Living Well with Migraine Disease and Headaches: What Your Doctor Doesn't Tell You...That You Need to Know – A Groundbreaking Holistic Guide to Relief (Living Well

by Teri Robert

For millions of Americans, Migraine disease, tension headaches, and other headaches are a debilitating part of every day. Teri Robert has been there—in fact, she experienced her first Migraine at age six. Now, in this groundbreaking holistic guide to the diagnosis and treatment of headaches and Migraine disease, she brings a patient-empowering message to all headache you don't have to live with daily pain. She provides you with all the information you need to know about getting the help you need,

Genres: Nonfiction, Health, Science, Medical

336 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2005

About the author

Patient advocate and writer Teri Robert's career moved in this direction when her own Migraine disease spun out of control in the late 90s. Faced with debilitating Migraines and failed medical care, she hit the Internet for answers. She soon found that there was no one site that combined all she was looking for, and that there are sites with excellent information and sites with misinformation. It was at that time that she joined About.com as an opportunity to produce the site she was looking for. She remained there as their Guide to Headaches and Migraines for nearly seven years before joining the HealthCentral Network to write their Migraine site. She now also writes for Migraine.com and provides patient education articles for the American Headache Society.

Experience and affiliations:
Teri is a well known author and patient advocate and was awarded the National Headache Foundation's Patient Partners Award in 2004 for her "ongoing patient education, support and advocacy." She is one of four founding members and the current secretary of the Alliance for Headache Disorders Advocacy.

Teri's organizational memberships include:

• The National Headache Foundation
• The International Headache Society
• NAMI
• Mental Health America
• The American Heart Association

She is an advocate for

• The American Diabetes Association
• You're the Cure
• The National Patient Advocate Foundation

Teri's first book, "Living Well with Migraine Disease and Headaches," published by HarperCollins, was released in 2005 and remains a top selling book in the field.

Reviews

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book includes a great deal of information about migraines and other headache types. I would recommend it to anyone who suffers from headaches or migraines. Most of all, it includes a multitude of treatment ideas and empowers the patient -- too many times, chronic migraineurs or headache patients are told there is nothing more that can be done. This book helps us see what can be done, and not to give up hope. We can read Teri's own story and see how far she came. As a chronic migraineur, this gives me great hope. I'd strongly recommend this book to anyone who gets more than 15 headaches or migraines a month.

[Louisa M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have a shelf full of migraine books, but this is one that I've read clear through twice and refer to quite often.

Robert makes it clear that there's no cure to this disease, but that it can indeed be managed.

After finding this book, I had hope for the first time in many years -- enough hope to take her advice and find a real migraine specialist. My migraines are now fewer and a lot less disabling.

A must-read if you have migraines or any kind of headache.

[ness · Rating 4 out of 5]

very helpful book for people who are completely lost after experiencing frequent migraines out of the blue and not sure where to begin in their search for pain relief. i loved how it explained what migraines actually are, the different types of migraines, rebound/medication headaches due to pain relief medicine overuse, and different ways to ease the pain.

[Scott Holstad · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book might have been a good, rudimentary resource when it was published, but since it's now 10 years old, it's rather dated, especially as related to the meds it discusses, and most of its information can undoubtedly be found online rather easily. Nonetheless, I learned some things from this book and was happy I read it. The book focused, of course, on migraine headaches, as well as tension and cluster headaches. It mentioned a few other more minor headaches, but just barely, and it didn't mention at all the head pain that I'm afflicted with, trigeminal neuralgia, perhaps because so few people have it. I don't know. I found it interesting that the author asserted that cluster headaches are the most painful condition known to mankind and are considered the "suicide" disease. It's interesting, because I have books that say the same thing about trigeminal neuralgia and I've read many articles that agree and even Wikipedia writes that TN is considered to be the "suicide disease." So who's right? I guess it doesn't matter that much. Both are considerably bad. And ironically, since I've been officially diagnosed with both, I guess I'm doubly suicidal, right?

This book had some good tips and had some good forms in it. It had some good tips for dealing with doctors and insurance companies and I appreciated that. As I wrote, the meds info is outdated, but the book can't help that. My primary complaint, though, is that even back then, shouldn't people with serious headaches and migraines have researched and known a lot of this basic information? This book is so basically rudimentary that I was shocked that people even had to know most of this stuff. Yet the author published questions and answers sent in by people which simply shocked me. Most were unbelievably ignorant. People, it's called the Internet. Research. Good book though. Something to use as a starter if you know nothing about serious headaches. Something to discard if you do. Moderately recommended for the current times.

[Harriet Berg · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author of this book suffers from migraines herself. She also works tirelessly to be an advocate for other migraineurs along with various doctors and groups who work with and for patients who suffer both migraine illness and other headache disorders. The book contains a treasure of information for patients suffering this problem and for those who love and/or live with those patients. I found it to be most helpful and I keep it close for reference. I would recommend it for anyone suffering from any kind of headache as an educational tool.

