When your migraine is at its worst, spare a thought for “the girl with kaleidoscope eyes” and you won’t feel so bad.
Danielle Burton, aged 19, can only see the world as if she is viewing it through a kaleidoscope. (Picture on the website below).
She had perfect vision until a week after her 19th birthday when she lost her normal vision and now only sees a fuzzy “snow” of colour – permanently. Over the last 6 months she has only had ONE hour of normal vision.
A hospital scan found no problem with her eyes, but finally, in January, a doctor suggested that she was suffering from a rare condition known as Persistent Migraine Aura or (PMA). There are only 20 other people known to suffer from this condition in which a nerve in the brain is stuck in a constant “migraine” state.
The cruellest blow of all was when she lost her sight again after that one hour of normal vision when she was able to truly appreciate everything she had been missing, only to have it snatched away again.
Danielle is taking special medication in the hope of finding relief and I’m sure migraine sufferers everywhere will send their prayers and good wishes for her relief.
If anyone hears any further updates, please post as a comment below.
In March 2010 I was contacted via this blog and asked to review a new book, The Migraine Brain, by Dr Carolyn Bernstein and Elaine McArdle.
The accompanying pre-publication material explains how this book helps prevent and treat your migraine:
Collates the latest research on why you get a migraine
Explains how the brain chemistry of migraine sufferers differs, and why migraines occur
Interactive approach with quizzes, graphics and fun facts
Encourages you to take charge of your own illness and helps you develop a customized wellness plan
Separate chapter for men and migraine
Chapter on the role of female hormones in triggering migraine attacks, including migraines in pregnancy and migraine after the menopause
Discusses new migraine drugs together with alternative therapies
Having completed my review of The Migraine Brain, I am pleased to give this book my recommendation. You learn more about it from the Amazon link below.
Who is Dr Carolyn Bernstein?
Dr Carolyn Bernstein is an assistant professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School, and has founded her own clinic. Co-author Elain McArdle is an award-winning journalist. Both are migraine sufferers.
A study published in The Lancet has found that a hand-held gadget, about the size and weight of a hair-drier could bring migraine relief to sufferers at the push of a button.
Developed by Californian firm Neuralieve, the gadget delivers a magnetic stimulus to the back of the head and interrupts the pain and other symptoms associated with migraine, by calming the over-excited brain cells causing the attack.
Researchers from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New Yorks tested the safety and efficacy of the device on 200 male and female migraine sufferers. Half used the actual device, and the other half (placebo group) used dummy equipment. Everyone was instructed to use the device as soon as symptoms started and take note of how long it was before they experienced relief.
40% of the sufferers with the real device were pain-free within two hours compared to 22% of those in the placebo group. There were no serious side effects, and participants found the device easy to use.
Before the device is available to the general public more research is required to confirm the safety and effectiveness of the treatment.
Here’s a potential migraine treatment I hadn’t come across before – botox, better known for its use as an anti-wrinkle treatment.
Dr. Maria Alvarez, a major and a staff neurologist at the Wilford Hall military medical center, said patients who suffer from migraines had reported relief after treatment with botox in the affected areas of the head. “Last year, we had 150 patients and their headaches were reduced in their severity,” Dr. Alvarez said in an interview.
What is particularly encouraging is that in some patients the effects apparently last longer than 9 months, whereas relief due to a “placebo” effect is unlikely to last for so long.
The treatment is not FDA approved, and scientifically controlled studies are needed on a significant number of patients before firm conclusions can be reached – so don’t try this one at home!
Those of you who bought my ebook will also have received the bonus free gift, which was the report I produced during my studies about the use of magnesium in preventing migraine headaches. It’s not giving away any secrets to say there’s much positive research into the beneficial effect of magnesium on migraine.
If you were as convinced as I was by all the research, you’ll want to include plenty of magnesium in your diet, and below is a great recipe I found, which is another excellent way to increase magnesium.
Thanks to professional chef Anton Leyland for use of his video above. If you’re looking for a healthy way to shed any Christmas pounds, check out Anton’s smoothie recipes website.
We’re already a few days into the new year; I hope you had a migraine-free holiday and send my good wishes to you for the year ahead.
A new year is often time to recap and evaluate where we are in areas of our life that we want to improve. If you are now determined to make changes, you may find here a new approach for migraines treatment.
This is a quick summary of the main areas where complementary therapy, and especially a nutritional approach to migraine can help. I shall be covering each in blog posts over the next few months, but if you don’t want to wait, you can download my natural migraine relief ebook right away.
Food intolerance is a major cause of migraine but you would be wrong to just think that chocolate, cheese and red wine cause the problems. For some people, migraines are triggered by foods commonly believed to be healthy.
Maintaining a steady blood sugar level is vital is you want to stop migraines.
A deficiency or imbalance of vitamins and minerals is important.
So is avoiding toxic minerals.
Hair Mineral Analysis is a simple and cost-effective way to get eliminate guess-work from choosing your supplements. It reports on nutrient as well as toxic minerals.
Because your brain mainly consists of fatty material, check that you eat plenty of good fats, and avoid eating bad fats.
Something as common as constipation can cause a problem if circulating toxins aren’t being eliminated quickly enough. Be sure to keep the correct balance of ‘good’ to ‘bad’ bacteria in your intestine. Check out this special offer for a free sample of a natural constipation remedy on my healthy eating blog. The offer has been extended. (It’s NOT a laxative!)
