Topamax for Migraines Ineffective for Children

Medicines to prevent or treat migraines in adults are not effective in stopping the headaches in children, according to two studies that suggest doctors may want to re-evaluate the use of the drugs in pediatric patients.

Two new broad reviews of pediatric migraine research point to a troubling conclusion: There is no clear evidence that drugs currently used to treat and prevent headaches among adults do anything much to help similarly afflicted children (adult efficacy rate is about 35%).

 The finding stems from a pediatric migraine-treatment investigation conducted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and a pediatric migraine-prevention study out of the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. The results of both analyses are published online Jan. 28 in JAMA Pediatrics.

In the first study from the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, the researchers analyzed 21 trials of migraine medicines that included children and adolescents. Of those, 13 included a group that received a placebo rather than study drug.

They found that Topamax and trazodone reduced episodic migraines less than one headache a month when compared to placebo, while clonidine, for high blood pressure; flunarizine, a calcium channel blocker; pizotifen, a migraine drug; propranolol, for high blood pressure; and valproate, an anticonvulsant, were no more effective than placebo.

These were not new trials; rather the studies used existing data from drug trials, including those conducted by the maker of Topamax and other drugs.  The report showed that the trials had revealed there was "limited evidence" to support use of Topamax in children's migraines and it fared no better than a placebo. The shame is that this has been known and available to doctors for many years and yet Topamax has continued to be prescribed by doctors for young people - and done so in spite of warnings and known adverse side effects published by the FDA.

 Also disturbing is that "these medicines are kind of nasty," said Jeffrey Jackson, a study author and professor of medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin. "Some cause dry mouth, or fatigue, or problems with concentrating. They're not really medicines you would want your vibrant teen to be on if they're not working." Read more about Topamax for migraines.

 "There's not a single FDA-approved medicine specifically for the prevention of headaches in children or teens," said Dr. Jennifer Bickel, a neurologist and board-certified headache specialist with Children's Mercy Hospitals and Clinics in Kansas City, Mo.

"What has proven to as effective for children and teens as it has been for adults is the natural migraine prevention formula, Tuliv Migraine Defense," adds Lyle Henry, Tuliv MD Research Director. "We have many cases where children who were no longer able to attend school due to the severity of their migraine condition have been able to return to school and participate fully, including extracurricular activities, after being on Tuliv Migraine Defense."

Tuliv Migraine Defense is the leading non-prescription treatment for the prevention of migraines. To learn more about migraine prevention with Tuliv Migraine Defense, see http://www.tuliv.com

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Contact Tuliv if you have questions or would like to visit more about children with migraines. Please email us at Questions@Tuliv.net or call 1-866-367-5953.

    

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High Risk for Cardiovascular Disease in Women with Migraines

A new study finds women who suffer from migraines with aura are at a higher risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) including heart attacks, strokes and blood clots and the risks significantly increase for those taking supplemental hormones.

 Since migraine is a genetic problem there may be little to do to reduce the risk outside of using a safe migraine preventive; however, the real problem may be connected with taking hormones or hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for migraines or menopause symptoms.

Results of the study show that women who have migraines and who take hormones including hormonal contraceptives and HRT have high risk of blood clots. "This risk for clots, such as deep vein thrombosis, has been associated with all women taking hormonal contraceptives, but it is found to be more prevalent in women with migraine," researchers noted.

 Studies have found the risk for cardiovascular disease for people who suffer from migraines with aura is roughly double that of people without the condition including having a higher risk of stroke. Fifteen years of follow-up studies, revealed that only high blood pressure was a stronger predictor than migraine with aura for having a heart attack or stroke among women. The risks are higher than even those associated with diabetes, smoking, obesity and a family history of heart disease, the studies revealed.

With all these risks, women with migraines should be very cautious and pay close attention to warnings regarding the use of hormone therapy and find alternatives that do not have these risks. Many women are under the false conception that bio-identical hormones don't carry the same risks.

