Migrains?

[Unlikely.Me]

This may sound odd, so I'll give a background of my history with migraines first.

I first got migraines when I was in 8th grade, and they were completely distracting from school and life in general. I'd get them daily for months at a time.

Finally, we got them under control with meds, can't remember which ones, but I always hated the side affects (i.e. depression, hair falling out, weird appetite)

Later, in highschool they came back, so badly that I couldn't sleep , couldn't function, couldn't really leave a dark room. Missed so much school I had to drop out and ended up in Tampa General's pain treatment clinic.

We got them under control, once again with crappy meds that are made more for seizures and depression, and I got my GED and went to college.

Another couple years pass and they came back again, once again, completely lost my functionality. This time, we couldn't get them under control, so I had to basically learn to function with them.

Around this same time, I gotthe crazy idea in my head to stop eating meat. This wasn't an idealistic or moral decision so much as a challenge to myself, just to see if I could do it.

Here's the crazy part, almost as soon as I stopped eating meat, my migraines went away. All those years and wasted money on drugs and treatment, and it was a food trigger all along. I'm guessing it was all the trans-fatty acids (sp?) and or preservatives in the meats that was causing them.

Anyways, the lesson here, is that there are thousands of food triggers out there, and I would advise for anyone who gets migraines to play around with different healthy diets and see what (hopefully) works for them. Obviously, vegetarianism isn't for everyone, but see what works for you. Anything with MSG in it is known to be a trigger as well.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

[cmcfeaters]

Just a few more suggestions that haven't been mentioned (I don't think), if you don't want to go for the Rx:

Mayo Clinic:
Biofeedback appears to be especially effective in relieving migraine pain. This relaxation technique uses special equipment to teach you how to monitor and control certain physical responses, such as muscle tension.

Although massage is a wonderful way to reduce stress and relieve tension, its value in treating headaches hasn't been fully determined. For people who have tight, tender muscles in the back of the head, neck and shoulders, massage may help relieve headache pain.

There is some evidence that the herbs feverfew (Tanacet, Tenliv) and butterbur (DoloMed, Petadolex, Petadolor) may prevent migraines or reduce their severity. A high dose of riboflavin (vitamin B-2) also may prevent migraines by correcting tiny deficiencies in the brain cells. Oral magnesium sulfate supplements may reduce the frequency of headaches in some people, although studies don't all agree on this issue. In addition, infusions of magnesium sulfate seem to help some people during an acute headache, and they seem to relieve migraine pain in people with magnesium deficiencies. Ask your doctor if these treatments are right for you. Don't use feverfew or butterbur if you're pregnant.
FROM:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/invoke.cfm...4A&dsection=12

Yoga Journal:
Magnesium and riboflavin supplements may also help. A 2002 study of women suffering from menstrual migraines found that 45 to 50 percent had low levels of the mineral magnesium. Although some experts advocate levels of 500 milligrams of magnesium daily (well above the National Institute of Medicine Food and Nutrition Board’s dietary reference intake of 320 mg a day for women 25 and older), those with kidney stones or low calcium levels should talk with their doctor before taking magnesium in supplement form. Those under care for any condition should also let their doctor know.

Riboflavin, or vitamin B2, may assist nerve cells in the production of energy. High doses of riboflavin are thought to reverse energy loss in cells during migraine attacks: In a Belgian study released in 1998, migraine sufferers taking 400 mg a day of riboflavin reported improvement in the severity and frequency of their attacks within one to three months of starting supplements. (Though the Food and Nutrition Board’s recommended dietary allowance for riboflavin is just 1.3 mg a day for females ages 25 to 50 and 1.2 mg a day for women 51 and older, higher levels are generally considered safe, as this vitamin is water-soluble and excess amounts are flushed from the body.) If you’re looking for an herbal remedy, you might consider feverfew capsules. Numerous clinical trials have been conducted with feverfew, and although the outcomes have varied, some experts believe it shows promise as a means of reducing both the frequency and severity of attacks. To keep side effects to a minimum, the suggested dose is 50 to 100 mg. (Note: Most people need to take feverfew for several months before deriving its full benefit.)

And many headache sufferers find relief through biofeedback, which can teach sufferers to control the body’s unconscious and automatic responses to stress, such as blood pressure changes, muscle tension, and changes in heart rate. Though some health care practitioners question biofeedback’s value, a five-year retrospective study by the Diamond Headache Clinic in Chicago found that 85 percent of adult participants who learned biofeedback techniques showed significant symptom reduction in severity, duration, and frequency of headaches.
FROM: http://www.yogajournal.com/health/1217_1.cfm

[Glide]

My Ex had migraines alot. She did a DETAILED list of everything she ate for month. Turns out she got migraines from MSG. It's in everything!

[Letha Hadady]

This information on migraines is interesting, the full gamot from sitting in hot water and applying ice to medicines and acupressure points. Wow. Here are what has worked for me:
Avoid cold or raw foods first thing in the morning. It weakens digestion and by mid-afternoon you get a big migraine. I have recommended this to a few people and they had all started the day with a green juice. When they changed to hot green tea and something cooked to eat for breakfast, they were fine all day.

Homeopathic nat. mur. 30 C to balance fluid levels in the cells. That works for the kinds of headaches where you feel sick, get a runny nose or diarrhea. For thobbing hot headaches, add homeopathic belladonna 30C as well. It works for all hot, throbbings inflammatory pain. When using a homeopathic remedy, do not eat or drink anything for 20 minutes so you do not mix the remedy with anything. Coffee and decaf. take the remedy out of the body, so wait 20 min. after coffee.

The acupuncture point de Francia mentioned is used to bring pressure and inflammation out of the face. Perhaps if it works for headaches it is because jaw tension is making pain worse. The usual acupuncture treatment for migraine is more complicated, with needles on top of head, side of head, neck and points in the legs to strengthen digestion. It is believe that weak digestion can cause "rising fire of the liver" to cause a headache. So I will stick with healing digestion first..

best of luck,
Letha
www.asianhealthsecrets.com

[neu08]

From the research I've done, accupuncture can definitely be pretty effective in helping with migraines. It's also a good way to avoid using prescription medication and even the OTC meds that are hard on the body. I've heard a lot of positive things about an herbal remedy called Petadolex for migraines as well. It has butterbur in it, and works in the brain to improve blood vessel tone and circulation to help prevent migraines. It's definitely worth looking into.

[jwinch2]

Elizabeth,

First of all, welcome to budoseek. Secondly, do us a small favor and take a look at the date at which the threads you are reading last had a post in it. This particular one was two and a half years ago with the original post occurring four years ago. Furthermore, as you will note, the original poster never bothered to reply to the thread. All of those considered are a good sign that a thread has died a natural death.

Of course it is a good idea to use the search function before starting threads on topics to make sure that yours is not redundant. However, for many threads, there just isn't much use in reviving them.

Just use your best judgement.

Thanks,

Jason