Migraine
by Oliver Sacks
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Book Reviews of Migraine
Book Review: A broad view on the nature of migraines
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a really hard book to read. I don't mean that in a bad way. There is a mountain of information here, but the way Sacks structured the book, it is very difficult to follow many of his chapters as he deals mostly in clinical terms. I suppose at the time he was writing more with his profession in mind than he was the general public. This updated paperback does provide a glossary of terms, but many you will have to "google" yourself, making for slow and cumbersome reading.
Still, the book is very worthwhile, especially for those suffering from migraines, as Sacks dispels old and new myths alike -- providing both a historical survey of the malady dating back to Roman times and a review of contemporary clinical studies. He even explores the behavioral roots of the malady. He repeatedly points to Edward Liveing, whose book on Migraines and the pathology of "nerve storms" Sacks considers indispensable in the study of the malady. He also notes many others who provided early case studies and posed interesting theories, such as H.G. Wolff, whose books are probably hard to find. Despite this vast research, an understanding of migraines remains as elusive as ever. This exceedingly complex affliction sidesteps any unifying theory.
Sacks very much takes the broad view. As with all his books, it is more about the condition itself than it is how to remedy it. He notes that maintaining a journal of your migraines is the first step in pin-pointing some of the external stimuli that might lead to migraines. However, he goes onto say that conditioning is often at work in migraines and that cause and effect can never be directly related, even in cases of migraines that appear to be brought on by menstruation. This will no doubt frustrate some readers.
The greatest strength of the book is the overview it provides of migraine studies, and his attempt to classify migraines as well as migraine equivalents. I was surprised to read there was such a strong parallel between migraines and epilepsy, with some migraines even having epileptic symptoms. Great place to start for a serious understanding of the affliction.
Book Review: Fascinating
Summary: 4 Stars
I found the book helpful and interesting. I don't know why some reviewer's found it so difficult. It is true that he describes many case studies and that only some of those would coincide with any one person's experience (thank goodness, I'd hate for anyone to have all those symptoms). Perhaps 75% of it did not apply to me personally, but that part was interesting too. Some of the case studies were similar to my father's migraines, some similar to my mother's. My sister and my nephew have slightly different symptoms that were described. The book connected all of them. But, what made me really grateful for the book is that Sacks described (as very rare occurrences) several bizaree incidents in my life which I had never been able to explain. Times when I had told a doctor what I had experienced and had him shrug his shoulders, or even get angry and say, "How can you expect me to diagnose anything based on that?" Or simply not believe me. For many years, migraines ruled my life. It was not unusual for one to last for 3 or 4 days. Intense, unremitting pain. It took a couple of decades for them to be diagnosed. I can't tell you how many times I was treated for sinus infections. Even after diagnosis and referral to a neurologist, there was no treatment that was effective. Then my doctor started telling me about that a new drug would soon be released that might help. I hounded his office, asking if it was out yet. It was delayed and delayed, but at last Imitrex was released, first as an injection, now it is a pill. And for me it works. My doctor says that it works for approximately 70% of migraine sufferers. It changed my life. Now I can take this pill, lie down in a dark room if possible, and an hour later, the headache is gone. My neurologist said that they have now identified a flawed gene that fails to produce a protein that is common in many migraine sufferes. Imitrex interacts with the neuro receptor that is looking for that protein. But like Sacks said, migraines are overdetermined. There are many factors involved and he covered most of them in his book. He missed one. Dehydration plays a major role in my migraines. If my head begins to hurt, the first thing I do is drink a glass of water.Book Review: Absolutely Necessary for Migraine Sufferers
Summary: 5 Stars
I found this book at a time when I was having weekly migraines and feeling very lost as to how to handle them anymore. I was shocked to find not only my specific type of migraine dealt with here, but also the abdominal migraines I had as a child, which even a pediatric neurologist confessed he'd only read about. It seems from this book that a crucial aspect of migraine is the holding-back of something emotionally. There is so much information from Dr. Sacks (yes, a bit dry at times, but at most other times readable and even entertaining) that you can read this book in a nonlinear fashion, picking it up and putting it down, skimming until you find what's useful to your specific situation. Dr. Sacks found in two years of his study that over half the people he examined stopped having migraines! Why? Because he was taking an avid interest in them several times a month, and the migraine was no longer necessary as an embodiment of something the patients weren't dealing with emotionally.
Obviously there are many more causes of migraine, but for me that was immensely helpful and, over time and with better communication, I now only get them a couple of times a year, knowing that I can turn to this book to find out virtually anything I need to know. When I had my first optical migraine, I didn't panic because I'd seen the drawings in this book of the schomata (sp?) and knew what it was.
If you have migraines and can read, do yourself a favor and get a copy of this book. I don't care if you find it new or used. Just get it, and start skimming. You will find yourself in its pages and can perhaps start on the road to healing.
Book Review: Nicely written but misses the mark.
Summary: 2 Stars
I like most of Oliver Sacks's books. I think "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat" and "An Anthropologist on Mars" are major contributions to the understanding of the human mind. I do have a problem with "Migraine" however. My experience as a migraine sufferer and as a clinical psychologist has left me in no doubt that the fundamental causes of migraine headaches are physical, not psychological. I have no doubt that stress can make the attacks worse, but I believe most migraines are triggered by such physiological factors as allergies (particularly MSG, chocolates, red wines, and well-cured cheeses), or by overexposure to bright sunlight, too much sugar, or by overexertion or overstimulation with an accompanying lack of rest. Sacks takes a Freudian view of migraine, which I believe is inaccurate. I now get migraine attacks perhaps a tenth as often as a few years ago, and the improvement has not been due to psychotherapy or any earthshaking insights, but to my avoiding MSG and chocolate and to my doctor perscribing Imitrex. Imitrex is a miracle medication for patients who can tolerate it. (It can cause a dangerous increase in blood pressure in some people, hence the need for a doctor's prescription.) Sacks has written some fine books, but I don't think this one belongs near the top of the list.Book Review: Pictures of the mother of all headaches
Summary: 5 Stars
I read this book a few years ago when my irregular migraine attacks had become more frequent. I had them from about age 15 until now, for the first decades maybe once or twice per year, then for a while more often, now less often and less severe. It took me decades to have a name for this thing at all. I have moved about so often that I never saw one medical doctor often enough to get so specific and scientific as to find names for afflictions.
I discovered this Sacks book on migraines when I read his Hat book. Sacks helped me to understand my problem. Most impressed was I by artistic renderings of the aura, which is the most scary phenomenon, as long as you don't know a name for it.
Understanding the problem does not do away with it, but you develop a rational attitude. I know now that it comes when it comes, that no special drug helps against it, that strong painkillers reduce the problem. I had some accupuncture treatments and now it still comes, but the individual attacks are milder, I can usually function like nearly normal as soon as the aura is over, which lasts rarely longer than half an hour. Formerly I would sometimes be out of action for a whole day.
I still hate noise and light like hell for hours afterwards.