December
2007
Migraine News and Tips
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Auntie P Flickr Photo (CC)
Did you know migraine sufferers have different brains from other people?
- Chocolate
- Overripe fruit
- Alcohol
- Sweets
- Caffeine
- Sleep deprivation
- Menstrual cycles
- Stress
- Smoke (cigarette/cigar smoke)
- Excess sun (or too little sun)
- Anxiety
Further Reading:
Americans Popping Pills in Record Numbers
7 Tips to Beat Stress Right Now
Technorati Tags: migraine, headache, medication, pain, triggers, neuroscience, brain
It’s funny. I’ve never had migraines. I always assumed migraines were headaches for people who whine a lot. Looks like I’ve got some apologizing to do.
My mother suffers from migraine headaches, so I know that migraines can be a very debilitating ailment. I am glad to see an article focus on not only medicinal cures but also the natural cures that are available. I also appreciate the comment on lifestyle possibly being a factor and the fact that some people are simply more susceptible this disease.
I’ve never even had a headache. But two ladies in my office suffer from migraines. I feel for them when I see how much pain their in. I will show them this post. Thank you.
T.
Thanks for the article. (Hey, I’m the Migraineur, of course I’d appreciate an article on migraine.)
I’m curious - do you know of any research into migraines and low-carb diets? I know many doctors recommend gluten-free diets, but I fear that these are insufficient because I’m not sure that gluten is the problem. One of the first things people on gluten-free diets turn to is corn, which can’t be better.
I know that there is a great deal of research into ketogenic diets for epilepsy, and that some migraine sufferers are successfully treated with anti-seizure drugs. This leads me to wonder if ketogenic diets are good for migraine. I think it has something to do with the brain’s conversion of glutamate (bad for migraineurs, by the way) to the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA in the presence of ketones.
My neurologist dismissed a ketogenic diet as “extreme,” so I didn’t tell him that I’m usually spilling ketones at a +2 or +3 level. How much more drastic could it be for me to aim for +4?
I take Inderal as a migraine prophylactic, but it has a bad effect on insulin metabolism - I believe it increases insulin resistance, but it could increase insulin production, not quite sure. In any case, I’ve been trying to work up the courage to dump the Inderal. My migraines come with aura, the truly debilitating visual disturbances that make it impossible to drive or do any work; the pain was somewhat bearable, but the aura was not.
Finally, there are a number of researchers who think that migraine is not one disease, but a cluster of related diseases. This makes sense to me, because the things that work for some people fail for others.
By the way, the artwork you used to illustrate this post is not a bad example of what migraine aura is like. Not perfect, but pretty darn good.
And all this time I thought I just got really bad headaches. At least a couple times a year I would get these killer headaches and pop upwards of 5 pain killers. Looking back I was probably having migraines. Good to know there are other options.
Migraineur,
1) Sorry you have to deal with migraines.
2) Not aware of the keto factor in migraines. I am of the opinion that cutting all grain is more on the right track (corn is a grain, so those who cut gluten and not corn may short-change themselves.
3) Jack Challem thinks some people might benefit from extra B2 and magnesium. He thinks in those people that a certain gene is expressing itself due to whatever mechanism and that it can be sometimes “turned off” with those supplements.
4) As you know, I’m not the biggest fan of anything that increases insulin resistance.
Another trigger can be cervical-spinal problems — in my case, caused by a bad phone posture. Over a decade ago, I had one migraine headache, which had been preceded by two “precursor” events a few weeks/months before. After the headache (to which, I thought at the time, death would have been preferable) I went to a reputable chiropractor. He took neck x-rays and asked me if I spent a lot of time of the phone with the handset propped between my shoulder and my ear. When I responded in the affirmative, he said he thought that was the cause of the migraine and he believed he could remedy the problem with a few weeks of treatment (and a promise from me that I wouldn’t hold the phone that way anymore). He did (remedy the problem), I haven’t (held the phone that way anymore), and I haven’t had another migraine since.
As a long time migraine sufferer, I finally met a neurologist who told me about the magnesium and B2-I have fewer migraines now than I ever did. I felt like those 2 simple pills were really a miracle!
My Dr. said it’s not worth it for me to take the preventative medicine since I only get them 3-4 times a year. I didn’t know about damaging the brain-I’m going to show him this post! Thanks Mark!
