Heal Your Headache: The 1-2-3 Program for Taking Charge of Your Pain Paperback – January 15, 2019

I am only two weeks into this, but I decided to go ahead and start this review and will try to update it a few times. I went ahead and put five stars, because I believe the information inside is invaluable no matter what. I learned a lot more from here than from my neuro, and this books equips me with a lot of knowledge to even know how to talk to my neuro about my migraines. So five stars for that, and for what follows:My migraines are relatively mild compared to what I've read and heard from other people. I had reached a point where I had a persistent daily background headache (yes, every day), a more medium level pain migraine with nausea about 1-2 per week, and painful migraine with nausea every other month. The last such painful one was on Easter, and I was out of commission for about 18 hours. I got used to the persistent daily headache as a fact of life--I sincerely forgot what it was like to NOT have a headache. I was taking Excedrin Migraine 1-3 times per week, I'd guess. But yes, my headaches were far less severe than in other people, and migraines have really only affected me in the last year or two. I believe they were brought on by a very stressful situation at work.I went to see a neuro, who suggested supplements and a very simple headache journal (made by a pharmaceutical company, I noticed) where I was to write which foods or other triggers occurred the same day I had a headache. The supplements helped a little. The journal revealed nothing of note in terms of positive triggers (i.e. I couldn't find a correlation between a particularly food and a headache), but in looking back, the journal revealed that NOT having caffeine caused headaches. Interesting. (I'm glad I scrawled in the margins that I didn't have caffeine those days--the journal didn't ask such specific things. Part of me wonders if those overly simple journals are just designed to fail...)When the neuro heard I was still getting headaches (albeit fewer), I got a prescription for Depakote ER. I want to avoid prescription meds--or save them for a last resort. So I decided to postpone Depakote, and try to remove triggers. I completely eliminated caffeine (my two biggest loves: chocolate and coffee) two weeks ago. I had two big headaches the next two days, and then I was feeling pretty good after that, although a little tired. It's been two weeks now with no caffeine. I have slowly been avoiding some items on the elimination diet list, and will be 100% compliant starting tomorrow. It's going to take a lot of commitment.This book has been useful in explaining how triggers can accumulate, and when a person has enough triggers to pass a threshold, a migraine results. My neuro had never described it that way, but to think that way helps enormously. There are triggers a person can control (dietary, medicines), and triggers we cannot control (weather, pressure, etc.) So using that paradigm, I am working to learn to control my headaches.I will try to come back and do updates, because other commenters have said it's helpful to read those. But I must say that the two simultaneous approaches of ZERO caffeine and taking supplements has helped a lot already--no persistent daily headache! Time will only tell.***UPDATE***Whoops! I was planning to come back and do a few updates, but a lot of time has passed. Today is 1/16/2012, and I am happy to say that I have gone very far in reducing both the frequency and severity of my migraines. I get maybe 2 small migraines per month, and have no daily headaches at all. If I do get a bad headache, I have a prescription for Relpax that I can take, but that is getting really rare. I think the last time I used one was July 2011.My daily regimen just involves taking between 200-400mg of magnesium citrate, and abstaining from any kind of caffeine (except occasional chocolate), any kind of wine, any artificial sweeteners (especially aspartame--got a big migraine from having a "zero" beverage on a flight once), and avoiding MSG as best as possible. I eat food that is as minimally processed as possible. I take a b-complex once a week or so to get B2 (riboflavin).Before, I was taking MigreLief each day, but I eventually stopped, because the megadose of Riboflavin was so high, I had read that it is not recommended to take B-vitamins in high doses in isolation. Best to take a b-complex. FWIW, MigreLief helped me greatly, but I no longer see it as a necessary daily supplement for me.I did the elimination diet that this book recommends, and that was pretty difficult. I did that for about 3 months, but I didn't even bother to start slowly reintroducing foods, because it became apparent pretty quickly when something was a trigger. I still miss my morning coffee, but that is a clear trigger for me. In October 2011, I gave in to temptation and had a cup of hot milk with about 3 tablespoons of coffee in it, and sure enough, I had a migraine by evening. Crazy. If I have more than a sip of wine, the same thing.Hopefully those of you who are suffering with migraines will be able to find some relief with this book.As a side note, I mailed a thank you letter to Dr. Buchholz and explained how his book was helping me. He actually emailed me to say that he received the letter, and we corresponded a couple of times. Very nice. I believe he genuinely cares about people, and hopes that his book can help.

