Almost everyone who has a headache takes an aspirin or ibuprofen and continues about his/her daily routine. Migraine headaches are different: over-the- counter medication doesn’t always work. Migraines make life stop. The severity of the throbbing pain lasts for hours, sometimes days, and can cause sensitivity to light, sounds and smells; nausea and vomiting; and blurred vision and lightheadedness, sometimes followed by fainting. Those who have chronic migraines, which are defined as occurring more than 15 days a month, become increasingly confined to their home. Palisadian Diana Daniele starting getting migraine headaches in 2009. ’I would pass out in an environment with lots of noise and stimulation, like in Ralphs,’ said Daniele, noting that because it was such a frequent occurrence, the staff would help her up and she would leave the store without her groceries. As a PR representative, Daniele found herself giving up more of her clients when the headaches progressed to more days a month, which also made it increasingly hard to take care of her two-year-old daughter and nine-year-old son. Her headaches became so severe she was often in bed for days. ’Migraines are disabling once they get to a certain level,’ said Palisadian Steven Graff-Radford, DDS, who is director of the Program for Headache and Orofacial Pain at The Pain Center at Cedars-Sinai Hospital. Graff-Radford, who lectures nationally and internationally on the subject of head and neck pain management, said migraines tend to have a genetic component: if someone in your family suffers from them, you will be more predisposed towards migraines. ’The migraine brain is genetically hyper-excited, and may be triggered to cause a release of chemicals around the lining of the brain, which causes the pain neurons to fire and results in the throbbing headache,’ Graff-Radford said. He noted that new drugs called triptans, which target serotonin receptors, can provide relief from the headache.” Graff-Radford also recommends that those who suffer from migraines exercise regularly, minimize coffee consumption, drink lots of water, eat on a regular basis and maintain a regular sleep schedule. In addition, he advises trying magnesium, Vitamin B2, coenzyme Q10 and petadolax (butterbur). People with chronic migraines should seek medical help. Certain foods and additives, including chocolate, yellow cheese, nuts, nitrates (found in bacon and other processed foods), monosodium glutamate (in some Chinese food) can trigger the onset of a headache. Alcohol, a change in barometric pressure, missing a meal or changing sleep patterns may also bring on a migraine. Individuals who consume high levels of caffeine and then stop abruptly may develop migraines. Headaches in women have been related to changes in the levels of estrogen during a menstrual cycle. Premenstrual migraines occur during or after the time when estrogen and progesterone are at their lowest levels. Birth-control pills and hormone replacement therapy during menopause have been recognized as migraine triggers in some women. Daniele went to a headache specialist who put her on triptan. She also tried Botox, which she says stopped the severity of her headaches because it numbed the nerve endings in her head. She went on the Internet to learn more about migraines and discovered a Web site: mychronicmigraine.com/real-stories/. After reading about other people who missed important events in their lives because of headaches, Daniele decided to enter the Rewrite Your Day contest; she wrote about how she had missed celebrating her wedding anniversary for the past three years. She won the contest and on April 10, with the help of celebrity event planner Mindy Weiss, celebrated her 15th wedding anniversary with her husband Drew, children Drew Jr., 12, and Dayna, 5, and friends at a beautiful vow- renewal ceremony at Il Cielo restaurant in Beverly Hills. ’My headaches are more manageable and less severe,’ Daniele said. ‘I’m telling people my story because they might be suffering in silence. It’s an invisible disease and I want them to know there is help available.’
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