If you have been paralized with the pain of repeated migraines, then READ THIS BOOK. It was the turning point for the healing of my years of agonizing hedache pain. But you have to do what it says. I am headache-free now!

I first saw Dr. Buchholz 12 years ago for severe headaches. I had been to numerous doctors and had tried many things including sinus remedies, acupuncture and Imitrex injections. With every failed treatment, I felt physically and emotionally worse.

It took me awhile to buy in to Dr. Buchholz's program but I was desperate so finally gave it a try. After 2 weeks I felt better and after two months I was having only minor headaches. Four months after starting the program, my headaches were almost completely gone. Over the next seven years, I was able to re-introduce many foods with little headache recurrence.

When my father passed away my headaches returned but this time with a number of new symptoms including terrible neck and face pain. I read this book and immediately knew what was going on and what to do about it. Again, within a matter of weeks, I was able to get my headaches under control.

Dr. Buchholz is a brilliant doctor and this book is invaluable to anyone who suffers from any type of headache. Dr. Buchholz not only thoroughly and simply explains how the migraine mechanism works but he provides simple, logical steps for healing yourself. The book is a wonderful resource - I highly recommend it.

I first saw Dr. Buchholz 12 years ago for severe headaches. I had been to numerous doctors and had tried many things including sinus remedies, acupuncture and Imitrex injections. With every failed treatment, I felt physically and emotionally worse.

It took me awhile to buy in to Dr. Buchholz's program but I was desperate so finally gave it a try. After 2 weeks I felt better and after two months I was having only minor headaches. Four months after starting the program, my headaches were almost completely gone. Over the next seven years, I was able to re-introduce many foods with little headache recurrence.

When my father passed away my headaches returned but this time with a number of new symptoms including terrible neck and face pain. I read this book and immediately knew what was going on and what to do about it. Again, within a matter of weeks, I was able to get my headaches under control.

Dr. Buchholz is a brilliant doctor and this book is invaluable to anyone who suffers from any type of headache. Dr. Buchholz not only thoroughly and simply explains how the migraine mechanism works but he provides simple, logical steps for healing yourself. The book is a wonderful resource - I highly recommend it.

This book probably saved my life. I was having headaches so bad I was afraid I might not be able to work and have to go on disability. I discovered the book about 2 years ago and my headaches have almost disappeared. When I do have a headache, it is because I have cheated on the diet or eaten something that I didn't realize was on his list of foods to avoid (yogurt, for example).

Although many of my favorite foods are on the list to avoid (cheese, salty snacks that may have MSG, peanut butter, etc.), it is a small sacrifice to avoid them as much as possible. When I follow the diet strictly, my head is completely clear, not fuzzy or "headachy." I now no longer fear getting a headache at work and having to take sick leave.

In the rare occasions I do get a headache, it is nothing compared to the ones I used to get that made me vomit (not fun). Taking Advil or Relpax, only when absolutely necessary to prevent the rebound headaches, usually clears them up.

I was desperate before finding this book. I recommend it to everyone I know who suffers from migraines.

I have been on the 1-2-3 Program since I read the book and I have been Migraine free. I was having rebond migraines and this is the first time I have gone a month without a headache. I have had migraines for 64 years. I was already on the diet and taking medication, but that didn't work. I gave up coffee and caffein products. I started following the 1-2-3 program and it has been wonderful.

This book makes sense out of an illness that seems to have no rhyme or reason. I suspect I am the typical migraine sufferer who has "tried everything." Despite my treatment by dozens of very well-trained physicians, I have never been able to prevent my migraines from coming (always once a month with my period) or to manage them when they do (too often I end up in the ER with a $2,000 bill since my migraines are a "pre-existing" condition not covered by Blue Cross).

This book clearly outlines the way migraine triggers accumulate, the rebound effects of most every drug I've ever used, and the importance of getting everything that could be causing or perpetuating migraines out of your system before trying preventive medications. After reading "Heal Your Headache," I realize how non-systematic my treatment approaches have been. I was elimiating some foods I knew about (e.g. red wine) but not others (e.g. peanut butter), and taking preventive medicines while also using rebound-causing triptans -- no wonder nothing was working!

I am only 4 weeks into my approach of eliminating all triggers and rebound-causing drugs, but already I notice a difference in the frequency and severity of my headaches. I am hopeful that I may finally be on the right track. I wish I had the information in this book when I had my first migraine as a freshman in college. My husband is a physician, and he agrees that we have learned more from this easy-to-read book than we have learned from our own research and numerous physician visits over many years.

This book was recommended to me by a neurologist. After adding magnesiusm to my diet, I have dramatically decreased the frequency of my headaches.

