Heal Your Headache

I got this book back in December, started following the diet very strictly, was also seeing a neurologist who started me on a preventative medication. The first week of no caffeine and no pain pills was horrible, but I went from taking triptans and/or excedrin multiple days a week to now less than twice a month. I still get headaches, but they are much more manageable with OTC medication, and triptans only as a last resort. I wish there was a newer version of the book- the recipes in the back are very carb heavy- not the most healthful. I also had to go much stricter- all dairy, garlic and tomatoes trigger me. I've introduced many foods back without difficulty, but still avoid the big ones- chocolate, dairy, onions, citrus and the ones specific to me. Usually when I get a headache now, I know the cause (hormones, cheating on the diet) rather than feeling hopeless.

This is a great book for helping you to understand your headaches better. It discusses what causes a headaches as well as the various sources for trigger points. I especially liked the charts in the book that I copied and put on my refrigerator. It made for an easy reference to what foods are headache triggers to avoid. I discovered I have quite a few triggers, Migraine headaches run in my family and know I am understanding it better.

Undiscovered gem of a book. A physical therapist recommended this to me, and after a few months of following its suggestions I was off my B ig Deal Rx's. Cannot recommend it highly enough. Looks like it might be silly from the cover and the title, but the author is a reputable Johns Hopkins MD. Get it for yourself or a loved one. I have lent it to a number of people.

I was getting headaches twice a week when my doctor suggested I read this. It turned out that caffeine was the cause. I don't think I would have ever figured that out had I not read this book. If you are experiencing headaches I suggest you read this book. You will have a complete understanding of what causes migraine and the possible triggers for you.

This is full of helpful information about migraine headaches. I am so glad I brought this book! I'm learning so much about my triggers and ways to eliminate or reduce my headaches. It won't be easy, but the 3 step program described by the author in the book make a lot of sense. I plan to give it a try. I am a very pleased customer.

Very informative book. It really motivated me to change my diet and that helped a lot. Also has lots of lists or charts and diagrams included. I wish there was more talk about the huge benefit of exercise, supplements and the new device Cefaly, maybe in a newer edition.

If you suffer from debilitating headaches of any kind, you should read this book. If you're DESPERATE to reduce your suffering, buy this book NOW and begin steps 1 and 2 immediately. It will be some of the least expensive and most effective medical advice you will ever receive.

I bought my first copy of the book and started on the 3-step program three months ago. After 30-40 years of misery, including three hospitalizations, I was fearful of giving up my heavy duty pains medications (step 1). But when I also eliminated all the possible dietary triggers (step 2), I found I didn't need the meds. Amazing! What an improvement in my quality of life. I finally feel like I'm getting genuine control of my life.

I saw Dr. Buchholz as a first-time patient today. I'm fortunate to live within an hour of his practice, although I understand he sees patients from all over the country. Today's appointment with him will cost me around $600. For about 2% of that, his book gives you most of his advice, enough to turn your life around. (But if you can manage it, working with him in person is even better.)

BUY. THE. BOOK. You will refer to it over and over. It will be one of the best things you've done for yourself in a long time. I bought my second copy recently, to give away, and I expect to buy several more for the same purpose. If you know someone who suffers from severe headaches, buy it as a gift. It's rare to find something these days with so much value for so little cost.

NEW FEEDBACK, 7 YEARS LATER:
This is my second review of the book. I posted my first review in 2011 after following the plan for three months. Seven years later, I have much more experience with the program. When I first read the book, I thought the plan was very difficult and terribly restricting. Now I think it’s easy, almost second nature. Do I still get headaches? Sure. But it’s completely different now.

I had had debilitating headaches for at least 35 years. They were a daily problem. I was even hospitalized for them, twice, including once for eleven days. I used lots of narcotics and triptans, but they gradually lost effectiveness and seemed to actually be part of the cause.

When I started on Dr. Buchholz’s plan, it seemed complex and daunting. But I was desperate. Everything else had failed and I was miserable. If his plan worked for me, choosing to follow it would be a no-brainer, despite any difficulties.

Now, I no longer use prescription drugs and I don’t get crippling headaches. Instead, I pay attention to my body and my triggers and make adjustments on the fly when needed. It *is* pretty simple now.

His method works, at least for the vast majority of people who try it. So why not everyone? I think those cases most likely need help in understanding and applying the plan. Possible places where they went wrong?
1. They didn’t identify all the possible triggers that exist in their lives.
2. They didn’t actually cut out all the triggers.
3. They needed the additional help of a doctor who follows Dr.B’s approach to help fine-tune it for them.
4. Or maybe they weren’t fully committed to following the plan; cheating or half-assed implementation is certain to fail. If they worked directly with Dr. Buchholz (as I did) and were committed, I believe most of the failures would become successes.

