Migraine Auras: When the Visual World Fails (ISBN 155643619X)

I wanted this book to be great...:
As a migraine sufferer who experiences aura with roughly 50% of her attacks, I was eager to read this book and I suppose that I had high expectations. I feel terribly let down by the author, however, and I will share with you why. I wouldn't have given the book any stars, but I guess the first 1/3 of the book deserves something. My migraines went chronic a little over a year ago. I've always had them with aura, and the majority were menstrual-related. When they went chronic, I began to seek treatment from a local migraine and headache specialist, because, let's face it, if you've experienced even one migraine, you can only imagine the horror of living that chronic migraines are. I also took great care when I began to research migraine, its causes, and its treatments. I've been on Topamax and failed it, and now call Toprol (a beta-blocker) my wonder-preventative. I also have the accursed PFO, a congenital heart defect now being studied for its link to migraine with auras. A study in which I am also participating. Mr. Grossinger is NOT a doctor. He suffers from aura, and probably silent migraines at that. Aura is simply one phase of a migraine attack--pain is only one symptom that an individual may experiences that tells them they are going through the process of a migraine. One does not have to have pain in order to experience migraine. But the author seems to think that aura is not a harmful nor potentially harmful occurrence for those that suffer them. On its own, lasting from a few minutes to an hour, aura is not harmful. But beyond an hour, an aura may indicate something a bit more sinister--stroke, or a rise in your chances of having one. People are not familiar with migrainous strokes, but people do die from them, a fact that Grossing has the opportunity to alert his reader to, but one which he fails in doing. Any migraine with pain lasting 72 hours, with less than a 4-hour break is considered Status Migrainous and requires emergency medical intervention. Sadly, this is a fact overlooked by the majority of people who think of migraine as being a simple headache. Migraine is *not* a headache, another fact that is overlooked by Grossinger. The components that make a headache are the complete opposite of what makes a migraine. Headaches do not make you sick--not like migraines. He calls migraines non-life threatening, as if having your life torn apart by dealing with this disease on a day-to-day basis is not considered "debilitating" or otherwise very difficult to live around. Just ask those who suffer invisibly with migraine if their lives aren't altered by dealing with this disease. Yes, I called migraine a disease, because that is what it is, another fact glossed over by the author. They are a genetic neurological disorder, not random physical bouts with vision loss and pain to be treated as transcendental experiences that call upon the life and death cycle as Grossinger carelessly explains in his book. Another point missed by Grossinger: PFO cannot be closed voluntarily as a therapy option for those who suffer migraine and are found to have the defect. Somehow, in his sweeping, "grand" research, he missed the boat here. PFO closure for migraine is only available in the few study trials that are going on across the world. If you have had 2 of a certain type of stroke within a certain time period, and are found to have a PFO, then it can be closed surgically with the support of insurance. But for those of us who suffer migraine with PFO, there are currently no options for closure, which is why the PFO trials are ongoing. The next point missed by Grossinger: that the preventatives for migraine are "worse" than the spade of symptoms that often accompany the attacks. Topamax is currently the only migraine preventative that I know of that has the highest number of side effects complaints from those who have or who are currently taking it. But for those for whom it works, it really works, and all seem to agree that they'd take it over the daily agony of a throbbing head and a seat next to the toilet. Grossinger seems to have something against medically-pushed preventatives or abortives like triptans, touting instead the supplements and homeopathic side to treating migraines. What Grossinger also misses in this instance, is that the best of migraine specialists work with their patients to find a treatment regimen that works, that often involves a mix of these pharmacological and herbal supplements, with a side dose of acupuncture, massage, biofeedback, and chiropractics if the patient finds them therapeutic and beneficial. To him, the big, bad drug companies and big, bad doctors don't want you to know about what's available outside of the doctor's notepad, and that's simply not true. What works for one migraineur will not work for another, and we all have different reactions to potential side effects of any given drug. However, he over-exaggerates that the side effects are worse than the attacks themselves, going back to the adage of, "why chronically treat a slew of symptoms that aren't life threatening or life altering for a few hours' relief?" Despite the problems that I have with this book, there is a little that is good there. The first third with a description of Alice in Wonderland Syndrome is really neat to read from. I liked discovering people like me, who suffer aura and the things they made from it. But on the whole, having to trudge through a style of writing that does not benefit anyone who is not familiar with the medical terms used for the phenomena and processes in migraine, the book becomes a total bust. If you need to know about migraines, read Teri Roberts' book: "Living Well with Migraine Disease and Headaches". She's a straight-shooting migraine sufferer and long-time migraine patient advocate whose book is easy to relate to, easy to understand, and easy to read. None of us should suffer in silence and it's time to break through the misunderstandings that many in the medical community and those outside of it who continue to stigmatize migraine for what it isn't. It's a pity that this book could not contribute to that effort. In fact, it seems to set the effort back about 100 years.