Heal Your Headache: The 1-2-3 Program for Taking Charge of Your Pain

by David Buchholz

Book Overview

A three-step program that puts headache sufferers back in control of their lives.

"A must read for all individuals with migraine "--Ronald J. Tusa, M.D., PH.D., Professor of Neurology and Otolaryngology, Dizziness and Balance Center, Emory University

Based on the breakthrough understanding that virtually all headaches are forms of migraine--because migraine is not a specific type of headache, but the built-in mechanism that...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0761125663
• ISBN13: 9780761125662
• Release Date: January 2019
• Publisher: Workman Publishing
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Need Migraine/Headache Help? GET THIS ONE!

I cannot say enough about this book and the wisdom within. If you are going to purchase any book for migraine or headache relief - this is the one you need! Heal Your Headache is packed with information about why migraines occur, how they occur (physiologically), the many triggers that combine to cause them, and various methods you must take to become migraine free. Dr. Buchholz is very specific and very to-the-point about foods that trigger migraines, as well as activities, and other environmental factors you may or may not be able to control (such as hormone or baromatic fluxuation). Buchholz is the #1 expert on migraine at Johns Hopkins, and it is obvious through this book that he knows what he is talking about and that his techniques have worked time and time again for many patients from around the world. I didn't purchase this book before suffering from migraines for a long time...and making many (expensive) trips to the doctor/hospital and E.R. Now I am able to live life without the horrifying pain and agony of migraines and you can too!!

Heal Your Headache -- Done!!!

February 27, 2008: I'm still going strong after three and one-half years. I'm generally sticking with Dr. Buchholz's program and try to avoid caffeine, nitrates and other foods with multi-syllable preservatives. In addition, my wife and I try to eat organic foods whenever we can, and this seems to be extremely helpful in avoiding most of my known food triggers. Finally, I now drink a lot more water every day than I used to. When I get a migraine, I tend to get extremely dehydrated. I specifically drink Glaceau SmartWater when a headache comes on and when I'm recovering after a headache, and this seems to help by restoring electrolytes to my system. By the way, keeping a migraine diary is critical. Every time I get a headache, my wife notes what I ate and drank within the past 12-24 hours, how much sleep I got (too much or too little), etc. I'm still not cured completely, but my quality of life has dramatically improved over the past couple of years. May 7, 2007: It's been over two and one-half years since I got with Dr. Buchholz's program, and I'm still relatively migraine free. Once again, I try to stay away from caffeine and any foods with nitrates/nitrites and other multi-syllable non-natural preservatives (e.g., MSG) that clearly can't be good for you. Also, I no longer use any big-pharma migraine meds. Bottom line: My migraines continue to be relatively infrequent and much more manageable. August 1, 2006: I'm still with the program (i.e., no migraine meds and watching what I eat pretty carefully), and my migraine headaches continue to be under control. As of September 2006, I'll be coming up on the two year mark of following Dr. Buchholz's recommended protocols, and it's been worth it since I've gotten my life back. February 27, 2006: Now more than a year after my original posting, I am pleased to report that I am still relatively migraine free due to Dr. Buchholz's recommendations. Again, what worked for me is the two-pronged approach of eliminating the most notorious food triggers and getting off of all of my migraine meds that caused rebound headaches, etc. Now, I only take a couple of Advils and try to sleep off the headaches, which are far less frequent and much less severe than at any time during the past decade. January 4, 2005: I am 46 years old and have suffered from migraines for most of my adult life. About nine years ago, my migraines became much more severe and started to hit me every two or three weeks. My typical symptoms included severe ice-pick like pain behind my left eye socket, moderate to severe pain across my entire forehead, nausea, dehydration, alternating sweats and chills, etc. During the past eight or nine years, I have worked continually with two leading migraine specialists in Manhattan. I tried all of the usual migraine meds and, in particular, all of the triptans including Imitrex, Maxalt, Zomig, Amerge, Axert, Relpax, etc. On balance, the pharma-approach to dealing my migraines was

