All in My Head An Epic Quest to Cure an Unrelenting, Totally Unreasonable, and Only Slightly Enlightening Headache

by Kamen, Paula

• ISBN13: 9780738210391
• ISBN10: 0738210390
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-03-14
• Publisher: Balance
• More Book Details
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Summary

At the age of twenty-four, Paula Kamen's life changed in an instant. While she was putting in her contacts, the left lens disturbed a constellation of nerves behind her eye. The pain was more piercing than that of any other headache she had ever experienced. More than a decade later, she still has a headache-the exact same headache. From surgery to a battery of Botox injections to a dousing of Lithuanian holy water, from a mountain of pharmaceutical products to aromatherapy and even a vibrating hat,All in My Headchronicles the sometimes frightening, usually absurd, and always ineffective remedies Kamen-like so many others-tried in order to relieve the pain. Beleaguered and frustrated by doctors who, frustrated themselves, periodically declared her pain psychosomatic, she came to understand the plight of the millions who suffer chronic pain in its many forms. Full of self-deprecating humor and razorsharp reporting,All in My Headis the remarkable story of patience, acceptance, and perseverance in the face of terrifying pain.

Author Biography

Paula Kamen is the author of All in My Head: An Epic Quest to Cure an Unrelenting, Totally Unreasonable, and Only Slightly Enlightening Headache. Her commentaries have appeared in the New York Times and the Washington Post, among other publications. She lives in Chicago.

Table of Contents

Preface: A Burning Bush in Gary, Indiana (1979)	ix
PART ONE: TRIAL AND PUNISHMENT
Chapter One: Big Pharma (1991)	1	(22)
Chapter Two: Mecca	23	(12)
Chapter Three: The Revenge of the Ortho Tri-Cyclen Girl	35	(12)
Chapter Four: Those Summer Days	47	(18)
Chapter Five: Bridal Bingo	65	(10)
Chapter Six: Sex and the Single Migraineur	75	(6)
PART TWO: THE BURDEN OF PROOF
Chapter Seven: The "Pleasant" Patient: Reading Between the Lines	81	(16)
Chapter Eight: "Hysteria" and the Founding Fathers	97	(16)
PART THREE: REPRIEVE
Chapter Nine: Recreational Medicine	113	(24)
Chapter Ten: The Foot Orgasm	137	(10)
Chapter Eleven: Ayurvedic Medicine	147	(2)
Chapter Twelve: When in Doubt, Blame Milk	149	(10)
Chapter Thirteen: The Tired Girls: Women, Pain, and Fatigue	159	(18)
Chapter Fourteen: Mind-Wallet Connection	177	(18)
PART FOUR: THE VERDICT
Chapter Fifteen: The Nose Doorknob	195	(12)
Chapter Sixteen: Down the Rabbit Hole	207	(14)
Chapter Seventeen: The Hangman's Noose	221	(4)
Chapter Eighteen: High Anxiety	225	(18)
Chapter Nineteen: The Yellow Wallpaper	243	(18)
Chapter Twenty: Urologists in Orlando	261	(12)
PART FIVE: CLOSING REMARKS
Chapter Twenty-One: The Waiting Place (2005)	273	(22)
Chapter Twenty-Two: From a New Generation: Convenient Bulleted Advice to Nonpatients, and Hope	295	(24)
Notes	319	(8)
Bibliography	327	(10)
Patient Resources	337	(4)
Acknowledgments	341	(2)
Index	343