http://freemybrain.com Trying to live well, to live a purposeful life, with chronic illness, since I don't get the choice of living it without! Mon, 08 Mar 2010 00:03:36 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Hope springs eternal in the human breast; Man never Is, but always To be blest: The soul, uneasy and confin'd from home, Rests and expatiates in a life to come. -Alexander Pope, An Essay on Man, Epistle I, 1733 Hope springs. Spring and hope. Spring is sprung. Today was the second of two sunny, 50 ... http://freemybrain.com/spring-hope/ A new study of 18 Migraine sufferers reported in the Archives of Dermatology Monday indicates that Botox may be helpful for those who describe their pain as "crushing" or "eye-popping." That's an interesting new distinction. So, not so good for those of us, like me, who walk around saying "My ... http://freemybrain.com/botox-for-head-implosion-not-explosion/ Migraines happen when those of us with excitable nervous systems - nervous systems prone to Migraine - experience a change in our external or internal environment that triggers the Migraine process. This doesn't explain what causes Migraine, or why some of us have nervous systems that react like this. It ... http://freemybrain.com/hormones-migraines-and-menopause/ What? It's 43 days into 2010! I know, but I haven't posted since January 7th; I feel like I need to catch up with you all. Greetings from snow-bound New Jersey! I just saw that Medical Assistants.Net listed me as "One of the Top 50 Health and Wellness Blogs to Watch in ... http://freemybrain.com/happy-new-year/ The context in which we look at an issue can make a huge difference in our way of perceiving and interacting with the issue. When I began exploring the on-line world of support for Migraineurs and chronically ill folks, I came very early upon Teri Robert's site, Help for Headaches, ... http://freemybrain.com/fibromyalgia-a-new-context/ Teri Robert is hosting the blog carnival this month at My Migraine Connection. There's a great collection of posts on caring for yourself such that you can actually enjoy the holidays. My contribution is just one post down on this page (unless you're reading on Facebook, if you are, please ... http://freemybrain.com/blog-carnival-time-holiday-stress/ For a number of years, my husband and I hosted a big post-Christmas holiday gathering for my extended family. This gathering had gone on at my parents' house for many years prior. Each of the smaller nuclear families (mine, my siblings', aunt & uncle & cousins') would have their own ... http://freemybrain.com/how-do-we-celebrate-and-still-take-care-of-ourselves/ The AHDA (Alliance for Headache Disorders Advocacy) makes us aware of an opportunity to make a difference in the future of headache medicine. Please take action today to support the the Klobuchar / Collins Amendment to the Senate Health Care Reform Bill. Apparently the bill sets up bonus Medicare ... http://freemybrain.com/support-the-future-of-headache-medicine-in-the-us/ The theme for the December 2009 Headache & Migraine Disease Blog Carnival is "Advice on & experiences with reducing holiday season stress." This will be the Blog Carnival's second anniversary issue, so please consider joining in! I've missed the carnival myself for the past few months but I'm planning a ... http://freemybrain.com/reducing-holiday-stress-blog-carnival/ Teri Robert at My Migraine Connection reports today on a study on use of sumatriptan (Imitrex and generics) and naratriptan (Amerge) to abort Migraines during pregnancy. The article is well worth a read. Migraines, Triptan Safety, and Pregnancy. The study is preliminary, but indicates that the overall risk of birth ... http://freemybrain.com/triptans-in-pregnancy/