March Blog Carnival - Maintaining Friendships for Those WIth Migraines and Headaches

Diana Lee at Somebody Heal Me has done us all a great service by establishing a monthly headache and Migraine disease blog carnival. This month, it's being hosted by Teri Robert at MyMigraineConnection.


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.

Take a look at the March Blog Carnival - Maintaining Friendships for Those With Migraines and Headaches.

The NY Times Migraine Blog... What the ****?

Last month, the NY Times started a new blog in their Opinion section, "Migraine, Perspectives on a Headache."

The blogging world seems to have gone wild talking about this blog, linking to it, praising it. What the hell? Yes, it's wonderful to have more attention paid to Migraine. This blog MAY help raise awareness. Still, I have some issues with it and the response to it:

• The subtitle, "Perspectives on a Headache," is just plain wrong. Migraines aren't headaches, people! Yes, it's that simple. They're NOT headaches. As I've seen Teri Robert say, "Migraines are a flare-up of Migraine, a genetic neurological disease. The headache, if there is one, is but on SYMPTOM of a Migraine attack. You can have a Migraine attack without having a headache."

• In "About This Blog," they say, "More than 28 million Americans..." Well, hell! If you're going to start a new blog, why not start out with current statistics. That 28 million figure is at least seven or eight years old, maybe older. Based on WHO prevalence statistics and current US Census data, the correct figure is more than 35 million Americans.

• Why call it "Migraine" when one of the primary writers, Paula Kamen, doesn't have Migraine disease? She has chronic daily headache. CHD is horrible, but it's not Migraine disease.

• If this blog is supposed to really address Migraine, there are at least two people missing from the writers on this blog -- Michael John Coleman of MAGNUM and Teri Robert.

• In all the rush to pay attention to the supposedly all-important NY Times, people are missing out on a great deal of blog entries and articles that are just as good, if not better.

Come on, people! Let's put things in perspective. The new kid on the block shouldn't eclipse all the other players. The NY Times blog is no longer new. Let's get back to business!

Follow up to ERs from hell

As I followed ERnursey's blog after my last post, I came to like the lady. She took time to answer a couple of comments to her blog and explain the difference between her saying 'migraine' and migraine.

All in all, what she has to say is very similar to what genuine Migraineurs say. Here's a quote from one of her entries:

People with migraines are on preventative, anti-nausea and abortive meds. They come to the ER as a last resort when their usual medications have been tried and failed.

People with 'migraines' are not on any migraine management meds and will often state allergies to them. In fact they are usually allergic to everything but Demerol or Dilaudid.

It's rather sad that what could have been a productive discussion soured very quickly, especially when an ER doctor decided to continue it on his blog and deliberately "baited" the Migraineurs who were trying, for the most part, to participate in a civil, adult conversation. Then there was another ER nurse who has decided to be a total cretin, making comments such as "migraine is the new fibromyalgia.

It's clear that most of these people either have never been ill or they've been very fortunate that the medical professionals who treated them were their ultimate superiors in professionalism, compassion, and plain old human decency.

Still, good doctors and nurses are some of the most underrated people on the face of the earth. Everybody wants to fuss at them if there's the slightest problem; few people think to thank them.

IMO, patients and those doctors and nurses have more in common than the docs and nurses think. Bad experiences with people with 'migraines' have left some of them highly suspicious of everyone who even says the word Migraine. On the flip side, patients who have had the horror of a doctor who was an ass or incompetent (and, yes, as with any profession, there are good doctors and bad) often don't give other doctors a fair shake.

I can't help but be sad about some of the callous and unnecessary comments I read on those blogs over the weekend. Ah, well. A few of the people posting comments mentioned Karma, something I believe is very real. That gives me comfort and yes, brings a bit of a grin to my face.

Namaste,
Abi

Congrats - The Daily Headache Celebrating Blogiversary!

A belated happy blogiversary goes to Kerrie at The Daily Headache! The Daily headache has become one of the best headache and Migraine blogs around. Kerrie celebrated The Daily Headache's second "blogiversary" this past week.

If you aren't familiar with it, check it out. You'll love it!

People who blog about Migraine disease...

People who blog about Migraine disease and speak as if they're an authority offering educational information should do at least a bit of research before blogging. Incorrect information can be highly detrimental, confusing more people than it helps.

This morning, I ran across a blog entry entitled, "Migraine headaches come in two varieties." Not only does this person think that Migraine with Aura and Migraine without Aura are the only two "varieties" of Migraine, he or she still thinks that "Rapid changes in the flow of blood to the head" are the cause of the Migraine. Researchers have now shown that genetics and overactive neurons in the brains of Migraineurs are the cause of the disease, and that the blood flow changes are part of the Migrainous process, i.e. more a symptom than the cause.

Please, if you're reading blogs or searching the Internet for information about Migraine disease, know who wrote the information you're reading and that they actually know what they're talking about.

Leading patient advocate Teri Robert does know what she's talking about. You can count on anything she writes to be well researched and accurate. If you want to know about the types of Migraines or the cause of Migraine, visit one of her sites:

• Help for Headaches and Migraine
• MyMigraineConnection.com
  

Learning about this disease is critical. Let's learn what's correct.

Shalom,
Abi

Visit this new blog...

I see that health writer and patient advocate Teri Robert has started a new blog at WeAreAdvocates.com. I love her statment at the top of the page:

Optimal health care can be achieved only when patients are educated about their health and patients and physicians work together as treatment partners in an atmosphere of mutual respect.

This blog is bound to be great, and I'll enjoy watching it develop. Hope you watch it with me!

Shalom,
Abi