Be Careful What You Name Your Blog
Where do I get off calling this blog The Migraineur? I haven’t written about migraine in months! What the heck is this blog about, anyway?
I started it as a form of psychotherapy for my migraines. I haven’t had a migraine since something like, I don’t know, June 3, 2007. It’s not that I’m uninterested in the subject of migraine any more, but my interest is less immediate. Inderal has given me back my life. I wish I weren’t taking it any more. I returned to a low-carb diet a couple of months after starting Inderal, so I can’t say with any certainty whether low-carb is helping or whether it would be enough by itself to control migraine. I’m a little too chicken to try dropping the Inderal to find out. And I’m a little too chicken to go to my doctor and tell her I want to taper a drug that to all appearances is working fabulously in order to try drug-free therapy. She’s an allopath; she’ll think I’m nuts.
I am fairly sure that the drug has something to do with the snail’s pace of my weight loss. I am also not looking forward to summer, when the combination of my natural low blood pressure, the heat, and Inderal is going to make me feel like a dishrag. I moved from one house to another in July, and it was torture. I wonder how I got it done. Then again, I was also fat and addicted to carbs in July. Maybe this summer will be different. Maybe if it isn’t, that’s the impetus to persuade the doctor to get me off Inderal.
But I digress. I will spare you the long discussion of how the blog came to be about low-carb. The short discussion is migraine > menstrual period > reproductive endocrinologist > polycystic ovary syndrome > insulin > OMG-I-gotta-stop-messing-around-and-ditch-the-carbs!
And I won’t say this blog has stopped being about low-carb, but I can feel it evolving into more. A blog about food. About respecting food. About eating well. About not swallowing what you’re told. About thinking for yourself. And yes, a blog about why a low-carb diet isn’t gonna kill ya.
I’m sure I’m not the only person who has ever started a blog with a specific topic in mind and then watched it drift … and drift … and drift. So gee whiz, if I were whisked back in time and could pick a name for my blog, what would I call it that would be sufficiently general? I suppose I could’ve chosen something funky and meaningless, like “bananagoddess” or “tuna_toes.” But I’m thinking that, if I could rename this blog, I’d call it UseYourHead.
Interestingly, though, in spite of my neglect of the topic of migraine, far and away the most viewed post on my blog is Ketogenic Diet for Migraine? And, in fact, if you Google “ketogenic diet migraine,” my blog is the first hit. (I’m famous!) So I know I’m not the only migraineur who wonders whether low-carb is helpful. I’m only sorry that I don’t have a definitive answer to the question.
(In case you’re wondering, the second most viewed entry on this blog is What’s Your Ideal Weight? Why are all my most popular blog entries questions? How Many Teaspoons???? is up there, too, as is Would You Take Diet Advice From This Person?. Anyway, I am sure that most people viewing the ideal weight entry are disappointed, since I do not tell you how to figure out your ideal weight, and in fact I’m throwing the whole concept into question.)
Migraine aura picture from 
Regardless of what you call your blog…it’s always a great read! But yes, your low-carb posts are what brought me here.
As you know I started LC July 1, 2007 and have had good success with the weight loss. I’ve always taken 10mg to 20mg Inderal daily during that time. But about two months ago I agreed with my doc in jacking the dosage to 80mg daily! I take the Inderal LA, which is the Long Acting or slow release version, thus only once a day. I had taken that much for a few years back in the nineties but came off due to depression. The Inderal was not a 100% contributor to the depression, but when I came off of it, I could see some improvement. So, here I am trying it again. I take it for essential tremor in my hands. It improves the tremor about 60% which is a huge help in trying to do everyday tasks.
I’m monitoring the depression thing closely and I’m also thinking it effects weight loss. Mine has slowed. I’m not thrilled about beta-blockers (Inderal) but they do improve one’s quality of life, at least to some extent. Strange thing is that, as you know, they weren’t designed/developed for what you or I are taking them for. From what I understand, heart patients began to notice that they no longer had migraines and/or tremors. So, we end up taking a heart med for our problem.
Anyway I could go on and on about this stuff, Inderal. But I won’t here. I may just write a post on it myself…and get all my whining out.
Thanks for your great blog! I think it’s great even if it is called The Migraineur. Kinda’ like Inderal, it’s was designed/developed for migraine sufferers but it works for low-carbers.
Ron, aka The Former Donut Junkie
Comment by Ron — March 29, 2008 @ 5:24 am
Hey, I originally found your site by googling “ketogenic diet migraine”! Whaddaya know. I don’t suffer from migraines; I was hoping to find info for a friend.
To my mind, the subject matter thing is kinda like low carb and weight loss. People might initially stumble upon low carb because they’re looking for a way to lose weight, and then discover that low carb is the key to a whole host of issues surrounding health, politics, economy, history, culture… For this site, the point of entry for many people might be migraine rather than weight loss. Doesn’t matter; the important thing is, it’s another way in.
