Customer Reviews

10 Simple Solutions to Migraines: Recognize Triggers, Control Symptoms, and Reclaim Your Life

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have had a constant migraine for almost 5 years now, and I found this book to be very helpful. It helps you find and teaches you about your diagnosis. In addition, it teaches you how to identify migraine triggers and how to avoid them, and how to better take care of yourself. It also teaches you how to better communicate with your doctor. Even though I knew many of the facts in the book, I found it helpful in putting all of the information in one place, breaking down the information, and expanding on what I already knew.

Over the past couple years, I have been collecting books on migraine to see how they have changed since the 1970s. Aside from mentions of CTs and MRIs, and triptan drugs, NOT MUCH -- while rates of migraine are increasing.

I almost didn't buy this little book because it was so brief at 143 pages, but was astonished to find that it is one of the most useful and informative migraine resources available. It won the 2007 Excellence in Media Award from the National Headache Foundation.

It really does provide a clear and direct set of instructions to Recognize Triggers, Control Symptoms, and Reclaim Your Life. It ranges from diagnostic features to tracking of symptoms and triggers, treatment modalities and valuable information resources.

-Understand Your Migraine: Physiology and symptoms behind the pain.

-Get a Proper Diagnosis: on not confusing this with "sinus" and being aware of symptoms that suggest something far more dangerous and life-threatening than primary headache.

-Track Symptoms and Triggers: How to quantify, measure, and evaluate symptoms with headache diaries and more.

-Treat Acute Migraine Symptoms: a review of effective and IN-effective migraine drugs. For example, acetominophen is the most commonly used OTC drug. It is also the least effective.

-Medication and Nonmedication Therapies to Prevent Migraine: The rationale behind various treatments. What is really going on when your physician prescribes anti-depressants. No, he is not just dismissing the problem as "psychosomatic."

-Manage Stress: There's more to this than the "bubble-bath by candlelight" so often recommended (and never mind the triggers in bath products and scented candles!) Comments on time-management skills, progressive muscle relaxation, biofeedback and cognitive therapy. Yes, it really does work.

-Vitamin and Herbal Therapies: One highly rated book (funded by a drug company) dismisses years of research on electrolyte imbalances and magnesium (migraine / menstrual migraine as a deficiency disease and chemical imbalance that can be corrected for pennies a day) in favor of triptans (at $20-$50 per pill/injection). Why? Because "one study" showed that you must keep taking magnesium to have a lasting effect. Surely zillions more that show that!-- because magnesium is a critical macronutrient. Yes you must keep taking magnesium just as you must keep taking other vitamins and minerals . . . and water and air and more to live. Dr. Marcus provides a nice summary of magnesium research with dosing recommendations.

-Communicate Effectively: Take a list of specific questions, get specific answers. Don't just lie in the dark and suffer. Almost every chapter has one or more charts/surveys to identify and evaluate the problem. There is much critical data that only YOU, the patient can provide; here's how to help guide treatment by teaming effectively with your doctor.

There is a lot of migraine research that never gets out to the public. You'll find it in $60-$160+ medical textbooks on migraine and chronic pain. Dr. Marcus has authored some of those, with particular emphasis on women's issues. This is a deeply condensed presentation of that information, affordable, succinct and extremely useful. Start here.

This book would be the first book to read if you can only afford to buy one book. Whether you are first learning about migraines, trying to decide you have them, or have had them for a long time, and are needing to make sense of all the information you have received.
I found this condensed my last 5 years of personal research into my migraines, into a well written, easy to understand, synopsis. It helps you understand what the doctors are trying to say to you. It gives you a way to communicate with the doctors so they understand what you are trying to say to them. It gives you tools you can use to accurately inform your doctor what is going on, and what you have tried. She gives you reliable sources of online and written information.
There are many good books on migraines but this would be my suggestion for a first read, or an up to 2009 update of where current migraine thinking/ research is.( My background being disabled, & in bed, for the last 2 1/2 years from unrelenting migraines. Now in the reclaiming my life- phase.)Best wishes to all who need this book, caregivers or those with migraines.

My daughter has been suffering from headaches for years. She has been to all the doctors and had all the tests. It wasn't until I read this book and followed the simple advice of keeping a headache diary that I was able to recognize a pattern to her headaches. We can now predict the headaches and offer her some relief. I highly recommed this book!

When my teenage daughter started experiencing bouts of dizziness and headaches, I took her to a hearing and balance doctor since I presumed her symptoms pointed in that direction. After thorough testing, however, it was concluded that the likely cause of her issues was migraine. That's when I started researching the topic and found Dr. Marcus' book. I'd highly recommend it for anyone who wants a good overview of the issues related to migraine, as well the ways to distinguish it from other forms of headache, and some straight-forward approaches to avoiding these headaches to begin with. I really like how the author included a good bit of background information (research stats, medical terms, etc) but still made it easy for the non-physician to understand.

This book is the best I have read on the subject of migraines, and I have read many. It is very thorough and the information on nonmedication therapies is extremely helpful. I have had migraines for many years and am finally able to take control of them with the help of this book. Thanks for such a great resource!

Maybe I expected too much from this book, but I was rather disappointed.