I had experienced migraines off and on for the past 5 years. After the 3rd or 4th LENS treatment I did not have any new migraines. The interesting thing was that I had a couple of headaches that were totally manageable, and for a change they did not migrate into a migraine behind my left eye, or last for 36 hours, which was mostly been the case before. They were just normal headaches that went away with regular dosing of Advil. I am hopeful that the continued treatment will help to improve my spasmodic dysphonia, which is a brain based disorder that has to do with a disruption in motor skills affecting my vocal cords. There is a change in the type of headaches that I was having (no migraines for about 6-8 weeks) and a much reduced experience and frequency of normal headaches. I think LENS is absolutely worth a try for anyone who has experienced migraines. They impact quality of life so very much, and to no longer really have them be a factor is a really wonderful change. I also think that I have experienced an increase in motivation and in the clarity of my thinking. It has been a very interesting and worthwhile process and Tom is wonderful to work with; caring and committed to healing. --J.C. NH
I have suffered with migraines since I was 18 years old. Numerous doctors and pills later, I still have not narrowed down all my triggers. On average, I experience more days with a headache or migraine in a month than I do without. I was a bit reluctant to try The Low Energy Neurofeedback System (The LENS) in the beginning. It was something new to me and something I was very unfamiliar with. I figured it was worth a try, as I had already tried chiropractic care, medications, homeopathic “remedies”, etc. Living with migraines just became part of my life and I have altered my lifestyle as much I can to deal with them on a regular basis. After only 4 sessions, my migraines are already lessening AND my typical 5 days in a row killer migraine, was non-existent. This alone has made me a believer. Additionally, I was suffering from depression brought on by a traumatic event. The LENS sessions are even helping that subside. If you have tried traditional and non-traditional methods of ridding yourself of migraines and feel hopeless that nothing will ever work, try The LENS. There’s little to lose for something that has begun to change the way I am able to live after only 4 sessions! --T.P. NH
Four + Triggers Today and No Migraine... What?!?! :O Today I worked on a project where it was hot, stuffy, smelly, and hard to breathe. (trigger 1 - smells) I "forgot" to eat this morning, and I just got home. (trigger 2 - hunger) Even though I had a bottled water next to me all day, I "forgot" to hydrate, and I didn't have any water all day. (trigger 3 - dehydration) I woke in pain this morning (back, legs), and I'm in quite a bit of pain still from work. (trigger 4 - pain) I also am a bit stressed after a somewhat 'rough' day yesterday... And .... drum roll .... I don't have a migraine!?!? :O D.C. NH
I’ve had a pretty busy couple of weeks. Planning for a trip can be stressful. On top of the shopping, planning, packing, and prepping needed, our sons had an appointment at Boston Children’s Hospital the day before we left. Good news for one, though! Noah doesn’t need to be followed up for another five years! The longest stretch ever! Kyle on the other hand has to have a surgical procedure. He was pretty upset, and so were we. Consoling a crying ten year old while trying to conceal my own anxiety, and make sure I ask all of the right questions was tough. But, we made the sunny drive home, even without my missing sunglasses.
My family flew to North Carolina to help my husband’s aunt move from her home in NH. Our flight was early in the morning. We got to bed late the night before and had to be up by 3:15 that morning to fly with my mother-in-law and our kids. More often than not, I randomly get stopped by security at the airport. Such was the case this time too. Something in my bag was flagged as being suspicious and they had to follow up with a more thorough check. This typically is the end of my delay, but this time something was identified as a possible explosive. Additional security was called over and everything in my bag was emptied on the counter. Lines were diverted elsewhere so I didn’t tie up the entire airport. A supervisor introduced herself and began questioning me. What do I do for a living? Where was I immediately prior to coming to the airport? Who was I traveling with and where was I going? I obviously complied and asked if I could just throw away the snacks. “We are in too deep for that now”. Yikes! After I was asked to open the granola bar wrappers and asked a few more questions, the TSA deemed me okay to fly. I was finally able to join my family at the gate!
The flight itself was uneventful but we realized we forgot our hearing aid adaptors for my sons so they were unable to watch or listen to the TV on board. Luckily I had brought a few other things to do and they weren’t confiscated by my earlier experience! We met my husband’s other aunt in NC, got our rental car, and began the two-hour trek to his oldest aunt’s new home. Might I add that I forgot to take my motion sickness supplement?
The next week was a bit of a blur. Lifting, moving, carrying boxes up stairs or into different rooms. I tweaked my back at one point, unpacking, organizing, sorting, dumping trash and recyclables. We all worked every day for long days. There was a pet bird that would shriek, mimicking a smoke detector he had heard months ago. Both in frequency and pitch he was dead on. We went out to eat a lot and therefore my diet was not so great. We had late nights and early mornings; sleep was in a camper Jay’s aunt graciously provided.
