Posted by Bob Johnson (216.53.226.101) on January 24, 2001 at 10:14:44:
In Reply to: seeking advice on dealing with an md posted by d wood on January 23, 2001 at 21:41:30:
Educate your doctor; her intentions sounds good but she needs help. The article below can be obtained through your local library (or contact me directly if you have trouble); the book is excellent. I'd BUY a copy for the doctor because it's in your best long term interests to get good material into her hands.
"Cluster headache", Au. Ninan T. Mathew, MD, NEUROLOGY, 42 (Suppl 2), March
1992. I believe the best single article to give to your doc around questions
of diagnosis and treatment.
MANAGEMENT OF HEADACHE AND HEADACHE MEDICATIONS, 2nd ed. Lawrence D.
Robbins, M.D.; pub. by Springer. $49 at Amazon.Com. This volume is better
organized and easier to read for nonprofessionals compared to Saper's book.
It covers all types of headache and is primarily focused on medications.
While the two chapters on CH total 42-pages, the actual relevant material is
longer because of multiple references to material in chapters on migraine,
reflecting the overlap in drugs used to treat. I'd suggest reading the
chapters on migraine for three reasons: he makes references to CH &
medications which are not in the index; there are "clinical pearls" about
how to approach the treatment of headache; and, you gain better perspective
on the nature of headache, in general, and the complexities of treatment
(which need to be considered when we create expectations about what is
possible). Finally, women will appreciate & benefit from his running
information on hormones/menstrual cycles as they affect headache. Chapter on
headache following head trauma, also. Obviously, I'm impressed with Robbins'
work (even if the book needs the touch of a good editor!) (Somewhat longer
review/content statement at 3/22/00, "Good book....")