A friend I met recently has had migraines and we got on the subject of food allergies/sensitivities, specifically wheat and gluten, and she did more research and then went to her neurologist with her findings (she also suffers seizures and has a lesion on her brain) and he is testing her for celiac. She’s cut out all gluten and says she already feels tons better. I think she should get her results back this week, and I’m curious to see if she is on the right track!
My sister suffers migraines as well, hers seem to be triggered by caffeine, preservatives, and I’m not sure what else. SHe usually throws up and has to lay in a totally dark, totally quiet room.
I suffered from migraines associated with my menstrual cycle. I have found that reducing my processed carb intake (no sweets or pasta but plenty of beans, fruits and veggies), exercising and trying to include more anti-inflammatory food in my premenstrual diet has helped quite a bit.
In Larry McCleary’s book The Brain Trust Program he has a section on migraines. He recommends ketosis for migraines and some supplements.
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I’ve been getting severe migraines since I was seven years old. I am now 20. For five years now I’ve been strictly on holistic and herbal supplements/remedies, and have paid close attention to staying away from foods in which trigger my migraines. It helps, but I still get them, and when I do I’m out for days… which is difficult since I’m in college now and professors don’t like hearing sob stories about why my attendance is so low.
I’ve tried to deny now for years to myself and those around me how bad my migraines are. It’s hard to always be explaining to people who don’t and will never understand the pain I’ve had to live through… the pain I still go through. How hard it is to sometimes get through the simple matters in life.
Anyway. I wanted to applaud you on the post. I’ve really needed to stay informed… and I find myself not as informed as I thought I should be anymore. Although there was one thing I wanted to say…
I highly discourage pharmaceutical therapy… from the time I was ten years old to the time I was 15, I had neurologist after neurologist put me on medications to help “prevent” my migraines… except every drug they put me on never did anything… and in the end they simply started guessing at what may work for me, putting me on medications that had nothing to do with migraines… leaving me to deal with the horrific side effects. You say that the side effects are better to deal with in the end… and while I agree with you on the fact that “downing piles of pills in desperation” isn’t healthy at all (believe me… I know)… the medications I was on with their side effects only made the situation worse. Far worse. Migraines and the side effects from the medications I took for those five years nearly obliterated my life…
Anyway… after refusing to take medications after turning 15 my family and I heard of a holistic medical center, and it was then I learned of my food allergies, mainly wheat/gluten, corn and sugar. Cutting these out of my diet helps a lot, but as you can imagine can sometimes be hard to get around. Other triggers can be bright lights (mainly the bright sun… its not always a blessing to live in SoCal…), stress/anxiety and certain chemicals…
Hello,
My husband has severe migranes. He has an almost permanent headache everyday and then on top of these daily headaches approximately once a week he has a migraine of horrendous proportions. Several times he has had to be rushed to hospital for them, he vomits, collapses and has gone unconcious at times during them.
He has tried many medications both to prevent and to minimize the effects of these migraines, none of which have helped and some of those medications have had seriously adverse affects, including rage and uncontrolable irratibility. For which my husband had steadfastly refused to use or take any of them ever again. Other medications leave him loopy and feeling unfocused, which is just as bad.
These migranes are so dibiliatating and painful for him and there seems that there is nothing that anyone can do. We have tried chirporactic, accupuncture, reflexology, essential oils, B supplements and many other things, all of which have not helped in the slightest.
I have a serious concern due to the frequency, duration and severity of his migraines (coupled with the almost permanent running headache) that we will not be able to find some type of mitigator or ease for him.
Please can anyone tell me if there has been good sucess with the glueten free lifestyle. I have read and heard reports that this is a viable option, but it is a substantial change to a family (yes if we did this it would be for the whole family, as I wouldn’t want my husband to have to go through this alone and in all honesty having to cook two different styles is not realistic everyday).
Is there anyone that can give me more information or give me directions to books or websites that might provide this?
Thank you.
WifeofSufferer,
We have a nice community of people many with their own health challenges. One loyal reader comes to mind that may be able to offer advice - either personally (she may have contact info on her site) or via her blog: http://migraineur.wordpress.com/
I hope this helps and that you and your husband are able to get to the root of this serious problem.