Migraines? Calling All Doctors!

Sodium naproxen......marketed in the US as ALEVE. No prescription required and on the counter in Wal-Mart.

My wife used to get killer migraines and she uses this to stop them in their tracks.

 

I would spend the $15 to subscribe to silver...there is a huge thread on dealing with migraines. lots of different solutions people have found.

 

I use Excedrine Migraine (although I get cluster headaches, not true migraines) and it works well.

I'd go see a doc anyway, just to be on the safe side.

 

I had a migraine every day for 1.5 years and my doctor prescribed Imitrex which was a lifesaver. The only problem was the prescription was only good for 9 pills every 15 days, so I had to suffer every few days. I had every test I think known at the Mayo clinic and no reason was ever found as to why the migraines started. After about 3 months ago they stopped as suddenly as they started.

 

Seen a TMJ specialist?

 

nitrates?

 

Temporal Mandibular Joint dysfunction.

In other words........do you grind your teeth?

Neil

 

Dear Austin,

I am not a medical doctor, but rather a PhD student in the field of clinical neuroscience. There are many theories as to what precisely causes migraines ranging from that of vascular pressure (disputed), inflammatory mediators (disputed), serotonin (incomplete), noradrenaline (sketchy), substance P (incomplete), and any number of theories mixing the aforementioned to varying degrees. With that in mind, it is very difficult to formulate or to recommend a specific treatment that may work universally for everyone and you should really speak to your own doctor about trying various therapies for it. Just because scientists aren't yet agreed on what the pathogenesis of the condition actually is doesn't mean there aren't things out there that help. But I doubt you'll get the sort of advice you need through an online car forum - you need a real doctor to sit down with you in person and help you decide the best path forward.

What I do know is that ibuprofen, like all non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), cumulatively increases your risk of heart attack with continued use, and furthermore it is a very harsh drug on the gastrointestinal tract and ulcerations can result from prolonged use even in those not most susceptible to gastrointestinal irritation. For your own health's sake man, you must get to your doctor and find another way of dealing with this - daily ibuprofen for months on end will do you no good at all!

As you alluded to yourself, daily administration of a drug like ibuprofen will invoke down-regulation (reduction in number or affinity) of the receptors to which the drug binds. This means that you're no longer taking the drug to give a benefit, you're now taking it just to get back to where you were before all this started - requiring higher and higher doses to feel therapeutic benefit. This is the slippery slope to dependence, and while it might make you feel better to keep it up, you'll be dipping into the functional reserve of your other organs such as liver and kidneys to clear the metabolites of the drug, as well as receiving untold compensatory changes to the sites of action.

I could name an alternative, but I won't. If the message hasn't sunk in yet, here it is one final time (I really can't stress this enough): it is imperative that you discuss this chronic condition openly and honestly with your own medical doctor. Appealing for medical advice over car forums (even from health professionals) is unlikely to do you much good - make an appointment with your doctor and see him/her in person.

Good luck: health, wealth, and happiness.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

Caffeine is a big one to stop with. My mom had excruciating migraines when I was little, on top of that extreme vertigo. She was told to stop drinking all caffeine related products. Once she did that the migraines subsided.

I do have a quick solution to stop your migraine within as little as 30 minutes. Take two cloves of garlic (chopped up) and a glass of milk. I've always been told to warm the milk, but I don't think it's necessary. My dad has recommended this to numerous clients and all have reported success.

I had a extremely bad headache (not a migraine), and did this and the pain was almost completely gone within an hour. So it also works with normal headaches.

It sounds disgusting, but it's quick and worth a try. And I think no more migraine is worth the bad breath.

 

I work for our state's Department of Managed Health Care in the independent medical review department. When one of the insurance companies under our jurisdiction deny a service, exam, or medication the enrollee can file an application with our department. We review the patient's condition, medical history, current medical literature, and evidence of coverage to determine if the health plan was correct in denying a particular service.

In the case of migraines we are overturning denied Botox injections on a frequent basis. When a patient has tried the standard treatments and failed they are now allowed to have Botox injections as a covered benefit. The insurance companies were denying this and stating it was experimental or investigational for the treatment of migraines but now there is enough medical literature to show the benefit of Botox injections.

Many of these enrollee's that suffered from daily migraine symptoms are finding 3-6 months of relief with Botox.

Just another treatment method to ponder.

 

GLAD you have found relief.

FWIW - Nitrates on their own are harmless, but when they convert to nitrites, and in turn, to nitrosamines, that is not good. However, Vitamin C inhibits the conversion of nitrates to nitrosamines in your stomach.

Since you're in CA - you'll note signs at entrances to grocery stores, etc. which indicate in so many words; "This location uses chemicals which are known to cause cancer, etc."

Guess what that "chemical" is.

 

Just wanted to share my experience. I went for years with daily headaches. I woke up with them, went to sleep with them. I'm amazed I functioned at all.

I always told my Doc about my headaches and tried various things like eliminating caffeine, adding magnesium, and so forth. Recently, my Doc referred me to a sleep specialist. Turns out, I wasn't getting any rest at night due to sleep apnea.

Now I wear a CPAP and look like Darth Vader at night but my headaches are completely gone. Thank goodness.

 

I have suffered from debilitating headaches since I was a teenager. I started going to neurologists in NYC two decades ago for treatment. I was diagnosed with a form of headache that is known as a 'cluster' type headache, which is different in origin, symptoms and treatment than the classic migraine. FWIW, having spent much painful time treating to alleviate or prevent these headaches- I could go into great detail about the different pharma and holistic remedies I've used- the best thing I found was an MD who really understood their treatment. Many of the neurologists I used over the years who claimed a specialty in headache treatment were really not as knowledgeable as the guy I found- who has been a lifesaver for me. This is still more black art than science, but finding the right doctor is key.

 

So a lack of Vitamin C can also be chalked up to migraines/headaches?