While there is much about migraines that will forever elude her control — weather changes, for example, can trigger terrible headaches — managing migraines involves a lot of meaningful decision-making.So... like... being President involves a lot of meaningful decisision-making, so... how you deal with headaches is a test of what kind of President you'll be.
Warner observes that the Bachmann campaign has only disclosed that she takes medicine to prevent migraines and medicine to relieve migraines. But what medicine? And how much?
I’m not a doctor, but reports that Mrs. Bachmann’s condition had her admitted to an urgent care facility three times in six months suggest that she is perhaps suffering more than she has to. It’s fair to ask: Is she getting the best possible care from doctors who practice mainstream science? Does she fully acknowledge the reality of having a chronic disability by regulating her diet, sleep, exercise and stress levels, as frequent migraine sufferers must? Or does she refuse to acknowledge her limitations?
In the absence of information about the preventive steps she is taking to, as she puts it, control her migraines, we are left with the impression that it’s the migraines that control her.Are we left with that impression? Or do we just think she has a common affliction and — her achievements reveal — she deals with it well.
Warner seems to be applying a liberal political template to Bachmann's headache issue: She shouldn't just rely on pills (like a right-winger dealing with problems through military force and tough prison sentences). She should regulate all aspects of her life: diet, sleep, exercise and stress levels (like a left-winger with endless regulations and social programs).
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She needs crystals, reiki, and regular herbal colonic cleansing to control this malady. It was probably caused by global warming, or pesticides used on her food, or drinking milk from unhappy cows.
Self-serving liberal judo. The liberal is better for her affliction; the conservative is worse for her's.
Actually, the letter she released says sumatriptan and odansetron. I can't figure out why the story is "she won't reveal what she's taking".
There's a very good headache clinic in Ann Arbor. However, the attention this is getting is proof positive the press is getting deranged w/ BTO[Bachmann Turner Overdrive] as they are w/ Palin.
The fact that she is bound to a wheelchair and cannot walk unassisted is a far more dramatic story.
"milk from unhappy cows" - too funny thanks for that
Damn you, Triangle Man, you beat me to it.
But, then, I haven't had my Gwyneth Paltrow-endorsed wheat grass-up-the-ass-with-coffee-bean colonic yet this morning, so I guess that's to be expected.
Still, you're giving me a headache,...
P.S.
Judith Warner? People are still listening to her? Really?
Obama is a drug addict and this is the drivel the commies write. Nice...
WV: tubbio - leave Moochelle out of this.
Dealing with a migraine is now quite the same as dealing with a pain in the ass--congress- but I am impressed with how quickly she put out a letter from the doctor. Go Bachmann and continue to lead the Republican Party.
ndspinelli,
The attention this is getting is proof positive the press is getting deranged w/ BTO[Bachmann Turner Overdrive] as they are w/ Palin.
In lib circles, she's BBO [Bachmann Bookburner Overdrive]...
And yeah, they're foaming at the mouth,...
Meanwhile Obama self-medicates with an addictive, psychoactive substance: nicotine - but that's unmentionable. Lets dwell on how Bachman gets headaches and this makes her unfit for the office...
"The fact that she is bound to a wheelchair and cannot walk unassisted is a far more dramatic story."
Not to mention the Addison's and Cushing's...
It may just be a line she feeds her husband.
The bizarre part of this controversy, as Steve Sailer recently pointed out, is just how diligenty the press has refused to vet mental health issues when it comes to President Obama.
From Sailer's post:
So, I'm all for the press inquiring into every candidate's health.
But, that mean's every candidate -- not just the ones the media doesn't like -- all the candidates, like JFK and Barack Obama. As you may recall, John McCain released 1100 pages of his medical records, while Barack Obama released a one-page summary. It appears to me from reading Obama's memoirs that the President suffered some sort of mental health problems in the early 1980s and in 2000. Did he seek medical attention?
Remarkable lack of curiosity in the case of President Obama, isn't it?
Odious, liberal fixation with destroying conservative women still smells the same.
"It’s fair to ask: Is she getting the best possible care from doctors who practice mainstream science?"
That's pretty funny, coming from a liberal.
"Let's judge JFK by how he dealt with his addition to pain killers."
The bizarre part of this controversy, as Steve Sailer recently pointed out, is just how diligenty the press has refused to vet mental health issues when it comes to President Obama.
What's bizarre about that? Maybe you meant to type "predictable"?
Is she getting the best possible care from doctors who practice mainstream science? Does she fully acknowledge the reality of having a chronic disability by regulating her diet, sleep, exercise and stress levels, as frequent migraine sufferers must?
