I suffered from severe, debilitating migraine headaches, which worsened over the years until it became constant.    I was barely able to drag myself through each day doing the minimum necessary for my children and my extremely stressful job.  I had  to drop out of my hobbies and social activities.

​

Eventually, I was referred to a neurologist. After the scans and tests, I was told, “Your brain is normal.”  I received a diagnosis of “continual daily migraine,” and was advised that “it won't kill you, but it does have a suicide rate.”  I was prescribed a daily maintenance medication, plus rescue meds for breakthrough headaches.  It took a couple of months for the medications to take full effect, and I began to feel better.  The side effects and the prospect of long-term use were daunting, but I resigned myself to the fact that it was just the way I'm made, and I would probably need to take them for the rest of my life. 

 

More than a decade later, my headaches worsened again despite the medications.  I experienced frequent and severe migraines again, some lasting for days or even weeks.  Nothing helped-- not my maintenance meds nor the rescue meds.   More drugs were added to the ones I was already taking, including one that I had to inject myself.  The cost of the new drugs was astronomical, and it was a constant struggle with my insurance about getting them at all, which added to my stress. And worst of all, I still had headaches. 

 

 I was disappointed by the conventional treatment I had been receiving because it served only to reduce the symptoms, and did not address the physiological causes.  I also had to live with the side effects and  risks of the various medications.  No one had ever asked me how I was sleeping, what I was eating and drinking, or what toxicities or other possible factors were contributing.​

​

I was very fortunate to (accidentally) start seeing a chiropractor with a functional approach, who opened my eyes.  I learned that nutrition and lifestyle absolutely do  matter, and that it is actually supported by peer-reviewed scientific literature.  I made drastic changes to how I eat, manage stress and implement self care.  I began to improve and feel better.   I started to appreciate the power of the changes I had made,  and realized the value of finding and addressing the actual causes, rather than just medicating away some of the symptoms.  No one is born with a medication deficiency!

​

I am now, miraculously, off all migraine medications. I experience a migraine occasionally, but it is usually milder and of shorter duration, and manageable by alternate means.  I had never in my life thought that this would ever be possible.   

​

During these years, I was teaching nursing and training nurses in the Texas Medical Center, while also beginning  to develop a new perspective on the healthcare orthodoxy that I was a part of.  I began to realize that while it has benefits, it also has limitations.  I found myself having to go to work every day to teach certain information and concepts that I knew to be obsolete, inaccurate, and limiting.  At that point, I knew it was time to leave that career and move on.  I desire to help others bridge the gap between traditional healthcare and functional methods-- and to feel better!

​

​​​