Chocolate and Vicodin by Jennette Fulda

Chocolate and Vicodin: My Quest for Relief from the Headache that Wouldn't Go Away by Jennette Fulda

From Goodreads:  Jennette Fulda went to bed on February 17, 2008, with a headache, and more than three years later, it still hasn’t gone away. Yes, she’s tried everything: intravenous drugs, chiropractic adjustments, acupuncture, subliminal messaging, marijuana (for medical purposes only), heavy drinking (which just made it hurt more), and lots and lots of chocolate. A pint of ice cream makes her feel better, but her insurance doesn’t cover mint chocolate chip.

In this painfully honest, smart, and funny memoir, the popular PastaQueen.com blogger who chronicled her nearly two hundred pound weight loss in Half-Assed shares her incredible journey to find relief from a chronic headache. As she visits countless doctors, indulges all manner of unsolicited advice from the Internet, and investigates every possible cause, from a brain tumor to a dead twin living in her brain, Jennette considers what it means to suffer, how to live with pain, and why the best treatment might be the simplest: laughter.

My Take:   I don't know how to review this book.  Essentially, the summary says it all yet doesn't do the book justice.  Bottom line is that Jennette got a headache.  It hasn't gone away.  She's tried everything including things that are probably illegal in most states.  She still has her headache but she has learned to live with it.

Why the summary does not say it all: Ironically, I just spent the last hour and a half soothing my 5 year old.  He has an earache.  Chances are 100% he has a ear infection.  All pharmacies are closed so even if the doctor would see him, I still have to treat the pain right now.  So he sleeps sitting up but on his left side for tonight with a heating pad on his right ear.  He is drugged to the hilt with Ibuprofen and Tylenol.

Meanwhile, my back has hurt for well over three years.  I've spent time and money on physical therapy, massage, exercise, gadgets, and pain medication.  I've even done "downward dog."  I've learned some tricks but it's always on my mind.  The difference is that I know the cause.  I'm neurotic.  Jennette can not claim the same cause, although she just might still be neurotic.  Who knows?

The real enjoyment is reading Jennette's writing style.  I can not, in good conscience, refer to her as Ms. Fulda.  I feel like she's my friend.  She makes me laugh.  What could have easily been a depressing book flew by and I found myself, oddly, uplifted.

In 2005, she gained fame by blogging about her epic weight loss.  Epic makes it sounds like she was morbidly obese but in reality, it was epic because she was morbidly obese.  Sorry, Jennette.  And those pants do NOT make your butt look fat.  Do mine?

So she wrote a book, published it then got a headache.  She blogged about it too, although she got really, REALLY tired of it.  The irony is that she saw something she could change about herself and undertook that challenge with success.  Then she found something she could not change and accepts it with humor.  Which really sets her apart from just some morbidly obese (Sorry again) young woman who blogs.  She is HILARIOUS.  In fact, if I hadn't just insulted her, I think we'd be pretty good friends. 


Love her humor. She's a good writer and meets the nitty gritty life with solid research and a sense of humor. I'll take three of her.


*This book will be released on Tuesday, Feb. 22nd.  Get it.  You'll like her.