The problem with the prophylactic drugs is that they have side effects, like making you completely exhausted (beta blockers) or making your hair (my hair) fall out (depakote, lamictal). The only good one is topamax, which can cause weight loss (weight gain comes with others), but for some people, like me, none of the prophylactics actually prevent headaches. All side effect, no therapeutic benefit.
There is only so much a person can do to control the electrical activity of her brain. Most of us who get migraine don't like being in pain and certainly don't like the $25 apiece (retail - thank goodness for good insurance) painkillers, so do do all we can to prevent headaches. The writer of the article is an idiot to suggest Bachmann is not doing enough to prevent the problem.
JFK, the superhero president of the left, was notoriously zonked on the job.
A list of JFK's meds:
o codeine
o demerol
o methadone
o Ritalin
o meprobamate
o librium
o barbiturates
o thyroid hormone
o injections of a blood derivative
Michelle Bachmann walks on other people's lines. Just as she did when she went up "against" Ryan's speech, following the State of the Union Address.
And, for some reason, someone is paying her to "swing forward" to destroy what little votes the religious zealots provide ... as best I can tell.
Since Sarah Palin should have been in the lead. (IS probably still in the lead!) But the media keeps needing foils to work behind?
As to the headaches? She just got one. Pointing to others, like JFK, Jefferson, and Grant, is like her going back to Waterloo, searching for John Wayne.
Good luck to her.
If she foils Mitt Romney what can be bad? Plenty in the GOP pack are just biting each other, anyway.
Judith Warner was also "nauseated" by Sarah Palin's nomination: link.
Weak stomach?
She should seek help and get medication.
Man 'O Man, the DETAILS the MSM WANTS--nay, DEMANDS--to know about a conservative candidate's background. No stone left un-turned, etc. But Obama's background? "Studied indifference." NOTHING but crickets chirping..,but why do I or any other person "on the right" even bother anymore. Since 2000 at the very least the mask of fake "neutrality" has been ripped off and the fangs and claws bared. The MSM is in a full-court press 24/7--steel-cage ladder-match style-- to slime all conservatives both political and otherwise. They REALLY DO believe they have the moral high-ground and thus feel free to unload on the right without fear of alienating the swing-voting independents due to what they. imo, believe has been the successful marginalization of the right as the dwelling place for all the crazies, racists, Islamophobes/homophobes, Jesus freaks and knuckle-dragging intellectual know-nothings.
At least that's their meme "and their stickin' to it." Whether they have been successful or not doesn't matter. The left/MSM obviously believes their cause is righteous and they're NOT going to let up and, cloaked in what they feel is moral superiority, have no qualms whatsoever about using any means necessary to destroy the right. Conservative candidates better get used to it and master some coping mechanisms--as opposed to defensively, reflexively, continuously saying the equivalent of "AM NOT!"
"The best defense is a good offense."
a couple of others have made the O'bama connection sarcasticly, let me rephrase:
Obama was far less open than McCain WRT his health and today would not accept the sort of questions about his drug use, smoking and cholesterol that Warner expects Bachman to respond to.
It's intriguing to me that the press has decided to latch on to such a stereotypically female ailment as migraines.
- Lyssa
**Corr: "...THEY'RE stickin'..." Yikes!
This is an issue? Seriously?
The picture of Hillary on Drudge was truly frightening - that is one scary old fat broad. Her hair line is starting to match that of her hero, Mao.
WV: theth - no wonder Bill looked elsewhere for theth - put some ice on it, that lisp will be gone...
I get what I call sinus headaches, but doctors have called migraines, particularly when the weather is changing. One thing I've learned about them is that everyone is very different about what helps them. For me, I tried medication (Topamax), which helped but made me mentally sluggish. I decided that I didn't want to struggle with side effects beyond that, so I don't take anything for them any more, but I've learned that a certain combo of OTC painkillers helps a lot, along with chewing (the jaw action seems to help), hot and spicy liquids, and eating. Taking allergy medications seems to help as well.
As long as Rep. Bachmann is doing her job, and it appears that she is, this is an incredibly stupid issue to fake concern about.
- Lyssa
It's intriguing to me that the press has decided to latch on to such a stereotypically female ailment as migraines.
Are they really? I think of them as stereotypical of brilliance.
William/
Yezs, it's the kids, isn't it. As with Sarah Palin, they've both committed the greatest trifecta of sins possible: They're not onlyBREEDERS--and proud of it, no less, but unabashed Christiansas well--the greatest "White, Trailer-Park mentality" sins imaginable for the feminista-drenched intellectual/professional left. And to complete the trinity they're also "embarrassingly" white--worse, WASPishly, gasp! NORTHERN EUROPEAN white--BUT WITHOUT THE REQUISITE WHITE GUILT--don't EVER forget THAT!