Here’s the process as I experienced it: First, you cold turkey on all the drugs. Second, you cold turkey on ALL the foods, drinks, and other things on the LONG list of possible triggers (each of which has been a trigger for someone sometime). Third, you work with a doctor to add a preventive medication, if needed, and adjust any other meds you take that might themselves be triggers. Fourth, once the headaches have moderated and you become stable, you begin the long process of experimenting with adding back the triggers, one at a time, to find which ones are YOUR triggers and which ones you don’t have to give up.

What I found was: First, I don’t have to give up everything I love. Second, my own list of significant triggers is much shorter than Dr.B’s. Third, some of mine are major and some are minor. Fourth, I can partake any of them, in moderation; I must be more careful with the major ones and less so with the minor ones. Fifth, what matters is the SUM, at any given moment, of those that I’ve indulged in. Sixth, some of them just aren’t worth the risk. How serious are YOU about losing your headaches?

Dr. Buchholz and his book transformed my life—they taught me how to free myself from headaches. So thank you Dr. B. In a very real sense, you saved my life.

This is full of helpful information about migraine headaches. I am so glad I brought this book! I'm learning so much about my triggers and ways to eliminate or reduce my headaches. It won't be easy, but the 3 step program described by the author in the book make a lot of sense. I plan to give it a try. I am a very pleased customer.

Very informative book. It really motivated me to change my diet and that helped a lot. Also has lots of lists or charts and diagrams included. I wish there was more talk about the huge benefit of exercise, supplements and the new device Cefaly, maybe in a newer edition.

I purposefully held off on writing this review for over a year because I wanted to be sure that the program really worked over time. It does. I suffered with headaches almost every day, was taking Excedrin constantly, and had been through all of the classic migraine medications with only limited success. I thought when I retired the headaches would get better because the stress was off, but they didn't get better and I was going to lose my retirement to constant headaches. The regimen can seem difficult and I really hated to give up some of the foods, but that is more than compensated for by getting my life back. I now only get an occasional tension headache and I can easily treat that with aspirin. I had to use all three steps, including taking Voltarin daily, but this has truly changed my life. I have recommended this book to several friends and family, all of whom have had similar positive results.

Loved this book. My little grandson (11) was having severe, unrelenting migraines every day for about 3 months. His pediatrician referred him to Cleveland Clinic which is 3 hours from here. The program they prescribed is basically the same as this book. The added bonus of having the book is that the book allows you more time to absorb all the details. Avoiding rebound effects from the drugs and following the diet strictly is the key. My grandson has now been headache free for about 3 weeks, which we consider to be a major miracle. This book is highly informative but easy to read. Recommend it to anyone who has frequent headaches, whether or not they have been diagnosed as migraines. Buy it, you'll like it and hopefully, your headaches will be a thing of the past.

After suffering for over 55 years with migraines, this is the very first time my migraines have diminished after trying Dr. Buchholz's method. I have done the first two steps the past two months and noticed positive changes. I had "never" gone a whole week without a migraine in my life. Waking up and starting my day without one was a blessing and going almost two weeks without one was a miracle. Although the full moon seems to bring one on (out of my control). I haven't reached Step 3 yet. I highly recommend this book to anyone suffering from excruciating debilitating migraines. It is worth it and I want to tell the whole world!

This book was recommended to me by a medical doctor, and it has completely changed my life. I used to have daily migraines and all the random symptoms I had this book made sense of. I've done so well on steps 1 and 2, I only need to take a small dose of ibuprofen every once and a while for a headache. Also, I've done so well on it, most of my symptoms are gone, and I even canceled future neurologist appointments because I was healing so well.

I have had migraines for years now, and i thought there was never a cure... well, i'm still not cured, but it's definitely better. My neurologist had me go off of my regular painkiller meds like excedrin (causes MAJOR rebound headaches) about 6 months ago but i didnt take the effort of watching my diet. My daily headaches went away, but my migraines every couple of weeks still persisted. Topamax really helped with the migraines, but i had some side effects so i stopped using that - i would recommend it to anyone though because i was migraine free for months so it was pretty amazing - my vote is try it out and see how it goes... back to the book though ... after finally getting this book and watching my diet... it's been a remarkable shift.. it's only been 2 months or so, but i've been migraine free... i think it's important to go in stages though when you do this ... like stop your daily pills THEN go for the diet so you can see which aspects cause which headaches and migraines.. because for me the meds were causing my regular chronic migraines (i thought they were tension headaches but the neurologist said they were daily reoccurring migraines because of how frequently i got bad migraines) ... then the diet and perfumes were causing my really bad ones

i would definitely recommend this book to anyone... especially if you can't afford to go to a neurologist .. i would recommend taking all these steps and then going to a neurologist (and bring your food journal... because they tell you to make one and some have you bring it to your next session so it skips a step)... and see if you can work it out on your own without professional help then once you do get help you know it's the right step. as someone who took the meds and went to the doctors and THEN got this book... i think this book would have been a great first step.

