Announcing December 2010 Headache & Migraine Disease Blog Carnival

The theme of the December 2010 Headache & Migraine Disease Blog Carnival will be "How can we make the holidays special despite the need to limit our migraine triggers?" As always, feel free to interpret this topic however you like.

Entries are due by midnight (the end of the day) on Friday, December 10, 2010. The carnival will be published right here at Somebody Heal Me on Monday, December 13, 2010.

Feel free to post comments or contact me directly to ask any questions you might have. Please spread the word to any migraine or headache, pain or chronic illness bloggers you know and consider posting an announcement on your own blog if you have one.

For more information about the carnival please visit the main carnival page: Headache & Migraine Disease Blog Carnival. 

Thank you for your continued support of the Headache and Migraine Disease Blog Carnival. Can you believe the December edition will be our THIRD anniversary? I couldn't have done it without you!


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Content by Diana E. Lee.

DISCLAIMER: Nothing on this site constitutes medical or legal advice. I am a patient who is engaged and educated and enjoys sharing my experiences and news about migraines, pain and depression. Please consult your own health care providers for advice on your unique situation.

Happy Thanksgiving to My Fabulous Readers

Wishing all of you a peaceful, happy Thanksgiving holiday tomorrow.

You might like to revisit our November Headache & Migraine Blog Carnival to see what our contributors are grateful for: Thankfulness: November Headache & Migraine Blog Carnival.

I'm thankful for many things: pumpkin pie, my husband, my extended family, my pets and all of you. What are you thankful for?


Subscribe to the Somebody Heal Me feed: Subscribe in a reader or subscribe by e-mail. Follow me on Twitter @somebodyhealme. 

Content by Diana E. Lee.

DISCLAIMER: Nothing on this site constitutes medical or legal advice. I am a patient who is engaged and educated and enjoys sharing my experiences and news about migraines, pain and depression. Please consult your own health care providers for advice on your unique situation.

This Isn't What I Had in Mind

I'm sure a lot of you can relate to wanting to feel different. On one level there is a certain desire to fit in and feel accepted. But when you realize you just don't fit in and start to become okay with it, you want to feel as different as possible. I never knew how to do it right. I come from a very small hometown, so the standards for seeming different were very low. To anyone else in the world at the time I was younger I would have seemed like a perfectly normal girl. Into bands and grunge and flannel and Doc Martens and super fake looking dyed red hair. Not even remotely different, am I right?

As I've grown older I've lost some of that desire to be different, but not all of it. And I certainly didn't want my body's inability to respond to even one single solitary preventive treatment for chronic migraine to be the thing that finally makes me a true freak.

Every time I read a study about something I have tried that didn't help I expect to read that researchers discovered it isn't actually better than placebo (meaning it's basically no more effective than doing nothing). But a lot of times there are good outcomes that indicate the treatment actually helps people like me. Just not me.

Then I start to wonder. Why not me? Did I do something to make my body not want to get better using that treatment? But that's not possible, is it? It's probably not, but if it is then I'm probably doing it. And the thoughts go on like this until I tell them to shut up, knowing I'm just being mean to myself.

Of course, sometimes the treatment in question was only tested on one person. One person? What good is that? It may suggest there is something useful there, but doesn't really tell us much. Even better, sometimes the research hasn't been done on humans at all, but instead on lab mice. Cause that tells me so much about why something would or would not work for me.

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Content by Diana E. Lee.

DISCLAIMER: Nothing on this site constitutes medical or legal advice. I am a patient who is engaged and educated and enjoys sharing my experiences and news about migraines, pain and depression. Please consult your own health care providers for advice on your unique situation.

Crazy Making Pain: Mindfully Battling It

How in the world can we explain how crazy making it can be to have the truly brutal pain of a migraine in your head? The experience of pain is always intense, but something about having it focused right where your brain is trying to do all its processing is overwhelming to the mind.

My mind starts to feel like it's folding in on itself and collapsing from pain.  Those are the moments where I have to snap myself back to attention through mindfulness. Almost yell at myself and stop that whole line of thinking and turn it in an entirely different direction. The kind of desperate thoughts that seem to naturally flow from focusing on such excruciating pain cannot go on unchecked.

