A recent viral TikTok claim says that a simple McDonald's meal is all that's needed to cure a migraine. That this is being taken seriously is disconcerting, for many reasons.
Thank you, Dean, for writing this; and for the article you link to: for someone who doesn’t suffer migraines, you are wonderfully empathic. I just wish every other non-migraineur understood the migraine-is-not-a-headache statement… – it would help relieve a lot of the psychological pain, at least!
I have had episodic but heavy migraine attacks triggered by stress, alcohol, allergies and mostly sudden and strong changes in weather (causing sharp rise or fall in air pressure).
After trying the usual suspects including triptanes, which just dumbed me down but didn't really help, a doctor finally recommended me to take a monthly jab of a medication that really tackles the root cause, the blood stream regulation in the head and brain. The drug docks to either transmitters or receptors and blocks the process, causing the reaction to stop in its tracks.
Almost no migraine since then, and if it happens then ever so slightly, no comparison to the severe attacks back then when you just want to drill a hole in your head.
I don't understand why I still read everywhere that the cause is still unknown there is no cure - that's simply not true, but the jab is not cheap, maybe social insurance companies don't like that...
£450 a jab to the NHS in the UK, I’m told, for Emgality: which I’m about to start on. I have migraines of various strengths most days (as a result of being at the wrong end of three road traffic collisions (RTCs), and having to have my neck rebuilt with the help of bits of titanium) – migraines that are mostly neurological in origin (I have lots of nerve damage), and come with a variety of wacky symptoms (and with pain that would floor most elephants).
Over a 25-year period, I have tried every drug under the sun: and the only prophylactic that worked gave me a series of cardiac arrests. Triptans work sometimes; and sometimes they help me sleep. But no amount of caffeine (although, yes, an espresso sometimes helps with tension headaches).
Migraines really are a mystery; and anti-CGRP injections (and pills) work for many (including me, I hope) – but not all; and, I’m afraid to say, often lose their efficaciousness. After Botox, they are just the Next Big Thing, and certainly making some people very, very rich. But they are not the final answer. Until the causes and mechanisms of all the different types of migraines are completely understood, we will always really just be addressing the symptoms… – and, for people like me, that’s not the answer I want to hear.
I'm sorry to hear that you have much worse conditions with migraine than me and wish you the best and that the jab helps you as it does for me!
I'm very lucky that the Austrian social insurance covers the cost for both Emgality and Ajovy. You have to keep the cooling intact until you take it, else it gets ineffective.
I thought it would actually tackle the root cause but you're right, the cause for the out of control blood stream regulation is still not clear.
Thing is, I know precisely where this idea originated. It started as general recommendation in r/migraine, talking about recovery foods that make one feel better. A common trend was folks reaching for full sugar coke and fresh McDonald's fries in the aftermath of a migraine and realising that it made them feel a lot better.
A fair few people started espousing the virtues of consuming the trifecta of sugar, salt and caffeine during the prodrome, ideally prior to the nausea and headache portion starting, when you take your rescue meds. When you have chronic migraines, like I and many others do, you get pretty good at identifying aura symptoms before it blows up and you're stuck in a dark room and in agony. This ability is key to taking triptans at the right time and something you learn pretty dang quickly. You absolutely have to if you've any hope of being able to remain functional during a migraine which you often have to because the world and your responsibilities generally don't care if you think trepanning would fix you at that exact moment on time.
To see how this has been extrapolated and simplified for TikTok friendly advice is equal parts galling and amusing, especially as someone who is currently eating some very salty food and drinking a bottle of coke in the hopes of making the headache portion of the migraine I am developing a little less bad.
I find this really interesting...I've seen various neurologists about migraines over the years - and yep, still have them and they are, indeed, awful in a way that is indescribable.
However - my current regime for migraine management (as first given to me by a neurologist nearly 20 years ago and confirmed again by a different one far more recently): if you can time it right, a triptan - but otherwise, always, 3 dispersible aspirins dissolved in a can of coke. My understanding from one of the consultants is that the carbonation, sugar and caffeine in the coke somehow makes the ingestion of the aspirin more effective.
For me, it can take the physical pain of migraine away for a few hours at least in a way that I've not found anything else do, which is a godsend when migraines last over days. Annoyingly, the aspirin/coke mix is particularly effective when I feel so nauseous I can barely contemplate it 🤣 So...yes. I figured I should probably put my hand up and say that I might be that migraine sufferer that feels at least a little benefit...but because neurologists, not Tiktok, led me there and mixed it with drugs.
As a ‘migraineur’ (could that sound any more pretentious?) thanks for this. I just wrote a post about the TikTok (& other social media) rubbish about “therapy speak”. As a linguist, the erosion of real meaning from medical terminology (for one example) is so infuriating - it’s so dangerous to be sharing such misinformed crap (The Guardian just published an article on the same).
Thank you, Dean, for writing this; and for the article you link to: for someone who doesn’t suffer migraines, you are wonderfully empathic. I just wish every other non-migraineur understood the migraine-is-not-a-headache statement… – it would help relieve a lot of the psychological pain, at least!