UPDATE: Sept. 2007- This book provided the first major breakthrough for me and I will always be grateful to Dr. Buchholtz. I encourage you to read it but I have read another book that has been incredibly helpful, it's called The Magnesium Solution For Migraine Headaches: The Complete Guide To Using Magnesium To Prevent And Treat Migraines And Cluster Headaches Naturally It can't hurt to take magnesium and see if you feel better, according to the book most headache sufferers have very low magnesium levels and it's not toxic even at high levels. In fact doctors often give magnesium intravenously in emergency rooms for migraines. I haven't had a headache since I starting taking 800mg of it, and I also haven't had any ringing in my ears. I have also given magnesium to my son who has a facial tic and it has completely taken the tic away. Good Luck, I hope you find relief too.

Old review: May 2005

I read this book about a year ago, when I had daily headaches, and now have just a couple headaches a month!

It really works!

I made copies of the front cover of this book, and gave them to all my "failed" doctors.
I asked them to please tell their headache patients about it--I don't know
if they will, but I figured it was worth a try. Also, whenever someone asks me
how my headaches are, I tell them I'm cured, and tell them about the book.

After about 6 months on the program, I was feeling pretty great, but not as headache free as I'd like. I was nervous to
try drugs again, but was considering it, since that is the 3rd part of the program, if you need it. That's when I started taking 3mg of melatonin every night.
It raised my threshold that last bit, and now I can even have a bite of forbidden
food every once in awhile--except for MSG.

Good Luck to all the people who have been suffering, this book was the answer for me, I hope it will be your answer!

I have been suffering with migraines daily since I was 13 years old and am now 49. I tried every possible solution from holistic to traditional medicines without leaving one leaf unturned. Nothing truly helped me and I was left frustrated and suffering with so much pain that it was unbearable. My quality of life was horrible and no matter how many Doctors or specialists I went to, not one, seemed to have a long term solution. Even the short term solutions really never worked.

By chance a friend suggested this book by Dr Buchholz and as usual I try everything so I ordered it. Once I read it, I knew this Doctor had a complete understanding of exactly what a migraine was - beyond any others comprehension. For once in my life I felt that perhaps someone finally "Got it". I decided to follow his advice and within days I was feeling better. I went from a level 10 daily migraine to no migraines. It has been one month now since i followed his advise, which mostly eliminates specific foods and food ingreidents from my diet.

Although years past I had written food journals and had Dr's try to figure out if I was being affected by foods, no one had ever explained the foods as this Doctor did. All migraine sufferers know of the general food groups of which to avoid, but this Doctor takes it past the mainstream foods and gives you specific ingredents to foods I never heard of and had no idea were affecting me on a daily basis. Bascially it was as if I were poisoning myself everyday with the foods I was eating. By quickly changing my diet and following his suggestions I was able to feel 100% better. It was a miracle and amazing 180% turn in my life.

For ANYONE out there who is suffering from ANY MIGRAINES - stop now - by this book and watch your life change overnight from pain to pain relief. Trust me, I spent thousands of dollars and hours searching to no avail. This Doctor actually knows what he is doing.

Too bad the pharma's are ruling the medical industry otherwise this Doctor would be much more well known to the average sufferer and help would have been easier to be found for people like me... and not a haphazard chance.

BUY THE BOOK.. you have nothing to lose and all the gain. Trust me. I was at the end of my rope.
Thank God for this Doctor!! HE saved my life for pain and misery. And the solution was quite simple!!!
Good luck to all you migraine sufferers out there and for those that have any doubt.. then you do not really want a solution otherwise you would have already clicked and bought the book by now.

Jasmine.. no longer in pain.. and finally free of migraines!