Giving in to the tendency to focus exclusively on my head pain really does make it worse.  I believe in doing everything in life with mindful attention to the task at hand. But I do not believe it does any good to sit with my pain and say, "It hurts, it hurts, oh my god, it hurts." Focusing on my breathing helps. Watching a funny movie helps. Petting my dog or my cat helps. Doing each of these things while focusing my attention exclusively on that moment helps.

How do you battle the crazy making nature of head pain?

Subscribe to the Somebody Heal Me feed: Subscribe in a reader or subscribe by e-mail. Follow me on Twitter @somebodyhealme. 

Content by Diana E. Lee.

DISCLAIMER: Nothing on this site constitutes medical or legal advice. I am a patient who is engaged and educated and enjoys sharing my experiences and news about migraines, pain and depression. Please consult your own health care providers for advice on your unique situation.

Join us for Twitter Migraine Chat Tonight?

Will you be able to join us for the monthly Twitter Migraine Chat tonight at 8 pm CT? We use the hashtag #migrainechat. Go to this link at chat time to see only posts with that hashtag:  TweetChat: MigraineChat.

Let me know if I can help with any questions. Hope to see you tonight!

Subscribe to the Somebody Heal Me feed: Subscribe in a reader or subscribe by e-mail. Follow me on Twitter @somebodyhealme. 

Content by Diana E. Lee.

DISCLAIMER: Nothing on this site constitutes medical or legal advice. I am a patient who is engaged and educated and enjoys sharing my experiences and news about migraines, pain and depression. Please consult your own health care providers for advice on your unique situation.

OptiNose for Migraine: New Sumatriptan Delivery Device

With the availability of effective migraine treatment medications a new focus on finding more effective ways to deliver these medications has emerged. Triptans (examples include Imitrex, Relpax & Zomig) are very effective, but the pill versions can be problematic. A product like the OptiNose nasal device may help address the concerns.

Many triptans are available only in pill form. Pills are less than ideal for migraine treatment because of the gastrointestinal difficulties experienced by many people with migraines. Not only is there the nausea and vomiting, but the stomach also slows down and takes a long time to process medication and distribute it throughout the body.

The Sumatriptan injections are a great option for avoiding the stomach and getting fast relief. However, many people are scared of ever trying the product because it requires you to give yourself a shot. Even for people who aren't usually scared of needles the idea of having to give yourself a shot is intimidating. I'm an old hand at it now, but when I first started using the Sumatriptan injections I always asked my husband (then boyfriend) to do it for me.

Some triptans are currently available in nasal spray forms. They are preferable to pills, but there are limitations to the technology used in these products. Researchers say these nasal sprays direct most of the medication to the wrong part of the nose and the part that goes to the correct part of the nose is often swallowed by the patient. In their testing the OptiNose manufacturers say their design does a better job of directing the medication to the right place in the nose. The patient blows into a mouthpiece. The medication (a Sumatriptan powder) is incorporated into the air blown by the patient and that air travels through the nose piece into the patient's nose. The act of blowing causes the soft palate to close. By closing the soft palate the nasal canal is isolated and all the medication is directed into the nasal canal, which is the target for a medication using a nasal spray delivery device.

According to information released by the device developers it is three times more effective than other triptan nasal sprays. This is likely because the OptiNose device has been designed to get consistent results by only delivering the Sumatriptan powerder to the correct part of the nose. They also say the device is almost as effective as the Sumatriptan injection.

OptiNose is still gathering information about the safety and effectiveness of the device in delivering Sumatriptan. It is too soon to know when they will file for Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approval.


Sources:
Intranasal Sumatriptan Powder
OptiNose Bi-Directional Nasal Delivery
Keys to Successful Nasal Drug Delivery


Subscribe to the Somebody Heal Me feed: Subscribe in a reader or subscribe by e-mail. Follow me on Twitter @somebodyhealme. 

Content by Diana E. Lee.

DISCLAIMER: Nothing on this site constitutes medical or legal advice. I am a patient who is engaged and educated and enjoys sharing my experiences and news about migraines, pain and depression. Please consult your own health care providers for advice on your unique situation.

Thankfulness: November Headache & Migraine Blog Carnival

Welcome to the November 2010 Headache and Migraine Disease Blog Carnival.

