Big Pharma, Medicines, Migraines, and The Truth!

Posted on August 17, 2015 by Angela A Stanton, Ph.D.

 – Press Release!

A most recent article in the Scientific American MIND piqued my interest since it sings the same tune I have been singing for years. It is very appropriate for migraineurs to read, particularly the end where I summarize what migraine  is and how to find more true information out about it. By true I mean one that needs no medicine since migraine is a symptom and not a cause. I discovered the cause–it was easy. I too was a migraineur. It is a special brain. Learn all about it in the article on my blog.

That blog is meant to ridicule the current healthcare system, that has no intention to cure anyone. Healthy people mean a death sentence to the disease management industry, namely the pharmaceuticals, the hospitals, insurance companies, and doctors.

Health makes no money; disease does! 

I am an advocate to those who need my help in opening their eyes to the many wars we have to fight against being taken advantage of. I am not a conspiracy theorist. I ma simply a scientist who can see what is happening with disease management: managing a disease makes money. Curing it does not. It is simple.

Comments are welcome!

Angela

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Levaquin, Cipro, & Avelox Lawsuit Press release!

Posted on August 13, 2015 by Angela A Stanton, Ph.D.

Read the full story here:

Levaquin, Cipro, & Avelox Lawsuit!

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Water Challenge, Clear Urine, & Migraines

Posted on July 10, 2015 by Angela A Stanton, Ph.D.

“Drink more water” is as old a statement as humanity.

Not too many people know what that means and how dangerous that can be. Even TV show hosts, who are doctors, call for clear urine as the goal. The general population is following whatever this Dr. says on TV even if it is dead wrong. Pun intended.

Clear urine can lead to death. I bet you did not know that!

Urine has a reason to be colored. It takes toxins out of our bodies and toxins are not transparent. A healthy urine is light yellow that you can see through and smell like… well… healthy urine! Not like water. Why is clear urine bad for you? Can too much water hurt you? How and why?

First, let’s look at what urine is and why it needs to have color: urine is used water from our cells that contains toxins from leftover medicines, vitamins, foods, whatever the body used and considers trash or whatever it could not use and considers harmful. Thus urine has a biologically very important function! Clear urine implies that the body is not working! If urine is too dark, it means that there is not enough water to wash all the toxins out so one better drink more water. But how much water? And how does water get to clear toxins?

Cellular biology tells us that cells have little pumps that allow certain nutrients inside, such as sodium, potassium, magnesium, glucose, etc. Water can go through little water channels that need no pumps. Water flows wherever there is less water by osmosis, via the osmotic gradient such that if inside the cell there is more water than outside, water will leave the cell. If there is more water outside than inside the cell, water will head inside. It balances to equalize the two sides in water. In order for it to stay stuck in either side, something must grab a hold of it. It is also important to note that water goes in and out freely because it has no electric charge. But other elements inside the cell, such as sodium, which is positive, cannot use the osmotic gradient. They need electricity to be pushed against density!

Inside the cell sodium (Na+) holds onto water thereby keeping the cells nice and plump–volume hydrated. However, the more water a person drinks, the more water will also enter the inside of cells because of water’s osmotic balancing. Each cell has a certain size that is flexible but not the cells in a person’s head! There is a bone (skull) that encloses all cells and so cell size is limited. Drinking too much water thus puts pressure on the skull. The skull is bone and has no pain sensors. The brain has no pain sensors either. However, there is a little layer of tissue called the meninges that is between the skull and the brain. All brain pain sensors are on the meninges, which is squeezed to death by the pressure of the water building up in the brain, pressing the brain against the skull. This causes headaches and for those who are migraineurs, migraines.

There is another problem, which is called hyponatremia. “Hypo” means not enough and “natria” means sodium (Na+). As more and more water enters the cells, less and less sodium is available to grab water and keep water inside the cells. This ends up in a potential fatal condition of hyponatremia. Sodium has a vital role in brain and other cell health. Sodium is positively charged and is part of sodium chloride (salt) in which chloride (Cl-) is negatively charged. Sodium is inside the cells and chloride is outside. The two create voltage differential such that the cells are able to generate voltage power to function.