This book is the answer to your migraines! Before purchasing this book, I was desperate... I was suffering from a 10 day straight-on migraine, and had missed days at work because of it. I had gone to the doctor, got an MRI, got blood works done, etc etc... Nothing was abnormal. I read this book, and followed the steps.... I have not started re-integrated some of the forbidden foods, but I can tell you that it works! The first few days were tough to cut out the medicine, but it totally makes sense. I have been on this "diet" for 3 weeks now, and I had a couple of migraines since mainly because I indulged... If you suffer from daily headaches, but are healthy, and are desperate to get rid of it, I definitely recommend this book!

I have from debilitating migraines for years. I was even out on FMLA for a full year. I had a neurologist give me Heal Your Headache. This book, particularly the diet section helped a lot. I now understand my migraines and what usually causes them. I found a wonderful migraine doctor, who is actually not a big fan of this book, and am now migraine free for 6 months! I have sent it as a gift to several friends who suffer from migraines.

I was seeing a neurologist for some vertigo problems and he pulled this book off the shelf and told me to buy it. I Kindled it and I must say it is quite interesting. Although I feel it's not my diagnosis personally, I am in the medical profession and I recognize these symptoms in many patients that are perhaps misdiagnosed initially. It's certainly worth a look to those who suffer symptoms that are ominous and atypical migraine.

I have struggled with debilitating non-headache symptoms of migraine for years and never put two and two together until reading this book. Almost every page contains information that is putting me on to the road to recovery and helps me realize that migraines can affect people differently, yet they can be controlled! I would strongly suggest this book for anyone who suffers with sinus pain, tinnitus, neck stiffness, vertigo and visual disturbances as well as weird symptoms that seem to coincide with the other conditions listed. The book will give you a new perspective and give you solid research to go marching into your doctor's office with to substantiate what you have been experiencing but for which a correct diagnosis has not determined. You will rethink the definition of migraine after reading this book!

An easy to read, practical approach to getting control of your MIGRAINE headaches; and maybe they are all migraine!
There is a lot of frustrating redundancy in this book which, taken as a positive, will allow you to skim a bit and focus only on the content that is new and useful in each chapter. Overall worth a try for chronic headache sufferers. I have seen it work!

This book could have been written about me! Not only was I getting 1 or 2 migraines every month, but I had some sort of headache almost every day. I thought that was just how life was supposed to be. Not any more though. Thanks to Dr. Buchholz, I healed my headaches! I know understand how headaches work, and I learned what things contributed to mine. My triggers...onions, hot dogs, lunch meat, and ASPARTAME!!!! I didn't drink a lot of diet sodas, so I didn't even think about aspartame until I had to take it out of my diet. I couldn't believe how many things that I eat all the time had it in it...yogurt, flavored waters...it was everywhere. Now, not only do I not get as many headaches, but I just FEEL better.

This book is amazing and so easy to read. It gets you on track quickly to help you heal your headaches, and then provides additional information if you do need to escalate your problems to a physician. What do you have to lose...except your headaches!

My husband had been having Trans Global Amnesia for 7 years. Plus many, many migraines week after week. We had been to numerous Dr's over the years from Cardiologists, Neurologists, sleep specialists, seizure specialists, plus many rides to the emergency room after he had passed out in the night and I would find him on the floor. They never found anything, but gave him mind numbing narcotics, which we have since found he cannot tolerate and made matters much worse. Several times we were told we were just wasting their time, not so!! After these episodes he would lose his memory for several weeks and not be able to concentrate on anything!
However, we went to a different Dr. and she said it could be caused by a certain type of migraine and recommended Dr. Buchholz's book, which we got promptly from the store. We immediately gave up all caffeine including chocolate. As we only live 200 miles from Dr. Buchholz's office we were lucky to get an appointment fairly quickly and afterwards decided giving up all food triggers for four months, as he recommends. AMAZING RESULTS immediately, my husband hasn't had a migraine or a TGA in those 4 months! We have a life once more, my husband is able to drive again and remember where to go and how we get there, quite a miracle for us after all these years.
The book is easy to use and if there is a food you are wondering about or some other trigger, the index will lead you straight to the answer.
As you can tell we are very impressed with Dr. Buchholz and his amazing book. We also now have several family and friends who are getting help from the same book.

Excellent, Excellent book to help you get rid of migraines. I highly recommend it, along with "Migraine Free Cooking!" by Heidi Gunderson. I have suffered migraines since I was a kid. This book has given me great insight to the mechanism of migraine, what causes them, what to do to prevent and greatly reduce the number of migraines I get. I have followed the books teachings for about a month, and am finding that I am already having fewer migraines. This book has helped me more than any doctor, medication or ER visit. It's a complete lifesaver!!