Bachman has a full plate what with her job, her numerous children, congress and a run for the POTUS nomination. Like Palin, she is the epitome of a standup, unapologetic, smart, educated, female who works hard with no handouts from a misogynist government.
Women such as these should be celebrated and not vilified. Instead, they are a red flag in front of the neutered beast that is the democratic party of the likes of Debbie Wasserman- Schultz. Women such as Palin and Bachman are the democrat/progressive's worst nightmare.
The Blonde, who used to have terrible migraines but is into all that New Age stuff, would sequester herself with the warning, "I'll kill anybody who makes any noise when I feel better".
Then again, she only worked three 12 hour shifts a week, so this was practicable for her. Not so much for Mrs Bachmann.
Of course, it all went away after she (The Blonde) had her system pulled.
Doesn't "urgent care facility" just mean a 24-hour clinic that's open when your doctor's office isn't? Or that takes people from out of town who can't get to their doctor? "Urgent" doesn't necessarily mean "serious."
Isn't it insulting that Judith pretends to be an expert on someone elses migraines? - in fact a medical expert - without knowing how she treats them, their history, or their severity?
Judith ascribes that she's not properly treating the migrianes - without ever knowing how she's treating them, the migraine history, or the side effects she receives from various treatments.
At the same time, she avoids the key issue: Do they impact her ability to be an executive?
If the answer is yes, show proof and make the statement. If the answer is no (as based upon her actions to date), then say that too.
I hate this cowardly character assassination without the gall to actually say it outright.
Urgent care facility? Around here, "urgent care facilities" are just doctors' offices where you don't need an appointment. Lots of people go to them for minor things like sinus infections.
If that's what they're talking about, how is that point even significant?
I think the writer wanted "urgent care facility" to sound like "emergency room."
Oops, Michael already made that point.
Migraines aren't just for women.
My husband, a big burly plumber, has them.
We tried medicine, but the side effects were worse than the headaches. Sluggish, doofus actions and dangerous hampering of hand eye coordination.
So we started keeping track of what was happening in the days before the headaches and what we were eating.
Turns out that he is allergic/sensitive to nitrates, sulfides and preservatives, such as those used in salad bars to keep the lettuce from turning colors. Once we figured out the forbidden foods or to only eat in small quantities, the headaches have not returned except for a rare episode or two.
Foods we avoid or reduce when they have chemicals. Commercial restaurant salads, beef jerky, some kinds of salami, processed meats like some brands of ham and lunch meats, processed cheeses - those fake slices of cheese (yuck anyway), cheeses with colorants added to make it orange and especially red wine (more than a glass or two).
The media's attempt to portray Bachman (in lieu of Palin to pile onto) as crazy, weak, dangerous, radical, stupid....etc etc etc is ludicrous and reeks of desperation.
oops....
Posted on my husband's account about the migraines.
LOL. Leaving it because I like his avatar.
"She shouldn't just rely on pills (like a right-winger dealing with problems through military force and tough prison sentences). She should regulate all aspects of her life: diet, sleep, exercise and stress levels (like a left-winger with endless regulations and social programs)."
So is it the con-lib/lib-con/neo-lib folks who implement the best aspects of both strategies?
Althouse will need to question the other side of the dinner table to find out.
Not everyone's migraine headaches are alike.
But the severe migraines do put the sufferers completely out of action for hours or even days.
It sounds to me like a legitimate issue to ask a potential future key employee about.
From appearances Bachmann is controlling it well.
I've outgrown my migraines, thank Goodness. If Michelle Bachmann suffers from them, she has my great sympathy.
I dealt with mine by sleeping.
I don't see how this would disqualify anyone from a job. I don't expect Presidents, even, to be alert and able 24/7.
I thought the liberal prescription for migraine is "I hope he fucks her angrily, because that’s how I would."
Bachmann's migraines will become a non-issue the instant Sarah Palin announces her candidacy.
Can't they turn this into another way to gay-bait her husband?
Speaking of, as it looks like Perry is more and more likely, what is the absolute latest date they can file?
Michele should get a cat.
"Flavor of the Month."
There's a lot of things wrong with the GOP, or it wouldn't be called the stupid party, for nothing.
One of the biggest failures ... (and this goes back to 1974 ... when Gerry Ford was given the pass to election day on his own. And, he lost to a peanut farmer. Proving yet again, people will pick the "unknown." When a very lackluster republican runs at the top.
It's also full of pork barrel specialists.
And, it's the pork barrels that Congress is fighting over, now.
Does this mean Obama "could" win? Sure.
