a candid look at managing and living with headaches & migraines

• Home
• About
• Forum

News

Strong Warnings of Zyprexa’s Side Effects

Not sure how often — if ever — Zyprexa is used for headache, but just in case. . .
Zyprexa, an antipsychotic, has a
tendency to cause weight gain, high blood sugar, high cholesterol and
other metabolic problems. The side effects have long been know, but the drug’s maker, Eli Lilly, has now added them to prescribing information.

Sort of on Vacation

I’m going on vacation tomorrow, but will still be posting each weekday. I’ll read and respond to e-mail and comments once a week, otherwise you won’t notice a difference. I’ll be back full time on October 8. See you then!

Depression in Women with Migraine Linked to Childhood Abuse

Researchers have found a fascinating connection between migraine, depression and childhood abuse in women. I didn’t want to miss any important details, so the American Academy of Neurology’s press release follows. (Emphasis added.)
Depression in Women with Migraine Linked to Childhood Abuse
Childhood abuse is more common in women with migraine who suffer depression than in women [...]

Preventive Drugs Improve Quality of Life for People With Migraine

Preventive medications can significantly improve the quality of life for people with migraine, but their quality of life is still below that of people without migraine. The study tested quality of life for patients taking nadolol (Corgard) and topiramate (Topamax). The article, Impact of Preventive Therapy with Nadolol and Topiramate on the Quality of Life [...]

Why Women Have More Migraines Than Men

Three times as many women have migraine as do men. That translates to 18% to 25% of women worldwide. A new study shows that this discrepancy might be because women’s brains are faster to activate the cascading waves of activity thought to cause migraine pain and other migraine symptoms.
The strength of the stimulus required to [...]

Cluster Headache Drug Verapamil May Cause Heart Problems

People who take verapamil for cluster headaches may be at greater risk of irregular heartbeats than those who don’t, according to a study published in the August issue of the journal Neurology. Researchers recommend that those who take the drug should have frequent EKGs to watch for possible heart problems.
The study of 108 people with [...]

FDA Delays Approval for Migraine Drug Trexima

Trexima, a combination of sumatriptan (Imitrex) and naproxen sodium (found in Aleve and other NSAIDs), was expected to receive FDA approval last week. Requesting more safety data, the FDA has delayed approval of Trexima.
The concern is about one of the four tests of genotoxicity, which is toxicity to DNA. The requested data are available from [...]

Pain Receptors in the Bone, Skull & Scalp Pain, and Botox

Headache specialist Christina Peterson’s comments on the news that a patient’s skin sensitivity may help predict Botox’s effectiveness for migraine explains the exciting research behind the story. Dr. Peterson attended the lecture on the topic at the International Headache Society’s annual conference. She wrote:
This was far and away the coolest lecture, although it was also [...]

Recognizing & Treating Children’s Migraines

Up to 10% of school-age children have migraine. Think a child or teenager that you love might be one of them? Listen to Children’s Migraines: How to Recognize and Treat Them, today’s HealthTalk webcast, to learn more.
The hour-long show starts at 7 p.m. EST tonight, Wednesday, July 18. About 10 minutes before the webcast, go [...]

Yawning Because Your Brain Needs Oxygen? Think Again

Cooling the brain and making you more attentive is the role of yawning, not increasing oxygen to the brain, according to recent research.
[P]eople do not yawn because they need oxygen, since experiments show that raising or lowering oxygen and carbon dioxide in the blood fails to produce the reaction. Rather, yawning acts as a brain-cooling [...]