[Abi · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most helpful migraine and headache book to date. Ms. Robert tells it like it is and provides more information than any doctor has time to provide. Based on solid science as well as personal experience -- both her own and that of case studies.

Offers not only information, but hope and inspiration.

[Izzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

In more than 25 years of migraines and doctor after doctor, this book finally offered me hope! Packed with helpful information I never heard from ANY doctor, loads of tools, and inspiration, everyone with migraines or any other headaches, should have this book.

Robert has been through it herself, and it's obvious that she knows what she's talking about.

[Megan Skeens · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you or someone you know suffers from migraines, you should read this book! I'm almost 22 and I've suffered from migraines my whole life. Reading this book has helped increase my knowledge on migraines and ways to treat them. I absolutely recommend this book to those who suffer this invisible disease.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book with a lot of information I've never heard from my "migraine experts."

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contained very good information for anyone who lives with migraines or another headache disorder.

Please excuse typos. Learning to use screen reader.

[Teri Robert]

I'm going to pass rating this one since I wrote it. ;-)

[Emi]

was probably helpful in 2005, but I like to believe that in 2021 most neurologists know enough about migraines and headaches that you don‘t need this book to get information and help

[Kelly Lynn Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is worth reading, but with a major caveat for people who care about grammar and style.

I give this book a 4 on actual content, but the overly casual writing style bothered me enough to rate it a 3. When I am reading a serious book about a serious matter, I do not want to see the author insert internet slang like "Sigh" or use "$$" instead of writing out "money." The rampant tense and agreement problems were also a major distraction for me. Robert switched from the first person plural (we/our) to the second person (you) seemingly randomly, and phrases like "our primary care physician" were common. A majority of this book's readers would probably not realize or notice that Robert was essentially saying we all have the same primary care physician, but there are many, many books on migraine out there, and as a writer (and, I like to think, a discerning reader), this kind of very simple error that should have been caught in copy editing makes me question, ever so slightly, the validity of the information. It is, frankly, sloppy, and if the grammar is sloppy, I am going to wonder about the rest of the book.

However! Robert's credentials and status as a well-respected expert on migraine disease allowed me to trust the information in the book, especially since it echoes information I've seen elsewhere (well, kind of, every book on migraine says something slightly different). Where this book really shines is in getting the reader to want to take control of her disease and making the reader feel as if there is actual hope in overcoming the constant, never-ending, blinding, awful, horrible pain and other effects that come from migraine.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is good if, say, you didn't previously know much about the disease that is already ruling your life. Which, that's probably not too likely. If you don't already see a migraine specialist, it is helpful and encouraging in that way. I think maybe after living with the disease for so long and already trying/looking into many of these methods, the book was not incredibly helpful for me. This is not to say I didn't learn anything. And I did love the way that Robert encourages us migraineurs to stop the cycle of igrnorance by changing the way we talk about our disease and start educating those around us.

[Birdie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hard to skim through on a Nook, but full of very helpful information. My mother has been having repeated attacks of Aphasia, which the doctors first diagnosed as mini strokes, and more recently as seizures. One doctor mentioned migraines as a possible cause, so I picked up this book. After reading much of it, I am leaning toward migraines as the likely culprit for my mother's attacks. We have an appointment for her to go to a migraine specialist, and I have high hopes that this will begin the process of finding a solution to what has become a debilitating cloud over her life.

The author's website, www.helpforheadaches.com, is also full of important and helpful information.

[ACOGray · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best book out there for Migraines! This book gave me my life back.

Teri Robert writes beautifully! She comes from the place of not only educator, but also sufferer. Her story is very real and is very inpiring.

If you only buy one book about Migraine in your life, it should be this one!

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good general information on migraine, seeing a headache specialist and medications.

Very US based though, so a good bit of the book was not relevant for UK readers. Still a worthwhile resource though.

[Samantha Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book for Migraineurs!!

Teri brought a lot of great information that as a migraineur, I did not know!! I always knew I wasn't alone but it's great to know that she is there and she goes through the same things we do!!

[Koeeoaddi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent.

[Andria · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just wasn't that helpful.

[Jodi · Rating 4 out of 5]

My neurologist has this book in her office, so I bought it right away. It was very helpful with my initial research and worth keeping for reference.

[Cara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was so helpful in better understanding migraines and what I can do make life with migraines more livable.

[Bonnie · Rating 3 out of 5]

good basic overview on migraines, how to treat em, and coping strategies.

makes me feel relatively well-adjusted, tho.

[Katharine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. I highly recommend this book to anyone who suffers from migraines.

[Dragondrool · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the finest book I've ever read on the subject of migraine, bar none. There is no migraine-related book that I would recommend above this one to anyone.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good for persons new to migraine who don't know anything or what to do for relief
Broken down into good ref topics

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Throughly would recommend this to anyone with migraines. Very informative read.