Spotlight: Diana Lee

Spotlight: Diana Lee Blog: Somebody Heal Me Blogging since: June 2006 Migraines since: Age six. Work: Writer and attorney, though my current focus is on my health and blog. Advocacy/Volunteer: Author of petition to protect migraineurs from CFL bulbs.

Tell us about your Headache Blog Carnival.

I started it when I realized that there were so many great headache and migraine bloggers but no existing carnival to bring all of us and our voices together. The enthusiastic response in the migraine blogging community has made my work on the carnival immensely rewarding. Starting a new endeavor is always filled with anxiety and uncertainty, so to have the carnival be so well received and have this many participants and readers has been reassuring.

What made you start your blog?

I found myself spending increasing amounts of time researching headaches, migraines and depression for myself and my friends, and I needed an outlet for my growing frustration with the failure of every single thing I'd tried to help with my migraines. Starting a blog that combined my own health experiences with my journalistic and legal training just made sense.

Tell us about the CFL petition.

As a member of the Migraine Disease & Headache Bloggers Association, I'm working to promote changes to a recently enacted federal law that will harm migraineurs whose attacks are triggered by compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs).

The law currently mandates phasing out production of incandescent light bulbs. We fully support policies to address climate change, but we believe the law should focus on energy standards rather than on eliminating specific products.

The MDHA will send our petition and signatures to our congressional representatives and request their support for our proposed change. At that time we'll be calling on people who support this issue to help promote the effort by contacting their own congress people.

About five months ago I posted a poll on my site that revealed that 60 percent of people responding to the poll believe CFLs are a migraine trigger for them. While this poll is in no way scientific, it illustrates the significant burden CFLs impose on people with migraine disease. People with lupus, epilepsy, and autism are also thought to be negatively affected by CFLs.

How do you balance your various endeavors?

My main focus right now is my personal health. I spend most of my time coordinating my medical care, going to various appointments and researching new possibilities for dealing with my chronic migraines, depression, and other fun health issues. All the other activities have taken a back seat out of necessity. I spend the rest of my time doing work for the blog: Writing, editing my work, corresponding with readers and interacting with other migraineurs on various message boards.

What motivates your writing?

My main motivations are helping myself by writing about my experiences and frustrations and helping other people by sharing those experiences and the best information I can find with them. I've made a lot of mistakes along the journey of trying to heal myself, and I hope I can help other people target their energy toward the people and options that hold the most promise so they can learn from my failures.

Can you describe one of these failures?

Seeing doctors who weren't equipped to help me, and not asserting myself as to my own care and treatment plan. Not every neurologist is prepared or willing to help migraine patients; it’s essential to see a headache specialist. I want to save people the heartache, wasted time and expense of seeing doctor after doctor after doctor, only to leave each visit demoralized, confused and sicker than ever.

I’ve also learned the importance of being your own advocate. You must do your own research so you know which questions to ask. You must speak up if something doesn't feel right or if you’re confused. Your doctor should listen to you. Bottom line: Don’t be afraid to fire a doctor who isn't meeting your needs.

How are you treating your migraines?

My philosophy is to try anything that has a reasonable hope of helping me. Whole living is important to me, but I also acknowledge that Western medicine has the best options for treating certain aspects of my health. I practice meditation and go in for weekly massage and craniosacral therapy sessions. In the past, I've done a lot of acupuncture. But I also see my medical doctors regularly, take a astounding number of prescription medications and rely heavily on scientific research in deciding which therapies and treatments to take a chance on next. I tend to be a very methodical, analytical person, but I also acknowledge that sometimes something completely random can help, and you can't know until you try it.

What’s an example of something random?

None of the medications currently used in migraine prevention were developed for that purpose. So although it may seem off the wall to take, for instance, a drug usually prescribed for Alzheimer's like Namenda, when you've tried everything else, you sometimes have to take a leap of faith and try it.

What treatment research interests you?

Anything related to discovering what causes migraines and how to turn the right switch off in our brains excites me. We're lucky to have so many great treatment medications, but for those of us who still have chronic migraines, learning to circumvent the brain's tendency to overreact would be ideal.

More specifically, I'm always reading the latest studies about the performance of various drugs in migraine prevention and the interplay between migraine and other diseases and conditions, such as depression, post traumatic stress disorder and other pain disorders.

Can you recommend some good sources?

A couple of my favorites are My Migraine Connection and ChronicBabe. I also find a lot of good health-related content on Lime.com and Beliefnet, though neither is strictly a health site.

Learn more about Diana.

Who inspires you? Let us know who we should feature in our next Spotlight Interview. Write us at community@wegohealth.com