 Bio-identical hormone therapy, also known as BHRT, uses hormones derived from plants such as yam and soy and has been growing in popularity because of reported fears from traditional hormone replacements derived from the urine of pregnant horses. "To say its bio-identical does not mean its safe," explains Dr. Richard Boroditsky, University of Manitoba's Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. The risks are the same no matter how the hormone is produced.

Lyle Henry of Tuliv Migraine Research, one of the leading migraine prevention providers, has found in multiple studies that hormone based contraceptives (i.e. BC pills, patches, shots and inserts) as well as supplemental hormones used in HRT, can also be major contributors to the incident of migraine for women. Simply put, hormones trigger migraines, no matter what their source.

Today more women are turning away from hormones and moving to products like Tuliv Hormonal Peace to treat the symptoms of menopause because it does not add hormones to the body.

Tuliv Hormonal Peace is designed to work naturally in the body to manage the way the body reacts to hormonal changes in order to relieve the symptoms of menopause. To learn more about how Tuliv Hormonal Peace is helping women, see More About Menopause and HRT alternative.

Tuliv Migraine Defense is the leading non-prescription treatment for the prevention of migraines. To learn more about migraine prevention with Tuliv Migraine Defense, see http://www.tuliv.com

Don't ignore the risks of taking hormones if you are prone to migraines - consider the safe alternatives provided by Tuliv Wellness Products.

Migraine Desperation Leads to Wrong Treatment

"Can my teeth or jaw be the cause of my migraines?"

We often get this question too late. It generally comes up during a migraine interview while a client is telling us about various things and procedures she has tried to end her migraines. We hear the sad story of how the patient was convinced by a dental professional that the cause of her migraine headache was related to the position of her jaw or the mercury in her teeth fillings. Unfortunately, she already wasted her money seeking such remedies that failed to end the migraine headaches.

Jaw pain associated with migraines is actually at the tail end of the pain. The pain of a migraine headache follows the path of the trigeminal nerve which extends on each side of the head from the temporal lobe area forward to branch out across the forehead and behind each eye to surround half of the nasal cavity while another branch runs down the jaw line into the lower facial area. Since the epic center of pain varies by individual, some may feel more pain in the jaw area while others are not at all affected by facial pain.

When it comes to migraine headaches, you need to keep in mind that the underlying cause can be found in the DNA of a person and cellular responses to hormones and triggers rather than the physical location of the pain. Knowing this, you can rule out that the headache is caused by misalignment of the jaw or neck and concentrate on the overall solution that includes diet changes, trigger avoidance, and taking the prevention nutraceutical Tuliv Migraine Defense. 

 Having said this, we need to point out that not every chronic headache is classified as a migraine. By that I mean there are specific types of headaches that result from injury or physiological changes in the body that are extremely painful. This is one of the reasons we conduct interviews and use online profiles with many of our new clients to help determine the correct solution for their headache pain

Knowing from our own personal experiences what it is actually like to deal with the agonizing pain and suffering of migraines and the frustrations of a lack of compassionate medical care were among the reasons we started Tuliv to help all those who endure migraines to have a better life. It is the reason we still do not charge for phone or online consulting services and strive to provide the best care and products to help resolve and prevent migraines

If you have not visited with us lately, call us at 1-866-367-5953 (you can ask to speak directly with Lyle or Eileen or leave a message to schedule a call back). You can also respond to this email or send me an email to me at Lyle@Tuliv.net and let me know how you are doing and how we can help you.

 Lyle Henry, Tuliv Migraine Research Director

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Contact us if you have questions or would like to visit more about migraine prevention.

Please email us at Questions@Tuliv.net or call 1-866-367-5953.

    

Avoid Holiday Headaches

The holiday season can be a fun time, unless you have a migraine. Nothing can spoil a good time quicker then the feeling of a headache coming on. Our only business is to keep you from having migraines and so we are passing along a few tips that can help you avoid headaches during this season. 

 1.       Sleep. Maintain your regular sleep schedule. Late night holiday parties may be fun, but there could be a price to pay if you don't get enough sleep. Also keep in mind that if you regularly get headaches around 4 AM, we can help solve this problem. 