It worked for me

Add my name to the long list of reviewers for whom this book offered welcome relief. I have suffered migraines for over 50 years and am now virtually free [see note below]. The method was not easy. First, you have to stop taking all pain medications that cause rebound headaches. That includes just about everything that you would have ever found useful. Once free of those, you then start working on your personal dietary triggers. For me, it turned out to be a lot of stuff I love. Finally, you find a medicine that raises your headache threshold. For me, it was a moderate dose of nortripaline. The process took four months and included a lot of pain, particularly as I went thru headaches without pain relievers. But it was worth it. Added July 6, 2004 -- Unfortunately, the relief offered by the book did not last long. Within six months of starting the program I had a major relapse with a migraine that gripped for more than two weeks and left me with tinnitus. I have followed the book's prescription to the letter, but to no avail. Added October 22, 2004 -- Turns out I missed something. I discovered that a topical hair treatment I was using was a vasodialator and, hence, a headache inducer. I stopped using the product, and my headaches stopped the next day. I haven't had a problem since.

10 years of peace after 20 of pain; Best migraine program

Heal Your Headache: The 1-2-3 Program for Taking Charge of Your Painby David Buchholz (Workman Publishing Company; 1st edition (August 15, 2002)# ISBN: 0761125663 Incredible. The advice in this book changed the life of a three decade migraine sufferer who teaches medical ethics. I have sent copies to family, friends and colleagues. Finally, here is clinically based assistance, given by one of the best minds in the country. It combines theoretical acumen with that rare combination of an outstanding neurologist, compassionate clinician and incisive un-masker of snake-oil remedies. Here are constructive suggestions that work. You won't find Buchholz's name on aspirin bottles; he is on no one's payroll. But you will find him frequently quoted by Time Magazine, Newsweek, etc., as one of the country's foremost experts concerning headaches. In an era when so-called experts assumed the marketplace would be the magic pill that would cure the headache of our nation's healthcare, read about why marketing hype of short term headache relief is part of the problem. At a time when so many of us desperately clamor for relief that is believed only to be available from expensively inaccessible specialists, read about how a pro-active, well-tested common sense approach that puts you in charge of your headaches, delivers results you can trust. It works. As announced on the cover and repeated throughout the book, the golden nugget of advice is contrary to long held assumptions in many respects. Thus this advice is necessary; avoiding quick fix painkillers, which can cause rebound headaches; minimizing triggers like caffeine, perfumes, certain foods and stress and, for hardcore cases, using preventative medications such as tricyclic antidepressants, calcium channel blockers and others. How these work and fit into a comprehensive program are the genius of the book. This not cure but care; this is not miracle but management; thank you Dr. Buchholz for helping us see how and why we headache sufferers can take responsibility for at some part of what ails us. Are you tired of consuming headache medicines like they were candy? Learn about why you should be. This book is rare common sense for folks who want to know how live well and manage their headaches in an era when medical paternalism is a thing of the past ("doctor knows best") and a team approach to outcomes-based clinical care is welcome. Yet migraine is a phenomenon still misunderstood by those most important to us. Hence, to add to our misery, families and co-workers still remain too quickly dismissive of our "headache syndrome." Who among us has not travelled on the lonely and familiar pilgrimage of self-doubt, self-denial, self-medication, and a series of mistaken diagnoses ranging from ignorance ("bruxisms," "dental TMJ"), minimalizations ("get a lower-stress job"), under-trained pain management assessments ("you need more medicine") from assorted "health care professionals"? In contrast, here is advice to us

Finally a book that provides real headache help

This book is extraordinary. It outlines in simple, easy-to-follow, compelling language a program for conquering chronic migraines. After years of being told I had stress headaches or being treated inappropriately for migraines with a variety of medications, I was introduced to a treatment regimen that really works. It requires discipline, but that's easy once you understand the mechanism of migraine. The simple dietary modifications outlined in this book and the systematic process for implementing them have literally changed my life. I've gone from being controlled by headaches to having control of them. I've whole-heartedly recommended this book to a number of people -- I'm surprised how many people suffer from migraines. I only hope they'll read it and follow Dr. Buchholz's advice.