Bachmann’s doctor: Migraines occur infrequently

hot air ^ | 7/20/11 | Tina Korbe

[Nachum]

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) today released the following letter from her doctor to clear up, once and for all, the question of whether her migraines would interfere with her ability to be president.

Dear Congresswoman Bachmann –

The enclosed summary regarding your experience of migraine headaches is provided to you as per your request. You are overall in good general health.

You have a well-established diagnosis of migraine headaches with aura for which you have had an extensive evaluation by both my office and by a board certified consulting neurologist. Your evaluation has entailed detailed labwork and brain scans all of which were normal. Your migraines occur infrequently and have known trigger factors of which you are aware and know how to avoid. When you do have a migraine, you are able to control it well with as-needed sumatriptan and odansetron. It has not been necessary for you to take daily scheduled medications to manage this condition. You have not needed medical attention from me regarding your migraines with the use of the above-mentioned commonly used therapies.

Sincerely,

Brian P. Monahan, MD, MACP

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

Both my Father and I suffered from these. My Dad’s stopped when he was in his Fifties. Mine stopped in my late Forties. You can, evidently, outgrow them!

[Blueflag]

I share her condition - severe, infrequent migraines with aura.

I get about 40 - 45 minutes of warning (aura = sparkling progressive loss of vision) before I would be debilitated by pain. If the aura is really aggressive (again RARE) I take better meds. A bit groggy, but no worse than taking benadryl (diphenhydramine HCL) for a runny nose.

Most times caffeine and an analgesic taken early knock it back to a dull ache. RARELY have I been ‘taken out’ and never since college.

Mine are vaso-dilation in origin. Easy to mitigate, not a problem.

[org.whodat]

One of my sisters has had the problem all her life, she started out working for less than a dollar an hour, now she is a retired millionaire living in flordia. Really is a big draw back. NOT. No one said anything about clintoons migraines.

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[dayglored]

I suffered from migraines like that once or twice a week -- incapacitating for 3-6 hours at a time-- that could only be relieved by Sumatriptan.

Turned out I had wildly high blood pressure coming on over a period of a year, culminating in loss of vision in my right eye due to central veinous occlusion. My BP, resting in the evening, was 205/135. That was June 2009.

Since going on BP meds, I have not had a single recurrence of the migraines, in two years. The meds are all standard: HCTZ (diuretic), Metoprolol (beta-block), and Diovan (vasodilator).

[aruanan]

Mine are infrequent. When I have aura, it's not with the headache. I've had a headache and then had an aura appear. When it did, the headache disappeared until the aura reached the outer limits of my visual field, then it returned. Sometimes the headache is like a rod of pain entering the lower back of my head and exiting through and just above my eyeball. Sometimes it's on the right, on the left, or on both sides. A cold compress in a dark room with no motion helps a lot. Fortunately, never any nausea.

So, the argument is that sometimes Bachmann could have brief impairment due to migraine? What about now? With Barry we have permanent impairment due to his being a cultivated, hothouse leftist combined with less-than-adequate intellectual ability (as seen through unscripted speech and the few dribs and drabs of his writing that have appeared) and his being beholden to others who set up and financed his rise up the political ladder.

[newzjunkey]

This more detail than we know about some recent sitting presidents’ health.

[kcvl]

Afternoon Fix: Pawlenty says Bachmann’s headaches are fair game

Washington Post (blog) - Aaron Blake - 42 minutes ago

[Arm_Bears]

How about Pawlenty’s absence of gonads—Is that fair game as well?

[kcvl]

He creeps me out...

[Darkwolf377]

Today is the first day I thought Bachmann actually has a shot to win this thing. The media sure seem scared by her.