If a patient says, 'It's like a bomb going off in my head,' the doctor has no real sense of what that means. I can't stand up, let alone change a diaper,' that is something that a doctor can understand. Seymour Diamond, director and founder of Chicago's Diamond Headache Center, the nation's oldest private headache clinic, agrees that the successful treatment of migraines requires close interaction between patient and doctor. If their doctor doesn't listen to them, they need to find one who will. At the Diamond center, doctors take an integrated approach to treatment.
Many patients follow a special diet designed to reduce migraine triggers.
In addition, sleep habits are evaluated and changed if they are found to contribute to migraines, and patients are taught relaxation exercises and biofeedback techniques. The vast majority also is prescribed migraine drugs, Diamond says. She also has learned how to treat attacks properly and with the right medications. They are taught about insulin levels and what foods to avoid. The same approach needs to be taken with migraine patients, but it is not.