Migraine Blasphemy

We read, hear, and see supposed migraine causes and treatments every day. The sheer multitude of incorrect information causes even the the most upbeat person to lose their belief in an eventual cure. There are certainly more questions than  answers. Scientists and laypersons around the world are working on it, and many claim to have it already.

So how do we know what is right and what is wrong? What is the cause of migraine? Is there one cure that works for every migraineur? What are the best sources for diagnosis and treatment? How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop?(Just making sure you are awake      and everyone knows the answer is 2.)

There is so much more disinformation than truth to be found on the web. It makes this tool useless or too overwhelming at times. Some of these questions have answers and some do not. It can be a blasphemy of migraine information. The internet is a wonderful thing. Anyone can say almost anything they want. When searching for the truth, you must wade through a lot of polluted disinformation. Many people will follow the very first link that Google provides and accept it as definitive and it may not be. Some web sources provide disinformation because they don't know any better, and some because they are trying to sell you something. Just be aware of the blasphemy of truth about migraines on the internet.

I thought that I would provide a list of web sources that I trust. These sites strive to provide articles that have current information. This list is not the quintessential list of all time. It is a good collection of current web sites to use for the unbiased answers to migraine questions.

• MAGNUM ~ http://www.migraines.org/
• Migraine.com ~ http://migraine.com/
• National Headache Foundation ~ http://www.headaches.org/education/Headache_Topic_Sheets/Migraine
• Headache and Migraine News ~ http://headacheandmigrainenews.com/
• Putting Our Heads Together ~ http://www.puttingourheadstogether.com/

I bet you noticed how short this list is. Some may disagree with my choices. Feel free to comment and state why you would add to, or subtract from my list.

 

Predicted Punishment

This post is more technical than my normal post. But I found this very interesting. This information confirms what many chronic pain sufferers have said before; That we feel and react to acute pain differently than those that do not experience chronic pain.

Chronic pain sufferers may have a different neural response to acute pain than those without chronic pain. The difference in responses to a painful stimulus is the opposite between the two groups. While healthy volunteers registered the removal of a painful stimulus as a reward, chronic pain sufferers appeared to reflect a predicted punishment response.

These two forms of learning, reward and predicted punishment, are ways in which the body is taught interpretation of acute pain as a motivation for behavior. This means that chronic pain sufferers process acute pain in different ways.

The following is a portion of the MedPage Today, Article "Chronic Pain Alters Experience of Acute Pain";

 Researchers have found that chronic pain may reverse the neural response to acute pain. Although sensory activation patterns in the central nervous system were nearly identical between healthy volunteers and chronic back pain sufferers, in a study reported in the April 15 issue of Neuron. the difference is in the brain's interpretation of acute pain as a motivation for behavior, according to A. Vania Apkarian, PhD, of Northwestern University in Chicago, and colleagues.

At the end of a painful heat stimulus, this portion of the brain registered phasic activity in chronic pain patients with the opposite polarity of that seen in healthy adults. Although removal of a painful sensation usually registers as a reward, among chronic pain patients it actually appeared to reflect a predicted punishment, the researchers explained.

A number of changes have been seen in the brain of individuals with chronic pain, including abnormal brain chemistry, regional gray matter atrophy, cognitive changes, and unique patterns of brain activity.

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• Hurts so good: Chronic pain changes brain response to acute pain (eurekalert.org)
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Light Noise

I have long known that light effects me. Light noise is one of my biggest triggers and light effects me so severely, that I wear my sunglasses both outdoors and in. When I have a migraine I MUST have a dark space to go to even if I already have my sunglasses on. When I feel the onset of a migraine, I head for my cave to rest.

"This instinct may be sound: A new study suggests that even without the headache, migraine sufferers may process visual cues better in an environment with few visual distractions. In an article from HealthCanal.com, Migraine Sufferers: More Difficulty Tuning Out Visual Stimuli? “In a study published in the April issue of Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science (“Visual Noise Selectively Degrades Vision in Migraine”), researchers from Scotland’s Glasgow Caledonian University  asked migraine sufferers to pick out a small disk of light amid visual noise, an effect similar to the black-and-white snow on an off-air television. Without the visual noise, people prone to migraine could identify the light disk about as well as the control group. When the noise was added, migraine sufferers (“migraineurs”) performed significantly worse.”

