Resources
The Unexpected Reason You Should Pay Attention to the Migraine World Summit
There’s a very important event coming up that you need to know about – The Migraine World Summit 2017! Why (you may ask)?
Last year’s Migraine World Summit was a tremendous success! I had the privilege of being both a speaker and a learner. The information was cutting edge and very practical – I’m still going through the material.
But this year is going to be even better!
For those of you who don’t know, the summit will be bringing together experts from around the world – and I mean top, world renowned experts. They will be sharing the latest information, and their years of experience, with everyone who attends.
And you can attend, online, for free (as long as you have tickets. Which are free).
Compared to last year, the production quality is going to be raised significantly, and there will be even more great speakers (36 in all) from the forefront of migraine research and treatment.
Now, why should you attend? Of course you want to be on the inside track of information for new treatments and research. But there’s another, maybe even more important reason, why you should get your free tickets.
I spoke with Carl Cincinnato, the host of the Migraine World Summit, via Skype. He has an ambitious vision for the summit and its future.
Imagine if the summit starts getting the attention of more researchers, governments, universities, and other people with major influence. The Migraine World Summit could become more than just a tool for patients and doctors – it could become a movement.
What if people with money started realizing the need for funding migraine research? What if governments started making research a priority? What if more places of learning and research started cooperating?
You can help get their attention just by attending via your computer or smart phone. The more people, the better!
And now for the details: The event is taking place between the 23rd and 29th of April (if you get tickets, you are free to “attend” whichever workshops you would like to). As a bonus, after you sign up, you’ll get to see a free video with highlights from last year (yes – I’m in it!).
To sign up for free, visit this page.
Be a part of the movement – it’s time to fight back!
Unused Paid Time Off? Use it to Fight Migraine…
Because of the drastic under-funding of research for migraine, I’m always interested in new ways to get that research going. Thanks to a start up, those in the United States now have a unique way to donate.
It may seem odd to those in other developed countries, but in the United States there is no national law making paid leave a requirement. But many of those who get the privilege, for whatever reason don’t use it.
Now I certainly recommend you do use it – it’s important for your health, productivity, and creativity. But the fact of the matter is, at certain times you may not be able to use it, or you may have friends and family who have unused paid time off that they haven’t used.
Depending on a company’s policy, this can lead to a lot of confusion in the books over the years. But some companies have used this new start up to organize this paid time off (PTO) and use it to help other employees, the employees who weren’t using it, and even charities – ah hah!
There may be people you know who qualify – and who can give some of their PTO to the Migraine Research Foundation. The startup is called PTO Exchange, and the Migraine Research Foundation is one of the registered charities.
If you’re in the USA, please tell your family and friends about this opportunity to give to migraine research. 100% of their donation will go directly to cutting edge research. Some companies may want to consider using PTO Exchange for the first time. Share on Facebook, Twitter, and at your next dinner party – let’s see if we can find some funding to fight migraine!
7 Ways to Stick to Your New Treatment (or not)
Migraine patients are constantly frustrated by a lack of good treatments, good information, trained health professionals, and funding for research. And we’re right to be concerned. But there’s another major issue that is keeping many patients from the best treatments.
It’s simply this: we don’t do what the doctor tells us to do.
One of the major recommendations for solving this problem is creating a “blame-free” environment. Well, sometimes we need the truth, even if it involves so-called “blame”. But it’s actually a lot more complicated than simply “the patient is bad because he didn’t take his meds”.
There are many reasons why we don’t listen to our doctor’s instructions. Sometimes – hopefully not often, but sometimes – a doctor may just give horrible instructions. Like “find yourself a husband” or “stop being so stressed”.
There are a lot of things doctors can do to improve “adherence” or “compliance” as it’s called in the medical field. There’s a whole area of study related to this issue.
Did you know, for example, that some doctors will not even discuss certain treatments with you, because they think it’s a waste of time, because chances are you won’t listen? An example might be a strict diet. Even if you could drastically improve your health by weighing and measuring everything you eat – would you? Or by running 10 miles every day?
But there are some things we as patients can do in order to take our doctor’s recommendations more seriously. After all, if you’re going to try it, go all the way, and make sure you know whether it works or not. Taking your medication 60% of the time, or adhering to your diet 3 days a week, really won’t tell you if the treatment “works”.