After years of migraines, numerous trials of every imaginable treatment, abortive medications and having read countless articles and several books on the subject, in addition to having a very good neurologist, I finally found this book on Amazon that makes the most sense of anything I've come across in a very long time -- it pulls everything together so beautifully. As I started reading the book, I could hardly put it down -- kept saying Ah-HA! and YESSS!!! a lot.... Many of the things in the book I had heard before, like eliminating caffeine, discontinuing abortive medications, and controlling triggers, but I couldn't imagine life without caffeine or medications, and didn't think foods could cause MY migraines since I ate pretty much the same thing all the time, with headaches on some days but not others. I also thought the process of eliminating one food at a time for an endless list of foods was too much to fool with (others recommended). That's where this book got my attention.First, Dr. Buchholz explains medically what happens to blood vessels in the brain during an attack to produce the headache and how triggers play into that process relative to an individual's built-in pain threshold. When he pointed out WHY caffeine, for example, is a definite trigger as well as other things like MSG, I began to see the light. He also points out that many triggers (both those we can control and those we can't) are all around us in varying degrees all the time. It's when the accumulation of triggers exceeds our threshold that the domino effect begins. Makes perfect sense and explains why a drop in barometric pressure often triggers a migraine for me (when other triggers are stacking in the background), while there's no headache at other times when the pressure drops (when other triggers might be lower, thus my overall trigger level is below my threshold).In determining food triggers, I like his more practical approach of just eliminating all known dietary triggers at once (there's a list with reasons for being potential triggers) and starting with a clean diet with no preservatives; and then after about 4 months if headache-free, try adding one food back at a time to see if there is a reaction.I also was told about a website that has amazing, really flavorful recipes for migraine sufferers -- thedizzycook.com, which even mentions the HYH book and diet often, so I feel I can trust the recipes to be safe. It's a wonderful companion to the book. I even found on the Dizzy Cook site a coffee I can actually have! (Allegro Organic Decaf French Roast) because of its Swiss Water Process that removes 99.9% of the caffeine.While the first few weeks were rough with caffeine and medications withdrawal and I still have a way to go, I am definitely doing better, have more energy and am sleeping better at night. This is the most encouraged I've felt in many years.Update 6 months later: It took several months of strictly following the diet to see the best results in my case, and I did add a low daily dose of propranolol in January 2019, but in May I finally reached my goal of being headache-free for 30 days (actually made it to 33) -- for the first time since I started tracking migraines in 2003. And I had only a slight headache for just a few hours to break my headache-free streak. I found it interesting that the same propranolol I took before trying the diet didn't work, but in tandem with the diet, it DID work (as Dr. Buchholz predicted). I'm hoping to be able to eventually drop the propranolol and just stick with the diet. I am so pleased with the results!

I've never reviewed anything on Amazon, but I feel compelled.Since April 2015, I have been suffering from BPPV (a type of vertigo) with debilitating attacks reaching a frequency of once/month. IF you've ever had this, you know how awful it is and that the 'vertigo hangover' can last a few days to a few weeks. My attacks are so severe, a couple of my self-filmed videos are now used as teaching tools! LOLWith the teaching of an amazing and patient vestibular therapist, I learned to film attacks, read my nystagmus, self-diagnose and successfully treat attacks on my own with the right exercises. I was able to treat myself, but this was still not preventing attacks. My ENT and my VRT suggested that my BPPV was a result of a combo of inner ear disease (I am hearing impaired) and vestibular migraine. I kept a diary of my attacks and what possible triggers might be (triggers seemed similar to migraine). So, I thought I would start treating my BPPV as migraine-caused.That's when I discovered this book.I have been on The Migraine Diet for 5 months and have not had ONE major attack. I had 2 very mild dizzy episodes - but knew I had diverted from the diet (once with lentils, the other with tomatoes - large quantities of each). And the attacks were so minimal as to not even interfere with my daily life. I self-treated them with the Epley and they were remedied. I also take supplements indicated for migraine: magnesium, B2, COQ10 and turmeric. I know I will likely suffer another major attack at some point down the line - but the longer I can go in between, the better!We know that the process of migraine causes blood vessels to dilate - even in the inner ear. So, would it not stand to follow that this dilation can cause the otoliths in the inner ear to become displaced? Prevent the migraine, prevent the vertigo.The book doesn't touch much on BPPV (more vestibular migraine causing dizziness) but don't let this dissuade you if you have recurrent BPPV. I think it still applies. Food will not TREAT attacks, but after my personal experience, I think diet can certainly help prevent them!Give this book and this diet a shot. It had helped me immensely. Many thanks to the author. Wishing everyone good health!

I came across this book through The Dizzy Cook blog and it has been the most useful tool in managing chronic vestibular migraine. The diet absolutely works for me. Medications are also discussed and the dangers of painkillers and rebound. I wish all health practitioners working with migraine sufferers would read this book. I spent a fortune on physio treatment and it only helped briefly, this diet was the turning point for long term recovery.

This book has changed my live. I had been suffering from migranes for about 12 years, since I was 15. For the last 5 years I had an average of 3-4 migranes per week. Some months I would have it 6 times a week, wich made me start having suicidal toughs. I have spent a lot of money in doctors and medicantion, with poor results. Made 2 botox aplications, with almost no result at all. For the last 2 years had been using Depakote, with little improve also. After reading this book, I stop having caffeine and all food that induce migrane. I also cut off the use of all medication, wich was pretty hard for the first 2 weeks, but after that detox period my migrane droped to about 1-2 A MONTH, wich is pretty amazing, and now when I have a migrane I can easily identify the cause. I really wish I had found this book earliar, it would have spared me and my family from a lot of suffering and pain from this damned life taking disease. Im really greatful to Dr. David Buchholz, wish you all the best, be sure that you are helping lot of people. Thank you.

In first few pages the book described my 43 years of life that no one could ever understand including my parents and family. Must read book for anyone suffering from headaches. It will change your life forever. It did mine.

Un libro muy interesante y muy practico. Me ha ayudado mucho para superar mis problemas de migrena. Lees el libro y parece que estas hablando con el medico. Muy bien.