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Cindy McCain Declares War on Migraines

Launches public campaign on behalf of headache research

By Kevin Spak, Newser Staff

Posted Sep 14, 2009 11:30 AM CDT

(Newser) – Cindy McCain has publicly survived everything from miscarriage to stroke to a painkiller addiction—but the malady she took aim at last week was one she's endured in secret: migraines. “I’ve missed part of my life,” she told an American Headache Society luncheon. “People don’t really understand, because a headache’s more than just a headache.”

Current medicine offers few treatments for migraine—McCain’s tried everything from acupuncture to a Micronesian medicine man. She intends to campaign vigorously for the AHS, to fund research into the problem. “For the first time in my life, I’m going to go to Congress, and I’m going to be tenacious,” she says. “If you can give five million dollars to study flatulence in cows …you can give me some money for migraine research.”

[Images (3)]

[Quotes (3)]

Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and wife Cindy right, leave Albright United Methodist Church, Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2008, in Phoenix, after voting. (AP Photo/The Arizona Republic, David Kadlubowski)

Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. faces his wife Cindy, during a rally outside Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla., Monday, Nov. 3, 2008. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Cindy McCain, wife of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is seen during an election night rally in Phoenix Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2008. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

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The first doctor I went to basically said, ‘Well, you’re just neurotic, you’re just stressed, your husband’s a senator. Go home, put your feet up, and have a drink.' - Cindy McCain

I’ll do anything, including chew broken glass, if it would help me get rid of this. - Cindy McCain, on the many strange remedies she's tried

I’ve missed part of my life. I’ve missed my children in many ways. I’ve made every important event, but there’re times I’ve been throwing up out the car window. - Cindy McCain

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COMMENTS

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Showing 3 of 25 comments

Caps

Sep 15, 2009 12:46 PM CDT

All the McCain gives me a pain the ass. I haven't forgiven him for bringing the Wasilla bimbo from the backwoods and thinking she was intelligent enough for VP.

Mad

Sep 15, 2009 9:24 AM CDT

Smoking anything while wrestling with a headache will not work. Inhaling smoke is a vasoconstrictor, a primary cause of headaches.

mehrheit

Sep 15, 2009 3:50 AM CDT

I had severe cluster headaches for about a year after a terrible car accident, broken neck. They are no joke. I had one continuous cluster headache that lasted nearly 3 weeks! I wanted to cut my f*ing head off. All the Rx meds for it are essentially prescription speedballs, speed+sedative(+sometimes opiate too), and while nice, they quickly lose their sparkle AND effectiveness. -- Wish I would have known about the 'shroom cure! (How does one happen to find out that they work? I smell an interesting story here...)

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Cindy McCain Declares War on Migraines