Bachmann? In your dreams, perhaps.
And, Sarah Palin? If she runs as an Independent, it will mean we will see a 3-way race. And, in such a case? I'd expect the stupid party to learn nothing! And, to come in, as well, in 3rd place.
What's hidden from view?
Isn't Michelle Bachmann trying to show she "owns" the religious zealot votes? And, Sarah Palin is not making a grab to move to her right.
In any military battle it pays to have more than one division. (Politics, being divisive, right off the bat ... says there are always going to be "Divisions.")
But Lincoln, going back in time, understood something. ALL of his competitors ... and there were 3 or 4 ... were "favorite sons." They had backers ... but it didn't run deep enough. And, behind the scenes, it was Lincoln who figured out how to do "the new politics."
One of the things Lincoln did, was build a national reputation. With his Lincoln-Douglas debates going beyond local events ... and, into newspapers ... (where the new technology was the telegraph) ... Lincoln also compiled it all ... and published! Douglas, running as the democrap, would travel all over ... and, still lose.
Lincoln just stayed home. And, let others handle the chores of getting him elected.
We could be watching something like this all over, again?
And, if so, who is going to be the lamestream's "darling" next month?
As others have said - when the MFM puts half as much interest into questioning Little Black Jesus' known history of snorting coke, blowing weed and chain-smoking cigarettes, then I'll care about Bachmann's headaches.
Our first female president an unapologetic conservative? That'll give libs an 8 year migraine.
Meanwhile, in Oslo...
...a Tea Partier, obviously crazed by Obamacare, just blew up a government building. Total killed and injured unharmed, but you can be sure that it was crazy right-winger driven to act violently by conservative talk radio.
unharmed = unknown (d'oh)
Michele Bachmann to Judith Warner, "Piss off, you're giving me a headache."
"I’m not a doctor, but reports that Mrs. Bachmann’s condition had her admitted to an urgent care facility three times in six months suggest that she is perhaps suffering more than she has to."
Translation: I'm not a doctor but I will judge this woman I have never met as if I were qualified to do so even though I am not and what follows is middle school gossip.
Cool.
Trey
Perhaps I just don't have a long enough political memory, but I can't remember ever hearing that a candidate might be unfit because he suffers from headaches.
Is this just a way of prettying up the argument that women are too frail to be president?
Migraines aren't just for women
I also suffer from migraines. They seem to run in my family. My paternal grandmother, father and sister also have them.
I can't care if she has migraines.
That was a particulary vile smear of Sarah Palin penned by Judith Warner that I linked to at 9:33.
Back then (2008), Warner more openly expressed her feelings. Now (2011), she more cleverly disguises her bigotry towards women she chooses to lump together.
A woman as controversial as MB is taking a lot more heat for this than any man would (unless it made him seem effeminate in some way). We'd assume a man just toughs it out.
May be its the tin foil hats that Bachmann has to remove before she goes out in public.
You have to remove them so slowly.
Seriously, I admire Bachmann. That's why I wouldn't want us to lose her when we need her the most.
revisiting the "C##t" thread below, perhaps Ms Warner is simply a c*nt--Ockham's razor and all of that.
But so far it hasn’t revealed the details of her preventive treatment — and has done whatever it could to divert attention from the fact that such treatments often consist of first-generation antidepressants and other psychotropics.
This is either knowingly false or very poor research. This article was written on July 21, but the Bahcmann campaign had already released a letter from her doctor on July 20 specifying the drugs in question: sumatriptan (an anti-inflamatory to treat the primary symptom)and odansepan (an antiemetic to prevent or treat vomiting). Neither of these are psychotropic
or primarily anti-depressant.
Also, I am not sure where she got the information that Bachmann was hospitalized 3 times in 6 months. The doctors letter says "infrequently" and I have only heard reports of one hospitalization. I haven't actually been following this, though, so I could be misinformed, but it would be nice to have a source for that statistic.
The charge that Bachmann's "conservative Christian base" would somehow see this as an example of "pill-popping" is ludicrous. Just another snide attempt to imply that Christians are cruel and irrational. There may be some radical faith-healer types that would disparage the use of medicine to treat a serious condition such as migraines, but here's a little hint to the NYT: radical faith-healers are not conservative Christians. Most of us understand the value of medical science; in fact, you could argue that medical science was pioneered by "conservative Christians" but that is another story.
This is either knowingly false or very poor research.
The author's editor (if there was one) probably loathes Bachmann as much as Warner does and so took it at face value. But let it go. The work is labeled and sold as opinion.
Once she did well in the NH debate and gained traction and positive polling we knew the "questions" would be non-stop.