Here are some suggestions to maximize your treatment in the year ahead (remember, this is a very complex issue – these are just a few ideas to help you, not a complete overview of the issue).
- Get Organized. Do you forget to take your meds? No time to make that healthy meal? A big part of it may be organization. What can you do to help remember? Why not invest in a nice pill dispenser (here are some popular examples – Pill Organizer Box Weekly Case, 4ucycling 2 Pack Easy Carry Waterproof Pill Case, or the extremely popular Borin-Halbich 7 Day 3 Compartment Pill Organizer)? How about an app to remind you (like the very entertaining Medisafe)? Why not plan a weekly menu on Saturday morning? Whatever works for you.
- Find a Friend. Can someone else help you? Hold you accountable? Everyone needs a friend once in a while.
- Rewards. How about a reward at the end of the month if you stick to your treatment?
- Understand your disease (and the treatment). Sometimes we’re reluctant to try a treatment because we don’t see why it would “help”. Educate yourself – it’s your responsibility. But feel free to ask your doctor lots of questions.
- Understand your disability (keep track!). If we have a 20% improvement, but don’t notice it, we won’t care about the treatment. As much as you can, keep track of where your symptoms are at. Use a paper diary, or an app, or a periodic test. Whatever works – the more detail the better.
- Recognize your beliefs. Sometimes we’re not even aware of them, but we have a lot of ideas (whether correct or correct under some circumstances, or even mistaken) that affect our treatment. Are you afraid of taking a “daily medication”? Why? Do you believe that “vitamins” won’t help? Why? Are all “drugs” bad? There may be a lot of wisdom in your idea, but there may be circumstances in which you need to rethink a little. Don’t be afraid to examine your beliefs.
- Communicate with your doctor (and be honest). Do you have a plan for communicating with your doctor? Ok, under some circumstances you may just need to find a new doctor. But if you’re going to stick with the one you have, you need to communicate. And be honest. If the treatment regimen is just too complicated – say so. If you’re simply not going to give yourself an injection – admit it and move on. If you need a break from trying new meds – take a break. There are going to be times when you can’t “adhere” perfectly to your treatment – and sometimes you just need to be ok with that. But if you communicate to your doctor, she can help you find something that you can adhere to.
One more thing – at this time of year, full of focus on New Year’s resolutions, there is actually some good advice out there to help you stick to your plan. If you’re reading that advice, think about how you might apply that to your medical treatment.
After all – imagine if you gained even a few more days of health this year! What would you do with them?
The Migraine Expert in Your Pocket
Patients want to get treated, doctors want to treat them. But one of the biggest challenges is simply telling your doctor what they need to know.
Your doctor may not have a lot of time. Or, she may not know what questions to ask. Or, you may forget something under the time constraints at the doctor’s office.
Wouldn’t it be nice if you could have a migraine expert that you could call on first, who had all the time in the world to discuss your symptoms with you? And then that expert could put the most important information into a nice, compact package and give it to your doctor?
Ah yes, in a perfect world. But actually, there is something similar that already exists.
It’s a website called BonTriage, and it was developed by migraine experts. Actually, it’s still being developed and improved, which should give you some peace of mind as our knowledge of headache disorders is growing day by day.
The concept is simple. You go to the website and you are asked some very specific questions about your symptoms. Very specific. Remember, the idea is to get lots of information that your doctor could easily miss, and find the information that will be most important to know.
So don’t expect to sit down for 5 minutes and answer a few simple questions. It will take some time. (Actually, there is a “short” version, but it’s worth your time to do all the steps.) Remember, this is time you’re saving in the doctor’s office.
Once you’re done, you’ll have a printable page that you can take to your doctor.
Even if you’ve already been seeing a doctor, this is a great way to breath fresh air into your conversations. Or, if you’re going to see a specialist, or a chiropractor, or another health professional, bring this along. It will give you a head start.
This is not a “perfect” solution – the computer cannot diagnose you. It is, however, a conversation starter. And if you’re willing to use it, it could be a great help.
To try it now, go to the assessment page for BonTriage here.