FAQ Episode 29: Natural Migraine Relief: a Substack blog for the Self-directed Individual
FAQ Episode 29: Natural Migraine Relief: a Substack blog for the Self-directed Individual
Are you self-directed?
I’ve been told that in the marketing world, ~90% of consumers make their decisions based on being repeatedly told to do so, while the other 10% make their choices on the self-directed basis of what actually makes sense to them after they educate themselves about their choices.
Throughout my career I have sought out those self-directed individuals as friends, colleagues, advisors and frankly-when possible, as my patients, as well.
I believe that you are a sovereign individual, with the right to make the decisions in your life, and additionally-for better and worse- to carry the responsibility for those decisions. If you realize and accept this premise, it changes everything.
Whose job is it “to fix you?”
For instance, a self-directed individual who suffers from migraines understands that it is not the sole responsibility i.e. “the job” of some doctor(s) or pharmaceutical company to find solutions and to alleviate your pain. We all hope to find a good team of helpers, associates and experts to help us solve our problems, but ultimately you are the captain of your own ship. Whether you know it or not, and whether you accept it or not.
Motivational writer and speaker Jim Rohn put it this way: "If you don't design your own life plan, chances are you'll fall into someone else's plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much." It sounds somewhat cynical to say that “we all play a supporting role in someone else’s movie,” but there is some truth there. Not that other people don’t care…some. They do. Your family, your friends, your doctor-they all mean well and offer what help they can. But when you leave their presence and go on your way; it comes down to you, the information you collect, your decisions and then your focused actions which will make and shape your quality of life. Once you accept that, you are on your way to finding meaningful, useful and effective life solutions.
What should a doctor offer you?
My goal as a physician is to do my best to help my patients understand:
the what went wrong for them part of the question
the what’s at the root of the problem, beyond the surface symptoms
the what are the related issues that overlap with the primary problem
the what are the tools that can address the root causes, not just clear the surface symptoms. For this example, these tools could be lifestyle changes, non-drug therapy including nutrients, and even prescription drugs, if or as indicated
the what does the process of healing look like, as no two people and problems have the same route to and rate of recovery
I really do believe most people in the healing arts start out with good intentions to implement the principles I mention above. But over time:
the cares and distractions of their personal lives
the burdens of office, corporate and government policies
the time constraints built into our current health care system
the herd mentality of the 90% of colleagues who make their decisions based on being repeatedly told what to do by third party so-called experts, along with a dozen other impediments
all work to erode the will and the ability of health care providers to educate and empower their patients to fully understand their health care options.
How can I help you help yourself?
If you identify as a member of the “self-directed tribe” and are still looking for answers for your migraine headaches, I’d like to invite you to test drive the paid subscription version of the Natural Migraine Relief for Women substack. For only $7 per month you can study and research at your own pace all 32 lessons of my on-line course for migraine self assessment and treatment (see all the details below), which includes the uniquely designed Migraine Action plan, along with other benefits including:
Subscriber only posts
The full archive of articles
Online materials for the 32 lessons of the Natural Migraine Relief for Women course
Plans for eventual interactive live sessions
Participation in subscriber-only article posting comment discussions
I hope you will choose to join us!
Jeff Baker M.D.
P.S. For those of you reading this blog for the first time on Substack, you can sign up with the link below. If you don’t choose a paid subscription here, you can use the same link to sign on for the free regular FAQs for Natural Migraine Relief posts, and through them I look forward to continuing to send you useful briefs on why migraines happen and what we can do to get at migraine root cause factors.
What we cover in the Natural Migraine Relief for Women course:
Basics of Migraine & Confirming your diagnosis
✔️ Why specific root cause factors are a critical yet misunderstood key to why you have migraines.
✔️ The broad range of kinds of headache- including migraines, and how to discern the differences between nine different versions of migraine.
✔️ How with each lesson you’ll take what you learn in the course to individualize your Migraine Action Plan and learn what remedies are best suited to your migraine story.
Migraine Root Causes: Reproductive Hormones
✔️ How hormone deficits and imbalances aggravate migraines and how to address your version.
✔️ We cover the full range of the reproductive hormonal timeline, from teens to 60s plus.
✔️ How oral contraceptives can either help or hurt your migraines.
✔️ How estrogen metabolites affect migraines and even cancer risk in women, and how to manage this problem.
Migraine Root Causes: Cellular Energy and Nutrient Deficits
✔️ How brain cell energy depletion underlies migraine and what to do about it.
✔️ Nutrient deficits that are known to provoke migraines and how best to augment them when indicated.
✔️ How deficits of cell energy and nutrient sufficiency affect multiple health problems, and how this relates to migraine when they overlap.
Migraine Root Causes: Thyroid, Adrenal, Parathyroid and Pineal hormone
✔️ How too little thyroid, as well as too much parathyroid can drive migraines.
✔️ The role of adrenal building blocks in causing and clearing migraine.
✔️ How melatonin from the pineal gland is underappreciated for its role in preventing migraines.
Migraine Root Causes: Inflammation, Lifestyle, Brain chemistry and Structural Factors
✔️ Ten different specific inflammatory factors that can drive a migraine.
✔️ Strategies to manage lifestyle issues that affect migraines.
✔️ Non-drug management of the neurochemical imbalance affecting migraines.
✔️ How to manage structural and musculoskeletal root causes of Migraines.
✔️ Have you been told you have a PFO? (patent foramen ovale). It’s a common occurrence and a possible migraine co-factor.
How to Find an integrative minded physician
✔️ Why some doctors ‘get’ non-drug therapy, and to how you can integrate their perspective with conventional therapy to optimally reduce your migraines.
✔️ What services these professionals offer and how they can help you to make the Migraine Action Plan work for you.
✔️ How to find integrative minded health professionals nearest you.
The Migraine Action Plan
✔️ How to determine which of the root cause factors we will review apply to you.
✔️ How to connect them with the over 90 non-drug therapy options we discuss that fit best with your profile.
✔️ How to triage ‘your best options’ to make your migraine reduction plan work best for you.
Resources
✔️ Sources and web links for finding integrative practitioners.
✔️ The Women’s Assessment Calendar to help you correlate headaches with 44 hormone related symptoms that help you to understand how hormone deficit or imbalance may be affecting your migraines.
✔️ A list of xeno-estrogen rich foods and products to minimize.
✔️ A list of Low Histamine Diet Foods.
✔️ A list of Eleven Natural Rescue Therapies for Acute Migraine.
✔️ The Restless Legs Syndrome questionnaire and rating scale.