# Another disability iritation - quackery **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 26, 2017, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-disability-iritation-quackery/785292 "2017-04-26T15:20:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-disability-iritation-quackery/785292/41 "2017-04-27T16:32:38Z")
I don’t think it’s as simple as saying “there’s no harm”. I am sure it’s not cheap, for one thing. It also takes time, which means giving up something else. If you have a major medical issue that is already making it difficult to work, asking for time off is likely an additional expense and may make a precarious employment situation worse. It may also put you in the position of having to ask co-workers to cover you, at a cost to them, and asking friends to drive you–if your migraines are too bad to drive yourself. It’s my understanding that just leaving the house with a migraine makes the pain much worse, especially when the sun is up–i.e., when a hypnotist would be working. So if my doctor is going to suggest something that’s going to cost me a bunch of time and money, require me to impose on others, and put me through significant physical distress, I really want more than a “You might as well try”. I wouldn’t expect everything I tried to work, and I understand that sometimes you have to take a chance with treatments, but this is up there with “book a flight to the Holy Chapel of St. Jude and pray for intercession”. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-disability-iritation-quackery/785292/42 "2017-04-27T17:44:01Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > Hypnosis can be incredible for pain relief. It can’t cure your disease. That doctor sounds like kind of a moron. _Nothing_ “cures” migraines. “Relief” is the best possible outcome. The doctor does not sound like a moron. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-disability-iritation-quackery/785292/43 "2017-04-27T19:18:34Z")
Ginger ale is the only thing that remotely helps me. If I can feel one coming, I can ward it off if I drink some at the first sign. Otherwise, it at least dulls the symptoms enough so I can sleep it off. (Extreme fatigue, the pick-axe through the skull, nausea, a swishy, sort of pounding feeling in my right ear, and chills, alternating with flushes. You know, like you get when you have a fever, you feel like you’re really cold and really warm at the same time?) > [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Extreme blood pressure is absolutely real, measurable effect that can be ameliorated by just saying the magic phrase, “calm down.” > > So even if migraine can be shown to be physically real (i.e. not imagined or phantom pain), it doesn’t necessarily need a physical/chemical fix. Interrupting the cause at a different level does seem to help a lot of sufferers. Have you ever had a migraine? If not, I suggest you shut the fuck up and stick your “advice” straight up your ass side-ways. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-disability-iritation-quackery/785292/44 "2017-04-27T19:45:21Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > Unfortunately, I can’t use marijuana. I am going through SSDI approval right now. The feds don’t approve, regardless of what the states say. I’ve been advised to just say no. Once you get approved I’d strongly suggest you try it. I’m an OMMP patient with migraines (mine aren’t nearly as bad as yours and are most commonly ocular), my best friend has infinitely worse migraines than I have and my nephew has severe epilepsy. We have all benefited greatly from high-CBD strains of cannabis. I use concentrates due to pulmonary issues, so does my friend and my nephew is mostly a flower smoker but no matter the method of ingestion it helps us significantly. Heck, I bake CBD biscuits for my arthritic dog, helps his mobility considerably. On a practical level–do they pee test you? Because the CDC has put out a strong recommendation that doctors not disallow weed users from participating in pain management programs and the like, especially since cannabis strongly potentiates painkillers. If they aren’t actually testing you, trying oral CBD only oil or tincture would be a good start to see if cannabis can be of assistance to you. For those who’re winding up to insist that cannabis doesn’t really help, it just makes you think you feel better I suggest you read up on the endo-cannabinoid system. Basically, the way cannabinoids work is that they bind to the receptors in the body and the endo-cannabinoid system just supports how other parts of the body work. Kind of like a turbocharger–it takes what’s already there and causes the engine to use it more efficiently/completely. There’s been way too much empirical evidence of high-CBD cannabis effecting some pretty miraculous improvements on people with epilepsy and migraine to dismiss it as woo. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-disability-iritation-quackery/785292/45 "2017-04-27T19:49:03Z")
The doctors at my headache clinic consider SSRIs and marijuana to be “migraine aggravators”. I do use marijuana myself, altho I use it as a preventative, not an abortive. I’ve found that using marijuana once I’ve got the migraine only makes it worse. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-disability-iritation-quackery/785292/46 "2017-04-27T20:17:10Z")
