Case Histories - November #13

i get migraine on both sides of my head. i have ms also.
Dr. Shafqaat <was@micro.net.pk>
Wah Cantt., Pakistan - Date: 11/14/98 (Sat) Time: 11:31:21 AM

Everyone, There is something that can be done to cure your migraines rather than just treat them with dangerous drugs. The process is called "contact reflex analysis" (CRA) and after this assessment technique is performed to find the areas of your body that have "blown a fuse," those areas are healed with nutritional products that nourish and repair. I, too, had tried everything under the sun for 18 years. In my case, CRA found that I had had a systemic viral infection that had debilitated my blood vessels and was working on the greater vessels of my heart. In fact, most of my other diseases were blood vessel oriented, so that made sense to me. After the virus was treated and eliminated, my migraines were at half their original intensity. Next, CRA found that I had a systemic yeast infection. After a stringent diet and a product that replaced the "good" yeast in my body, my migraines are now in the past. Also, my health is so much better overall. I sent my neighbor for treatment, as well, and her rheumatoid arthritis has been cured, so CRA cures ALL chronic illness, not just migraines. We all have different causes for our migraines, depending on the weak areas of our bodies. One woman I sent for CRA had a low thyroid and a staph infection. That's the great thing about CRA--the cause is found and treated. It's not "cookie-cutter" medicine. To find someone in your area that practices CRA (usually chiropracters), call around and ask. Another way is to find "Standard Process" on the net--this is the product with which you'll be nourished. E-mail them and ask who in your area reps this product. That person will know who does CRA and will also know who the best is, so ask! If you're anywhere near Glens Falls, New York, there is a clinic there called NHIC run by Dr. Fred Ulan. People go there from all over the world. I was treated by a wonderful woman in Connecticut and I receive followup in the Denver area. E-mail me if you have questions. I will be moving in a few days, though, so try to reach me by Nov. 20. You can lose these migraines, so please do follow-up on this wonderful technique.
Pamela Swearingen <pls@frii.com>
USA - Date: 11/14/98 (Sat) Time: 07:10:23 AM

I recently stumbled onto this page and began reading with a sense of deja vu. I thought that there was no one else with a life-long history of intractable migraines who "allowed" the headaches to control their lives. I use the word "allowed" because I am sure the majority of people in the lives of migraine sufferers have long since lost their empathy toward the chronic complaining, or at least I think my husband has. I fit into the pattern of individuals who have a strong family history on both sides. I began having the most violent attacks at ten. I remember as a child watching my grandfather in the middle of a horrible attack, an old "rag" tied around his head, lying in the bed for hours on end, writhing in pain. I adored him and the visual image of his suffering remains etched in my mind even now. The doctor he was seeing some 40 years ago gave him morphine injections. He became addicted and I have lived with this fear as well. My migraines are classified as classic, with aura consisting of flashing peripheral vision, concomitant receptive aphasia and partial paralysis on the left side of my face. You probably are now beginning to feel the "been there, done that" awareness I had when I first started reading these entries. I, too, have had every possible medical treatment available to modern science. Fortunately or unfortunately, however one might view it, I cannot tolerate narcotics. The nausea is horrible from the headache, but compound the factor ten-fold and that's what happens when I try to take a strong pain killer. I took Ergostat and Fiorinal for years. I had unlimited prescriptions for the two. Luckily, I never became addicted to the Fiorinal, as I noted many of you feared. I think the vast number of people have no idea what an attack is like at full-dilation phase. I had almost convinced myself that I must be a hypochondriac because it was impossible to have so many migraines without "bringing" them upon myself due to some personality defect, i.e. neurosis, obsessive- compulsive disorder, perfectionism, blah, blah, blah. I've heard it all. I learned also that it was best to suffer in silence, because even the empathy of those closest to you eventually runs out. The "I-think-I'm-getting-a-headache" routine soon falls upon deaf ears. I MAKE my husband listen even when I know he can't listen anymore. He responds with a perfunctory, "I'm sorry, Dear One." ...the same response I get when I say, "I broke a fingernail." Don't you guys just hate being patronized? I appreciate having found a group of sufferers who know first hand the great import of the statement, "I think I'm getting a headache." What about that funny feeling you get sometimes and you must wait around to see if the "monster" materializes or the feeling is related to simple fatigue or lack of sleep or the onset of a cold or whatever. Yes, I have allowed the headaches to control my life. My reality is controlled by them. For, let's face it, folks, you can't make any long-range plans or assume that you can go shopping on Saturday because 3:00 a.m., when you least expect it, ha, you find yourself awakened from a sound sleep with the pounding already in full force. I have even been "dreaming" that I was having a migraine and awakened to find I actually had one. How do you explain that? Also, I remember a series on PBS which explored the brain of the migraine sufferer. Studies showed that "we" unique individuals process information differently from the remainer of the population. Also, since this is turning into a long, treatise on the subject, I shall cut it short and submit more later. What I would like to know from the rest of you is, "Do you suffer from insomnia?" I just wonder if the entire migraine syndrome has other sequelae that might be common to us all. For instance, do any of you have eidetic imagery or photographic memory or long-lasting afterimages? What about the dreams? Are your dreams complicated by dreaming a migraine, then awaking to find you actually have one already in progress? Also, have any of you tried the biofeedback route? I have responded to a couple of people by e mail and have been waiting for a response from them. I would like to have someone on-line to submit a detailed, almost anecdotal, record of an attack, just so that I know the person "reading" is empathetic, not that I even expect that from people anymore.
Martha
GA USA - Date: 11/14/98 (Sat) Time: 03:12:34 AM

I suffer from migraines. I first started having them in my late 20's. For some reason I stopped having them for 12 years and then I started having them again approximately 5 years ago. I am 47. As I am suffering from a migraine at this moment, I feel I cannot take much more. I have been to the hospital for two shots (third day with a headache) and have taken Midrin -- which use to help, but no longer seems to. (I cannot take Imitrix since it causes my blood pressure to skyrocket.) I am embarrassed to go back to the hospital because I feel they are so skeptical of migraine sufferers. AND I HAVE BEEN TWICE IN THREE DAYS ALREADY. Until a little over a year ago I had migraines with no predictability but they were not that frequently. Then my headaches increased to approximately one a month. In the last three months I have had two each month. I don't feel I can keep having these. Do others feel as helpless and discouraged as I do? My whole world stops when I have these things.
Jacque <jmcharlow@aol.com>
AL USA - Date: 11/14/98 (Sat) Time: 01:45:53 AM

Hi. I look for a job that requires very little "thinking and concentrating". My mind is often cloudy either from meds or the migraine itself. I lost 2 good jobs in the past 2 years, and am at a loss to find a job that I can do regardless of pain. The government says I am able to do "significant meaningful work" even parttime! You have to be dead to get disability! I get 2-3 migraines a week and take Stadol and Zomig for pain. It offers partial relief. I am rather discouraged as we really need a second income. My husband is really sick of my illnesses, and I know a job would take some of the stress off our marriage. I know I would be frustrated if it were he that had the migraines. Well, Im going to forget trying for disability---I can't wait another year for another probable denial and then 15% of my regular past income. Anybody have a suggestion as to what kind of a job a 44 year old female with an almost bachelor's degree in human services could do? To Jana...a judge wouldn't order you to undergo drug testing, but could subpoena your pharmacy records. I wish you good luck in your custody fight. I've been there.
Mary Jo <mdaniels@ncn.net>
IA USA - Date: 11/10/98 (Tue) Time: 11:29:17 AM