I have had episodic but heavy migraine attacks triggered by stress, alcohol, allergies and mostly sudden and strong changes in weather (causing sharp rise or fall in air pressure).
After trying the usual suspects including triptanes, which just dumbed me down but didn't really help, a doctor finally recommended me to take a monthly jab of a medication that really tackles the root cause, the blood stream regulation in the head and brain. The drug docks to either transmitters or receptors and blocks the process, causing the reaction to stop in its tracks.
Almost no migraine since then, and if it happens then ever so slightly, no comparison to the severe attacks back then when you just want to drill a hole in your head.
I don't understand why I still read everywhere that the cause is still unknown there is no cure - that's simply not true, but the jab is not cheap, maybe social insurance companies don't like that...
£450 a jab to the NHS in the UK, I’m told, for Emgality: which I’m about to start on. I have migraines of various strengths most days (as a result of being at the wrong end of three road traffic collisions (RTCs), and having to have my neck rebuilt with the help of bits of titanium) – migraines that are mostly neurological in origin (I have lots of nerve damage), and come with a variety of wacky symptoms (and with pain that would floor most elephants).
Over a 25-year period, I have tried every drug under the sun: and the only prophylactic that worked gave me a series of cardiac arrests. Triptans work sometimes; and sometimes they help me sleep. But no amount of caffeine (although, yes, an espresso sometimes helps with tension headaches).
Migraines really are a mystery; and anti-CGRP injections (and pills) work for many (including me, I hope) – but not all; and, I’m afraid to say, often lose their efficaciousness. After Botox, they are just the Next Big Thing, and certainly making some people very, very rich. But they are not the final answer. Until the causes and mechanisms of all the different types of migraines are completely understood, we will always really just be addressing the symptoms… – and, for people like me, that’s not the answer I want to hear.
I'm sorry to hear that you have much worse conditions with migraine than me and wish you the best and that the jab helps you as it does for me!
I'm very lucky that the Austrian social insurance covers the cost for both Emgality and Ajovy. You have to keep the cooling intact until you take it, else it gets ineffective.
I thought it would actually tackle the root cause but you're right, the cause for the out of control blood stream regulation is still not clear.
Thank you for your kind and thoughtful response. I hope the injections keep working for you for eternity.
Thing is, I know precisely where this idea originated. It started as general recommendation in r/migraine, talking about recovery foods that make one feel better. A common trend was folks reaching for full sugar coke and fresh McDonald's fries in the aftermath of a migraine and realising that it made them feel a lot better.
A fair few people started espousing the virtues of consuming the trifecta of sugar, salt and caffeine during the prodrome, ideally prior to the nausea and headache portion starting, when you take your rescue meds. When you have chronic migraines, like I and many others do, you get pretty good at identifying aura symptoms before it blows up and you're stuck in a dark room and in agony. This ability is key to taking triptans at the right time and something you learn pretty dang quickly. You absolutely have to if you've any hope of being able to remain functional during a migraine which you often have to because the world and your responsibilities generally don't care if you think trepanning would fix you at that exact moment on time.
To see how this has been extrapolated and simplified for TikTok friendly advice is equal parts galling and amusing, especially as someone who is currently eating some very salty food and drinking a bottle of coke in the hopes of making the headache portion of the migraine I am developing a little less bad.
I find this really interesting...I've seen various neurologists about migraines over the years - and yep, still have them and they are, indeed, awful in a way that is indescribable.
However - my current regime for migraine management (as first given to me by a neurologist nearly 20 years ago and confirmed again by a different one far more recently): if you can time it right, a triptan - but otherwise, always, 3 dispersible aspirins dissolved in a can of coke. My understanding from one of the consultants is that the carbonation, sugar and caffeine in the coke somehow makes the ingestion of the aspirin more effective.
For me, it can take the physical pain of migraine away for a few hours at least in a way that I've not found anything else do, which is a godsend when migraines last over days. Annoyingly, the aspirin/coke mix is particularly effective when I feel so nauseous I can barely contemplate it 🤣 So...yes. I figured I should probably put my hand up and say that I might be that migraine sufferer that feels at least a little benefit...but because neurologists, not Tiktok, led me there and mixed it with drugs.
Tbh as a migraine sufferer i don’t give an F about your science. I will give it a try.
I have given up on reasoning with the wiles of the body, I’ll try anything
I can assure you that this article impacts on your rights and ability to eat a McDonald's meal as and when you like in no way whatsoever
Good to hear, I will take advantages of my rights and privileges and likely be proven wrong
But keep a record. For science!
As a ‘migraineur’ (could that sound any more pretentious?) thanks for this. I just wrote a post about the TikTok (& other social media) rubbish about “therapy speak”. As a linguist, the erosion of real meaning from medical terminology (for one example) is so infuriating - it’s so dangerous to be sharing such misinformed crap (The Guardian just published an article on the same).