Anyone read "Fighting The Migraine Epidemic" by Angela A Stanton?

naah…ramble away…this is a support site…we are here to listen and help in any way we can…don’t inhibit yourself

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Agree, feel completely free speak your mind

I think that’s quite a stretch. I just went to a doctor and the nurse who checked me in said it (topomax) was very helpful for her and she seemed to be using her brain quite well. :grinning: My Neurologist said its mixed results for people in terms of cognitive function. Indeed, you can find some horror stories about Topomax. And ideally yes, get off the meds if you don’t need them. But if they really help without much side effects, I would personally stay on them for a year before thinking about coming off, and even then I would go super slow. That’s just my opinion.

And Keto works for many people, but its not a silver bullet either. I had trouble with Keto/Paleo in general. Following a basic migraine diet everyday does help me though.
Do what works for you I say!

Thank you for all your replies… that’s great. Just really refreshing to have some " Normal" replies …where all drugs aren’t demonised . I agree… not really my life plan and I certainly am back on track with the diet etc etc …but it’s unpleasant being scarred witless about something that really helps too. Thank you all tons.

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I’ve been looking into this book and protocol but I’m way too paranoid to stop all my meds. I was keto for about 1.5 years but have recently fell off. It seemed like it was great in the beginning but then stopped helping. Maybe I have food triggers that were breaking through something? I got pretty down and out about it and gave up caring about what I ate. It’s been a good month or so now that I’ve only halfway followed it. I’ve also been drinking a lot of Diet Pepsi again so I’m sure that’s not helping with the caffeine and aspartame.

What’s the salt she talks about? Maybe I can add that and see if it helps? I’m dying. I’m hurting daily again, the severity avg. is going back up, and the aborting is getting harder.

Go back to keto, keep taking your meds, have salt with potassium foods (nuts, avocado), hydrate. Don’t lose hope. Effexor kicks me out of ketosis. Do it anyway.

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I also add Himalayan sea salt to my water which I drink loads of all day. Have not read the book, it’s just something my friend who is a dietitian recommended. Unfortunately, I cannot eat nuts @flutters per my dr :frowning: I miss them desperately!

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Hi! I am curious to know if you have considered going back on Stanton. She has changed her protocol considerably since the book was published. It’s still really complicated but certainly seems to help some people a lot.

To be honest, I haven’t looked. Botox and paleo/ketosis are about as good as it gets for me. That keeps my native inflammation down to a dull roar. I try to keep electrolytes balanced and tend to eat lower in salt just because I eat mainly what I cook myself. I have too many kidney issues to eat higher in salt so I lower the other inputs - glucose, grains, dairy, legumes, etc. I also don’t do the FaceBook thing, so I couldn’t follow her group. I did just now pop in to her site. I see she doesn’t like the CGRP drugs. I do.

What’s she doing different since her complicated 800 page tome?

Hi. Well she definitely doesn’t recommend keto straight out of the gate. She recommends very specific non-keto low carb high fat macros (20-20-60 ish) with no high glycemic foods including yoghurt or lactose free products. The veg and fruit is really limited so even getting that small amount of carbs is difficult. And of course a lot of salt - many glasses of salted water to do calculated based on weight. She will argue to the end of the earth that salt doest affect kidneys adversely, that it makes the functioning easier as they need salt (of course she is not a doctor) and that the raise in BP caused by dietary is very temporary and not a thing at all if your hydration is balanced. I have to admit my kidneys are borderline and it makes me nervous (especially because right now I am on different high protein macros) but my BP is low and the salt hasn’t affected any of my blood tests at all. Elaborate balancing of potassium and sodium in every meal - weighing all your food. She strongly recommends measuring blood glucose and ketones and testing for insulin resistance (the diy test she uses is quite scientifically valid). Until someone has no insulin resistance and is off meds that cross the blood brain barrier or are dangerous in keto (in my case Topamax) she doesn’t recommend keto. She also uses non keto carnivore a lot to address insulin resistance. The FB group is INTENSE. But a lot of people have remarkable success. I would not say I have had remarkable success,.I have had some success but I am also in a particularly bad state thanks to some ill advised attempts to manage my perimenopausal hormones sigh. I am committed to giving it time so that it either works or is firmly crossed off the list. It has definitely helped me more that the heal your headache los tyramine diet.
I had wondered because it sounded like you were so close (I read a number of your back posts because we are a similar age and both have VM) that with a couple of tweaks you would be there but it’s tricky when it’s contraindicated by other health stuff. Good luck.

Thank you. I have been much closer to her protocol in the past. Now I just stick to leaner meats, above ground veggies, nuts, seeds and limited complex carbohydrate veg and berries. It’s easier and pretty close.

With respect to salt, I’m not sure which factor failed my kidneys - too much salt, topomax or MRI contrast. I can say an out of the blue Stage III Chronic Kidney Disease diagnosis after years of borderline is shocking. And painful too. My tolerance for adverse kidney affects has lowered considerably.

I’m also on two BP meds so my willingness to experiment there is not what it was either. Though my blood pressure and blood salts were always in range, other markers went into red flag territory.

I’m not sure with PCOS I even have the ability to eliminate insulin resistance. I’m on an anti inflammatory diet and take a ton of anti inflammatory and antioxidant supplements. The raging fire in my joints suggests inflammation and insulin resistance will always dog me.

Do let me know how it goes. I’m quite curious.