If you think you are the only one who feels crazy telling your friends about your "headaches" (which is what they hear) and food associated with them, you're not! This book not only confims that, but helps you understand why you get them (even if you are like me and thought you already knew everything there was to know)and who in your family you probably inherited this little gift from! After years of listening to my dad say he doesn't get migraines, just "terrible sinus headaches that never go away with decongestants", I finally sent him this book. He is finally almost migraine free...he in turn gave it to a neighbor! Best money I have ever spent!

When I first read this book, I was overwhelmed by the proposed plan to eliminate so many things from my life. The dietary restrictions alone were obscene! But I have struggled with headaches for years and they had become such a big problem that I was afraid to take on new responsibilities. This was certainly a red flag that I needed help. I tried to eliminate caffeine first which was a big problem for me. After a big headache came on after the first day, I chickened out and went back to my regular tea-consuming routine. I thought the book was masochistic and I was ready to abandon the 1-2-3 step plan. But then I thought about something else the book said which was that women who are on hormonal contraception should eliminate that to see if it has an effect. So I did, and now I am virtually headache free. I feel so foolish because for many years I just assumed that I needed birth control to "tame" my headaches by giving me a consistent flow of hormones, rather than letting my body go wild and fluctuate each month. So to make a long story short, this book was VERY helpful to me, but I didn't end up needing to do the full program because with one step, I was able to get my headaches under control, at least for now (I don't want to jinx myself!)

This book also had many helpful anecdotes, many of which I could relate to. Every individual's body is different and the author's description of the threshold for migraine is a useful framework for understanding how headaches work and how other external factors contribute. I think there is something for everyone in this book and it is certainly priced affordably enough to give it a shot. Any migraine sufferer knows that at times you will try ANYTHING to get better. This plan, while daunting at first, could change your life.

Just a little about ME and MY migraines. By providing this, I hope to be able to share my experience with other ladies suffering the same pain. I had hoped that others would mention the types of migraines they suffered, but I didn't see many such reviews.

I am a woman in my mid 30s and suffer two types of migraine. The first happened when I was about 20 years old - at the Right Temple. The next happened about 6 years later - behind my Left Eye.

Like most of you, I have tried numerous drugs too. I also tried chiropractic adjustments, but they were not the answer.

Before the diet, I only took Zomig to abort the migraines. Since being on the diet, I have better managed my Zomig intake (only taking it once during the two months because I didn't want to give up another weekend). I still had my usual 2 to 3 migraines a month, but many of them I just tried to sleep off (which is never easy) and lose 1 or 2 days.

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I followed the diet to the letter for two-and-a-half months. I learned that it was NOT the food that I ate that caused MY migraines, but it seems to be my hormones. I noticed I am extremely sensitive to smells about 3 or 4 days before the start of my period and I usually get a Right Temple migraine about 7 to 10 days before my period.

I haven't quite figured out what brings on the Left Eye migraines. My thoughts always return to the weather. I try not to go to bed with wet hair, as I think this contributes to it too. I do notice a pattern of them as my period ends. I also notice I get another Right Temple migraine as my period is ending.

I journaled my diet for the entire time. I kept track of any sensations I felt in my head as well as stressors and my menses.

I truly believe that any foods that may cause problems (FOR ME) are only triggers COMBINED with other triggers such as odors (perfume, cigrette smoke, Clorox wipes, etc.), stress, and hormones.

I learned to read food labels quite well and, what I will take from this is that I will avoid MSG and MSG causing agents whenever possible. I will watch my nitrite/nitrate intake (not that I was ever a big consumer of it) as well as some of the other fruits/vegetables on the list. Again, I have never been a big consumer of anything - everything in moderation. However, maybe bananas are not the greatest for me. (My husband is Type 1 Diabetic so we do not usually have them around). I will also try not to buy processed foods as much as possible.

I will stay off caffeine until I have my first child, but I really do not think it has an effect on ME. I was only a 1 or 2 caffeinated beverage consumer a day anyway. I think I might go to decaffeinated rather than caffeinated because I just do not think I need it.

After I have a child, I think I will go back on a preventative because I remember having very good success with amytriptyline when I first started having them. For obvious reasons, I do not want to start on drugs only to have to come off them when I get pregnant.

For now, I am beginning to come off the diet. I will resume my Zomig when I know I cannot be pregnant, but I think I will pay more attention to the sensations in my head and not leap to take one for fear of a migraine. I think I did this too many times when I could have dealt with the pain.

What I really liked about the book was that the author made me aware of food labels and that he listed the medications. I really learned a lot about my own body too.

