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Summary: This has drastically changed my life.
Review: If you have severe migraine headaches or sinus headaches - READ THIS BOOK!
For ten years, I've suffered with migraine headaches and have been to numerous doctors who have prescribed numerous drugs, which just seem to make the headaches worse. What most doctors don't emphasize is how important diet and dietary triggers are in stopping migraines. I've been on the "Heal Your Headache" diet now for almost a month and, knock on wood, haven't had a headache. Prior to that, I would have had at least four or five a month.
I can't thank the authors enough for providing thorough, well- researched advice on preventing migraines. I've had to give up my coffee (yikes) but it's been worth it to have my life back!
If you've been a migraine sufferer like me for years, this is an absolute MUST read. It will change your life.
Rating:
Summary: Good Book for Headache Sufferers
Review: There isn't much that I can say about this book that hasn't already been said in the other reviews. The proof is in the pudding, follow the advice, your headaches will decrease. PS-If you're interested in losing weight, I've lost 15 since cutting the trigger foods out of my diet.
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Summary: Heal your headaches by Dr. Bulhholz
Review: My son has gone through everything there has ever been to go through with regard to migraines. Dr. Bulhholz' book is incredible, informative and thought provoking. The book should be read by anyone or anyone that lives with someone who has headaches or migraines. There is a ton of information in there and it is good and solid information, we have a ways to go but we ARE following thsi Dr.'s method believe me. He gives us great hope. You will LOVE this book!
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Summary: three big errors
Review: It would have been an excellent book if it was not for three truly major mistakes that will lead many people astray. 1. There is no scientific evidence but only anecdotal reports that triptans, such as imitrex cause rebound headaches and limiting patients to only two days of treatment with triptans per month is a crime! 2. Botox has completely relieved migraines in thousands of patients. There is not a single major headache center that does not offer this treatment. 3. Magnesium and feverfew have been proven to prevent migraines in multiple double-blind trials published in major medical journals, which cannot be said for many of the drug recommendations in the book.
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Summary: Heal Your Headache
Review: I loved this book!!! For a year now I have been sick and no one could find the cause. After reading Heal Your Headaches I knew what was wrong. I have a migraine varient, painless migraines. The diet has been a god send. I have only been on it for 3 weeks and my dizziness is way down. Painless migraines are not easy to detect. This book was talking about me!! I feel for the first time in a year, hope!!! I liked the Dr approuch of no meds, if at all possible. He gives you the foods you can have and some recipies to go with it. I can also tell you that he is very caring and kind.I have learned more from him on line than all the Dr's I've seen in the last year!! I cannot tolerate most meds so when I saw a way out of that I was thrilled!! I can't express enough my gratefullness to Dr Buchholz for writing this book. I know all who suffer like myself will find healing in this book. Again I know there are many like myself who don't get the pain of a migraine, but have all the other symptoms, must read this book. I know there are alot of painless migraine suffers out there that are confused and scared, please do your self a favor and read this book. Charisse
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Summary: This Book is a Lifesaver for Desperate Headache Patients!
Review: Headaches were a never-ending nightmare for me, and this book has helped me to get my life back. I have struggled with headaches/migraine for over 12 years and I've seen five specialists. I've tried 7 different IV medications, 20 injections in my neck and head, 30 different oral medications, and I've even been hospitalized - none of which worked in the long-term. I've also tried acupuncture, physical therapy, magnets, homeopathic medicine, chiropractic care, and biofeedback. Despite all these efforts, I've been unable to care for my toddler son, I've missed up to 9 weeks of work at a time due to headaches, and I've been unable to plan any family activities or vacations because of my constant battles with migraine. Dr. Buchholz and his method is the only treatment I've found that is making a long-term, positive difference, as shown on the Good Morning America interview with myself and Dr. Buchholz on 12/1/2003. This is the BEST book I have ever read on headaches and migraines. Thus, I highly recommend a cover to cover reading of his book. Here are a few quick comments on the three steps outlined in the book:
1. Avoiding medications that can cause "rebound" headaches: Personally, I've used triptans and Excedrin on almost a daily basis (I was never advised not to do so), prior to reading this book. I reached the point where these medications did not work anymore (including Imitrex injections and intravenous DHE) and were just making things worse. Although it can be hard, it is definitely worthwhile to stop using these medications. 2. Avoiding dietary and medication triggers: Working with Dr. Buchholz, I found additional food triggers, even though I had done a diet study with a previous doctor. I discovered that foods I used to eat on a daily basis were contributing to my headaches. The diet is definitely worthwhile, although it takes some getting used to. 3. Preventative medication: I've been on preventative medication for 4 years, which never worked. Interestingly, I found that preventative medications prescribed to me by previous doctors (which had never worked) were ones that Dr. Buchholz listed as being least effective or as actually causing headaches. The preventative medications Dr. Buchholz prescribed for me (nortriptyline and diltiazem) are actually making a difference. As a former desperate headache patient, I know the methodology outlined in this book works!
