Healthy by Nature radio show this week: Claudia Harsh, MD makes a return engagement to answer more of your questions about women’s health. She is a gynecologist with a gentle holistic approach. There is a clue to that in the title of her book: Finding Grace and Balance in the Cycle of Life: Exploring Integrative Gynecology. Click here to find podcasts, show archives and ways to listen nationwide. We will also talk to the founder of Deborah Kaye’s Cookies about Gluten. Call with questions at 1-800-281-8255.
 
From Pain to Passion

This week newscasters have discussed Michelle Bachmann’s alleged problem with migraine headaches. Never mind politics one way or the other, I cringe in empathy when I hear that someone has a headache so severe that it sends them to the hospital. That is because I suffered with them. On the positive side, migraine headaches got me into the field of nutrition. Let me tell you the story just in case it might help someone with regular headaches.

It was a dark and stormy night…no, wait that’s another story. My headaches started in college. If you’ve been blessed to never endure a migraine you may not be able to imagine the misery. Besides the incessant pounding pain and the accompanying nausea, every beam of light, sound, pressure and smell is yet another insult. I’d be totally wiped out for a day or two.

My doctors had only been trained to suggest the latest pain killer. None of the drugs helped but at least they upset my stomach. I asked one particularly sympathetic doc what might be causing the pain. He gave me a look that said “what planet are you from?”  In spite of his shock, he did his best to respond to my odd request. He asked: Have you had your eyes checked? (Yes) Are you under stress? (Yes. I was always under stress but only had the headaches sometimes.)

More than a decade later I was still having some migraine episodes when I stopped in a health food store for a snack. On the counter I spotted an article about headaches mentioned on the cover of a Let’s Live magazine. While the article discussed mainly migraine triggers like aged cheese and wine, it was absolutely my very first clue that I might actually have some control over the cause of my distress.

So, one day when I was enduring a particularly awful thumper, in desperation I angrily swore off of food entirely as though it contained poison. After a day or so, not only was the headache gone, I felt better than I had in a long time…clearer, cheerier and more energetic. Knowing that I was definitely onto something, I sought out a different kind of doctor for guidance. Don Mannerberg, MD was an integrative practitioner before the term even came into use. With his testing and teaching and I was finally rid of the migraines that had slowed me down for for probably 20 years. Dr. Mannerberg later moved from the Dallas area to somewhere around Austin. If anyone knows how to contact him, I’d like to thank him for starting me on such a satisfying mission.

About now you are probably asking what in the heck we did to cure the migraines. There isn’t space here but next week I’ll go into detail. If you know of someone with migraines (Hello Michelle?) please let them know to subscribe before next week. Hint: I can tell you that the “…pain in the rear” in the subject line isn’t just a silly play on words.

My first book : Natural Alternatives to Nexium, Maalox, Tagamet, Prilosec & Other Acid Blockers. Subtitle: What to Use to Relieve Acid Reflux, Heartburn, and Gastric Ailments.

My latest book : Aloe Vera-Modern Science Sheds Light on an Ancient Herbal Remedy

Copyright 2011 Martie Whittekin, CCN