What I didn't like was eating the same foods (my choice). I made the best of what I could eat and I would do it again because it was worth it to find out, once and for all, if food was my problem.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I absolutely hate it when you mention you have migraines and you are told you should avoid citrus, chocolate, red wine, and aged cheese. We all know this! We learned it day 1 of Migraine 101. Oh well. :-)

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PS. Is anyone else as frustrated with migraines as I am in that you constantly second guess yourself - Am I having a migraine? Am I not? Should I take my medicine? Should I wait? I think the not knowing is just as bad as the disease itself.

Wonderful book for all migraineurs and other headache sufferers. Takes you into the life of a headache sufferer such as myself with helpful recommendations and suggestions. I would recommend it to anyone wanting to break the drug-cycle that comes so easily with chronic headache conditions regardless of their cause...

Thank goodness Dr. Buchholz took the time to write this book. After 18 years of frustration and pain, I found this book on Amazon.com and have not had a headache since reading it. Dr. Buchholz is a very good writer and his book is easy to read and understand. Anyone under a doctor's care for migraines will benefit from reading this book. No physician who treats migraine patients should continue doing so without reading Heal Your Headache. In my opinion that would be irresponsible. For most of us, life with migraine is history.

I started getting headaches around the age of 9 from what I can remember and they prgressively got worse as I got older. In my early 20s I can remember having a headache every day. If I didn't have a headache, I wondered what was wrong. If I woke up without a headache I was sure to have one by the time I went to bed. I really had no clue as to what caused these headaches so often and they left me rather depressed and feeling hopeless. I missed work alot and I missed out on alot of good times with friends and family simply because I just didn't feel good. My headaches came with a wide varity of symptoms including nausia, vomiting, dizziness, tiredness, muscle tenderness, and an overall inability to focus. My mother used BC Powders constantly and I found for myself that BCs were about the only thing that would give me some relief. I had tried going to the ER and even the family doctor but they only offered short term fixes. I had also learned from my own experience and from other people and doctors that chocolate, caffine, and nuts could cause head aches and sometimes they did. It was very hard to pin point any one food because I seemed to always have a headache.

My mother called me one day and told me about this book. I was 24 years old when I first read it and it literally changed my life. I will tell you now though that what this book tells you you should do in order to get rid of your headaches is not easy. But I have to honestly say that if you will be willing to make some major changes in your diet, you will get your head pain under control. You also have to be willing to stop using quick headache fixes like BCs and Emitrex because these medications cause rebound.

I was at a point where I was willing to do ANYTHING to stop my headaches. I was amazed that 99% of them came from food and as ready as I was to make whatever changes it took, I still struggled. It took me about 2 years before I put a real belief in what this man has to say about your diet and your headaches. It took so long because I was really in denial, I didn't want to give up things like ice cream (milk is a big trigger for me) or tomatos. (I love pasta) Vinigar was another big one that took me a very long time to let go of. Now that I am able to be fully honest with myself about my headaches and my diet, I only suffer from headaches about once or twice a month and that's amazing considering I used to have a headache on a daily basis.

I am sure this book would be helpful to anyone who gets headaches more than they would like to. If you get headaches alot, be prepared to have to take some serious responsibility for yourself! It's worth it in the end.

Anyone who suffers from migraine headaches should read this book and try Dr. Buchholz's program. I have had migraine headaches for the last ten years. Things were getting worse with the medications to relieve the headaches providing relief followed by rebound in an endless cycle. This program broke the cycle and I believe that anyone who wants to get relief from migraines should read this book and try the program. It will help!

There is a reason that there are 200+ reviews for "heal your headache."
Pick up this book, and you feel like you've walked into a doctors office, the doctor is smiling at you, doesnt judge your years of persistent pain, really WANTS to help you, and most importantly ---has answers to all your questions, and KNOWS WHATS WRONG WITH YOU.
I am not yet headache free, I'm actually in a painful 2 weeks of withdrawl having given up caffeine, all drugs and alcohol (ok I lapsed once on maxalt but now i've thrown them all out), diet coke, and everything else on the list. Its especially hard because I'm a vegetarian, but with careful planning ahead, its actually a fun challenge to find recipes that work. Shallots or scallions instead of onions! I exercise regularly (when my head doesnt hurt) and i get my 7 hrs sleep. I figure 3 months of this diet is worth it if I can get my life back, if I can start planning weekends again, and accept invitations without wondering: but what if I get a headache? Thankyou, Dr you've really helped me. Whether I identify my triggers or not, your book makes nothing but sense and has given me hope that controlling my migraines is finally within my grasp.