Hyponatremia thus also means lack of enough voltage and so the brain and other cells (heart for example) that use voltage stop producing voltage and cell death may follow. When a person goes this far, it becomes known as water toxicity! It is particularly dangerous for athletes since hormones participate in preserving fluids, placing a block to fluid release, thereby further increasing hyponatremia. It is not unheard of that athletes die from too much water; it is also not unheard of that water challenge participants also die of water toxicity. What is less known is that hyponatremia is also responsible for migraines.

Migraine brains have more sensory neuron connections than regular brains and so they use more voltage to run the brain. More voltage use requires more voltage need! However, since the standard of salt intake heads to the “lower is better” dogma, migraineurs pay the price! No wonder we have a migraine epidemic!

So how much water should you drink? And how much salt and other electrolyte minerals/nutrients should you also take a day?

There are a variety of water calculators on the internet. In general the recommended water intake in ounces is half your weight in pounds. So if you weigh 130 lbs, your water intake should be 65 oz or 8.125 glasses of 8 oz water. But this is not totally correct.

Weighing 130 lbs in 120F with 90% humidity, or weighing 130 lbs in -40F with 10% humidity or after a heavy exercise or a sick-day with diarrhea will each lead to a slightly adjusted water intake. A person weighing 130 lbs in 7000 feet elevation needs more water than the same person at sea level! There are many variations. But at least you have a guideline: half your weight in ounces is the minimum you must drink every day in pure water and must also replace salt loss.

Soft drink, coffee, tea, milk, soups, alcohol, smoothies and shakes do not count into this!!! Be aware that water is water and not coffee–coffee is blood vessel constricting and it prevents water from entering your cells. Tea is diuretic (all teas! Even herbal!). All the rest are sugar filled even if you do not add sugar–alcohol is fermented sugar too. The only thing that may matter is soup but how much soup do you eat a day?

What about salt and potassium? The FDA guideline is 4700 mg potassium and between 1500 to 2350 mg sodium. Migraineurs need about 50% more sodium than non-migraineurs so if you are a migraineur, go for the 2350 mg to start with! That is one level teaspoon! If you eat less salt or drink less water, you will get a migraine if you have a migraine-brain, guaranteed!

When you get a migraine, contact me!

Comments are welcome!

Angela

Sources:

Schwedt, T.J., Multisensory Integration in Migraine. Current Opinion in Neurolology, 2013: p. 248-253.

Tso, A.R., et al., The anterior insula shows heightened interictal intrinsic connectivity in migraine without aura. Neurology, 2015: p. 1043-50.

Campbell, D.A., E.M. Tonks, and K.M. Hay, An Investigation of the Salt and Water Balance in Migraine. British Medical Journal, 1951: p. 1424-1429.

Longo, D.L., et al., Harrison’s Manual of Medicine 18th Edition. 2013, New York: McGraw Hill Medical.

Liu, H., et al., Resting state brain activity in patients with migraine: a magnetoencephalography study, in The Journal of headache and Pain. 2015. p. 16-42.

Peter Whoriskey More scientists doubt salt is as bad for you as the
government says April 6 at 8:24 PM, The Washington Post

Cogswell, M.E. et al., Sodium and potassium intakes among US adults: NHANES
2003–2008 American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2012.

Gautam Bhave, M.D., Ph.D. and Eric G. Neilson, M.D. Volume Depletion versus Dehydration: How Understanding the Difference Can Guide Therapy. American Journal of Kidney Disease 2011 August ; 58(2): 302–309

Dietary Reference Intakes for Water, Potassium, Sodium, Chloride, and Sulfate. Institute of Medicine. The National Academic Press. 2005

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Migraines, Serotonin, & Carbohydrates: the Connection

Posted on July 8, 2015 by Angela A Stanton, Ph.D.