Now I want to know if Hillary Clinton was going through menopause and hot flashes during the '07 and '08 campaign.
And I want to know how frequent Sarah Palin's periods were during the '08 campaign, and did she have a lot of cramps and what birth control she was on.
I mean its important information for the voters.
Saying Bachmann was "admitted" to an urgent care facility three times shows how clueless Ms. Warner is. As others have pointed out, an urgent care facility is not a hospital. Usually it's a spot in a strip mall, between a dollar store and a Mexican restaurant. You go in, do your business, and get out. There's no staying overnight in an "urgent" care facility.
And, for some reason, someone is paying her to "swing forward" to destroy what little votes the religious zealots provide...
Isn't Michelle Bachmann trying to show she "owns" the religious zealot votes?
This Carol_Herman meme (i.e. those crazy religious right will be the death of us) is getting tiresome.
I mean look at the havoc they've created:
-they've forced gays back into the closet
-they've forced abortions into the back alleys
-they've enforced prayer in the school
-they're apocalyptic obsession with Israel has lead to a complete stop in Arab and Middle East dialogue
I could go on.
(PS You forgot to use the word "Bush" repeated. I mean he was an evangelical and did all he could to create a Taliban-like government in the US, right?)
There is a difference, is there not, between the "crazy" religious right and the religious right, correct?
Saying Bachmann was "admitted" to an urgent care facility three times shows how clueless Ms. Warner is.
Warner may be playing to older swing voters who may not recognize the difference. It's really insidious what she's doing here. I don't think she's clueless--I think she's malicious.
Yup. The religious zealots are a minority!
Why they need their own candidate is beyond me!
Why the republican party thinks this is their "base" ... and not the country club ... also defies reason!
The only reason this stuff is done is that the lamestream seems to set the stage. But you'd see a better show at Sea World!
But you'd see a better show at Sea World!
Shamu rose up and snagged a pelican once in an unscripted moment during a show at Sea World. My kids thought it was a trick until only bubbles and few feathers came back up.
___________
wv = undyin
Leftards are insipid idiots who will stoop to nothing to demonize and marginalize conservatives. Yet totally ignore presidents who were already suffered from other maladies before they became presidents themselves. Total bullshit.
Can we just agree that the left hates women, blacks, jews, latinos, and homosexuals, and uses them as nothing but tools in their ever growing ponzi schemes? They hate you Americans. You are nothing but fodder to them and yet like abuse victims, you keep going back because you think they will change. Douchebags.
What others have said is true:
1)One does not get "admitted" to an urgent care center. You go there to be treated for an acute illness that has not risen to the level of an emergency. Such as, if you get a migraine when you are out of town and don't have your Imitrex or Zofran with you and you need a quick prescription.
2) Everyone's migraines" are different. A migraine need not be incapacitating. Some people have migraines that only consist of an aura and either no headache or a mild headache.
I have had migraines since I was a teenager. I find it easier to deal with them when I can distract my mind with work - especially if it involves talking and engaging with someone else. They are much worse when I am home alone if the occur. I have never considered them a disability. Judith Warner is either being malicious in calling it a disability in reference to Bachman, or she's a wimp when it comes to her own migraines.
Also, as others have pointed out, Bachman released a letter from her physician. He specifically stated that her migraines were not frequent enough to warrant prophylactic medication. I generally don't recommend prophylaxis for people unless they occur more than twice a month or are unusually incapcitating.
Finally, there's this quote from the article "...For someone who has co-sponsored legislation aimed at combating perceived overmedication, the risk of being identified as “on meds” is serious." Translation: "Is Bachman another narcotic popping conservative like Rush Limbaugh?"
Pfft. This is why I no longer read the New York Times
Note that mental health posters often refer to Abraham Lincoln's repeated depression episodes as proof that mental illness affects even the great and is no cause for shame. Yet it disabled him, sometimes for weeks at a time.
PBS has a series running about Mary and Abe Lincoln, discussing their respective mental maladies in reverential tones.
But Bachmann, she be crazy!!
Yes, you're as likely to be "admitted" to the urgent care facility (also known as a walk-in clinic) as you are to be "admitted" to the Mexican restaurant next door.
Why the republican party thinks this is their "base" ... and not the country club ... also defies reason!
Do you sincerely believe this or are you just being obtuse.
First, I don't believe the republican party picks the candidates.
Second, do you think it might have something to do with who votes in the primaries. Its always the "true believers". If other parts of the Party don't like that then they should come out, work hard for their candidate and VOTE in the primary for the candidate.
I'm not one of those "fighting fundies" but for moderates (of which I am one) or any other faction to complain about those crazy Christians as they sit at home is naive.
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