Acid / alkaline imbalance should be watched. People often imagine that over-acidity is the problem and are surprised when their supplement recommendation includes hydrochloric acid! Learn why.
Following on from under or over-acidity we must consider correct digestion and absorption of food, without which you will never obtain maximum benefit from your food, however well you eat.
If stress is a migraine trigger for you but you can’t do anything to calm a stressful life-style, are you making the simple dietary adjustments that can lessen the impact of stress?
Hormonal health is something else to consider, especially for women. Your liver works hard to remove old hormones, so must be kept in peak condition.
Because there are non-dietary migraine triggers, remember that many other complementary therapies offer solutions.
Are you taking too many over-the-counter painkillers? This could actually increase the number of headaches you experience. Check with your GP or pharmacist.
This quick summary shows some of the many different topics you can consider in your search for a drug-free approach to beating your migraines. Tackle them one by one and you should find relief.
For immediate delivery of an ebook with detail about these topics and including recommendations for other natural, alternative approaches to treat and prevent migraine, visit my website:
I have been asked if I use a supplement to support the healthy lifestyle that migraine sufferers (and everyone) should aim for.
Yes I certainly do, because I have seen so much evidence showing that even fruit and vegetables and other “healthy” food today is nowhere near as nutritious as it was in, say, the 1950s.
Also the chemical load is so much higher in the modern world, that we are in danger of overloading our body’s natural detox mechanisms.
One school of thought is that this may be a cause of migraine headaches, so more and more people are looking for detox remedies and supplements that will support the body’s detoxification systems.
Chlorella is the supplement I have used for several years now. More specifically, I use Yaeyama Chlorella which is a strain of Chlorella Vulgaris thought to be superior because it is more nutrient dense.
If you decide to buy some Chlorella, I suggest you visit my supplier’s online store.
First, you will want to know a little more about Chlorella, and why you might choose to use it. The nutritional profile and health benefits are on my supplier’s website, where you can also watch a short video to learn mor. Supplementing with Chlorella can be beneficial in treating a wide range of health problems brought about by our modern lifestyle. But don’t just take my word for it, check out these Chlorella user testimonials.
To support my migraine clients I am currently researching an ebook on the specific ways Chlorella can help with detoxification of environmental toxins. I know this will be of interest to many of my readers who have had a Hair Analysis to check for heavy metal toxicity. As I research my ebook and study this remarkable supplement the more applications I discover. When the ebook is ready for release I will make it available as free information here, so keep checking back.
If you have used Chlorella for migraine (or any other health condition) and found it helped you, please post your story here to encourage others.
What do parties and migraine have in common? You will probably jump to one of two conclusions (alcohol or late nights) and while you could be correct there is another common link, according to food intolerance specialists YorkTest Laboratories.
Apparently as the party season approaches there is an increase in the number of patients suffering from the symptoms of food intolerance – such as arthritis, IBS and bloating. This could be because people are eating foods to which they are intolerant without knowing the ingredients, or because they are consuming larger amounts of a particular food than usual. Often it can be a previously unsuspected intolerance that is suddenly triggered.
Being aware of any susceptibility to an intolerance could prevent much inconvenience and discomfort. Research in conjunction with scientists at York University shows that chronic inflammatory disease is linked with food intolerance and simply becoming aware of problem foods and excluding them from the diet can bring relief.
It’s well known that there are links between migraine and food intolerances and there are many methods of testing; my preferred method is described in this article on food intolerances and migraine.
Prevention is better than cure, so if you’d like to take a low cost test to check if you have a food intolerance probably the best price is available from Amazon. Click here and go to the bottom of the page that opens for an ordering link.
If the test identifies that you have an intolerance you can look at alternative methods of finding out the particular foods implicated and how to avoid them in future.
Ever interested in learning something new, I was pleased to receive this message from Lara.
Lara says:
I have suffered from migraines for over a year now. I’ve been to many doctors, specialists, tests, medicines, massage, websites, articles, etc all trying to heal myself.
My new method of trying to heal it is with Reiki. It has been the most pleasant healing process and most effective. I am not attuned to energy healing myself (yet) so I contact healer friends when I have an attack and they are always so happy to send healing energy my way with distance healing.
I woke up this morning and found your blog and knew I had to share my story. Just last night, 3am, I woke up with a migraine I had been trying to shake off for over a day. I went to my computer & emailed everyone I knew to send me healing. I was desperate as the migraine was reaching the point of severe pain & I was desperate for relief.
I sent the email and as I went back to sleep I felt great energy surround me, strong energy, very peaceful & soothing. I woke up this morning and my migraine is completely GONE. I feel 100% myself again. I’m so grateful to have found a source of relief. I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone. It has turned my pain around completely.
Although, I still get these migraines, since starting Reiki as a healing treatment, there have been fewer attacks (as I use to get them 1 or 2 a month) & the pain is weakened significantly.
I’m so so grateful and look forward to the day of when I am attuned to help heal myself and others.
Jessica Miller is who demonstrated Reiki for me & who really informed me about energy healing… http://www.reikimastery.com/
Thanks for sharing your story, Lara. Please keep us posted on your progress.