There are many articles on the connection of metabolic disorder and migraines [1-7] but nearly all end with the statement “we do not yet understand the connection.” Well let’s end that non-understanding and convert it into full understanding: I will help you see it.

I summarize here some facts for easy understanding:

1) Migraine is a symptom of hyper sensory organ sensitivities that cause lack of enough energy simply because the migraine-brain uses more energy than the brain of a non-migraineur [8-10]

2) To retain enough energy, it is important to keep stable electrolyte with high concentration of sodium chloride (salt) [11]

3) Carbohydrates convert to glucose – simple carbohydrates convert very fast [12]

4) Glucose disrupts electrolyte balance [13]

5) Insulin and serotonin release at the same time to allow for metabolism, digestion, and excretion [14]

6) Serotonin medicines increase or enforce serotonin manufacturing thereby releasing insulin [15, 16]

7) Conclusion: serotonin medicines contribute to metabolic disorder in migraineurs

Though I pretty much captured the cause and effect above in the numbered points, let me elaborate further.

Migraine is considered to be a disease but it seems to actually be a symptom of a very different brain type. A migraine brain has more connections between sensory organ neurons. This is clearly recognizable by a few simple observations in addition to what is now visible in the scanners:

migraineurs see better in the dark so they are disturbed by bright light [17, 18]; migraineurs have deeper hearing range and/or better hearing because what seems to be normal noise for others is loud for migraineurs [9]; migraineurs smell better the things around them so if a strong scent is put under their nose they get pain from being over sensitized [19]. There are many other factors of sensitivity migraineurs share; I know since I am a migraineur. What is important to note is that migraineurs need more brain energy in order to keep their voltage going on continuously and at high level. Migraineurs’ brain generates more electricity even in resting potential state than a non-migraineur’s brain does [20].

To retain high level energy the electrolyte supply needs to be kept balanced and at a higher sodium chloride concentration level all the time. Unfortunately there is a major electrolyte disturbing agent without which we cannot survive and that is glucose. Glucose is converted from carbohydrates by insulin (highly simplified here) but look at what happens when glucose enters the blood:

“…serum Na+ falls by 1.4 mM for every 100-mg/dL increase in glucose, due to glucose-induced H2O efflux from cells” [13] page 4.

This implies that as glucose moves into our blood, it instantly disrupts electrolyte by removing water from the cells (H2O efflux) and holding onto water outside of the cells, causing edema (something that until now science held sodium responsible for but in fact it is glucose). Note also that glucose also reduces sodium (Na+). Thus two key elements of electrolytes are disturbed: water and sodium.

Given that electrolyte disturbance leads to lack of proper energy supply for the neurons in the brain of a migraineur, we can already see that glucose plays a large role in migraine pain. Note also that, as stated above, glucose and serotonin release at the same time. This is of little concern if the migraineur actually eats something that insulin can break down into glucose and serotonin can then aid in pushing it forth in the intestinal tract but has anyone ever asked what happens if we artificially give extra serotonin or induce the creation of serotonin in migraineurs by medicines while they are not eating?

Migraineurs receive several types of medications, two types of which are prominently serotonin based: pain abortive medications or triptans and pain preventives in the form of SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) or other similar medicines. Triptans add serotonin to the brain of a migraineur and SSRIs force the brain to make more serotonin by plugging the neurons’ “reuptake” (sensor to how much serotonin was already made) and thus inhibiting the neurons’ ability to stop serotonin production. Neurons on SSRI never shut down serotonin production.

This begs the question: if insulin and serotonin work together and serotonin medicines also release insulin, what does that insulin do to the migraineur who is not eating anything?

Insulin floating in the blood endlessly is ignored by the insulin receptors (cry wolf scenario), which leads to insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is diabetes mellitus 2. Diabetes mellitus 2 is metabolic disorder. Serotonin is one the key contributors to migraineurs having metabolic disorder. Carbohydrate metabolism disrupting electrolytes is the second major contributor.

The first cause, the medicinal one, can only be stopped if migraineurs are stopped being prescribed serotonin medications! The second one can easily be stopped by using the Stanton Migraine ProtocolTM.