I am 32 and have had headaches consistently since I was a kid. I always thought it was due to neck or back problems and had no idea that the foods I was eating and the headache medication I was taking was most of the problem. Since reading this book I have gone from having a headache almost every night to having only one or two headaches a month. The key for me has been following most of the dietary changes Dr. Buchholz recommends, and getting off of the migrane prescription medication I'd been taking.
Dr. Buchholz' system is based on his years of experience as a neurologist. The book begins by explaining his view that nearly all headaches are migranes and that even though it may seem like our headache is due to sore neck muscles or tension, that the tenseness we feel is actually a neurological symptom of the headache itself. He then goes on to outline how we can reduce our occurrance of headaches by eliminating or reducing certain foods in our diet. I had no idea that any foods were giving me a headache, but I learned from this book that many times the migrane will come hours after we've consumed those foods, so it's difficult to tell what caused it. I can't recommend this book highly enough. I never though I would have the quality of life that I have now, and it's worth it, even though I have eliminated some foods I really loved.

I ordered this the same day I ordered the book on migraines and magnesium. I read the magnesium book first and started taking supplements, which helped immediately. Then I read this book one day when I was home sick, and immediately implemented the diet and stopped taking all my medications. Cold turkey. Yes, it sucked. I missed Diet Coke and coffee so much.

But very quickly, I was able to id what my triggers were. I have gradually worked a few of my favorite things back in. Yes, the diet is hard to follow, at first it seems like there is nothing you can eat! But with some diligence, it becomes easier. And I also lost a lot of weight quickly on the diet.

For me, the triggers I found were nitrates and MSG, which I did not know were in almost all restaurant food. That leaves me with only eating fresh food, basically....And wow, it tastes good.

I started the mild exercise and being diligent about getting rest as well. I like to work out a lot harder than "mild" exercise, so this is hard for me...but I hope to be able to work up to more exercise eventually. At any rate, it was worth any sacrifice to me to get rid of the pain that was ruining my life.

I recommend this book and the book on magnesium and migraines. You can get your life back and stop writhing in pain and nausea! I haven't had a migraine in over a month and I was getting them at least two times a week, often more, for 20 years.

Heal Your Headache: The 1-2-3 Program for Taking Charge of Your Pain

This book changed my life. I was having 20+ migraines a month. After reading this book and deciding to follow what it recommended, I am now down to 1-3 a month. It was not easy at first but I hung in there and it is so worth it. I have my life back. I now know what I can and can not do and eat and there is NOTHING that is worth getting a headache for so I just stay clear. This book is a MUST read for anyone with migraines.

The information in this book is what finally gave me a measure of control over
my migraines. The book was first loaned to me by my neurologist. I read it,
applied the suggestions, and soon purchased my own copy to reference before
returning his.

I have read a couple of other migraine related books, and picked up a tip or two,
but none had an impact like this one. I can not stress enough that if you are
serious about taking control back of your life and your pain, GET THIS BOOK! It
Is not expensive, and the information is priceless.

I used to (fingers crossed) suffer from very bad migraines that ranged from bad to unbearable for several years. When they started increasing in frequency to the point where I had 3 or 4 a week, I was determined to find relief. I read this book and started following recommendations in mid November 2007. Stopped Excedrin and Relpax and started excluding trigger foods. I also started taking Migrelief more regularly (got the insight from "The Magnesium Solution"). First week was tough. After that, I have had maybe 2-3 migraines between end of November and now (Jan 9, 08)! And those I had were very mild comparing to my prior experience.
Keeping fingers crossed, I will continue to enoy the same going forward!
The book definitely helped! I now don't even have to exclude trigger foods, except on high trigger days. I think stopping the rebound causing medications did it for me.

I am still amazed at the results! Excellent book, great help!

Buchholz is clearly the man of the hour all over Johns Hopkins Hospital. I was referred there for something unrelated with migraines, diagnosed with "atypical migraines" and told that if I wanted to avoid taking really bad drugs (specifically the ones Buchholz recommends), I had better eat a better diet (but they implied I "wanted" the drugs). Strangely, no one ever asked me what my current diet is. It's not so bad (that was simply assumed), and I doubt I could have made enough changes in it to significantly alter my condition even if I did buy the "atypical migraine" diagnosis.

But now the docs were off the hook. Rather than help me puzzle out the real problem, they could recommend this and feel they'd done something. Then if I didn't get better, then I guess I wasn't trying hard enough. Patient fault.

My referring specialist, and the Ph.D. technician who administered a clincal test I needed, were amused. "We hear that all the time now from people coming out of Hopkins. It's their thing."

I want to Johns Hopkins and came away with a prescription for an Amazon best seller. Buchholz rails against aspects of the healthcare "industry" but I think he's got one of his own right now. After all, as I write this Amazon is sold out of the book.

