[00:00]
Are your migraines becoming more frequent and harder to manage?
[00:03]
You may be slipping into chronic migraines.
[00:07]
Let's talk about what that means and how to stop it.
[00:11]
Migraine Heroes is a podcast for chronic migraine sufferers
[00:15]
who've seen countless doctors with no results.
[00:19]
Learn how to reduce your migraine attacks without endless medications or constant sacrifices.
[00:24]
Hello, I'm Diane Ducarme.
[00:26]
I've helped over 500 people break free from migraine,
[00:30]
even after suffering for up to 60 years.
[00:33]
My mission in life?
[00:34]
To bring this relief to a million people
[00:37]
using a unique blend of Eastern medicine and Western science.
[00:43]
In this episode, you will learn
[00:45]
the difference between episodic and chronic migraines
[00:48]
and why it matters.
[00:49]
The major risk factors that push migraines into chronic territory
[00:53]
and how to get back from chronic to episodic.
[00:57]
If your migraines are happening more often,
[01:01]
and becoming harder to control,
[01:03]
you may be developing chronic migraines.
[01:05]
In Western medicine,
[01:07]
a migraine disorder is considered chronic
[01:09]
when you experience headaches on at least 15 days per month,
[01:13]
with at least eight of those being migraine attacks for at least three months.
[01:19]
This shift can feel completely overwhelming and disheartening.
[01:23]
Understanding why it happens is the first step to solving it.
[01:27]
From a Western perspective,
[01:28]
several factors contribute to the transition
[01:30]
from episodic to chronic migraines.
[01:33]
The first one is what is called medication overuse headaches
[01:36]
or rebound migraines.
[01:38]
Now, I don't like those terminology
[01:40]
because it would imply that you overuse medications
[01:43]
because you wanted to
[01:44]
or did not have the willpower to do otherwise.
[01:46]
It almost is like putting the blame on the patients
[01:49]
when the medication itself does not solve the root cause in the first place.
[01:54]
But well, putting that aside,
[01:56]
overuse of painkillers,
[01:57]
especially triptans and over-the-counter medications,
[02:00]
but not only them,
[02:01]
can cause rebound migraines,
[02:03]
making migraines more frequent and more severe.
[02:06]
The second factor is stress and anxiety.
[02:09]
Chronic stress leads to hormonal imbalances
[02:12]
and heightened sensitivity to migraine triggers.
[02:15]
What is difficult is that stress can be due to the fear
[02:18]
of the next migraine attack itself
[02:20]
and therefore become a very vicious circle
[02:22]
that is hard to rupture.
[02:24]
The third one is disrupted sleep patterns.
[02:27]
Disrupted sleep or insufficient sleep
[02:30]
increases inflammation and nervous system sensitivity,
[02:34]
fueling chronic migraines.
[02:36]
Simply put, your brain detoxes at night.
[02:38]
So if your sleep is not restorative,
[02:40]
your migraines will intensify in frequency and intensity.
[02:44]
The fourth one are hormonal changes.
[02:47]
Fluctuations in estrogen,
[02:49]
especially during perimenopause and menopause,
[02:51]
can contribute to worsening migraines,
[02:54]
making them a lot more frequent.
[02:56]
The fifth one in Western medicine
[02:58]
is dietary and lifestyle factors.
[03:01]
Excess caffeine, alcohol, processed food and dehydration
[03:05]
all play a role in increasing migraine frequency.
[03:08]
But if you're here and you're listening,
[03:10]
chances are you have long cut those out of your life.
[03:13]
So that's the general view from Western science.
[03:16]
Now in 2002, Dr. Elizabeth Loder
[03:19]
from Harvard Medical School
[03:20]
published a scientific article titled,
[03:22]
What is the evolutionary advantage of migraine?
[03:25]
In this paper, she proposed that migraines
[03:28]
may function more like a fire alarm
[03:30]
rather than a random affliction.
[03:33]
Dr. Loder has dedicated her career to migraine research
[03:36]
and serves as a leading authority in the field.
[03:39]
And I completely agree with her theory.
[03:42]
Think of your migraines like a fire alarm.
[03:44]
Some houses have a fire alarm, others don't.
[03:48]
But having a fire alarm doesn't mean
[03:50]
that your house is more likely to burn down.
[03:53]
Quite the opposite.
[03:54]
It alerts you to danger before disaster strikes.
[03:58]
If your fire alarm goes off,
[03:59]
you can take a ladder
[04:00]
and smash the alarm box with a hammer.
[04:02]
That is what medications do.
[04:04]
And that may silence the noise temporarily.
[04:07]
But it does nothing to address to the source of the fire.
[04:10]
Is it a dish left on the stove too long?
[04:13]
Is it candles too close to the curtains?
[04:15]
The real issue still remains.
[04:17]
And painkillers work just the same way.
[04:20]
They silence the pain momentarily.
[04:22]
But if the underlying issue continues to grow,
[04:25]
more migraine signals will be triggered.
[04:27]
Louder, more frequently, and with a greater intensity.
[04:30]
And this aligns perfectly
[04:32]
with how traditional Chinese medicine views migraines.