Please take migraines very seriously! migraine brain is a brain that does not need medicines but needs more energy and proper carbohydrate consumption process.

Read how to prevent your migraines in Fighting the Migraine Epidemic – paperback  or e-book.

Comments are welcomed!

Angela

References

  1. Bhoi, S.K., J. Kalita, and U.K. Misra, Metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance in migraine. The Journal of Headache and Pain, 2012. 13(4): p. 321-326.
  2. Casucci, G., et al., Migraine and metabolism. Neurological Sciences, 2012. 33(1): p. 81-85.
  3. Gozke, E., et al., An Observational Study on the Association between Migraines and Tension Type Headaches in Patients Diagnosed with Metabolic Syndrome. ISRN Neurology, 2013. 2013: p. 4.
  4. Guldiken, B., et al., Migraine in metabolic syndrome. The neurologist, 2009. 15(2): p. 55-58.
  5. Sachdev, A. and M.J. Marmura, Metabolic Syndrome and Migraine. Frontiers in Neurology, 2012. 3: p. 161.
  6. Salmasi, M., et al., Metabolic syndrome in migraine headache: A case-control study. Journal of Research in Medical Sciences : The Official Journal of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, 2014. 19(1): p. 13-17.
  7. Sinclair, A.J. and M. Matharu, Migraine, cerebrovascular disease and the metabolic syndrome. Annals of Indian Academy of Neurology, 2012. 15(Suppl 1): p. S72-S77.
  8. Schwedt, T.J., Multisensory Integration in Migraine. Curr Opin Neurol, 2013: p. 248-253.
  9. Tso, A.R., et al., The anterior insula shows heightened interictal intrinsic connectivity in migraine without aura. Neurology, 2015: p. 1043-50.
  10. James, M.F., et al., Cortical spreading depression and migraine: new insights from imaging? TRENDS In Neuroscience, 2001: p. 226-271.
  11. Campbell, D.A., E.M. Tonks, and K.M. Hay, An Investigation of the Salt and Water Balance in Migraine. British Medical Journal, 1951: p. 1424-1429.
  12. Aronoff, S.L., et al., Glucose Metabolism and Regulation: Beyond Insulin and Glucagon. Diabetes Spectrum, 2004. 17(3): p. 183-190.
  13. Longo, D.L., et al., Harrison’s Manual of Medicine 18th Edition. 2013, New York: McGraw Hill Medical.
  14. Robinson, R., Serotonin’s Role in the Pancreas Revealed at Last. PLoS Biol, 2009. 7(10): p. e1000227.
  15. Ohara-Imaizumi, M., et al., Serotonin regulates glucose-stimulated insulin secretion from pancreatic β cells during pregnancy. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2013. 110(48): p. 19420-19425.
  16. Paulmann, N., et al., Intracellular Serotonin Modulates Insulin Secretion from Pancreatic β-Cells by Protein Serotonylation. PLoS Biol, 2009. 7(10): p. e1000229.
  17. Digre, K.B. and K.C. Brennan, Shedding Light on Photophobia, in J Neuroophthalmol. 2012. p. 68-81.
  18. Rossi, H.L. and A. Recober, Photophobia in Primary Headaches. Headache, 2015: p. Epub ahead of print.
  19. Benemei, S., et al., TRPA1 and other TRP channels in migraine. The Journal of Headache and Pain, 2013. 14(1): p. 71.
  20. Liu, H., et al., Resting state brain activity in patients with migraine: a magnetoencephalography study, in The Journal of headache and Pain. 2015. p. 16-42.
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A Letter to National Pain Report that will NEVER be Published!

Posted on June 14, 2015 by Angela A Stanton, Ph.D.

Yep! Fighting evil as usual! Fear no more! Eventually the truth will come out. The problem is that entire industries that depend on “helping” migraineurs during their migraines by selling them “abortive” medicines and in between providing “preventive” medicines that do nothing but make people sick and big pharma rich, will disappear if they let the truth be seen! So I will show you the truth!