Threshold theory is excellent. This isn't the end all, be all book, but it totally helped me fill in blanks that other books and doctor's hadn't shared. If you're dealing with headaches, you may want to use multiple modalities of treatment, acupuncture, massage, naturopathic, and traditional meds (if you have to)

Threshold theory is excellent. This isn't the end all, be all book, but it totally helped me fill in blanks that other books and doctor's hadn't shared. If you're dealing with headaches, you may want to use multiple modalities of treatment, acupuncture, massage, naturopathic, and traditional meds (if you have to)

I have been following Dr. Buchholz's program for several weeks and have had fewer headaches. I have been a migraine sufferer for20 years and am pleased to finally find someone who has another treatment approach. I think I can only benefit from a decrease in the amount of medicine I have to take. I would recommend this book to headache patients who have tried many other treatment methods.

I have been suffering from debilitating migraine headaches for years and had heard of HEAL YOUR HEADACHE but could not imagine a day without coffee and diet soda. I experienced a terrible 3 day bout with the flu and decided I should give the diet a try since my system was so effectively cleaned out. I followed the restrictions closely for 3 months and then started adding an item one at a time until I was down to just no soda, coffee or red wine. I was even able to stop the prophalatic medications I was on and went from 9 migraines a month down to 1 or less, so I was no longer routinely popping imitrex. My biggest trigger now is lack of sleep and/or jetlag. How can I ever thank Dr. Buchholz enough for giving me the knowledge I needed to gain control over my migraines which were limiting my life in all areas. I am forever grateful and highly recommend this book to ALL migraine sufferers. Take back control of your life!

I am very grateful for finding this book. I was having migraines a few times a week with tension headaches in between. I had already found a link between my pain and both caffeine and the MSG in the food sold in Chinese and Thai restaurants. I had no clue there were so many other dietary triggers. Since I have followed the "migraine diet" my headaches have been reduced greatly and I feel like I'm living a (semi) normal life again.

Three year migraine sufferer who has seen every specialist and still having debilitating migraines every couple of weeks. This book explained everything - why the doctors and even headache clinics weren't helping me, why all the medications were not working anymore, and how to take control of the headaches myself by understanding the cause. It was an easy read that answered all of my questions and allowed me to figure out my triggers instantly. Thank you, Dr. Buchholz, for saving my life!!

I was skeptical at first. The diet is VERY hard to follow. The headache-trigger foods are everywhere. Also, I believed there was no dietary link to my migraines.

I gave it a try because I figured, at worst, it would not harm my health in any way (what could be healthier than regular sleep, exercise, and avoiding certain foods?), and, at best, it could potentially be my cure, at last!

My migraines were occurring twice a month, each time putting me in the bed for 48 hours. Imitrex would stop them if I took it before the headache reached full force, but it was becoming less and less effective as the months and years wore on. I had had migraines for 10 years, and they were steadily worsening.

I started slow, cutting out the easy foods first, but ultimately ended up following the diet 100%, starting in February 2007. In the 8 months since, I have seen definite improvement both in the frequency and severity of my headaches, but I went to see Dr. Buchholz this week because I was not completely satisfied since we haven't yet stopped them altogether.

Dr. Buchholz told me that I should not ignore the sleep and exercise issues in the book (which I had been doing, only focusing on the food triggers). So, I am now working on getting 7-8 hours of sleep a night and exercising well 3 times a week. He says he believes that will lead to significant further improvement. I will update this review in a few months, when we see what happens....

I've suffered from headaches my whole life. After seeing three neurologists, I talked to someone who had been to the MAYO Clinic to get help for her headaches. The doctors there recommended this book to her and she is now almost completely headache free. I tried it, and I am now mostly headache free. I no longer have to take expensive medications, and I've lost 50 pounds!. This is the only cure for headaches that I've run across. It talks in great detail about what a migraine is, what foods to eat and what to avoid, and also what medications to stay away from. I recommend this book to anyone on the street who is suffering from headaches, and offer to send them recipes to match the diet. I left my third neurologist to be in the care of one who now passes this book out to all of his patients.

This is a wonderful book written by a doctor from Johns Hopkins Medical Center. He spent a large deal of his career working with Migraine patients. He explains in detail exactly what foods are triggers and tells you how to avoid them. If you think you know what foods are triggers and have trouble finding yours, you have not tried his method yet. It works! Patients who were "incurable" were sent to him, and he was able to help them. Dr. Buchholz also explains why there are so many myths about headaches, and tells exactly what those myths are.

If you are tired of being in pain, tired of being on medications and see no end in sight for you, this is the book to purchase. As Dr. Buchholz explains, you do not have to live with your headaches!

