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migraine news.. not good - not bad - just vindicating what i already knew

submitted by susanjillian on tue, 2008-04-22 09:42.

There has been some breakthroughs in studying migraine in the last couple of days.
A report of a skin sensitivity that makes you hyper sensitive to even a breeze is now being discussed. I have always known this one. It is also one that I typically hid from others because it sounds like something made up or just another indication of how messed up migraine people are. In fact we can feel the changes in the barometer, we can feel solar activity, and have a higher awareness to everything around us. Similar to what people like Timothy Leary were seeking when they used Acid.

We don't need drugs to get a heightened sense of awareness. And for the record it's not as much fun as the disciples of Mr. Leary might think. It's a bad acid trip.
I also have synesthesia, making the experience even more intense. How ironic that I should be taking an Ergot for my pain.

The other piece of news, is that a genome has been identified in migraine research.
I already knew that one too. My father had it, his mother had it, and that fact determined my decision to not have children. I could not pass this on to anyone. I knew it was genetic period.

While people like Oliver Saks dismissed these types of observations when he wrote this book in the early 80's, those of us that lived with the disease, knew they were wrong.
Frankly his definitive statements on what migraine was and was not, prevented progress in researching this illness. He is a celebrity, and so he must know what he is talking about. I would have been far more understanding if he said that they just don't know at this time what is happening, instead of stating his theories as facts. Science has a very bad habit of presenting it's theories in a factual manner. While anything that is outside of their testing abilities is regarded as nothing more than anecdotal stories, the fail to see that their testing is nothing more than test based anecdotal tales.
As someone on TV once stated "the plural of anecdotal is data".

But times have changed throughout my lifetime and I see a light at the end of this tunnel. Not a cure, but a shield to make our critics back off. This is not a negative statement, but a sincere belief, I will never get better. I am stuck with this for the rest of my life so I have to create coping mechanisms, that let me have a life despite the huge burden that shadows me everywhere.

Skin sensitivity in migraine: http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTON18068720080421

Genome: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080417095932.htm

Ergots: Ergot contains no lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) but instead contains ergotamine, which is used to synthesize lysergic acid, an analog of and precursor for synthesis of LSD. Moreover, ergot sclerotia naturally contain some amounts of lysergic acid

tags: migraine ergot skin genome

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different and same
submitted by robertkamper on thu, 2008-04-24 11:36.

Different types of migraines and different types of sensitivities.
I've had migraines according to the diagnostic definition but not recently. Seems to have been related to stress, pain, chronic muscular tension. Perhaps related to different medications. Only had one that qualified as a migraine this year to date. Also now taking medication that is prescribed for people with migraines. So I assume I don't have the genetic predisposition to migraines or if so, it is tempered by other factors. God must love you more than me because he has given you such greater challenges to overcome and we all know he doesn't give us any challenges we can't meet.
Different sensitivities in that apparently I perceive pain as itching according to the doctor I saw yesterday for an infection and reported my symptoms to. Guess I should have been reporting pain for the last week instead of itching. So either different perception or tolerance or sensitivity there. Jesus knows that I am weak so he has protected me while in his deep love he has increased your pain here so you will have that much greater reward in heaven.
As far as Tim Leary (RIP) goes, his whole thing was to use LSD as a shortcut to the Tibetan meditation transcendance of personality and reincarnation/attachment to the illusion of the concrete world of illusion. Unfortunately he underestimated the ability of a brick to remain a brick. During that same era I noted the same phenomenom you did (not needing drugs for heightened awareness) and wrote a song that had the lyric "do you see colors only when you trip?" in it.
Once I gave a ride to a bunch of college friends so they could buy some acid and the seller popped a pill in my mouth as a freebie on the way out. Fortunately we all survived the drive back to campus. I remember that night as the night I finished reading Ulysses by James Joyce. Aldous Huxley has a famous quote about the doors of perception. That evening was a visit to a familiar room, which I can visit without paying the chemist at the door. Oh God, I'm going to burn in Hell for eternity, aren't I?
Oh wait...I suffer from recurring depression...I only have migraines when I'm feeling anything... which is better than feeling nothing...and I haven't had any migraines lately...crap. :(

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