First, here is the letter you will not see published by them:

“Greetings,

I hope you welcome my email given that I am a migraine expert both because I am a migraineur and have suffered for over 30 years but also because I am a scientist who went on research to find “migraine monster” and found that a solution has been under our noses all along. I now have thousands of people using simple electrolyte balancing for free and are migraine AND medicine free and this includes me.

I have found that the brain of those who get migraines is a special brain that science is now proving. Scientists have found that a migraine brain has more sensory organ receptor connections and hence the sensitivity that migraineurs have toward light, sound, smells, etc. More receptor connections mean more sensitivity but it also means more energy is needed for the brain to work. Scientists have also found that metabolic syndrome (diabetes 2 and obesity) are migraine partners but did not find the reason for the connection. Based on what glucose does to hydration, and I quote from the 18th edition of the Harrison’s Manual of Medicine:

“…serum Na+ falls by 1.4 mM for every 100-mg/dL increase in glucose, due to glucose-induced H2O efflux from cells” page 4, it is clear what is happening.

Glucose holds onto water outside of the cells by sucking it out (H2O efflux from cell) and also reduces sodium. Thus glucose unbalances electrolyte. By removing sodium, it also prevents energy (voltage) from being generated. Regions of brain neurons that cannot generate voltage are seen in fMRI as “cortical depression” (CD) and the wave of energy coming from the energized part of the brain moves to energize the dormant neurons; this is called “cortical spreading depression” CSD. Think of this as when a heart attack patient receives a life saving electric shock from paramedics. The brain generates its own electric shock to awaken the dormant regions. This electrical wave is seen as aura by those whose brain region activates the wave in the occipital cortex. This is also the wave that is responsible for seizures (they are faster, that is the only difference) and they also activate the sensory receptors in the meninges, hence migraine pain.

This whole process is well understood only so far no one has connected the dots to understand that migraineurs have a different brain and not a sick brain. These different brains need different energy because of their sensory complexity; voltage energy to be specific. Whatever creates voltage in the brain (and we know what that is from every biology 101 book!) is what the migraine brain needs more of than non-migraine brains.

It is so simple and there is so much resistance because understandably if no medicine is needed, it destroys a whole industry.

I know this email will never be published by you so I publish it on my blog. 🙂

Good day,

Angela”

There is not much I wish to add to this now. Those in my migraine group of over 1600 and those who read my Fighting the Migraine Epidemic book know precisely what this is about. So if you want to learn more, read the book! If you are a migraineur, you are also welcome to join my group on Facebook.

Questions and comments are welcome as always!

Angela

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Low Salt is Bad for You! On Fox News!

Posted on May 17, 2015 by Angela A Stanton, Ph.D.

OK! My migraine book has just been replicated on Fox news!

I wrote down what they said on TV since they often move the clip: Low salt is bad for you and can get you to ER real quick. It also causes headaches (in our case migraines).

Drinking too much water in general causes low sodium. Signs of too low salt: seizures, fatigue, abdominal pain, confusion, headache, muscle aches, nausea, vomiting.

Diuretics given to heart patients and hypertension (high blood pressure) patients get rid of water AND salt. Drink electrolyte, eat salt, restrict water and take only salt… do not replace salt rapidly (this is why I tell all members in my migraine group to increase salt slowly) else it can cause edema in the brain. Restrict water to 2 liters (68 fluid ounces) if you are extremely low in salt until you recover. Low salt causes seizure.

I am not able to get the video clip built in so they will move the video elsewhere but for now here it is.

Increase salt VERY slow! Hence my constant warning to increase water and also increase salt slow in the migraine group! This is a very large part of my book (e-book, paperback) that was just presented by Fox News. The link is above but they often move the link hence my long-hand transcript. My book’s title is

Fighting The Migraine Epidemic: How To Treat and Prevent Migraines Without Medicines – An Insider’s View

Go get it if you are a migraineur! I explain exactly what the news just explained and also explain how it connects to migraines, why, how to prevent migraine pain, and how to maintain a migraine free life!

