prolific.org » Health

The end of migraines

Caroline — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 15:35:44 +0000

Those of you who have been reading my posts here for some time may remember I used to suffer from migraines quite a bit. If you go through my archives, you’ll see migraine-related entries going back as far as 1998. They started when I was a teenager and they only got worse over the years. I would have at least one attack every month, but there’ve been times in my life where I’d get them every week, or for days on end.

But my most recent attack was 7 months ago. I’ve never gone without them for so long. Not in 20 years.

I’m not sure why they’ve stopped and my doctor says not to question it. But there are a few reasons I can think of, or perhaps just one reason.

Diet.

I have been changing the way I eat since the start of the year. Not only do I eat less, I’ve drastically cut down on a number of foods, any of which could have been the migraine trigger. The main ones I can identify now are:

1. Starch. I have cut down my intake of pasta, rice and potatoes to almost zero. I’ll eat very small quantities of them occasionally, mostly when I eat out, but I do not prepare any of it at home. I do eat bread (just rye and wholemeal), daily.

2. Cheese. Although I still eat some Dutch cheese, I have cut all other cheese from my diet. I used to eat all kinds of French / Italian / etc cheeses, especially on the weekend, but I stopped doing that since I’m on a mission to shed 25 kilos (I’m halfway there).

Other than that it’s just less of everything, including alcohol. My alcohol intake has never been that high anyway, except for a brief while when I was in college.

Who knows, it might be coincidence. Perhaps I’ve just grown out of them – my dad’s migraines stopped when he was in his 50’s.

I think what the doctor said was good advice, I will not question it. When I have reached my weightloss goal, I will continue to eat as I do now, just slightly more. I don’t intend to increase the starch intake, but I would like to enjoy a bit of lovely cheese now and then. We’ll see if that will have any influence and whether the migraines will reoccur.

I can’t express how wonderful it is to only have ‘normal’ headaches. Ones that don’t need special medication (I’m weaning myself of the daily Sandomigran, and the Maxalts are sitting in my cupboard, unused) and are solved with a simple paracetamol.

If you suffer from migraines, I would suggest looking into food and allergies – who knows, you might find relief as well!

Witness that

Caroline — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 23:50:38 +0000

If I was half as witty as Unreliable Witness is, I’d know what to write, but quite frankly I’m overcome with ‘OMG, I have diabetes and I knew this can happen, but not to me or anybody I know, and I better take my pills regularly and stick to my diet a lot better and not skip any of my 3-monthly check ups and fuck me U.W. is a strong s.o.b.’

Date with an insect

Caroline — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 14:21:01 +0000

‘Good morning, Department of health, how can I help you?’

Me: ‘I think I have a problem with roaches. What can I do?’

‘Come by our office with one of them, so we can determine what kind it is.’

Me: ‘Oh. Ok, thanks.’ (thinks ‘Eeeew!’)

Silver lining, pah

Caroline — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 14:05:18 +0000

The good thing about having two ridiculous migraine attacks in the past couple of weeks? Not being able to keep anything down, not even water, and losing 2 kilos because of it.

These attacks are different from the ones I usually have, as they seem to stem from stomach/bowel irritation, with excessive nausea. I wonder if they’re due to the Metformin I’ve been taking. I have another check up tomorrow, must remember to enquire.

The Complete Works of Platitudes

Caroline — Mon, 04 Jul 2005 18:52:01 +0000

Dietician: What can I do for you?
Me: I’ve been diagnosed with diabetes and have been referred to you.
Dietician: Eat regularly, don’t eat too fatty, don’t skip breakfast, exercise more.
Me: You don’t say!

Weight a minute

Caroline — Wed, 22 Jun 2005 02:38:30 +0000

I don’t want to make a big deal out of it (I’m obsessive about things, but would hate to become obsessive about weight.), but since I’ve been diagnosed with diabetes I’ve stepped up the eating pattern I had been trying to adjust to since earlier this year. I suppose what I am doing comes closest to the NoSDiet, which is more like a simple guideline: ‘No Snacks, No Sweets, No Seconds’. I’m not doing the second part of the NoSDiet: ‘except on days that start with an ’s’. That would probably make it more difficult to break my habits, since it’s on the weekends that I usually indulged. I cut down a lot on butter, eat more fruit, drink mostly water. That kind of thing.

Anyway, I’ve lost 5 kilos going on 6 since March without too much trouble. I need to lose at least 20 more to become ‘normal’, whatever that is (my BMI was 35.8, now is 33.7 and should be 24.9).

I have to say, going to a lot of gigs has helped. See U2, lose weight. How’s that for a slogan?

Second opinion

Caroline — Sat, 04 Jun 2005 02:54:45 +0000

My G.P.’s practice is run by two part time doctors. In my five years with them, I’ve only ever met Doctor #1 . I assumed the other one had another office — I never really thought about it much. Turns out they work on fixed days and for some reason I’d never been on a Friday or Wednesday before, when Doctor #2 is on duty. The doctors are two very different types of people. Doctor #1 is a calm, somewhat serious man who quite recently suffered from burn out. I like him a lot, because he doesn’t talk down to you and recognises the ’smarter’ patient. Doctor #2, is a woman of the chirpy sort. Big smile, seems to be in a rush. This is how they both dealt with me, their patient:

Me: ‘So, yeah, hypothyroidism… what now?’
Doctor #2: ‘Really, many people have it and live normal lives. We’ll give you medication and you’ll be right as rain.’

Me: ‘And, um, what are the consequences of hypothyroidism?’
Doctor #1: ‘You die.’