If you have ever wondered about what causes your migraines, or why your preventive medication doesn't work, or why you seem to be getting more headaches since you starting using drugs like Imitrex, then this book is for you. After reading this book, I not only understand my migraines better, I also learned how to control them. By following the 1-2-3 program, I have reduced my migraines by 99%. Prior to reading the book, I had seen many doctors and had done many drug trials to no avail. Dr. Buchholz seems to look at migraines from a refreshingly different angle and he has more insight into his patients needs. That becomes clear to the reader in the patient stories dispersed throughout the book. Other helpful features of the book are the index in the back for quick reference and the dialogue with patients for frequently asked questions. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone suffering from chronic headaches. It is a reliable source of information and it empowers readers to do the right things to get well.

Several years ago, I suddenly started suffering from migraines. I went to neurologist after neurologist, and none of them were able to help me - actually they just made my symptoms worse. I had no control over my life, and became hopeless that I would ever be OK again. My wife bought this book for me, which I thought was going to be another waste of time, but I thumbed through it to please her...and instantly discovered it to hit all the nails on the head. I was amazed at the way it dealt directly with ALL of my symptoms. I read it cover to cover that day - I was unable to put it down. After following Dr. Buchholz's advice for a few weeks, I was able to reign in the symptoms and get my life under control again...and am able to keep it that way year after year. I honestly don't know where my life would be right now if it weren't for this book - I can't praise it enough.

I bought that book, followed the protocol, and did the elimination diet.
It was worth trying, but it was horrible. I went from being miserable with a migraine about 7 days a month to being miserable about migraines
about every 3 or 4 hours- meaning every single time I was hungry!

Beacause of this book, migraines took over my life. Instead of enjoying my migraine-free days, I was scared to death to eat anything because the next bite I take might have a hidden migraine trigger. He tells you many many foods to eliminate. You can't even have cooked onions. They are in everything! It was pure evil. The stress of the diet in that book triggered migraines! It cut me off from my family and friends. Food is key to our social interaction. This diet made every social event terribly stressful.

I was a nervous wreck, fearing migraines every second. It took months to recover from the brain-washing in thatbook and to be able to eat like a normal personal without fear (About 6 months later, I'm still a bit afraid of chocolate and nuts and we can blame Dr. Buchholz. I have no empirical evidence that either one gives me migraines!)

I'm not the typical migraine sufferer. While I would have a "migraine" 1-3 times a year, I suffered from mild to severe headaches daily for over 15 years. It became my normal - to the point I wouldn't take any medicine for the mild to moderate ones. They were just always there. And I always attributed them to allergies. Then a couple of years ago I started having numbness and tingling in one leg - daily. My feet would turn blue/purple at different times. My ankles and feet would swell. My joints started hurting making it difficult to walk when first getting up from sitting or sleeping. I had severe neck and back pain. I had muscle cramps in my legs that would paralyze me with pain - not your usual charlie horse. Then the numbness moved to one side of my face. Early on I went to a neurologist who basically thought it was psychosomatic. After more months of suffering, I finally went to another neurologist who took me seriously. I was 39 years old and knew I shouldn't be feeling and moving like I was 90. I have always been trim and fit - I wasn't used to not being able to play ball with my son or walk a long distance. I had the full gamut of tests - MRI's, lumbar puncture, blood tests for MS, lupus, arthritis, lyme disease, fibromyalgia, etc. Everything was normal. Then the neurologist gave me this book. Bottom line - it changed my life. I found that along with high sensitivity to weather changes (which I already knew), there are certain foods that are triggers and all these symptoms are part of a migraine mechanism. By avoiding certain foods, I have regained control of my health. I am active again, I go for months without having a headache and now when I do, or my leg goes numb, I know how to look back at the last few days and figure out what put me over the threshold, and best of all, how to regain equilibrium. I owe it all to this book (and a great doctor).

I highly recommend this book on migraines because it is well written by an M.D. who prescribes a program for controlling migraines using diet and medication. Migraines are explained in terms of "threshold" and "triggers". There are dietary and non-dietary triggers. The "Dietary Triggers" on pages 74 and 75 are especially helpful. Preventative medications are discussed in detail. The information on exertional headaches on page 128 has helped me tremendously. Dr. Buchholz explains how to control your migraines with self-help measures and the expertise of a doctor and uses excellent illustrations.

This book about migraine relief has changed my life. I was getting 3 or more migraines a week. After 3 months of doing the 1-2-3 program, I am down to at most 1 migraine a month if I do not watch what trigger foods I consume or my stress levels.
A great book for learning about all kinds of headaches, not just migraines too.
Life saver for me.