Somewhere around a third of migraine sufferers experience neurological disturbances before a migraine starts. Auras are usually visual in nature and may appear as glimmering lights or wavy patterns that move across the field of vision. The study, done by lead researcher Doreen Wagner, Diplom-Ingenieur (FH) of Optometry, PhD student in Vision Science, showed that migraine sufferers with auras were the most adversely affected by the addition of visual noise.

Wagner said a current theory about migraines is that nerve cells in the brain of migraineurs are excitable and when exposed to certain triggers, the increased excitability may cause whole clusters of nerve cells to become overactive, similar to a spasm, and bring on the headache. In this study, “We believe that the noise on the display overexcites the nerve cells in the brain of the migraineurs. This in turn makes it harder for a migraineur to see the disk.”

“It might be helpful to avoid such ‘noisy’ environments which may impair their performance, scenes overloaded with visual distracters, for example computer screens and learning tools which have a lot of visual information on them.” she said."

 It makes sense to avoid light noise or visual distractions, in our daily lives. Especially if this is as much of a migraine trigger for you as it is for me. I just don’t think I can give up my computer, although I can;

• Adjust the brightness/contrast on my computer monitor.
• Take frequent breaks to prevent eyestrain.
• Look away from the monitor to a point in the distance and back, in order to lessen strain.
• Use software to transcribe my posts to the computer.
• Set my screen background to a simple clutter free picture that uses darker colors.

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• Reduce Eyestrain While Blogging (againstthegraine.blogspot.com)
• Migraine: Are You Wearing Your Sunglasses At Night (againstthegraine.blogspot.com)
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Invisible Illnesses; We Know All But The Cause And The Cure

I had a nice 'little' conversation through Twitter and email with a new friend last night. She is looking for help with her migraines and I hopefully gave her some good places to start this part of her migraine journey. Part of what I told her was this;

There is a relatively very short list of people who are experts in our disease. Whether it be migraine, Fibromyalga, or another Invisible Illness.  In most cases, we may know more about that disease than the people who are treating us.

There is no doctor, counselor, or other medical person, who is working on our cases 24/7 for us, except us, as individuals.  We each need to learn as much as we can, and each take the helm and tell the docs what you know, want and need. We need to gather as much information about our symptoms as possible.

We are the only ones who can be responsible for our medical treatment. In other words, We are the ones with the pain. We are the ones that know everything about our illness except, the cause and the cure. With better documentation and directed information in the right direction, we can help our care- givers help us.

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Dain Bramaged

In 1999 I went to my family doctor with a folder of medical journal articles and told him, "I think I may need brain surgery".

What was I thinking?? I had been told six weeks before that I had an arachnoid cyst in the left anterior temporal region of my head. I was told that this is not an uncommon condition, and is most definitely benign. The doctor's said that it may have been congenital or it may have been caused by a trauma. Since no one else in my family has ever had migraines (that I am aware of), I concluded that it must be due to trauma. They don't call me "Head Trauma Honaker" for nothing!

(The scan shown above is not mine and is shown for reference only)

I had heard several times over the previous 16+ years (I was first struck without warning in '82), that there was a slight abnormality in my CT scan, but it was nothing to worry about. In '98, I finally became smart enough to ask questions of my doctors and began my own research. The location of the cyst and the location of my pain were exactly the same, so I began to read everything I could find about this and similar conditions.

So... I found online articles that talked about the "exact" same condition possibly causing migraines, and that some success had been seen in fenestration (poking holes in) or removal of the cyst so that it would not contain cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) under pressure. I gave these articles to my family doctor and my neurologist, who both agreed that I should consult with a neurosurgeon about having a craniotomy.

