a candid look at managing and living with headaches & migraines

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Archive for February, 2007

Getting Back to E-mail & Comments

Thanks to all who have e-mailed me or posted comments recently. I appreciate hearing from you, but won’t be able to reply to messages until Wednesday. Fortunately, it’s not because my headaches are too bad, but because I’ve got so much going on and need to conserve my energy when I have down time. I [...]

Please Help Me With a Completly Unscientific, Unreliable Experiment

My acupuncturist told me about an interesting phenomenon and I want to know if it holds true for other people. When you don’t have a headache, relax your arms at your sides and push on your thighs in the area around where your arms hit. Is the area tender more tender than on another part [...]

Blog Housekeeping

A Powell’s Books search box replaced the Amazon box in the sidebar and the “Good Headache & Health Books” also link to Powell’s. It’s all part of my plan to do what I can to better the world. In this case, it’s by supporting a fantastic local(ish) business that’s in Portland. I can’t accurately describe [...]

Visit With Naturopath, Part Deux

I finally realized what bothered me about Tuesday’s appointment with the naturopath. I talked and talked, got little response and walked out empty-handed. I’m not blaming the naturopath at all, this was just the nature of the appointment. And it was dissatisfying. Her goal in the initial appointment was to get to know me, my [...]

Discombobulated After Seeing Naturopath

Yesterday started off with a wonderful yoga class, followed by a fall-off-the-edge downturn. I saw (yet another) naturopath yesterday. The main selling point of alternative and complementary medicine is treating the “whole person” instead of the illness. I’ve never wanted so much to be a collection of symptoms. The best question of the visit: What [...]

Grand Rounds Up at Chronic Babe

This week’s Grand Rounds is up at ChronicBabe. Not familiar with this blog carnival? It’s a weekly glimpse into the medical blogosphere. You can find the Grand Rounds archives on Blogborygmi.

Opioids a Major Topic at the American Academy of Pain Management’s Annual Meeting

Opioids were, not surprisingly, a major topic at the American Academy of Pain Management’s annual meeting, which was held last week. The three main areas discussed were opioid therapy and prescribing opioids, as well as the legal implications of both. The role of cannabinoids (more commonly known as medical marijuana) as a new class of [...]

Finding Love in the Strangest Places

In our never-ending quest to find ways to reduce my stress, thus hopefully reducing my headaches, we’ve decided to try a housekeeper. We’ve had several housekeepers in the last few months. I have been uncomfortable every time. I hate knowing that I’m passing my dirty work on. I apologize repeatedly and explain my discomfort; sometimes [...]

So High, So Low

Bouncing back and forth between extreme ends of pain and emotions has drained me. My pain is worse than usual at times and better than usual at others. When I feel good, I’m energetic and elated; when I feel bad, I’m despondent and grouchy. It’s true that I’ve never been one to settle near the [...]

The Unique Experience of Illness

Nearly everyone who e-mails me about The Daily Headache says that they are relieved to find someone who identifies with the wild emotions, bizarre symptoms and, of course, horrendous pain of headache. I felt this when I began reading headache forums and found it tremendously helpful. While community is an important element in coping, everyone’s [...]