 2.       Eat. Watch what you eat.  Holiday party foods often contain ingredients that trigger headaches.  If your first bite of that savory food tastes too good to be true, stop eating because it most likely contains MSG or other artificial ingredients the can cause you a migraine. Don't let anyone force you to "just try it" because they made it - it is your head that will hurt not theirs. 

 3.       Drink. Avoid red wine and drink alcoholic beverages in moderation.   Don't fool yourself into thinking you can get away with something during the holidays - migraines don't take holidays. 

 4.       Smell. Odors abound during this season. Watch out for those perfume counters that may give you a headache. In uncharted territory, have your fellow shopper sniff them out before you end up cutting the shopping spree short with a migraine.  If you are sitting near someone who has too much perfume for you to handle, move to avoid a headache.

 5.       Medication. If you take a medication for your headaches, make sure you have sufficient amounts before you travel. You do not want to find yourself without your medications during the holidays.

 6.       Stress. Holiday stress can give anyone a headache, but yours can be a painful migraine. If stress is a migraine trigger, give yourself permission to take a break. Shopping and even too much "family togetherness" can be stressful, so take a break, rest for awhile and have quiet time for just you.

 7.       Enjoy. It sounds as if you have to spend all your time watching out for the threats for migraines - not true -  if you are on Tuliv Migraine Defense for the prevention of migraines, many of the above shouldn't bother you as much; however, do take care and avoid the things that you know trigger your migraines.

 Call us if you have any questions 1-866-367-5953 - you are not alone - we are here to help you be migraine-free.

 Happy Holidays from all of us at Tuliv - your center for migraine prevention.

 Contact us if you have questions or would like to visit more about migraine prevention.

Please email us at Questions@Tuilv.net or call 1-866-367-5953.

Could you be suffering from perimenopausal migraines?

 After listening to a woman on the phone describing her migraine pattern, I reasoned that she was in her mid-forties (she later told me she was 45). I am not clairvoyant; rather I have found life-time migraine patterns to be similar for much of the female population. In this case, the migraine pattern was clearly that of a woman in her perimenopause stage of life. 

 Perimenopause, which can start as early as 35, is the time when the symptoms and discomforts of menopause first appear, including hot flashes, mood changes, weight gain and unfortunately, an increased level of intense migraines.

 Throughout a woman's life, from puberty through menopause, migraine patterns are generally correlated to the changes or fluctuation of what are called hormone messengers secreted from the pituitary gland in the brain.  These messenger hormones are responsible for regulating the production of other hormones such as estrogen and progesterone during the menstrual cycle and are seen in our research as the causing agents for migraines. 

 Unfortunately, the secretion of these messenger hormones which control the regulation of estrogen and progesterone becomes sporadic during perimenopause resulting in the increased level in severity, frequency, and duration of migraines as they become chronic daily migraines.

 Treatment, especially for the prevention of perimenopausal migraines, can be very challenging during this time of life when the migraines become resistant to pharmaceutical therapy. Although it was once thought that hormone replacement therapy (HRT) may provide some relief, it is now the conclusion of the Mayo Clinic, among many others, that the notion of HRT or the use of supplemental estrogen or progesterone to control or alleviate migraines during perimenopause is not an effective treatment and in many cases actually exacerbates the migraine problem. 

 Stopping Perimenopausal Migraines

 It seems as though many doctors give up on their perimenopausal women migraine patients when the medications that once controlled the migraines begin to rapidly fail and the side effects from such drugs become too adverse for the woman. 

 Perhaps it is for this reason that the majority of Tuliv migraine clients using Tuliv Migraine Defense daily are women in perimenopause. Tuliv Migraine Defense was originally created to control perimenopausal migraines and essentially provides a migraine-free life for the women who take it daily.  If are over 35 and your migraines are getting worse, than you may well benefit from Tuliv Migraines Defense and enjoy a new migraine-free stage of life.   

Read more about controlling migraines, hot flashes, and even the weight gain associated with menopause. Here you will also find solutions to these problems.