The problem with neurological issues is that mankind’s knowledge of how the brain works and doesn’t work is very minimal. If full knowledge of how the brain works is a mile long, we’re only [about 3 inches](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvXuq9jRWKE)toward our knowledge of it. ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-disability-iritation-quackery/785292/47 "2017-04-27T20:26:47Z")
I get exercise induced migraines fairly often and the only thing that I’ve found that helps me is a yoga pose someone showed me. Basically you just lay down by a wall and put your legs up the wall while your back and head are flat on the floor. I don’t know the official name for this, but it has helped me over the years. ---
**Author:** ![Helena330](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/helena330/32/531_2.png) [@Helena330](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena330)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-disability-iritation-quackery/785292/48 "2017-04-27T20:56:13Z")
A friend gets migraines; I’ll ask her how she manages them the next time I see her. I do remember that she said caffeine aggravates them. Sorry I’m not much help! I really hope you can find some relief. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-disability-iritation-quackery/785292/49 "2017-04-27T20:59:02Z")
> [@Helena330](#): > > A friend gets migraines; I’ll ask her how she manages them the next time I see her. I do remember that she said caffeine aggravates them. This just highlights how migraines are so individual-specific. Caffeine is actually something that _helps_ me, if it’s a relatively mild migraine. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-disability-iritation-quackery/785292/50 "2017-04-27T21:57:56Z")
Heh, caffeine _helps_ me. I’ve getting migraines since puberty, and they track pretty closely with my hormonal cycle – although I’ve been through menopause, and I still get them. I use Imitrex (sumatriptan?), but as with Ambivalid (IIRC), the timing is critical. I have to guess that I have an actual migraine coming on (because I only get a certain amount of pills in a set time span and don’t want to waste them). Then, I have to take it not a nanosecond too late or the migraine will already have been established, and the medication won’t work. Before Imitrex, the only thing I could do was go lie down in a quiet, dark room (with a barf bag) and hope I didn’t die before the migraine wore off. I would have alternating waves of pain and nausea. Weirdly, they’d come on gradually, but go away surprisingly abruptly. All of a sudden it would be over. But they could easily last 8 hours and continue serially for days. And this thread is giving me a headache! ---
**Author:** ![Surreal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@Surreal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surreal)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-disability-iritation-quackery/785292/51 "2017-04-27T22:36:49Z")
From the prestigious Cochrane Collaboration: > **[Acupuncture for preventing migraine attacks](https://www.cochrane.org/CD001218/SYMPT_acupuncture-preventing-migraine-attacks)** > [@](#): > > Authors’ conclusions: > > **The available evidence suggests that adding acupuncture to symptomatic treatment of attacks reduces the frequency of headaches.** Contrary to the previous findings, the updated evidence also suggests that there is an effect over sham, but this effect is small. **The available trials also suggest that acupuncture may be at least similarly effective as treatment with prophylactic drugs.** Acupuncture can be considered a treatment option for patients willing to undergo this treatment. As for other migraine treatments, long-term studies, more than one year in duration, are lacking. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-disability-iritation-quackery/785292/52 "2017-04-27T23:34:54Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Oh, and auras, though distracting, are MUCH better than migraines. I love auras! It’s like taking a little trip for free. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-disability-iritation-quackery/785292/53 "2017-04-27T23:58:14Z")
Are anyone else’s triggered by the weather? That’s one reason I can’t stand spring and summer – my migraines just get so much worse. Whenever there’s a change in the barometric pressure, I get one. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2017, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-disability-iritation-quackery/785292/54 "2017-04-28T02:10:25Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Are anyone else’s triggered by the weather? That’s one reason I can’t stand spring and summer – my migraines just get so much worse. Whenever there’s a change in the barometric pressure, I get one. ☹ My sister claims changes in barometric pressure always trigger hers. Mine are sometimes yes, sometimes no. ---