The Headache & Migraine Disease Blog Carnival has been created to provide both headache patients and people who blog about headaches with opportunities to share ideas on topics of particular interest and importance to us.

The theme of the November carnival is "What are you thankful for despite living with migraine disease?" 

Please read on for this month's collection of posts. 

Gretchen Rautman shared What Am I Thankful For? about being thankful for her migraine disease itself, posted at There Be Migraines Here.

Kathy shared Perspective about the wonderful things she's learned about herself and her life through her illness, posted at TMJD & Me. 

Jamie Valendy shared Blessed Beyond Measure about her thankfulness for God, family and friends, posted at Chronic Migraine Warrior. 

Migrainista shared Still So Much to be Thankful For about how focusing on the things she has to be thankful for makes it easier to cope with her chronic pain, posted at Migrainista.

Stephanie shared Gratatouille (a play on Ratatouille - get it?!) about some of the truly great things in her life that she hasn't reflected on recently, posted at Head Wise.

Emily shared Thinking of Thanks: Gratitude in Spite of Gripiness about always finding a way to count your blessings and the value of a sense of humor, posted at No Extended Warranty.

Teri Robert shared Migraines Make Me Thankful about the wonderful things in her life as a result of and despite migraines, posted at Putting Our Heads Together. 

Nancy Harris Bonk shared What I'm Thankful for Despite Migraine Disease about some really special people in her life, posted at Migraine & Other Headache Disorders Blog. 

Betsy Blondin shared Grateful in Spite of Migraine Disease about the blessings she would never have known if she didn't live with migraine disease, posted at Migraine Journey.


Thank you for all your thoughtful, lovely submissions. Reading this month's group of blog posts has been incredibly uplifting. I always love Thanksgiving, but I'm feeling the spirit of thankfulness early this year.

Submit your blog post to the December 2010 edition of the Headache & Migraine Disease Blog Carnival using our carnival submission form or by sending your submissions to me by email (Unfortunately some of us have had problems with the submission form on the site from time to time. If you do please just send your post to me by email. I apologize in advance for any inconvenience). The theme will be "How can we / how do you make the holidays special despite the need to limit migraine triggers?" Submissions are due by midnight on Friday, December 10. The December carnival will be published right here at Somebody Heal Me on Monday, December 13.


Subscribe to the Somebody Heal Me feed: Subscribe in a reader or subscribe by e-mail. Follow me on Twitter @somebodyhealme. 

Content by Diana E. Lee.

DISCLAIMER: Nothing on this site constitutes medical or legal advice. I am a patient who is engaged and educated and enjoys sharing my experiences and news about migraines, pain and depression. Please consult your own health care providers for advice on your unique situation.

Last Call: November 2010 Headache Blog Carnival

Please don't forget today is the last day for submissions to the November 2010 Headache & Migraine Disease Blog Carnival.

Submit your blog article using our carnival submission form or by emailing your submissions directly to me. The theme is: "What are you thankful for despite living with migraine disease?"

Entries are due by midnight (the end of the day) today,  Friday, November 5, and the carnival will be posted at Somebody Heal Me on Monday, November 8.

Please let me know if you are interested in hosting a future edition. Contact me any time with questions, suggestions or ideas for themes. I'm always looking for help with the carnival.


Subscribe to the Somebody Heal Me feed: Subscribe in a reader or subscribe by e-mail. Follow me on Twitter @somebodyhealme. 

Content by Diana E. Lee.

DISCLAIMER: Nothing on this site constitutes medical or legal advice. I am a patient who is engaged and educated and enjoys sharing my experiences and news about migraines, pain and depression. Please consult your own health care providers for advice on your unique situation.

November Twitter Migraine Chat

Please mark your calendar for the upcoming November Twitter Migraine Chat one week from today, Thursday, November 11, at 8 pm CT. We use the hashtag #migrainechat to track our conversation. You can filter Twitter results by this hashtag by going to this link: TweetChat - #migrainechat.

I'm on Twitter @somebodyhealme, so please follow me if you aren't already & I will follow you back. Hope to see you at next week's chat!

For more information visit: Twitter Chat.


Subscribe to the Somebody Heal Me feed: Subscribe in a reader or subscribe by e-mail. Follow me on Twitter @somebodyhealme. 

Content by Diana E. Lee.

