Cindy McCain reveals Migraine suffering- compares it to husband's torture

[wilt the stilt]

The height of being self absorbed. If this doesn't take the cake.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/02/cindy-mccain-reveals-migr_n_275065.html

[WI_DEM]

1. Well she's exaggerating, but I've known a lot of migraine sufferers and it is pretty awful

[tridim]

4. I've known a few who only get relief from cannabis.

But pot is highly illegal and evil, so not pot for you. :eyes:

Same old story, doc prescribes pain killers, they don't work. Patient tells doc that pot helps and doc prescribes more powerful pain killers so he can make more money. Rinse, lather, repeat.

[alfredo]

43. Think of the worst hangover you've had. Now think of it lasting 3 to 4 days.

[Lagomorph]

45. My wife goes into the bedroom,

closes the door, window blinds, curtains and puts on sunglasses.

Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter!

[alfredo]

48. Zomig or Imitrex works just fine for me. Has she been to the doctor

about her migraines? I used to work with migraines. I could barely stand, but I did it because I couldn't afford to take four days off every two weeks.

[Lagomorph]

51. Yes, been to the doctor...

She is a cancer survivor and really has trouble with medication side effects. She tries to ride it out unless it's unbearable.

[alfredo]

53. There has to be something that she can take. It's something I wouldn't wish

on anyone, except maybe Rush or Beck.

[itsrobert]

2. She needs to take Vitamin B2, B6, and B12

It works. My wife suffers from Migraines and it is torture to her. It's not funny. It was torture on me as she took a lot of her pain out on me. She tried all the pills, but nothing worked until she started taking the vitamin B's.

[goclark]

3. The link would not open for me ....

[Arkansas Granny]

5. I've known migraine sufferers. What they describe sounded a lot like torture to me.

While it wasn't deliberately inflicted upon them by another person, they suffered a lot of pain without being able to alleviate it. Sometimes the drugs worked, sometimes they didn't.

[livetohike]

6. Before Imitrex came on the market in 1995 (?), all of my migraine

attacks resulted in a trip to the emergency room. There I received a shot to stop the nausea and a shot for the pain (usually Tuinal). I would usually suffer as long as possible before making that trip to the E.R. in the hopes that my symptoms would lessen.

I sympathize with Cindy McCain because I know the pain, but to equate it to torture, I think is going a bit far.

[undeterred]

11. Even after Imitrex I had a few years

when I would go to the ER on the 4th day of a migraine, usually because I was still in pain and couldn't stop vomiting. Unfortunately, the migraine drugs have a rebound effect. I don't have insurance now, so I just suffer through it.

[livetohike]

17. Oh undeterred

:hug: Imitrex saved my life. I am 100% positive my migraines were hormonal (had them from age 15-55). Now I am done with that and haven't had one since Jan. 2007. I just bought two Imitrex injections ($153.00)just in case because I never want to go through that pain again.

Controlling the nausea was the big thing for me. I'd be so dehydrated from vomiting that it created new symptoms. Once, in the E.R. they couldn't detect my blood pressure. I had to sit, lie down and stand up before they could read it! Phenergan suppositories really worked well for me.

I sympathize with you. I wish there was something inexpensive that worked.

[undeterred]

20. I believe the patent on Imitrex should be up about now.

I started using imitrex in 1993. Patents used to be 17 years, which is a hell of a long time to wait for a generic. My doctor said Glaxo "reformulated" Imitrex in such a way that the patent isn't up next year and they came up with their own genric (treximet) which is not cheap either.

When will the GREED end?

[gkhouston]

23. A generic for imitrex should be on the market by 1/1/2010 because my insurance

company has it listed in the new formulary. Wish they had one for Maxalt.

[PSzymeczek]

37. Generic Imitrex soon?

Please let it be true!

[gkhouston]

49. I just checked Costco's online pharmacy, out of curiosity -- they're selling it now. n/t

[PSzymeczek]

38. I get that kind of migraine from a flu shot. n/t

[JaneQPublic]

7. If I were married to McCain, I'd have lots of migraines, too...

...especially at bedtime.

:rofl:

[undeterred]

8. I've had migraines for over 25 years

and I think its the most pain you can be in without something medical being wrong with you (with the exception of childbirth).

It does not compare to torture because (once the migraines are diagnosed) you have a rational explanation for them.

There is no fear.

You know the headache is going to be over.

You aren't going to die.

Nobody is manipulating your behavior.