Boy it is hot in North Carolina! Humid too! It often reached 100 degrees by 10:00 in the morning. This is very different from home. There was a thunder storm one night that helped relieve some of the humidity, which was nice. My hair got to have a break from the constant pony tail needed to stay off my neck. This was also the week my sister moved back home to Alaska with her husband who is in the military, and their two young children. I was able to FaceTime her a few times, which was nice but pretty emotional.
When I got back home, things didn’t stop. I had to work the next day and was slammed with re-entry needs. Unpacking, grocery shopping, and painting our kids’ bedroom all led us back into another Monday morning. It was all quite fun and accomplishing, but exhausting.
This may seem like a typical journal entry, but what isn't obvious are the twenty three migraine triggers embedded above. Twenty three times my life could have been disrupted, frustrating myself as well as my loved ones. Twenty three times I would have had to stop, take medication, explain myself, lay down, maybe for a few hours or maybe for the rest of the day. Twenty three times I would miss out on the life around me. But through this story, zero. I even left my purse in the camper each day. My purse, which is my lifeline. It holds my medication, which I have a limited time to use when an aura presents itself. In the past, it hadn’t been more than an arm’s reach away from me. Ever. In the past, worry about a migraine attack would play on a loop throughout each day, all day. It was never more than an arm’s reach away either. I had been living with that reality since I was almost ten years old. LENS, and Tom Maxwell, have changed my life. I make plans with the intent of keeping them now, rather than hoping that I am healthy. I feel free from a burden which I carried so close to me for so long. I am beginning, just beginning, to speak of the last 27 years in the past tense. I would not only recommend the LENS treatment, specifically with Tom, but I would beg others who live with chronic migraine to try it. They have nothing to lose and everything to gain. It has given me a life back that I never knew was possible. One I was jealous of but never even dared to dream of. One I will appreciate every migraine-free day of my life. -- M.P. Exeter
I have struggled with migraines for more than 30 years. I wasn’t sure what my symptoms were but I suffered with what I termed “white outs” which were like mild seizures with blurred vision. Sometimes those events were followed by vertigo and sometimes by a headache of varying degrees. Over time the number and severity of these events escalated - especially the vertigo so I started keeping a journal.
This all started when I was about 35 years old and I was afraid there was something seriously wrong. I’m a bookkeeper and one of my clients at the time was a husband and wife team of neurologists. They recommended that I have a full ear, nose, and throat evaluation, which I had. This turned up nothing so they did an MRI. This was back in the day where you didn’t need a referral from your PCP.
The MRI turned up nothing so I went to see my PCP who immediately knew that I was suffering from brain stem migraines. He prescribed - I think – Cafergot – which must be taken during the aura phase of a migraine to be fully effective. After a short time, I began waking up past the aura phase and well into the vertigo and headache phase which would last three days. I remember being so sick that I was unable move, to even crawl to the bathroom to vomit. The vertigo and headache were so severe that my only option was the E.R. and major pain meds. I was self employed at the time, a single mother, and this scenario was not an option. So, I was prescribed injections of the same medication (I don’t recall what it was) and though it was more effective it wasn’t 100%. I would inject it into my leg upon waking and within an hour I would be at about 80% and able to work. This worked for awhile and then abruptly stopped.
Then I switched to very expensive Botox injections as an experiment and I was one of the lucky ones – they worked! For 10 years then abruptly stopped when I was about 59 or 60. I was then prescribed a prophylactic treatment of Topiramate – which is an anti seizure medication that was about 85% effective. I would still experience minor migraines with some triggers and on a monthly basis. However, if I skip more than one dose, I could have a seizure. The prospect of this terrifies me.
I started Neurofeedback with Tom Maxwell and to date we’ve done 15 sessions and after all these years I’ve had 99% effective treatment. I have had 1 migraine after we discontinued treatment when ALL of my triggers hit on the same day. I have cut back from 150 mgs per day of Topiramate to 50 mgs per day (with my doctors’ blessing). Other than that one episode after all these years and medications, I am migraine free and about to eliminate the Topiramate completely.
In addition, I am A.D.D. and have focus issues which have also benefitted from this treatment. For my job, I am an expert witness. I have had PTSD like symptoms associated with testifying for years. Since undergoing the treatments, I have successfully testified 3 times with no fear or typical panic symptoms. I have wanted to do more public speaking and now feel that is an option for me. P.C. NH