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The Chatzy Migraine Chat is on tonight – with guest host Nancy Harris Bonk. Once again, the chat is online between 6pm and 7pm Central Time – that’s 18:00-19:00. The information you need to know to get into the chat room is on the left. And the event takes place at Chatzy Migraine Chat.
Once again, I may be away at the wrong time – we’ll see!
One time I finally made it – only to discover I’d gotten the time wrong and everyone was gone. *sigh* 😉
It’s with sadness I write this post about the passing of migraine specialist and activist Dr. Fred Sheftell. Dr. Sheftell left this life on the 11th of April 2011 after a four year battle with cancer.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1941, Dr. Sheftell had quite a varied career. He was in the US army, developing a drug abuse program for soldiers returning from Vietnam (he was decorated by the army for his contribution, and was a pioneer in this field in the Unites States). Along with Dr. Alan Rapoport, he started the New England Center for Headache, and was founder and director of the American Committee of Headache Education. He was a past president of the American Headache Society, and was on the board of directors for many years. He was a member of the advisory board for the Migraine Research Foundation during the last years of his life. He founded the Word Headache Alliance. He was even cited in Woodward and White’s, "Best Doctors in America", a textbook identifying outstanding physicians in the United States.
Even that incredibly impressive list of achievements doesn’t begin to explain Dr. Sheftell’s tireless efforts to fight migraine. He co-authored many books, including Headache Relief for Women: How You Can Manage and Prevent Pain and Conquering Headache: An Illustrated Guide to Understanding the Treatment and Control of Headache. He wrote more than 200 peer reviewed articles. He frequently made himself available to appear on news programs to raise awareness about headache, migraine, and treatments.
It’s hard to imagine where migraine awareness and treatment and research would be without Dr. Sheftell.
Dr. Fred Sheftell was survived by his wife, Karen; son Jason; daughter Lauren; mother Wilma; brother Steven and his family; and brothers-in-law Edward Rosenthal and wife Linda, and David Rosenthal and wife Jane.
In lieu of flowers, donations in Sheftell’s memory can be made to the American Migraine Foundation, c/o American Migraine Foundation, 19 Mantua Road, Mount Royal, NJ 08061.
Dr. Sheftell was also a musician. Yes, he even used this talent to fight migraine, as evidenced in one of his most popular songs… Migraine Blues:
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57,000 bottles of Topamax distributed in the USA and Puerto Rico have been recalled. If you take Topamax, you should check here right away to see if the bottles you have are included.
After consumer complaints of a "musty" odor, the company voluntarily issued the recall. The bottles will be investigated for TBA (2,4,6-tribromoanisole) contamination.
TBA is a by-product of chemicals used to treat wood. It’s not toxic, but there are concerns that it can cause gastro-intestinal problems in patients.
There were several recalls in 2010 of medications due to possible TBA contamination. Companies have taken action to try to avoid contamination, but it looks like the problem may not be solved yet.
via Important News: Topamax Recall and Thousands of Bottles of Topiramate Recalled Due to ‘Musty’ Odor
I was recently doing some reading on fibromyalgia, and noticed something interesting. Once in a while migraine is listed as a symptom of fibromyalgia.
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For example, the National Fibromyalgia Association (USA) (a website which I respect, by the way) says: Additional symptoms [of fibromyalgia] may include: … headaches and migraines …
Now, to be fair, this statement is under the heading of "Other symptoms/overlapping conditions". Still, they revert to using just the term symptoms when they actually describe the relationship between migraine (attacks) and fibromyalgia.
Another site writes: Headaches are an extremely common symptom of fibromyalgia. In fact, more than 50% of people with fibromyalgia suffer from constant headaches or migraines.
However, this site goes on to explain that there may be a common cause or dysfunction for both migraine and fibromyalgia. Unfortunately, the information on migraine on this site is very out of date.
Two things having a common cause – one thing being a symptom of the other – those are two very different scenarios. But does it really matter? After all, if two things have a common cause, isn’t it likely that treating one may treat the other as well, even if one isn’t technically a symptom of the other?
Yes, it’s true that treating one may help with the other. But I’m afraid simply calling migraine a "symptom" of fibromyalgia may oversimplify the matter.
Here’s what we do know:
Although we know there are many commonalities between migraine and fibromyalgia, we don’t know the cause of either, and we don’t know for sure why many people tend to have both. Could it be that they both are manifestations of the same disease? Or could it be that there are mechanisms in one that tend to trigger the symptoms of the other? Though we’ve learned a lot about both in the past few years, we still can’t answer these questions with certainty.
Because of this uncertainty, I think it’s better to call migraine a co-morbid condition, or an overlapping condition. Treating fibromyalgia alone may or may not take care of your migraine attacks. We need to be honest about this. (I’m not suggesting the sites above are intentionally dishonest – I’m just saying that terminology is important in this case.)
That being said, here’s what we should continue doing in relation to the migraine fibromyalgia connection:
To learn more about fibromyalgia, visit the National Fibromyalgia Association website.
What do you think? Is this an important distinction? Does it matter if migraine is a symptom or a co-morbid condition?
Don’t worry, this isn’t a post about abdominal fat. The tip is simply this – watch out for issues with your stomach, or your gut – it could be related.
We’ve talked about the migraine-gut connection many times. But still, often we just don’t think of it. You’d be surprised how some imbalance in your gut can cause problems with migraine attacks.
So this is just a reminder – if you feel a little nauseous, a little bloated, you have heartburn or acid reflux, or diarrhea… talk to your doctor. Don’t ignore it. There may be a stronger connection than you think – it could be triggering more migraine attacks. (It could also keep your meds from working – listen here!) The pain may be much more than a few cramps down below.
What is 1% Thursday?
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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!
