Vemma diary: November 2008

"Vemma is like a pocket rocket smoothie!"

My good friend, Mark, feels like a new man since he started taking Vemma - and he's only one week in! "It was very exciting when I opened the Vemma box - just like Christmas. Very posh especially with the shot glass," he tells me. "Every time I take it I feel energised and perky, which is very unlike me in the morning. Must be all the goodness causing brain stimulation, like a pocket rocket smoothie!" I'm so pleased it has already had such a positive effect. It certainly feels good to recommend Vemma to a friend.

For your own pocket rocket smoothie click here.

Vemma diary: October 2008

Would you avoid certain activities to avoid a migraine?

As a migraine sufferer I make a conscious effort to take extra care of myself which means sticking to a healthy, balanced lifestyle in order to avoid my triggers. Well that’s the plan anyway. I don’t miss meals, I don't drink caffeine, I try not to let myself get too dehydrated, I try to avoid stress and muscular tension, I take my daily shot of Vemma…and so on. But sometimes I’ll do something which upsets the routine and the risk of triggering a migraine becomes greater.

Take for instance, the abseil I did for charity. I abseiled down 29 storeys (469ft) and even though it was all over in a matter of minutes I had, without realising it, put a lot of strain on my body. I may not have felt scared; in fact I thoroughly enjoyed it however my body was still very tense. The next day my neck, back and arms were stiff, and I suffered a migraine. As with all migraine attacks you can never be sure of the exact trigger or combination of triggers, but I think it’s a fair bet to say it was probably due to muscle strain from doing the abseil. As muscular tension and migraine often go hand in hand I wasn’t surprised this had happened.

Normally I feel angry and upset when I get a migraine, especially as I try to figure out what had caused it this time. But how could I feel angry that I had a migraine because I had done a charity abseil the day before? If doing the abseil meant I would get a migraine then so be it. I'll happily avoid certain foods to avoid a migraine but I certainly won't avoid doing certain activities to avoid one.

Vemma diary: September 2008

Migraines are a pain in the neck

I often find myself spreading the Vemma word, telling friends, colleagues and family members about how well Vemma is working at combating my migraines. I also recently suggested to a friend that his mum, who suffers from arthritis, should consider taking Vemma to help relieve the pain. I have read testimonials from people with arthritis who say that they are now pain free or have experienced reduced pain and stiffness.

This got me thinking. Many different triggers for migraines have been identified and one cause is muscular tension. I know that many of my migraines are caused by muscle tension around the neck, shoulders and back. A few years ago my neck had become very stiff and sore, which lasted for months. It had got so bad that I could hardly move my head from side to side. I had many migraines during this time and ended up seeing an osteopath to get my neck back to normal and therefore reduce the number of migraines I was suffering from. After six weeks of treatment the stiffness and pain had disappeared and the migraines had lessened. However, I found that if I did not keep up with the daily neck exercises the stiffness would slowly start to return.

I haven't done any neck exercises for over a year now and I've hardly experienced any problems with my neck. I also started taking Vemma over a year ago too - in June 2007 - so I'm pretty much convinced there is a connection between the two. If Vemma relieves muscular and joint tension, then surely I haven't been having so many migraines because Vemma has been relieving and keeping at bay the muscular tension in my neck.

Vemma diary: August 2008

Eating lots of fish and ginger can help with headaches

I love eating fish. I could quite happily eat fish every day. I also love ginger, especially in tea, which I also happily consume every day. So when a friend forwarded me on a pdf about which food helps with which aliment, I was absolutely delighted to read that fish oil helps to prevent headaches and that ginger reduces inflammation and pain.

As a migraine sufferer, there are certain foods that I avoid because they are a trigger - most notably cheese and chocolate. I often joke that cheese and chocolate are evil because cheese and chocolate equals pain. So I love the fact that fish and ginger have a positive effect on headaches and migraines. So it seems, fish and ginger are good, because they help to prevent and combat the pain of headaches.