This book is really all it's hyped up to be! It makes more sense than any other headache help book out there and best of all the Dr.'s plan works! It honestly worked for me and I have not even completely cut out regular coffe yet. I'm down to one cup a day and soon that will be zero. I've been following most of the book's advice and have not suffered a migraine over the past 2 weeks since I finished reading it. I normally suffer from "classic migraines" at least 3 times a month, especially when Aunt Flo visits. I'm happy to report she's now gone and I did NOT HAVE ANY migraines! I am a true believer in the 1*2*3 Program! Buy the book and improve your health!!!

I bought the book Heal Your Headache: The 1-2-3 Program because my mom told me about it. It is very informative and has really helped me with my migraine headaches. I found, through reading the book, that it is bananas that trigger mine. Bananas were actually causing the worst headaches of my life. I have also noticed that cheese triggers a bad headache for me but not a migraine. I never knew that allergy meds can cause headaches until I read the book. I recommend this book to anybody that suffers with headaches. It will inform you on what causes headaches and the best part is it teaches you what to do to prevent headaches. Even migraines. I will say that I have not had a migraine headache since I bought the book. I thank David Buchholz for writing his book. I am sure he has helped lots of people other than myself. He is a gift from above.

David Buchholz book changed my life!! After weekly (2 to 3 times a week) headaches for many years, he has given me the tools to get rid of my Excedrin and the many triptans that I took every week. When one tablet didn't work, I went from 2 to 3 and then 4 was not able to get rid of the headache. I just knew that there had to be a better way. His book was recommended to me and the rest is history. I stopped cold turkey, his recommendation, and I have tried to stick to his diet. Aside from some bearable headaches, I am doing fine. I have been doing this for less than a week, but I will never go back to abusing those terrible drugs again. I have tried to tell my former neurologists (the best of Boston) and they have not returned my calls. I guess they are not interestsed in hearing about an approach that works without drugs.

The more I read this book, the more angry I was at my neurologist for being so prescription happy. I am thinking of taking a copy of this book to him on my next appoinment along with all my unused quick fixes. I admit I cannot follow any diet to the letter, or even come close. But, since I eliminated the presciption and OTC quick fixes, red wine, chocolate, and the biggie CAFFEINE, my headaches have been DRASTICALLY reduced to the point where every now and then I need an ibuprofen. This makes life so much more enjoyable.

I have read this book twice. The first time I tried the diet I eventually stopped since my preventative medication was working quite well. Unfortunetely, it made me gain a lot of weight so I wanted to get off of it. I've been doing the diet for over a month now w/no success. I was already on a very strict low calorie diet in addition to being a vegetarian so this diet limits me even more. My number of headaches hasn't yet to decrease but I'm still hopeful it may work soon. I get about 15migraines a month & every year it gets worse. My ideal would be to not have to take a preventative but it looks like that isn't in my cards. I wish he detailed more of the preventatives & their side effects as there as many.

Dr. Buchholz's has given us our daughter back, through his innovative book Heal Your Headache!!! She has suffered for many years with daily Migraine, and has tried many doctors and medicines with little or no improvement. She finally had to withdraw from college in February and move back home, unable to function due to Migraines.
Then we found this book!!!Briefly, Dr. Buchholz's 3-step program is :1)Discontine/then limit Imitrex and other pain medications to prevent rebound headaches, 2)Remove all common Migraine food triggers from the diet,then reintroduce to identify your personel triggers 3)If needed, add a threshhold-raising preventative medication. The book includes an explanation of the Migraine mechanism, and how each step combines to prevent/control headaches. Since following Dr. Buchholz's instructions, she has been able to happily work part time all summer, and is registered to return to our local college next month! Now, she laughs with friends, reads and goes to movies, (BIG Harry Potter fan!!!),is beginning to teach three-year-olds at church, ...in other words...She is LIVING LIFE again!!! There are no words to adequately express our gratitude to Dr. Buchholz's for this profound book.

I started this program on May 15. It is now July 31 and I can finally say that I am 90% better. But-be prepared to go through headache hell for 6 weeks as you detox from caffeine, estrogen, and other meds that are mentioned as culprits in perpetuating the headache cycle. Not to mention going crazy over the limited diet. You will be very tempted to just quit and go back to your old diet and meds-but don't!!! Reading these reviews is the only thing that kept me going-I had to know there was some light at the end of the tunnel. And there is. And it may take even longer than 6 weeks. The thing that really turned the corner for me was increasing my preventive med to a much higher dose. My only complaint about the book is that he could have devoted more space to female hormonal issues that are such severe migraine triggers, especially since most migraine victims are female.