You will not have lasting scars.

And if you are lucky enough to be Cindy McCain instead of one of the 47 million uninsured, you have medication you can take immediately to make the headache go away.

[greenbird]

9. Well said.

I've had migraines for 35 years. Cindy is being a tad melodramatic.

[hunter]

16. Yes, it would only be torture if the migraine was induced by a torturer.

I sometimes wonder what sort of Intelligent Designer let that very obvious defect out the door.

But when you start thinking of life as some kind of torture to be endured until death sets you free then people will stop inviting you to parties.

[gkhouston]

25. I'll agree with every sentence except the last one. Sometimes, the abortives

don't work and even your rescue med doesn't get the job done. Still, by that point the headache is usually less, even if it's still very bad, so you can gut it out.

[undeterred]

26. Right, but in comparison to torture, you have control over it.

You have meds to try or an emergency room to go to. You have no control over torture.

[gkhouston]

30. Oh, I agree. It was a ridiculous thing for her to have said. n/t

[undeterred]

31. Maybe she's sick and tired of hearing about it.

[freeplessinseattle]

32. well put, and I've been cursed for 25+ years too

I remember when I was younger and my mom would have them so bad, for days, and when she would cry that she wanted to die I 'd get upset, which would make her upset, and make her feel even worse. then when I hit puberty and got migraines myself I understood.

Since Imitrex though it is more manageable, and mentally easier, since before it felt like it might never end, or subside at all.

[DarthDem]

10. Good Thng She Has Excellent Health Insurance!

I do feel sorry for her, but the government-run (gasp!!!!!!!!) U.S. Senate health insurance has her covered. And the comparison *was* a bit off, unless this is the kickoff of a campaign for public office predicated exclusively on her status as a sufferer of migraines.

[lapfog_1]

12. My mother, my sister and I suffer migraines

and they can be so painful that I want to die. I can't lay down, I can't stand, I have to be in a dark room with no sound. We have all tried various meds, vitamins, diets... and sometime things do work.

For example, there is a acupressure point in your hand, in between the thumb and index finger at the very base of the thumb (the "meaty" part). If you squeeze it hard from both sides, your headache will dissipate to some degree, although not completely (at least for me). As long as I keep pressure on that point, I'm better. As soon as I release it... the headache is back full force. But if I need to talk to someone...

Also, tilting my head to one side or the other relative to my body can constrict the blood flow somewhat and that can reduce the pain. As can a cold "ice pack" on my temples or eyes.

The pain meds I take will eventually kick it, and when I finally get to sleep, it's the best sleep ever. I always wake up feeling like a million bucks.

But to compare it to years of torture in a Viet Cong prison cell...

No Cindy, not even close.

[otohara]

22. I've Never Been In A Vietnamese Prison

but I do suffer migraines - foods like blue, black, raspberries are triggers, movie theaters, fragrances other smells are all triggers.

I stick my fingers down my throat to throw up the culprit food to hasten relief of the migraine. The drugs do work and sleep is imperative for complete relief. Thank God I have the meds to help the migraine and to knock myself out.

I hyperventilate, curl up in a ball, hot, cold - chills to sweating.

I would describe my migraines as "VIOLENT" and a form of torture, without the Vietnamese soldiers allowing the townsfolk to beat me with sticks and rocks as they passed screaming and kicking me. Or being tied up with parachute chords and being beaten daily.


more on Vietnamese torture methods: http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=25312

[hunter]

13. Migraines are horrible.

If I had a choice between having a few fingernails ripped off or a migraine I'd probably go with the fingernails. I've had fingernails ripped up in accidents and it wasn't so bad as a can't-see-throwing-up migraine where every little sound, every little touch, and any light induces agony.

Modern migraine meds were like a miracle for me.

[PSzymeczek]

39. I would much rather have the flu

than the migraine the vaccine induces.

[sufrommich]

14. I have a cousin whose husband committed suicide

because of his migraines.
I'm not comparing it to torture, but it's seriously painful from what I can gather.

[LiberalAndProud]

15. Who is eating huffington's bandwidth?

I cannot open the link. So I have a headline ... I'd like to know the context, but if this one-liner is true, it disrespects McCain's experience as a POW.

[Matariki]

18. After just suffering a three day headache I can sympathize wiht her.

going to bed and waking up with a headache for days on end takes it out of you. it starts to feel like torture.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

19. If I don't treat my sinus headaches immediately, I get migraine symptons, and frankly

I don't know about torture, but the pain of those headaches are worse than the pain I had with hard labor.