Comment by Vesna — March 30, 2008 @ 10:49 am
Inderal is a beta blocker? Don’t they raise the risk of diabetes as a long-term side effect?
Comment by Sonagi — April 1, 2008 @ 6:03 pm
Sonagi - I know! But I’m scared to go off Inderal. Losing 6 days a month to migraine today vs. an increased risk of diabetes down the road is a really tough decision. But migraine is a sure thing, and diabetes is only a risk.
The diabetes thing, though, is one of the many reasons I’m less than enchanted with my current doctor. She pooh-poohed my concerns, saying that the heart-protective effect of Inderal outweighed any diabetes risk. As if heart disease were the only reason to be worried about diabetes!
Comment by Migraineur — April 1, 2008 @ 8:17 pm
My wife, who suffers badly from migraines, was also advised by a neurologist to take inderal. She didn’t follow this advice because she found on the internet many complaints about weight gain. The neurologist was a bit piqued and said that he had never heard of this.
But below is the opinion of a pharmacologist who claims that there is indeed a weight gain but that it is limited to the first 3-6 months.But if you then put on ten pouns it is very difficult to get these off again as beta blockers do seem to interfere with a ketogenic diet. Atkins (New Diet Revolution 2002 p.26
claims that they can contribute to metabolic resistance to weight loss.Eades & Eades (Protein Power 1998 p.2 
claim that diuretics and beta-blockers do raise insulin levels.
Here is the pharmacological advice:
“The medication you are on is commonly used to treat high blood pressure, used to prevent heart attacks, and in some cases for heart failure.
In the case of its use in heart attacks and high blood pressure, Sharma et al. (Hypertension 2001; 37 : 250-254 ) recently reviewed the question of whether beta blockers ( Inderal LA is known as a beta blocker) can cause weight gain. In reviewing studies that included over 7000 patients, it was concluded that drugs such as Inderal can cause a weight gain in the first 3-6 mths on the average of about 3 pounds. The range was 0 to about 10 pounds weight gain. Weight gain did not happen after the first 6 months on the medication.
The reasons for weight gain from a drug like Inderal are :
decrease in your metabolic rate of ten percent
fatigue
reduction in exercise tolerance
increased insulin resistance
decrease in the ability to process lipids
In the case of use of drugs like Inderal for heart failure, weight gain would be seen as a sign of worsening disease and should be managed by your clinician. Given that we do not know the reason for your use of Inderal, it is difficult to assess this.
Finally, no matter what Inderal is being used for, it is important not to stop this abruptly. Abrupt discontinuance of Inderal has been associated with heart attacks.
In summary, Inderal and medications like Inderal have been associated with weight gain. There are alternative medications that can be used for any of the conditions named above. You should discuss with your clinician the above information and if deemed appropriate, consider a tapering off of Inderal to assess its contribution to your weight gain.”
Response by:
Dennis Mungall, PharmD
Associate Professor, Pharmacy Practice
College of Pharmacy
The Ohio State University
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Comment by Arie Brand — April 18, 2008 @ 11:04 pm
Arie - thanks for the excellent information. I wonder if the decreased exercise tolerance comes from decreased heat tolerance. I’ve never liked being hot - I was one of those babies that was always pulling her booties off - but it’s much worse now.
I seem to have avoided the weight gain window of 3 to 6 months! My loss has been very, very slow though - about a pound a month.
When I told my doctor I was skeptical of Inderal because of its effect on insulin (extensive family history of diabetes), she countered with, “But that is balanced by its heart-protective effect.” Now, I have no family history of heart disease unrelated to diabetes. Which should I be more concerned with?
Comment by psipsina — April 24, 2008 @ 9:35 am
i too take propranolol for migraine. my doc started me on the LA version last july, and later switched me to 40 mg bid. i did gain a few pounds (i was overweight to begin with!) and i do find that hot weather (like we’re having now… it’s over 90 and it’s not quite noon yet!) makes me more uncomfortable than it used to.
however, i haven’t had the problems you’re having in re losing the weight i’ve gained since i started taking the propranolol, and even working on what i had to lose before that. *knocking wood* eliminating a good deal of the sugar i was consuming has helped immensely, but atkins and i do not agree with each other. i’ve had to sometimes force myself to exercise, but i do eat whole grains and fruit.
my biggest problem has been with postural hypotension. even after all this time on this medication, most of the time i rise from a seated/prone position too quickly and feel as though i’m about to pass out.
i will gladly live with all these side effects and continue to take the propranolol though. i’ve had one migraine in the entire time i’ve been on it, down from 2 or 3 a week before. i sometimes have the scintillating scotoma phase that was/is(?) my aura, but the headache never comes. weird, eh?
found you from doug’s blog… glad i did!
Comment by joolz — April 28, 2008 @ 2:03 pm