Dear Migraines, Can I Kick You In The Ass?

Today makes the Fourth day in a row I have suffered from a migraine.  I have what many call "complicated migraines."  I do not remember the day I got my first one, but I know I was a young child, perhaps 2nd or 3rd grade.

Complicated Migraines are inherited within my family.  I am the 5th generation so far that has received them.  During the onset of a migraine my vision becomes blurry.  Bright light, and sound affect my eyes.  I need to go to a quiet, dark place.  Many times it looks and sounds as if I am having a stroke. 

There have been times where I have worked, driven, been in school, worked through meetings and finished up errands while having a migraine.  Many times I can control my numbness and still continue through my normal activities and other times I had had to call for my husband or parents (during school) to come get me. 

I am trying to get the courage up to switch medices once again.  I have been taking Zonagran for the past 4 or 5 years.  Obviously it is not working very well when I am still getting 4 or 5 migraines a week.  I also take a medicine called Midrin when a migraine starts.  This medicine is used to stops or lesson the effects of the migraine.  It works half the time. 

The medicine I want to try is one my great aunt is taking and has had great results from it.  They finally came out with a generic, so I am eager to try it.  The medicine is called Topomax.  Does anyone take it for migraines? 

The big thing for me is the last time I switched my migraine medicine I had about 2 migraines a day.  It was ridiculous.  I couldn't think straight, I felt horrible and I just wanted to go into a dark hole.  I am pretty scared to switch again unless I know the mew medicine really works. 

Have You Laughed Today?

Have you laughed today?  They say laughter is good for the soul.  They also say laughter is the best medicine.  As it turns out, this is ring true more than we think. 

Lacking a sense of humor might not just be bad for your social life, it might also be harming your cardiovascular health. A new study shows that laughter actually increases blood flow in the body, proving right the old adage that laughter is the best medicine, at least when it comes to the heart.



Cardiologist Michael Miller and colleagues at the University of Maryland tested blood flow in 20 healthy men and women after they watched 15-to-30-minute clips of the comedy movies Kingpin and There's Something About Mary and a stressful film, the opening sequence of Saving Private Ryan. The researchers measured blood flow both before each viewing and one minute after it ended. "We wanted to see whether laughter induced a vascular response," Miller explains.


Prior research inspired the team to conduct the experiment. A series of questionnaires administered to sufferers of coronary heart disease by the cardiologists revealed that patients who had suffered a heart attack failed to find the humor in a situation, such as wearing the same outfit to a party, 40 percent more often than their healthy counterparts. "We didn't know whether that was cause and effect or just part and parcel of having the disease," Miller says.


They decided to investigate the possible healthy effects of laughter by measuring vascular dilation after people chuckled at funny bits or reacted to intense images. In total, the researchers gathered 160 measurements of blood flow in the brachial artery, which connects the shoulder and elbow, from the 10 men and 10 women. While laughing, 19 of the subjects increased healthy blood flow by an average of 22 percent. And comparing the amused and stressful states brought on by film clips, more than 50 percent more blood flowed when laughing, according to the paper published in the current issue of Heart.


In fact, being light-hearted boosted blood flow about the same amount as light exercise or drugs that lower cholesterol. Drama-induced stress, on the other hand, cut that rate by as much as angry memories or mental calculations. "What that suggests, at the very least, is that laughter on a regular basis will undo some of the excess stress we face in our everyday lives," Miller notes. "Patients at risk for cardiovascular disease should loosen up a bit."

So, I ask you again.  Have you laughed today? 




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