by James on 5 February 2010
I appreciated Ellen’s blog post on Home therapy for intractable Migraine. She mentions an interesting study, and brings up, once again, DHE migraine treatment!
DHE, or dihydroergotamine, has been a topic of conversation here more than once. See especially DHE Migraine Treatment: Why some people still use it and Levadex – inhaled migraine drug on the way. DHE has been used for migraine and cluster headache, and it remains a helpful treatment for many patients.
In her post, Ellen mentions a study in the USA reported on in Headache (from the American Headache Society) in January. The researchers wanted to find out how patients would react to a home based intravenous dihydroergotamine treatment.
This type of treatment is usually done in the hospital or clinic, which can make things a lot more difficult for many patients.
There are advantages and disadvantages to having treatment like this at home. But perhaps too often doctors default to the hospital visit, instead of considering some patients that may benefit more from home treatment.
The patients in the study saw good results. All had chronic daily headache (CDH), and in the end only one was still diagnosed with CDH. There were no serious adverse effects at all.
Though this was a very small study (only 31 patients), it may lead to more openness by doctors and specialists to new options in treatments – not only for DHE, but other treatments as well.
Thanks, Ellen!
For more, read Outpatient Home-Based Continuous Intravenous Dihydroergotamine Therapy for Intractable Migraine
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by James on 4 February 2010
This week, think about how prepared you are for your next attack, and adjust accordingly.
"Why do you always have that backpack with you?"
I was asked that recently. All right, so I like to be prepared for things – there are lots of reasons I carry a backpack with me.
But some of the things in that backpack are migraine-related. I’ve got my Klean Kanteen with me, with fresh water to keep me hydrated, and to take medication with if necessary.
Obviously, I have whatever medication I need with me. For my purposes I have a tiny container with various medications I might possibly need, though usually I only take one type (and hopefully none!). It’s important to be ready to hit a migraine attack early.
I also have a small amount of food. Not much. But if all of a sudden I realize the blood sugar is getting low, I don’t want to stand in line under the bright lights and bright smells of a convenience store if I can help it.
Your schedule is different from mine. Sometimes I walk, sometimes I ride, sometimes I drive – you may be almost always in your car or at home or at the office. Fine – make sure you have "emergency packs" in those locations.
Whatever your situation is, be prepared. Not so that you can take more medication – most of us want less! But sometimes taking less earlier, or catching a quick snack, or staying hydrated – whatever – even stopping life for 10 minutes to read your favourite book – may mean less drugs in the long run.
And at least 1% fewer attacks.
What is 1% Thursday?
Every Thursday at Headache and Migraine News (weather permitting) we’ll talk about one measurable, practical thing we can do to make our lives just 1% better. Usually it will be something very easy, sometimes it will be a challenge. Let us know if you try it, or share an idea of your own – and maybe a year from now we’ll see that things have really changed for the better!
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by James on 3 February 2010
All right, so we’ve been a little slow with this one, but I wanted you to be the first to know – Headache and Migraine News is now on Facebook!
That’s right, we have a brand new fan page on Facebook. As has been the case with Twitter, not only will blog posts show up there, we will also feature other helpful links and news from time to time that aren’t here.
So if Facebook is your thing, become a fan now, and help to spread the word (remember how important that is?) and fight back in a new way.
And, of course, if Facebook isn’t your thing, and Twitter is, follow me there! And as always you can just visit the site, or subscribe to the RSS feed. And, as you may recall, you can even subscribe to posts via email! More ways than ever to get the most important news about migraine, cluster and headaches of all kinds!
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by James on 2 February 2010
This past month we celebrated issue #75 of the (still) free ezine, HeadWay!
HeadWay entered the stage back on the 21st of August, 2003. Topamax, a "brain-cooling" recipe and the trigeminal nerve were topics covered in the very first issue.
Today, thousands of subscribers from all over the world get HeadWay in their inbox once a month. These subscribers are the first to get news and tips to help them fight back against migraine, cluster, and headaches of all kinds.
Subscribers of HeadWay are also considered to be special shareholders in this site and Relieve-Migraine-Headache.com – their tips, ideas and suggestions continue to make these sites better.
And what did we do to celebrate this landmark in the history of HeadWay?
Absolutely nothing. Oops. Wasn’t thinking ahead.
But – why not stretch out the celebration? Watch soon for a subscriber-only contest! Just our way of saying thank you to all of you who have kept up with HeadWay and especially those who given back to help us all fight back.
So – subscribers – stay tuned! And if you’ve never subscribed, use the box to the right to subscribe now!
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by James on 30 January 2010
Chocolate for migraine? Prison camps? Out of body experiences? Grains in your pillow? Injections without needles?
These are some of the strangest health posts you’ll ever see, and yet they’re popular with our visitors – find out why!
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