Living with Migraines

I wrote a review of The Triple Whammy Cure, and others who deal with migraines (among other things tied to serotonin, hormones and stress) might want to try and find a copy to take a look at for themselves.

When I was given the opportunity to review a book purported to help women feel better, deal with stress, sleep more soundly and feel happier, it caught my attention but didn’t necessarily call out to me - that is, until I saw one chapter devoted entirely to dealing with migraines.  As a long-time migraineur, I’ll try just about anything to help get them under my control and make them manageable.  So I agreed to take a look at The Triple Whammy Cure.

Upon receiving the book, I found myself devouring it over the next two evenings.  Here was a book that talked about stress, serotonin and hormones, and the multitude of afflictions women suffer from as a result of any one of these being out of balance.  Reading further, I found a synthesis of research I’d come across here and there in my own struggles to deal with eatings disorders and depression in the past, as well as my own on-going ordeal with migraines.  Not only that, but I’d found a book that was easy to read, with a clear plan of action, written by an author who seems genuinely concerned about his readers.

Says Dr. Edelberg, in his introduction:

Follow this carefully: what you’re experiencing is not a disease, as doctors think of disease, but rather the consequences of a susceptibility you have as a woman on three separate fronts.  Your symptoms are the result of a three-pronged assault - a “triple whammy” so to speak - consisting of:

- stress
- a shortage of a chemical in your brain called serotonin
- your ever-shifting female hormones

I decided that before I would write my review, I would try to follow Dr. Edelberg’s plan myself for at least six weeks, as best I could, so that I could more fully reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of his book.  I started following the plan in mid-December, 2005, and it has now been about six weeks.  I chose to focus on two areas: migraines and PMS.  I chose to add in thePMS plan because my migraines have always been hormonally driven, coming on particularly strongly during ovulation and at the end of my cycle.

In a nutshell, my course of action has included greatly increasing my daily intake of fruits and vegetables, walking outdoors for at least 20 minutes, five days a week, and adding a multitude of vitamins and other supplements to my diet.  None of these was easy for me right from the start, but with time they are slowly becoming new habits for me.  Because I take different pills at different times of day, I bought a small pill holder at the drugstore to keep track of them.  Every night I sort out the next day’s supplements so that they’re waiting for me.  Some of what I’m taking include B-2, feverfew, 5-HTP and fish oil.

Walking almost daily is getting easier, as I work it into my day as something that is non-negotiable.  The exercise helps boost endorphins and serotonin, as does being out in the sunlight.  I think the most difficult aspect of following the plan has been eating enough fruits and vegetables every day.  Dr. Edelberg recommends 4-6 servings of fruit and 5-6 servings of vegetables.  I have yet to have a day where I’ve met those expectations, but I’m making progress.

So how am I feeling, you may be wondering?  On a day to day basis, I feel better.  I am sleeping better, I feel healthier, and the exercise has been good for my mental state.  I wish I could say I haven’t had any migraines since starting, but that hasn’t been the case.  I’ve had a couple bad ones.  However, I am feeling encouraged by what I’ve seen and felt so far, and I am sticking with it for at least another two months, to give it a real chance to affect some change.  One thing I haven’t done since the first couple of weeks is keep a daily stress journal, and that is something I intend to work back into my nightly routine.

There are other parts to the plan, such as timing one’s carbohydrates during the day and cultivating a positive attitude, and that means that for me, there is still more to do before I can really render my final verdict.  I think it would be hard to do all of what Dr. Edelberg suggests in just three weeks, as it requires many changes in one’s day to day life if you’re not eating well, not exercising, not journaling and so forth.  But given time to work through the process, I think it can be helpful for women who feel “depressed, exhausted, achy, stressed-out, bloated, and forgetful.”   Dr. Edleberg lists 13 other issues that he considers Triple Whammy ailments, in addition to migraines and PMS, including irritable bowel syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome and anxiety disorders.

A final thought from the author:

And that’s why I wrote this book.  I decided that the five finest words any doctor can ever hear are “I think I’m feeling better,” and my patients tell me they do feel like they’ve got their lives back.

Also see Are You Feeling the Wintertime Blues?, an excerpt from The Triple Whammy Cure.