**Author:** ![Tee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@Tee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tee)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2017, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-disability-iritation-quackery/785292/55 "2017-04-28T02:31:01Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > I love auras! It’s like taking a little trip for free. I hate them. I hate the fuzziness and all the moving parts and wondering if it’s permanent. And trying to explain it to normal people. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2017, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-disability-iritation-quackery/785292/56 "2017-04-28T02:35:19Z")
I dunno. Lately my efforts have gone to tamping down migraines and seizures. Migraines mean I can drive. Seizures mean I can’t. I’d rather not get deep enough into either to learn the difference, so I follow the lead of my epileptic daughter, who has made progress. All part of my Grand Unified Mental Illness (nee: insanity, before I made more connections) Theory. No emoticons used, pointedly. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2017, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-disability-iritation-quackery/785292/57 "2017-04-28T02:59:21Z")
> [@Tee](#): > > I hate them. I hate the fuzziness and all the moving parts and wondering if it’s permanent. And trying to explain it to normal people. I don’t bother. It’s not permanent, Normals won’t get it. Might as well enjoy. And accept that Normals are boring, so don’t waste your time explaining anything. They may eventually stroke or Alzheimer out, and they’ll be ready to learn what a wonderful world they are in, where everything is familiar and their late husbands are waiting for them. I would like to ask my wife, contemplating death, if she can go full-time at her dreams of Heaven’s TV station, managed by Ste Catherine of Sienna (a noted bitch who needs a bath) and booking acts for the Mort Coil Show, where Mort, a seriph, a column of fire, and host of a snarky chat show for the dead and those who aren’t one or the other, like Keith Richard, but she may expand on it. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2017, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-disability-iritation-quackery/785292/58 "2017-04-28T03:06:19Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Are anyone else’s triggered by the weather? That’s one reason I can’t stand spring and summer – my migraines just get so much worse. Whenever there’s a change in the barometric pressure, I get one. ☹ Yes to weather. Also, some caffeine helps, but too much caffeine causes. Sleep disturbances cause. Exercise causes. Flickering lights. Also certain light effects from the side (imagine driving down the road and having the light sliding in through the trees, in and out, while the sun is setting - like that). I wouldn’t mind the auras that much except I know what’s coming after and I’d rather skip that. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2017, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-disability-iritation-quackery/785292/59 "2017-04-28T03:46:10Z")
Mine are brought on by any significant new stress I experience. Whether that be something like a nasty bout of insomnia or significantly reducing calories (for whatever reason), the stress it imposes will be enough to render my preventative meds ineffective. One of the reasons this sucks so bad is due to the migraines being a _response_ to an already-existing stressor, they are experienced on top of what I’m already suffering thru. It’s like a double whammy. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2017, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-disability-iritation-quackery/785292/60 "2017-04-28T11:50:46Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > Migraines are a physical phenomena. That’s true, but so is your mind. Changes in the state of mind change the state of the brain—in fact, changes in the brain are the only way changes in mind are possible. So anything that will affect your state of mind, will affect your brain. So it’s at least not a priori impossible that hypnosis may be beneficial in the treatment of migraines. There’s some lingering residual Cartesian dualism that makes us think of mind and body as wholly separate entities; but they’re not. If you get right down to it, it shouldn’t be surprising that mental phenomena can affect physical wellness—just as the state of your kidney can influence your physical health, so can the state of your brain, and your state of mind is nothing but the state of your brain. So treating the mind to increase the health of the body is the exact opposite of mind-over-matter woo: it’s simply embracing the lesson that there’s no schism between mind and body. As to what sort of effects this can achieve, nobody really knows; just like you can’t treat athlete’s foot by manipulations performed on the kidney, there’s lots of ailments for which treating the mind/brain is just the entirely wrong approach—migraines may well be one of those. However, there seems to be [evidence](https://migrainecenters.com/blog/hypnosis-for-migraines/) that migraine sufferers can benefit from hypnotherapy. > [@](#): > > The point is that it’s in my head literally, not figuratively. And again, so is your mind. That something may be susceptible to hypnotherapy isn’t an indication that you’re just ‘imagining’ it (and of course ‘just imagining’ something can be just as debilitating). You should think of it as just another avenue of treatment—I mean, after all, what does medication do? In the broadest sense, it influences the biochemistry of the body. And what does hypnosis do? Well, again speaking broadly, it influences the biochemistry of the body. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-disability-iritation-quackery/785292.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-disability-iritation-quackery/785292.md?page=4)