Looking Elsewhere

I have a simple Google alert set up so I can stay on top of new mentions of the affliction. It's usually pretty boring--quite a few "Migraines are worse than you think" articles, and every actual piece of news gets repeated in many places. But it's easy enough to keep up with and I do learn of sports stars and other celebrities who suffer with what I do.

Sometimes, though, one comes down the pipe that I don't know what to do with. The most recent of this type is headlined "Ayurveda may cure migraine." Ayurveda. Off the top of my head I thought something to do with yoga, but it's a full fledged alternative medicine system.

Which means, of course, it's nothing easy to try. But here's more the Indian Daily News & Analysis magazine had to say:

If not cure, the Ayurvedic Treatment Protocol (AYTP) comprising aahar (diet), vihaar (lifestyle) and aushadh (herbo-mineral formulation), promises conditions ‘close to cure’. Dehradun-based Ayurvedic physician Vaidya Balendu Prakash, the pioneer of AYTP, believes that migraine has been treated as a neurological disease for ages, and was therefore dealt with only through painkillers.

“After a close analysis of the disease, I found that it was more of a gastroenterological disorder rather than a neurological one,” he said. “Most of those suffering from migraine had issues like acidity and stomach problems. But modern medicine ignored this aspect,” he said. “So we altered the lifestyle and diet of those getting migraine attacks. And it worked within 120 days,” said Prakash.

I can't chase down everything, especially not at the same time. But I will make a note of this.

More Medication Manipulation

Still on the trail of the ketamine treatment. I understand that my specialist is pursuing it with my insurance company. I leave that in his hands, but I am impatient. My next appointment is the coming Monday. Hopefully there will be news.

Last tweak he performed was to add an anti-psychotic (Zyprexa) to my regimen, and to drastically drop the beta blocker (Inderal) and the anti-seizure (Depakote) medication. The goal being to lessen my dizzy spells and improve my appetite without "all the wheels falling off" (his words).

Jury's back in. I gained weight, which is good, but the migraines are wicked bad. Looks like Zyprexa is well known for weight gain, so that in addition to the lessened nausea are positive. But I'd trade some levelling off and even some dizziness for lessening the migraines again.

Huh. I notice that Zyprexa also has insomnia as a side effect. Check.

Hmmph.