The story so far

Wednesday 23 May 2007

I have suffered from migraine ever since I was 12 years old. I kept thinking ‘I will grow out of this’ but it never happened. So here I am 20 years later and quite frankly I have had enough. So I am on a mission to find a cure – always have been – but now I am broadening my horizons.

Preventative drugs
As a teenager I tried many preventative drugs that didn’t work. After a month or so I would become intolerant to them. At the age of 17, however, I got hooked on Beta-blockers, a drug which is used to treat high blood pressure. They work by relaxing the blood vessels and as a result I was relaxed…all of the time. My mum was right to be concerned that I wasn’t quite myself, and so I went cold turkey.

Botox in the forehead
Much time passed and in 2004 whilst interviewing the owner of a medical clinic, she told me she had had Botox injected into her forehead for the usual reason of smoothing out wrinkles, however, and get this – as a side effect she hadn’t suffered a migraine since. This sounded great to me apart from one detail – my forehead would be frozen and I wouldn't be able to form any kind of expression there. What would happen when I was puzzled or sad or whatever? No – I decided there and then that wasn’t for me.

Hole in the heart
And then last year I read that some people suffer from migraine due to a tiny hole in their heart, which scientists believe stops the right amount of oxygen reaching the brain or allows unfiltered blood with toxins to pass through. Everyone has a small hole in the heart when they develop in the womb. Usually this closes at birth but sometimes it remains open and you may never be aware of it. Once the hole had been sealed up – you guessed it – no more migraine. I work for King’s College London and there are opportunities to volunteer for research studies. One such study involved having a MRI scan of the heart to provide information on the heart’s blood supply. The perfect opportunity to ask the doc to keep a look out for any holes! Well it turns out I have a healthy heart and even if I did have a small hole in the heart would I go through heart surgery which involves a certain amount of risk and could cause complications to seal the hole up? The doc had a point.

The unseen illness
So why am I sharing my story with you? Well, migraine is often called the unseen illness because typically when a person has an attack they lay down in a darkened room, needing to be away from everyone and everything. Plus, I never used to talk about my condition, preferring to forget all about it until the next attack. But I am no longer hiding it away and now I do want to talk about. By creating more awareness I can hopefully help others like me beat this thing or at least find a way to manage it.

Ultimate liquid nutrition
Recently a friend of mine, James, recommended trying the Vemma Nutrition programme – a liquid dietary supplement containing life-giving whole food phytonutrients and powerful antioxidants.
It can apparently help prevent and in some cases cure diseases from cancer to Eczema, and here is the bit I’m interested in – it is also known to stop or reduce the frequency of migraine. After checking out the testimonials on www.vemmavemma.com (click M for migraine), I decided to give it a bash.
Vemma contains the most powerful food known to man the mangosteen – a rare, tangerine-sized fruit which grows primarily in Southeast Asia. Mangosteen has superior nutritional and antioxidant properties capable of producing a wide range of benefits; benefits that enhance many of the body's health-promoting capabilities. It is thought to have been traditionally used by natural health providers for thousands of years. In India, for example, traditional ayurvedic doctors used the rind of mangosteen to support a healthy digestive system and maintain healthy eyes, skin and hair.
With this in mind, a top Chinese chemist was asked to come up with the ultimate liquid nutrition. And the result is two powerful liquid formulas – mangosteen, aloe vera, and green tea in one bottle and 65 trace minerals in the other.
It’s pretty pricey at £50 for a 32 day course but if this potion can work magic on my migraine then it will be worth every penny.