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Summary: Blaming the Victim
Review: Before shelling out money for this book, be aware that, if you suffer from more than the very occassional migraine, the first step you will be expected to follow in 'curing' your headaches is to suffer several months of unrelieved agony. He requires that you stop treating all your migraines and simply suffering through them, until they .. somehow .. stop occuring on their own. Buchholz is a firm believer in the most extreme version of the 'rebound' theory of migraines -- that, by treating our headaches as much as twice a month, we are, in fact, causing them to happen. (Isn't it funny that nobody ever suggests that, by using pain relievers, arthritis sufferers, or people with cancer or post operative pain are actually 'causing' their pain, but that migraines are, in some mysterious way, caused by the very drugs we need to take to treat them and make our lives managable.) He then follows this with the the old 'it's all caused by what we eat' so you need to also eliminate all the foods you have ever enjoyed from your diet' snake oil, that I've also heard a thousand times before. (And no, he gives no scientific rational for any of his theories. He fails to even attempt to explain how using narcotics or triptans more than twice a month cause migraines to suddenly start to occur on a daily basis. (Yes, I've seen the 'rebound' theory before, but most doctors who subscribe to it at least claim that it results only after daily or near daily use of pain meds, not once in two weeks!) If you only get the occassional headache, you may find it worth dropping all your meds for a few months to see if it helps. But for the rest of us ... we'll stick with what we have, however, imperfect, and keep looking for a more rational, definitive cure.
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Summary: A truly remarkable book
Review: Many books promise to change your life. Almost none actually do. This book can. It did for me. I suffered eighteen years(and that is the correct word) with continual headaches. At certain times they would occur daily. At other times, days apart, but never a week without pain. That was then, this is now. Dr. Buchholz's book has, quite literally, changed my life. His program works. But as he says, the correct approach to headaches is simple-though not necessaarily easy. He states, further, that each person must accept responsibility for his headache and have the will to control them. It is a tough love approach. But, and I say it again, the program works. It works if it is followd faithfully. If you have tried everything to relieve your pain and nothing has worked; not medication (especially medication) nor meditation nor any of a thousand remedies, and you've just about given up hope, I urge you to read this book. Dr. Buchholz offers lasting relief for headache pain sufferers.
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Summary: No More Migraines
Review: I would like to wholeheartedly recommend the book "Heal Your Headache" by Dr. David Buchholz of Johns Hopkins University. Not only does it explain in excellent detail his very effective program for controlling migraine headaches, but it is well organized, well written, and very reader-friendly. Without shirking solid medical explanations for his program, Dr. Buchholz manages to explain the science behind migraine control and prevention in very readable layman's terms. More importantly, he describes a program that works! I say this with such enthusiasm because I have been fortunate enough to be a patient of Dr. Buchholz. I remember the first day I walked into his office eight years ago. "I just need a renewal of my prescription for Cafergot," I told him. "I can feel a migraine coming on." My family had just moved to Baltimore, and I had just run out of the medication I had previously been taking for migraines. Cafergot usually did the trick, even though it made me violently ill and did not stop my migraines from coming back soon afterwards. I had been suffering from blinding migraines for over 30 years and figured this was the best treatment available. "I won't be prescribing that for you," Dr. Buchholz replied bluntly, as he ushered me into his office. It was then that I discovered the 1-2-3 program that has changed my life. After a thorough neurological exam, Dr. Buchholz explained the connection between migraine and the foods we eat. It turned out that not only were many of the foods I craved migraine triggers, but the one I used to ward off migraines -a hot cup of tea - was actually the biggest trigger of them all. Beginning with caffeine, I eliminated a long list of foods from my diet and discovered that my migraines almost disappeared. I learned, furthermore, which foods I could add back, how many of the triggers it took to start a headache, and finally what a migraine really is. There is no need for anyone to suffer from migraines anymore. I highly recommend reading the book, finding treatment, and living your life headache-free!
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Summary: It works !
Review: After suffering with migraines (excruciating pain, photo-phobia, nausea/vomiting, but no lights or aura) for the past 20 years I followed the 1-2-3 step program faithfully and it has worked. Rather than proceeding further down the road-of-drugs (Depakote or Topomax as preventatives) I decided to try another route. Steps 1 & 2 (no rescue drugs and eliminating food triggers) are achievable hurdles. The withdrawal from caffeine and not taking any Imitrex, Frova, etc. with onset of headache were not easy but definitely doable. I have been essentially migraine-free for over 2 months and am now proceeding to Step 3. I recommend Dr. Buchholz/Mr.Reich's book without reservation. Dr. Buchholz has positively affected a population much larger than those he could ever treat personally. I am grateful to him for writing this book and sharing his advice; it has changed my life.
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