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Broccoli dish

Posted on May 10, 2015 by Angela A Stanton, Ph.D.
broccoli dish

broccoli dish

Ingredients:
a package of broccoli
1 tablespoon of sliced almonds
2 hard boiled eggs
2 tablespoons of shredded cheddar cheese
1 clove of finely chopped garlic
large pinch of salt to taste
1/2 cup raisins run under very hot water for a couple of minutes to soften
6 slices of bacon cooked fatless crisp.

I used the microwave because it keeps the broccoli green. Put broccoli with about a teaspoon of water, salt, minced garlic, raisins, sliced almonds in the micro and cook for about 8 minutes covered on high. Remove and add the eggs broken up into pieces and cheese. Cook an additional 2 minutes on high. When done, let it stand for about a minute so the humidity is gone and then break the bacon into bits and add on top.

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Stanton Migraine Protocol® – Prevent & Treat Migraines without Medicines

Posted on April 24, 2015 by Angela A Stanton, Ph.D.

Stanton Migraine Protocol® is different from anything you have ever tried before and it works already for thousands.

No investment, no medicines, no herbs, nothing to buy.

A protocol specifically designed to prevent migraines and stop ongoing migraines without medications based on the scientific understanding of the biochemistry of the metabolic processes our foods go through that trigger migraines. The Stanton Migraine Protocol®

is based on findings that the migraine brain is a different brain and needs different energy levels from brains that are not migraine brains.

This protocol is unique and is currently only available to members of a special migraine group on Facebook, where it has been used by thousands of members since January 2014. If you are interested in finding out more about the Stanton Migraine Protocol®

, please ask to join the group on Facebook. The Stanton Migraine Protocol® requires dedication and persistence to a change in lifestyle that supports the migraine brain’s higher energy requirements. It does  not involve any medicines because the migraine brain is not a sick brain only a malnourished brain even if you have a perfectly well maintained and nourished body!

We are looking forward to help you to become migraine free without any medicines, herbs, or supplements! No trigger foods to remove! We understand what causes your migraines and how to prevent them from happening!

Comments are welcome,

Angela

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Topamax & Other Drugs Reduction Calendar

Posted on April 8, 2015 by Angela A Stanton, Ph.D.

It is my goal to help all who with to reduce or quit completely those medications pushed on them by doctors for various conditions and find that the medications do not work. There are many medications that fall into this category. Unfortunately doctors are prescription happy and have no clue how a particular drug actually works in the brain, what it blocks and how it achieves what it is supposed to do.

Take Topamax. It is a sugar derivative but not a sugar substitute you would want to put into you latte! It works by preventing the voltage gated calcium channels from working. This means that if they reduce the medication for you too fast, the brain has no time to adjust–yes, it needs to re-learn how to fire with the rhythm it had prior to Topamax insulting it. Reducing a person’s Topamax as fast as doctors recommend can send one into seizures pretty quick. It seems, based on what I see from the migraineurs in my Facebook migraine group, that doctors are completely ignorant about how difficult these drugs are to quit.

They consider Benzodiazepines addictive so they don’t want to prescribe them but prescribe instead SSRIs or other dreaded drugs like Lyrica that are so addictive that entire Facebook groups have formed just to quit Lyrica! Here is the reduction guide for highly addictive medications. Given that your doctor is likely clueless about how difficult reduction is unless they use the medicine themselves, I am dedicated to guide those who wish to quit the right way. In a previous article I wrote how to reduce a very difficult drug a shaving at the time. Topamax is not as bad as that medicine but bad enough. Here is the reduction schedule for Topamax to guide you.

I will continue to add more and more reduction schedules for medicines that are hard to quit and are not time release. Time release or extended release medicines cannot be cut and capsules cannot be opened so they are harder but can be done. Good luck!

As always, questions are welcome!

Angela

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Reduce Topamax the Easy Way

Posted on April 8, 2015 by Angela A Stanton, Ph.D.

Topamax Reduction Method

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