We scheduled the surgery for the next month, two days before my birthday, and I began putting my affairs in order.

Part two, Arterial Veinous Malformation, will be posted on Wednesday, stay tuned, or click the button to subscribe to my blog.

Migriaine: Safe Exercise for Migraine Sufferers

Many of us, who suffer from migraines are not able to, or choose to avoid aerobic exercise because of the fear that physical activity may bring on a serious migraine attack. Researchers at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, say they have developed an exercise program that can improve fitness without aggravating the migraine condition.

"We could see that those who participated in the study were much fitter after the training period, since their ability to absorb oxygen increased considerably," says physiotherapist Emma Varkey, one of the researchers behind the study.

The program involves using an exercise bike under the guidance of a physiotherapist. A low impact ride on a stationary bicycle allows the migraineur to exercise in a way that increases oxygen intake, and burns calories without necessarily initiating a migraine.

Personally, I believe that a slow ride in the park (and maybe memory lane?) maybe just what the doctor ordered. But, if you are light sensitive, a stationary bike would allow you to get the same amount of exercise in a low light environment. Turn on the fan and feel the wind in your hair ;?)

-- Andy

Migraine: Subdural Remedy May Help

I have seen a couple of different stories about subdural implants to control nerve function and pain. Several months ago, I saw a story about a man in Chicago and how the Mayo Clinic had inserted an implant to control the firing of nerves, which helped him to regain the fine motor skills he had lost due to head trauma and migraines.

I couldn't find that particular story online, but I did find this story. I think it may be relevant to me, due to the fact that the patient had a head trauma that caused the start of his migraine headaches.

My family jokingly, but lovingly, sometimes calls me "Head Trauma Honaker". I like to play as hard as I work. I always give 110%, even if it means diving in head first. I have had many head traumas and concussions during my 47 years. One particular occasion ended with me falling about 20 feet from a tree and landing on the left side of my head. I never felt dizzy, no nausua, no blurry vision, just a stiff neck, so I didn't go to the hospital. This trauma may actually have aggravated my condition, because after that my migraine frequency and pain levels increased several fold.

I had brain surgery to remove an arachnoid cyst in my left anterior temporal lobe in 1999. I had been telling my doctors for many years (with pinpoint accuracy) the point of origin of my migraines. It turned out that was exactly where the cyst was.

Brain surgery is never easy, no matter what the procedure. I recovered enough to go back to work in about four weeks. I don't think I have ever fully recovered from it though. Maybe a subdural transmitter might be something that would help me. Maybe not.

I do know I would prefer it to the "clapper" that my wife wants to have installed. She wants to be able to clap her hands and have me turn off or on, at will. I don't agree with this procedure.



--Andy

Migraine: The Use of Botox

Dr. Silberstein is currently my Neurologist. I have been traveling, once or twice a month, from southwest Virginia to Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia to see him. I asked him early on about the botox trial, and was told that my migraines were too complicated for that treatment to be used on me.

I guess I have always been complicated. I have had a rhinoplasti, oral surgery, and a crainiotomy in attempts to overcome my migraines. All to no avail. I sometimes get depressed when I see an article or video about a trial that is being conducted in which people are having success, at not only managing their migraines, but eliminating them altogether. I am truly happy for those finding relief, but I struggle with the jealousy in my heart, that they can return to a normal life, and I am still stuck in this nightmare.

I pray each day that not only will God heal me, or help the doctors find a cure, but also to remove the jealousy from my heart. I have confidence that one day I will be totally without pain or the threat of it. But, I know that this may not happen while I live in this body.

--Andy

Migraine: On My Nerves

It is so frustrating that the primary knowledge about migraines is so vague and obtuse. Most the treatments that I have heard of, are essentially treating the inflammation of the blood vessels, or nerves. Treating the symptoms not the cause. That's why I posted my previous article about pressure and temperature (see Migraine: Under Pressure not Temperature). There has to be an underlying cause for the inflammation and I am wondering if my own worst trigger, barometric pressure, could provide a key to my own headaches.

--Andy