DISCLAIMER: Nothing on this site constitutes medical or legal advice. I am a patient who is engaged and educated and enjoys sharing my experiences and news about migraines, pain and depression. Please consult your own health care providers for advice on your unique situation.

Should I Fire My Doctor?

Chronic Pain Connection featured a great article a few years ago on how to know when it is time to find a new doctor. Firing your doctor is a difficult and personal decision. I know how confusing and intimidating it can be because I've gone through it quite a few times. 

To start I recommend you make a pro/con list of reasons why you are thinking about moving on to another doctor. Seeing the pros and cons of your relationship in writing can help you determine whether it is worth salvaging. If any of your cons are issues that might be fixable, see if you can work with the doctor to make that happen. Even if you ultimately move on at least you'll know you did everything you could to make the situation work.

Read on for suggestions of items for your pro/con list and other ideas about how best to approach this touchy issue.

How to Know When It's Time to Find a New Doctor

 
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Content by Diana E. Lee.

DISCLAIMER: Nothing on this site constitutes medical or legal advice. I am a patient who is engaged and educated and enjoys sharing my experiences and news about migraines, pain and depression. Please consult your own health care providers for advice on your unique situation.

Reminder: November Headache Carnival Submissions

Submissions for the November 2010 Headache & Migraine Disease Blog Carnival are due Friday, November 5, 2010 by midnight. Posts may be submitted through the link on the carnival website or directly to me by email.
 
The theme is "What are you thankful for despite living with migraines?"

The November carnival will be posted right here on Somebody Heal Me on Monday, November 8.

For more information about the carnival please visit the main carnival page: Headache & Migraine Disease Blog Carnival. Also, feel free to post questions in the comments or send me an email.

Subscribe to the Somebody Heal Me feed: Subscribe in a reader or subscribe by e-mail. Follow me on Twitter @somebodyhealme.

Content by Diana E. Lee.

DISCLAIMER: Nothing on this site constitutes medical or legal advice. I am a patient who is engaged and educated and enjoys sharing my experiences and news about migraines, pain and depression. Please consult your own health care providers for advice on your unique situation.

5 Ways to Sabotage Your Doctors' Appointments

None of us really wants to sabotage a doctor's appointment through our own behavior. But it's easy to do just that by not paying attention to the factors within our control that affect the quality of our appointments. These are some behaviors to avoid at all costs:

1. Show up late for appointments.

It's an unfortunate fact that sometimes our doctors keep us waiting. But it doesn't do any good to do the same and be late for our appointments. Keeping them waiting leaves you very little time for an already short appointment and takes away the doctor and staff's ability to provide good care. Not to mention that it's completely rude. Make your care a priority and be on time.

2. Come unprepared. 

Being prepared for your appointment just makes sense. What questions have been on your mind? How have your medications and other treatments been working? Are you experiencing side effects or do you have other concerns? Have you heard about a newer medication or treatment? Being a partner in your own care is key to making the most of your health. Your doctor can only do so much without your cooperation and coming prepared to your appointments is a big part of that.

3. Don't tell the staff how your medications or other treatments have changed since your last appointment.

If you see other doctors you must assume it is your responsibility to keep the others informed about medication and treatment changes. Some doctors and their staffs are great about keeping everyone on your team in the loop, but this is rare. It's in your best interest to come to each appointment prepared to help the staff update your file with the latest information.

4. Don't ask questions.

Asking questions is imperative! Try to come with a list of questions already prepared, but also be ready to ask on the spot questions about new medications or treatments or other issues that occur to you during the appointment.

5. Leave your cell phone ringer on, take calls or text during your appointment.

Let's face it: This behavior is not only distracting to you and your doctor, it's flat out rude. Why sabotage your relationship with your doctor by being rude? You're also wasting your limited time with your doctor if you're not fully presenting and paying attention. If you have an emergency just tell the staff up front.

Subscribe to the Somebody Heal Me feed: Subscribe in a reader or subscribe by e-mail. Follow me on Twitter @somebodyhealme.

Content by Diana E. Lee.

DISCLAIMER: Nothing on this site constitutes medical or legal advice. I am a patient who is engaged and educated and enjoys sharing my experiences and news about migraines, pain and depression. Please consult your own health care providers for advice on your unique situation.