[04:35]
Instead of simply masking symptoms,
[04:37]
traditional Chinese medicine seeks to understand
[04:40]
why the alarm is sounding in the first place.
[04:43]
Unfortunately, the mainstream narrative about migraines
[04:45]
often tells a different story.
[04:47]
One that is overly simplistic and quite frankly misleading.
[04:50]
Social media is flooded with the claim that
[04:52]
18% of women have a genetic predisposition
[04:55]
for migraine disease that makes them cuckoo.
[04:58]
But that explanation doesn't hold up.
[05:01]
It lacks depth, ignores root causes,
[05:03]
and disempowers those seeking true relief.
[05:06]
So if your migraines have progressed
[05:07]
from episodic to chronic,
[05:09]
ask yourself, what else in my health
[05:11]
has worsened at the same time?
[05:13]
What other symptoms have escalated?
[05:15]
The answers to those questions
[05:17]
may reveal the true source of your migraines.
[05:20]
And once you find the source,
[05:21]
you can finally begin to heal.
[05:23]
So the key is to listen to the signals of your body,
[05:29]
Pay attention to what else is happening internally
[05:32]
and work towards repairing those root causes.
[05:35]
Seek out health practitioners
[05:36]
who are truly invested in your well-being.
[05:38]
Those who genuinely want to change your life for the better.
[05:41]
Those professionals who display compassion
[05:44]
and determination,
[05:45]
who act with integrity
[05:46]
rather than being influenced by pharmaceutical incentives.
[05:49]
True healing comes from those
[05:51]
who prioritize health over profit.
[05:54]
Despite advancement in migraine awareness
[05:56]
and treatment options,
[05:57]
recent studies indicate that
[05:59]
the global version of migraine continues to rise,
[06:02]
reaching unprecedented levels.
[06:04]
A comprehensive analysis published
[06:06]
in the Journal of Headache and Pain in 2023
[06:09]
revealed a significant increase in migraine prevalence,
[06:12]
incidence, and disability-adjusted life years
[06:15]
among youth and young adults from 1990 to 2021.
[06:20]
Specifically, the estimated prevalence
[06:23]
reached approximately 600 million cases in 2021,
[06:27]
making it a 40% rise from the level it was in 1990.
[06:34]
This upward trend is not confined to younger populations.
[06:37]
Globally, migraine affects nearly 15% of the population,
[06:41]
with approximately a billion people
[06:43]
experiencing this neurological disorder
[06:45]
or disqualified as such.
[06:47]
These statistics underscore a critical paradox.
[06:50]
Despite increased advocacy,
[06:52]
increased awareness,
[06:54]
and increased availability of various treatments,
[06:57]
the prevalence and impacts of migraine are escalating.
[07:00]
This trend suggests that current approaches
[07:02]
may be insufficient,
[07:03]
often focusing on symptom management
[07:06]
rather than addressing the underlying root causes.
[07:08]
To effectively combat this growing issue,
[07:11]
a paradigm shift is necessary,
[07:13]
one that is going towards health and not profit.
[07:15]
Are we incentivized to do the right thing, really?
[07:18]
We went to the moon in 1969.
[07:22]
Is that much harder,
[07:23]
to take someone's chronic migraines
[07:25]
and making them less frequent?
[07:28]
Some things will need to change.
[07:30]
Meanwhile, when it comes to you,
[07:36]
If you're worried about your migraines becoming chronic
[07:39]
and you're not too sure how to navigate that,
[07:41]
you can visit migraineheroes.com slash chronic
[07:44]
and book a free call
[07:46]
to understand the actual signification of your migraine
[07:49]
and why they have becoming chronic
[07:51]
in your specific situation.
[07:53]
Today, we explored why migraines transition
[07:55]
from episodic to chronic,
[07:56]
highlighting key triggers like medication overuse,
[08:00]
stress, sleep disturbances,
[08:01]
and hormonal changes.
[08:03]
We discussed Dr. Elisabeth Lohrer's theory
[08:05]
that migraine acts as a firearm
[08:07]
signaling deeper health imbalances
[08:09]
rather than being a random affliction,
[08:11]
an idea that aligns with traditional Chinese medicines
[08:14]
focused on treating the root cause
[08:16]
instead of just suppressing symptoms.
[08:18]
Despite increased awareness, advocacy,
[08:20]
and available treatments,
[08:22]
migraine prevalence continues to rise,
[08:24]
suggesting that conventional approaches
[08:26]
may be falling short.
[08:29]
Instead of merely silencing the symptoms,
[08:31]
listen to your body.
[08:33]
Seek out practitioners who prioritize true healing
[08:36]
before your migraines take control of you.
[08:42]
Thanks for sticking with me till the end.
[08:44]
We've got new episodes every Monday and Wednesday.
[08:47]
So if you're a migraine warrior,
[08:49]
you're in the right place.
[08:51]
Download the Migraine Heroes app.
[08:53]
This is the only app and service worldwide
[08:56]
that teaches you how to prevent
[08:58]
and abort your migraine attacks.
