Initially, numbness and tingling in extremities which subsided, b...

I have suffered migraines for almost 20 years. When the neurologist put me on Topamax, he warned me that if I were a concert pianist I would have "trouble" performing. What a joke! I have had years of short term memory loss, and now that I'm off of it, I still have problems remembering, and there is about a 5 year gap that I just don't remember much from. Pretty bad when you have three kids.

Why on earth would your doc recommend caffeine, when caffeine withdrawal is a huge trigger for migraine? That is medically unsound. Caffeine constricts the blood vessels in your brain, and when you don't have any caffeine, the vessels swell in response to being constricted. Thus, a caffeine-withdrawal migraine. When I was a teenager I'd drink Pepsi all day during the work week and then not have any at home on the weekend. I would literally writhe on the floor in pain. My doctor told me that basically I was allergic to caffeine and to stay away from it. Great advice, as whenever I do get too much, I still have the same reaction.

A true migraine, as you probably know, is from the trigeminal nerve in your brain being over stimultaed from whatever the trigger is. For me, I fought through many years of not knowing exactly what was going on. I thought everyone had headaches like that. When I was diagnosed, it started me on a path of prescription drugs, obesity, depresssion, and frustration. Ultimately, I had a radical hysterectomy at 35.

So you know, I found a better way. Ironically, it was because I was in a car accident and a friend of mine told me about his friend who was a chiropractor. I don't usually like them, I had a bad experience with one, but this one was different. He took his own x-rays, and discovered that my C-1, or Atlas, the first vertebrae in the neck, was out of place. I had been in a minor accident with my friend's motorcycle shortly before I started getting migraines, and he believed that the smacking of my head on the pavement when I was 18 is what started my migraines. The x-ray showed that indeed, my head was turned quite severely from my neck. A simple way to check this on yourself is have someone look at your feet when you lay down on your back. Have them push up your feet to be perpendicular to the floor and see if your legs are differentl lengths. That's indicator #1. Another test is - have someone help you with this- stand in front of them, relaxed, eyes closed, hands at your sides. Now, with your eyes closed, turn your head from left to right and back to center, keeping your eyes closed. The other person need to check the position of your head when you come back to center. It is fairly obvious when your head is not centered on your neck. Make sure to keep your eyes closed when you do this. If either of these tests work, please try to find a chiropractor who specializes in "Atlas Orthagonal" don't settle for anyone less. Look up their credentials, as well, just to make sure

For me, it was a miracle. After only a few treatments, I stopped taking Topamax. I am happy to say that I haven't had a migraine in about 4 months! FOUR MONTHS! I also quit taking my long term anti-depressant that the docs had me on.

I hope this helps you. I truly understand what it is to suffer and not find the answers or wellness in the medications that they prescribe. Please take my advice, it's free, and hopefully you can find the help you need!

Good Luck

JB