Item as described and timely delivered. The diet has been helpful to those in the household subject to migraines, but the faithful reading of ingredient labels does make you realize how widely (and unnecessarily) "natural flavorings" and soy products are used in even basic prepared foods.

3 ENTs, 2 Neurologists, a family doctor and an alternate medicine doctor never mentioned diet.

This book tells you how to fix your migraines. I had a chronic vertiginous migraine for 6 months and it was debilitating to say the least.

This book's diet fixed it. that simple. don't eat what he says not to eat (be careful MSG is in everything - its called "natural flavor")

highly highly recommend this book

This book was very good - anyone with chronic migraines/headaches should read. However, one thing David Buchholz could add is that if women have breast implants this could also be a cause of headaches and autoimmune illness.

So helpful. I have vestibular migraine, and my doctor recommended this book. Not only did it help me to articulate the bizarre symptoms I experience daily, but it also gave me a framework and diet for actually fixing the problem (as opposed to simply masking the symptoms). In over three years of innumerable visits to various doctors without any answers or results, the 1-2-3 program is the only thing that has made a significant impact in my life.

i have suffered migraines for years. i figured i would just keep on getting them. i was taking sometimes 8 or 9 imitrex pills a month! well i got this book about a month and a half ago and i have not taken a single imitrex! i am so thrilled! i can go on vacation now and not stress about getting a headache and i exercise all the time now and dont get headaches! i used to get a headache after almost every workout. yes the diet is somewhat restrictive and i love chocolate and coffee but if removing them from my diet keeps me headache free then it is truly worth it! and the authors concept of everyone having a threshold level for stressors makes sense. so i highly recommend this book if you are serious about getting rid of your headaches.

Even though this book was written awhile ago (medically speaking, 2002 can quickly become out of date), the information is still pretty accurate and valid. The diet seems to be the key part to curing and/or reducing your headaches. I like the author's no-nonsense, blunt writing approach and that he lumps all types of headaches into one naturally occurring mechanism in the body. But as someone who has studied nutrition and eats healthy already, the diet is incredibly restrictive. Just a warning. I had to literally take out most of what I was eating EVERY DAY. Now if these foods were what was causing my daily headaches for the last 7 yrs then I'd be happy to remove the nuts, caffeine, citrus, venison, dark chocolate, onions, avocados, etc. In fact, I'll live off of packing peanuts if my headaches are gone 100%. However, after being on the diet for the last 3 weeks with only 2 small slip ups (even while on vacation!), I haven't had any reduction in my headaches. I'm not sure exactly the science behind how these specific foods are headache triggers. He mentions the list and then adds at the bottom, to also remove any foods that cause YOU headaches. Well, geez. If you're having them everyday, there is no way to know what foods are triggering your headaches. I bought the book because of the great reviews and success stories. I am desperate to remove these daily headaches and my naturopath is baffled himself since I've literally tried everything. I will continue the diet for the 4 months as suggested and see. I may adjust my review at that point. Another note, he does allow sugar on the diet which I find interesting. There is no doubt sugar is bad. It increases inflammation, which increases cortisol, which can cause headaches. Interesting. Take with a grain of salt, I guess.

This book holds a lot of information for neurological disorders in general. My doctor recommended me to try the elimination diet etc. included in this book to help with my Orthostatic Intolerance. I have had major improvements.

i purchased this book for my husband who has suffered with migraines all his life. he has been totally miserable, no medications help - and those that did he would get rebound migraines from. this book has changed his life. one of the biggest things he learned was that all the other head and neck issues were triggers for the migraine. instead of treating them separate, he needed to treat them as the migraine too.

we started on the "diet" a couple of days after he read the first two parts. he had a "caffeine withdrawal" headache for a day or so, but after that he has basically been headache free. he used to wake up about four in the morning with a migraine, only to have it last all day or maybe two, with no relief from any medications. now he might get a headache around two or three in the afternoon - and will have relief from advil or tylenol - and he may get a headache once or twice a week. he has followed the suggestions in this book for over a month and we plan on incorporating this into our way of life now.

we have been very careful not buy foods with the poisonous substances in them and following the directions that dr. buchholz recommends and have had great success. i highly recommend this book to anyone who suffers from any kind of migraine.

A sufferer of daily migraines and on medications, my Neurologist recommended this book for me to read. Wow! I am so glad I did. I learned a lot about headaches and their cause along with help with mine. As it turned out mine seem to be food related, so even though I was eating healthy, there were certain foods that were making me sick. I just wish I would had this book sooner! A must read for anyone who suffers!