[RaleighNCDUer]

21. If you are being tortured you can make it stop by saying what they want to hear.

That doesn't work with a migraine.

I know.

[Mz Pip]

40. Or not.

Sometimes they torture for the fun of it regardless of what you have to say.

Migrains are torture but I don't think Cindy really thought about what she was saying. Sort of a false analogy IMHO. They re both awful but should not be compared to one another.

[onenote]

24. she specifically compared the pain from a migraine to the pain from being tied to a chair for 4 days

Frankly, having suffered mild migraines myself and knowing people who suffer much more severe migraines, I don't think that's necessarily an unfair comparison.

[renate]

27. I'm sure migraine sufferers have tried everything, but if this would help just one person

My husband would take hot baths and put a cool washcloth on his head; the heat would dilate the blood vessels in the rest of his body, drawing the blood away from the head, so there wouldn't be as much of an increase in the blood flow to his brain. (The blood vessels constrict at the very beginning of a migraine, but then they dilate, so I suppose doing this during the constrictive, aura/premigraine phase wouldn't help and might make things worse.)

[AngryAmish]

28. I had 2 migraines

I'm not sure what was going on because I had three seizures the same month as the migraines (sixteens years ago). Throwing up, dark room, et al.

I have never experienced anything like it before or since.

I have not been tortured but I never have had anything to compare to it.

Some people get them all the time. I'm not sure but suicide would look very good if I suffered through that all the time.

[kestrel91316]

29. It's only been in the last several years that I have realized that the bad headaches

I have had since I was a teen are MIGRAINES (it took some accompanying auras to get me to see the light, so to speak). They are just that: BAD headaches. Can't possibly compare to torture like he endured, and I say that as someone who can't stand the man.

[hunter]

34. Nah, I've had BAD headaches too.

But I've had migraines so bad that if I knew where to drill a hole in my head to make it stop I would have.

I've spent too much time curled up on the floor in front of the toilet, in the dark, with a pillow wrapped around my head and toilet paper stuffed in my ears. With a really bad migraine I'm completely blind, it's ALL aura. Any light or sound or touch makes me puke, and that makes even more hurt.

I'm lucky, meds work. I take them, I still feel like yuck, but it's tolerable and I can see and I don't puke.

A mild migraine is a really bad headache with an aura, but it gets worse.

Well, I guess it's not so bad as a cluster headache...



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cluster_headache

[cherokeeprogressive]

33. I have a friend who is 100% disabled due to migraines. He likens it to having a little man

inside his skull trying to blast his way out with dynamite. He has a room in his house that has a door sealed against sound and the windows painted black to stop the light. Sometimes he's in that room for up to 48 hours.

He was once one of the baddest, most capable motherfuckers I ever knew. Since the migraines started, he's a hollow shell of his former self. I feel for Mrs. McCain.

[lonestarnot]

35. She just needs a simpleton's excuse for narcotics as she is a drug addict.

[Kaleva]

36. My wife suffers from migraines...

and it was so bad on some occasions that she was hospitalized. It's nothing to laugh about.

[ThoughtCriminal]

41. If waterboarding would cure a migraine

There would have been a few times I might have considered it.

[leftofthedial]

42. I would have thought that having to fly commercial instead of on her jet

would have been more like his torture.







She IS his torture. No wonder he's such a turd. You would be too if you'd been chewed up and shat out as often as he no doubt has been by her.

[DemoTex]

44. Has any family in modern US history traded on the POW issue like McCain's?

I think not. I find the McCain family M.O. exceedingly offensive. I am fairly sure that McCain fucked up over Hanoi. At the risk of being offensive myself, I have to say this: could he have fucked up on purpose? I mean, he was a fairly stupid man with ambitions and a father who was a top Navy admiral at the time. How could that be? But the McCain family's continued capitalization of his POW status does run the bullshit flag up the pole for me.

[Kaleva]

47. Andrew Jackson is the only other political figure I can think of...

who spent time as a POW.

[burning rain]

46. Publicly revealing ungodly headaches...

is probably the cougar's coded way of putting out the word that she's hungry for willing prey. Hopefully Levi Johnston's on the case.

[DevonRex]

50. I would rather go through labor again than have a migraine. nt

[ecstatic]

52. I get migraines from caffeine withdrawal...

I'm not going to read the article but I wonder what hers is from.