least that's my goal.

P.S. Thanks for all the gfree people on Twitter who have been happy to answer questions and who post helpful tips!!!

Acupuncture Update

I've had four acupuncture visits so far; one per week. Unfortunately I'm still having headaches almost every day. I had a total of 26 headaches in June. A friend told me today that she saw a Duke study on acupuncture and headaches, and it took about 12 sessions for improvement, so I've decided to give it that many. Here's an article on acupuncture - it explains how it works, which I wonder each time I go! Thanks to @ManageMigraines on Twitter for the link.

In addition to the community acupuncture, I've been doing what I guess is acupressure where I tilt my head to the side and use that side's hand to push on the opposite side's area between my neck and shoulders, if that makes sense. When I push it, the pain radiates to my head. I'm supposed to push it until the knot that's there breaks up.


Also, as you can see from the picture, I'm on lots of fun non-big-pharma pills. So in addition to the Lyrica and Lexapro that my neuro put me on and I'm going to get off as soon as I see her next, I take the following: women's multi-vitamin, iron (not headache-related), magnesium, fish oil/omega-3, vitamin B complex, Chinese herbal migraine pills which are the black beads in the picture (10 twice a day) and 800 mg Ibuprofen or 2 Aleves when I have bad headaches.

My gluten-free diet is going very well. After eliminating food I couldn't eat from my kitchen, I printed gluten-free menus from restaurants that have them, printed a list of ingredients to avoid, and visited several different grocery stores to see their gluten-free foods selection. I'll blog more about it soon.

Hope all my American readers have a wonderful Independence Day, and I hope all my readers are headache-free for the weekend! :)

Is there a correlation between car accidents and migraines?

Since my last post, I've had acupuncture visits #2 and #3.

Visit #2 was interesting...and painful. I told the acupuncturists (husband-wife team) that I had a headache, and they put needles in my hand and feet like normal. Then they asked if my headache was going away, and I said no, so they gave it more time and then asked again. I thought to myself, are they really going to keep me here until my headache goes away? Because a few thin needles aren't going to make that happen. I told them I still had a headache, so they took out the needles and said they were going to do a stronger treatment. They put about 15 needles in me - on my feet, legs, hands and head - the sides above my ears, temples, and one in between my eyes right above my nose.

So what does this have to do with car accidents? The husband of the husband-wife team felt my neck and said "oh my" etc. He asked if I'd ever been in a car accident, and I told him yes a bad one when I was a kid - like in 5th or 6th grade - but I wasn't hurt. He said, are you sure? Then he started doing an acupressure/massage type thing that HURT. I could feel it up through my head, and my headache got way worse when he pushed on my neck. Then he lifted my arm and pushed down on a spot between my neck and shoulders and did the same for both sides. It gave me a sharp intense pain. Finally, he took out the needles and put a liquid on my neck that felt and smelled like IcyHot.

He asked how my headache was. IT WAS GONE. I couldn't believe it. Unfortunately, it only stayed gone for 30 minutes; then I got a migraine and had to take drugs.

I'll write more about my acupuncture appointments later, but I'm wondering, is there something to his car accident theory? It was so long ago, and I didn't have a single injury except for a seatbelt burn on my arm, but the car was hit so hard it spun a few times. And I've been in two more accidents within the last few years, although I already had migraines by that point.




I decided to do a Twitter poll to see if other migraine sufferers had been in accidents. A couple of people pointed out that the poll, which is above (and the link is below), wasn't specific enough. It didn't ask, for those who said yes, what happened first - the accident or the migraines. That's a good point and a weakness in the survey; another weakness is the number of votes - 17, which isn't much for a poll. That said, I still find it interesting that the majority of migraine sufferers have had a car accident.

As much as I researched, I could not find a study on the subject. Sure, some people get headaches directly after an accident, but what about years later? And if there is a correlation, what can be done? I personally have seen a chiropractor and physical therapist for my neck/headaches, with no success.

I'm sorry this post leaves so many questions unanswered, but I'd like to hear what other headache sufferers have to say. Do you think there's a correlation between headaches/migraines and past car accidents, and can anything be done about it?

Link