self help
Take Relief into Your Own Hands
Knowledge is Power
If you want to take control of migraine disease, you need to become an active participant in your care.
BOOK REVIEW: Living Well With Migraine Disease and Headaches, By Teri Robert
By Allison Bratnick
I
N GENERAL, PEOPLE ARE THE SUM TOTAL of their life experience. Patient advocate Teri Robert has used her wealth of experience living with migraine disease— from being accused of partying too much in college to being dismissed by doctor after doctor— to forge a valuable tool that can help other sufferers.
Robert’ s excellent and immersive guidebook, Living Well With Migraine Disease and Headaches: What Your Doctor Doesn’ t Tell You … That You Need to Know, is an easy-to-read, comprehensive resource for anyone suffering from head pain— and the family members and friends who are trying to understand them. Robert, a patient advocate and migraine sufferer herself, writes directly from the heart, and her stories connect with readers because she has gone through the same painful experiences. She opens the book by sharing anecdotes from her lifelong battle with migraine disease and the struggles she’ s had finding good— or even adequate, non-dismissive— treatment. Her accumulated knowledge will help other people living with pain avoid the challenges she faced.
Migraine is not“ just a headache,” and this is not just another headache book. It might be better described as a migraineur’ s toolkit or workbook. Living Well With Migraine Disease and Headaches covers everything you need to know to take control of your condition, including migraine and headache basics, treatments, medications, triggers, alternative therapies and medical risks. Robert also delves into new research, discusses how to find a headache specialist and covers patient rights.
Unlike many other migraine books that espouse a specific philosophy( try X, Y and Z and you’ ll feel better!), Robert takes a more realistic and practical approach. She stresses that there is no cure-all for migraine disease. Instead, she takes a holistic view that incorporates lifestyle changes, medication, patient education and alternative therapies. Speaking from more than 40 years of experience, Robert urges readers not to let migraine take control of their lives and to become active participants on their health care team.
Robert’ s philosophy is that migraine and headache patients are ultimately responsible for their own health, so they must take responsibility for their care. She preaches a message of empowerment: You do not have to accept the pain. You can do something about your condition. The more you educate yourself about your disease, the better you will be at managing it.
There is also a permanent website for the book, www. helpforheadaches. com, with supplemental materials that
20 HEAD WISE | Volume 1, Issue 2 • 2011