Mangosteen is also good. In fact it is great in my eyes. This rare, tangerine-sized fruit which grows primarily in Southeast Asia, is the main ingredient in Vemma, the liquid dietary supplement that I take everyday. I love this fruit because it helps me with my battle against migraines. Who would have thought that a small orange fruit could take on such a big, powerful entity!

But just don't take my word for it. Click here to read some testimonials from other Vemma drinking migraine sufferers.

Vemma diary: July 2008

Controversial surgery may cure migraine

Since my last post I have been scanning the web to find out more about the surgical technique that could offer a cure or significant relief for some migraine sufferers - the removal of the corrugator muscle in the forehead (the vertical frown muscles).

The BBC News tells the success story of a 53 year old lady who had been suffering from debilitating migraines for 15 years. She has not had a migraine since the muscle was removed last December and her quality of life has improved beyond her imagination.
Read the full story here: news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7487995.stm

To screen migraine sufferers for surgery, patients are given Botox injections to temporarily paralyze the corrugator muscle. If patients report improvement after Botox injections, surgery to remove the muscle is recommended. It is, however, a controversial technique and many experts remain skeptical.

The executive director of the National Migraine Association in Alexandria, Virgina, USA argues that neither Botox nor surgery can be a "cure" for migraine, but only a treatment of its symptoms. "The most important thing," he says, "is that migraine is an incurable disease."
Read more here: www.migraines.org/about_media/wbmd0900.htm

Researchers at the Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA, undertook a study to determine whether there is an association between the removal of the corrugator muscle and the elimination or significant improvement of migraine headaches, and their findings indicate a strong association.
Read about their findings here: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10946944

Vemma diary: June

Could this be THE migraine cure?

Today I feel excited because I have just read an article in the Daily Mail Online with the heading ‘Clinic offers first surgical migraine cure…by removing a muscle in your forehead’!

This is big news in the migraine world as sufferers can now have an operation to remove a muscle in the head that triggers the attacks.

The article reports that the surgery works by removing the ‘corrugator’ muscle found above the eyebrows. Many, but not all, migraines are triggered by the interaction of this muscle with nerves in the head. As the treatment is only effective against this type of migraine, patients must be screened by having Botox jabs in the forehead to paralyse the corrugator muscle. After eight weeks, if they have experienced significantly few headaches, the hour-long operation can take place. Patients can leave the clinic the same day.

You can read the full article here:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1029891/Clinic-offers-surgical-migraine-cure--removing-muscle-forehead.html

This sounds amazing to me. I know every operation, however small, has a risk, but if the result is a life without migraines then I'd be willing to go under the knife. I'd be interested to know your thoughts.

Vemma diary: May

Eating dessert with a migraine is no easy feat

At the time I was angry, frustrated and disappointed. I was after all sitting in a plush London restaurant, 48 floors up with fantastic views overlooking the city, eating a delicious three course meal, when it happened. If I could just make it to the end of the evening without ruining the occasion... Dessert had arrived and so what if I couldn't actually properly see what lovely sweet things I was eating. The tablets would kick in soon and I'll just carry on like it wasn't happening. But of course, that was no easy feat. The migraine had closed in upon me and my body and mind were shutting down. I was silly to think I could fool my close friends. They could see that I wasn't being myself, especially in a fun and social setting, and were concerned. I should have told them as soon as I got the aura. But you see, in the past, I have managed to go practically a whole day at work with a migraine and not tell any of my colleagues. It was hard, that's for sure, but with no meetings and no deadlines for the day I could sit very still at my desk, not talk and even close my eyes for a while. I hate having to announce to the office that I'm ill before taking my speedy departure, so I was determined to push through it. The usual negative feelings which coursed through me, making me look, I'm sure, stressed and moody, worked in my favour. It is work after all, so one is expected to look stressed and moody from time to time. So the moral of the story; be honest about your migraines to your friends and family...and not necessarily to your work colleagues :-/ (OK this last bit is debatable).

Vemma is my closest thing to finding a cure

I may still be getting migraines, but Vemma is my closest thing to finding a cure. I went two months without one, which is good going for me. So it appears, Vemma may not keep this illness completely at bay, but it is very effective at lessening the number of migraines suffered.