I was initially put off by the cover of this book, but it came highly recommended by a friend who suffers from migraines, so I checked it out. The book explains what causes headaches (or at the author's hypothesis about what causes them), and goes through 3 simple steps to stop them. Although my headaches are not traditional "migrains" (my headaches were caused by a mild head injury), this book is informative and helpful nevertheless -- in fact, I think anyone who suffers from any kind of headaches will benefit from this book.

One last note: I think this book has played an important roll in helping doctors understand the idea that environmental migraine triggers can be an important part of a migraine prevention and treatment regimen, but lots of doctors still don't understand. My neurologist, for example, said he never advises people to go on a migraine diet because they tend to be so restrictive, but based on the reviews here and what I've heard from other people, going on a migraine diet is worth it.

This book has changed everything. I've now been headache free for two weeks, which seems like a miracle. Dr. Buchholz has very important information on caffeine,pain killers and hormones.I wish I had read this book two years instead of spending thousands on Relpax and preventative medications that were ineffective. Read it! The withdrawal from the painkillers happened with in a week and wasn't as horrible as I thought it would be....

I can only say good things about this book. It is written clearly and easy to follow, but packed with information. Reading the case histories was like hearing my own story. Since March 14, 2007 I have been on the diet and off of caffeine for the first time in 40 years. I no longer use Excedrin Migraine which I always previously carried or any other pain relief except for Tylenol and plain aspirin. I have had headaches since I was nine years old and I am now 58. During the past year the severity and frequency of headaches increased such that I thought I was going to be chronically ill and bedridden much of the time. I have not had a very severe headache since two weeks after completely getting off caffeine. I do still have mild headaches about 15 days out of 30 that I treat with tylenol and plain aspirin. About every two weeks I have a headache where I need to also rest for a few hours. I can't believe I can count on my body again. Plus, I still have the option of more improvement if I go to step 3 which is the preventive daily medication. Thank you Dr. Buchholz very much. I was sad about being sick and in pain so much and I feel so much better now.

Dr. David Buchholz' book "Heal Your Headache" is an excellent book.
1. it is set up like a 1-2-3 manuel
2. you just follow his advice and start at step 1
3. it's completely safe
4. his language is straight forward and written with humour

After experiencing migraines for the last 30 years I finally have confidence that this book is going to work for me and for others. Stick to avoid the food triggers and you make progress. His formula about the layering of triggers is an eye opener.Recommended!!
Karin Vrij
[...]

Before I got this book, I was averaging a migraine practically every day. Dr. Buchholz's book has reatly reduced the frequency and the severity of my headaches by following the right diet with no prescription medication required. One of the things that I really enjoyed about reading the book is how well it describes the feelings of someone who suffers from migraines. It seemed like he was describing me to me, so that made it much easier to follow the recommendations. The book and the treatment gave me the confidence not to be intimidated by my headaches any more. On a final note, if you don't feel an improvement in the first month, be persistent, and the results will come. Good luck!

This book's advice worked for me. After years of headaches and migraines, I am almost completely free of them, except when I eat something that sets me off. Even then, I don't pay nearly as much as when I was abusing Excedrin and triptans. The best part of the book--eliminating rebound inducing drugs--is right on, and just doing that has made a huge difference in my life. The diet is harder, but through trial and error, most people should be able to eliminate most of their triggers. And, I found that the drugs I was taking made me more sensitive to foods, so getting off the meds made me less likely to react badly to what I thought were foods that made me get a headache in the first place. Good luck!

I heard the author, a respected Johns Hopkins neurologist, interviewed on National Public Radio, made a note that I should read his book, and after two more bouts with killer three to five-day headaches, ordered it. His prescription isn't easy to follow--what you eat contains substances that trigger your headaches and you may have to cut some common foods from your diet--but his description of why the common medical wisdom about migraines, sinus and allergy and other chronic headaches is wrong makes a tremendous amount of sense. I am following his advice, and so far, no headaches. If you suffer from debilitating chronic headaches, you must read this book.

Admittedly it might be hard to believe that migraines can be controlled without medicine but with this book
I have made tremendous strides in reducing the number and intensity of mine. I used to have 2-3 very bad migraines per month-crying at the pain and used 1-2 relpax 40 mg to help. Even that did not always take away the nausea.
After reading this book I thought that it made too much sense not to try and I wanted to do something more wholistic. I gave up the relpax, followed the diet rather strictly, and found great results. With just the dietary changes I have only a headache every one to two months and they are MILD and the pain responds to simple breathing exercises.
The thing I like best about this book is how it explains the phenomena of migraine and all the factors that go into creating them in a person. I don't blame myself anymore for being bad at handling stress and getting headaches -I just don't eat chocolate to cope with tension and I am so much better off! This is a real "take your llife into your own hands" kind of book. And I am grateful for it.