Carry on Doctor

Caroline — Fri, 27 May 2005 01:37:33 +0000

Selfish cunt that I am, I think Dutch GP’s should be SEVERELY PUNISHED (an old fashioned flogging springs to mind) for going on strike this week when I’m supposed to hear what I should be doing about my bloody diet, medication and what not.

I’m not sure what exactly they’re going on strike for, but I’ll wager it’s mostly about money. Apparently they only make TWICE AS MUCH as their Belgian colleagues and it isn’t enough.

Damnit, if I made 97.000 EURO A YEAR, I wouldn’t have time to lay down work. I’d be too busy SPENDING IT on good (artery clogging) food and an endless array of sexy gadgets.

They must go back to work RIGHT NOW, because I seem to be suffering from a bad case of Dooce-itus.

It is not mostly about money. It is about insurance companies getting way too much power. No more “beroepsgeheim” every temporary employee at the insurance company will have access to your medical history. And about the not being able to provide a reasonable level of care if they have too many patients and only five minutes per appointment.
You cannot compare the Dutch and Belgian salaries, mostly because it is not a salary. Doctors are entrepreneurs, they have a lot of costs an employee does not have. In Belgium a GP does not have to pay an assistant, for example (Belgian GPs do not have assistants).
I understand it sucks for you though. On the other hand: I would not give too much value to a GP’s dietary advice. It is unfortunately my experience that quite a lot of GP’s think they know a lot about nutrition whereas they actually really don’t. Maybe http://www.diabetes-normalsugars.com/ is useful.
Sterkte.
lena – 27 May 2005 – 13:56

My GP would refer me to a dietician, but I’m not too confident in their methods either. The latest studies contradict the conventions as promoted by diabetes organisations. It’s all rather confusing.

Thanks for your explanation.
Caroline (link) – 27 May 2005 – 14:11

Sugar me

Caroline — Sat, 14 May 2005 01:24:46 +0000

Three months ago I had a blood test done and then I ‘forgot’ all about it. You’re supposed to ring your doctor for the results, because they can’t be bothered informing you. (What if it’s really serious? Do they let it go? If you ring back a year later and say ‘Doctor, I’m dying’ do they say ‘Duh?’)

Since I don’t like using the phone, it can take a while for me to get things done. When I ran out of a prescription I had to ring and finally found out my test results.

Diagnosis: diabetes and a thyroid problem.

When that sank in, I suddenly felt better than I have in months and a surge of energy saw me take care of various things on my ‘to do’ list. Funny how the mind works.

Of course now I’m looking at more tests, a dietitian and I will really have to start forking out for a fitness club membership, but at least I know what I’m up against.

Update: I feel all I have to do right now to warrant a move to LiveJournal, is start talking about my periods and my troublesome teenage offspring. Apologies to my readers – the few I have left! – for turning into generic middle-aged woman. {{{{{Hugs}}}}}

Just wanted to say that I hope (and i’m sure that) everything will go well for you. Glad you know about this so you can take care of it :-)
ghani (link) – 13 May 2005 – 23:49

Good news. Sometimes the certainty of hard fact is much more reassuring, whatever its content.
Hg (link) – 14 May 2005 – 09:24

Trainwreck journals have always been good to read.

But, there’s such a thing as the Rumpelstilstkin effect in medicine: give the problem a name and suddenly it becomes more manageable.

Nevertheless, try to see it as the start of a new period, not as the end of live as you knew it. Sterkte.
ijsbrand (link) – 14 May 2005 – 18:31

LiveJournal would at least get you back onto a Six Apart platform :-)
Hg (link) – 14 May 2005 – 19:12

Ach, that bites. But it doesn’t. Like the above folks said, knowing the situation leads to resolution. Also clears the mind, doesn’t it? Good on ya for taking care of business.

Stay healthy so I can keep reading. ;) Luck!
Jason (link) – 14 May 2005 – 19:39

Sorry to hear about the diabetes and thyroid, but glad you now know what’s going on, so you can fix it. Post whatever the hell you want, don’t worry about wankers! Just happy you’re okay!
lia (link) – 15 May 2005 – 17:42

I’ll just say “ditto”.
Gordon (link) – 16 May 2005 – 13:52

Don’t worry Caz, you’ll be grand. Hang in there!
tomcosgrave (link) – 18 May 2005 – 19:45

Knee deep in exercise

Caroline — Tue, 22 Mar 2005 00:25:21 +0000

It’s amazing how quickly a body responds to exercise. I’ve had four 1-hour sessions at the physiotherapists’ gym, doing all kinds of leg muscle exercises. The leg press machine was one I was told to be careful with and the first three times I couldn’t really press more than 15 kilos before my knee started to hurt. Today 15 kilo felt like feathers and I had to go up to 40 before it felt right. Mr Physio said to try 50 next time and predicted I’d be doing 70, 80 soon. My thigh muscles feel a lot harder too. Just four trips to the gym, that’s all it takes. (I must confess I also do exercises in between my gym visits, on the metro! Just tightening leg muscles in sets of 5. Nobody notices.)

Fortunately, the quadriceps respond incredibly quickly to exercise.

Unfortunately, they shrink just as fast when the exercise is stopped.

It’s a life sentence.
ijsbrand (link) – 21 March 2005 – 19:10

I love the feeling of a good workout :)
experimental music (link) – 21 March 2005 – 20:58

the proof is in the pudding as they say. that’s why working out is overimportant.
seniorenman – 22 March 2005 – 12:33