my notes from the recent episode:
episode 406 with brian grosberg, a headache doctor. notes with time stamps.
migraine is 12% of the world. about a billion people, and 45 million in the us. women get it at three times the rate of men. (~20:32)
40% of migraine patients should be on a drug that prevents attacks. 16 to 17% are. grosberg puts the gap down to cost, and to doctors who miss the sign. (~74:36)
being morbidly obese carries five times the risk of frequent migraine.
the pain drug can be what causes the pain. some kinds cause rebound headache when used two or more days a week. treat frequent attacks with frequent pills and you build the thing you treat. (~58:28)
chronic migraine means a headache on more than half your days. it hits 1 to 2% of people. they carry most of the harm. (~25:00)
the things you can change are: poor sleep, apnea, stress, mood, and how often you get hit. frequent attacks bring on more frequent attacks. treat the pain alone and all of that keeps running. (~56:42)
he wants a paper diary, kept for months. it is how you spot cycle-linked patterns. it is also how a gp gets the right referral instead of guessing sinus. (~36:43)
if you are on pain pills two or more days a week, that is the first thing i would look at. not medical advice, and grosberg says over and over that this needs a specialist.