Spring. Love it? Hate it? Migraines love it!

What a horrendous couple of weeks! In so many ways, I love spring with it's cherry blossoms, birds returning, flowers blooming! But, spring also seems to bring me more Migraines than any other time of year with wildly fluctuating temperatures and weather fronts coming through. UGH!

Of course, the increase in Migraines is at least partly my own fault. Once warmer weather arrives, I tend to curl up on my porch swing and sit there late into the night. That means going to bed later, getting less sleep. So, add that to the mercurial weather, and I'm doomed.

I can't decide if I love or hate spring. The one thing I'm sure of? Migraines love it!

Namaste,
Abi

Migraine Poetry - Express Yourself and Raise Awareness

Author and Patient Advocate Teri Robert knows the pain migraine sufferers face each day – she’s been experiencing headaches and migraine attacks herself since childhood. Finding writing therapeutic and wanting to further help those in the migraine community, Robert, in conjunction with The HealthCentral Network (www.HealthCentral.com), are hosting the “Putting Our Heads Together” Poetry Contest 2008.

Now in its seventh year, the contest encourages sufferers to find creative ways to express their pain. “Putting Our Heads Together” is free and will be published on HealthCentral’s MyMigraineConnection.com and Roberts’ HelpForHeadaches.com.

Entries will be judged by MAGNUM, the National Migraine Association (www.migraines.org) and will be collected until April 21. Winners will be announced on April 30, in recognition of National Poetry Month. “This contest started in 2001, and the work submitted has been amazing. Writing can be very therapeutic, as can reading what others have written,” said Robert, who currently educates and supports patients as Lead Expert for the MyMigraineConnection.com community. “Migraine disease and headaches can impact our lives more than many people could ever imagine.” “People coping with migraine disease continue to reach out to one another, forming incredibly supportive communities online,” said Chris Schroeder, CEO and President of The HealthCentral Network. “It’s an honor to provide the forum where users can creatively tell their stories and inspire others.”

Migraine disease affects nearly 36 million people in the United States alone, and at least 80% of the world's population will be affected by tension-type headaches at some time in their lives. Headache disorders cause more than 1 percent of all disability and 9 percent of all lost labor in the U.S. every year.

More information and the online entry instructions can be found on MyMigraineConnection at www.healthcentral.com/migraine/poetry-contest.html.

Why not join in the fun and enter? The deadline for entries is Monday, April 21.

Shalom,
Abi

April Headache Blog Carnival - Strategies for Coping with Migraines

Generally speaking, a blog carnival is a collection of links to a variety of a blogs on a central topic. The Headache & Migraine Disease Blog Carnival has been created to provide both headache and migraine disease patients and people who blog about headache disorders with unique opportunities to share ideas on topics of particular interest and importance to us.

Visit this month's carnival for a collection of informative entries on basic strategies for coping with migraines and headaches.

Migraine Research - Please email your Senator TODAY!

We need and deserve better treatments, but we're unlikely to get them until the NIH increases the funding for basic Migraine and headache research.

Each of us CAN make a difference. Please read the letter below and follow the link to email your Senators NOW.

Thanks!

Shalom,
Abi

Please Email Your Senator Today! Our efforts last month to urge members of the US House of Representatives to support increases in NIH funding for research on headache disorders were highly successful. Twelve Representatives signed the Obey/Walsh letter. This is an outstanding result for the first mobilization of our numbers, and we are optimistic that it will be enough to have our message appended to the House appropriations bill. It is now time to contact your US Senators for the same purpose. Unfortunately our window of opportunity is only narrowly open. The letter with Senators' signatures must be submitted by today, April 4th. Please take just 5 minutes RIGHT NOW to go directly to http://capwiz.com/headacheadvocacy/issues/alert/?alertid=11231066&PROCESS=Take+Action and send your message to your two US Senators Please forward this email right away to anyone else concerned about the inadequate state of care for patients with headache disorders. Only with increased research will new effective treatments for headache disorders become available. And only with your help will such research activities increase to levels appropriate to the huge scale of this problem. The larger our voice, the greater will be our impact. Thanks again for your efforts. Robert Shapiro, MD, PhD William Young, MD, Teri Robert, PhD Brad Klein, MD, MBA

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