Generation Health

Experts Offer New Holistic Cures
for Migraine Sufferers

By Tammy Valdovino

In 1998, Terrell Davis removed himself from the entire second half of Super Bowl XXXIII, the biggest game of his career. Why? Because he’d suddenly developed a migraine. It was Davis’s public announcement about the pain he’d been suffering, an announcement made in front of millions of people, that finally brought migraine disease out of the closet.

Migraine is not “just a bad headache,” as many people mistakenly believe. It’s a neurological disease of the brain, one that more than 30 million Americans suffer from. Two-thirds of those people are women. And most of us migraineurs (a fancy word for migraine sufferers) are at the end of our rope. We’ve tried multitudes of preventive, abortive, and pain relief medications, only to have them barely work, present awful side-effects, or lose their effectiveness after several months.

My own experience with migraine disease began in my middle twenties, but really didn’t get bad until after the birth of my first child a few years later. Suddenly, headaches that used to last half a day turned into three-day-long painful ordeals that struck three to four times a month. I became convinced I had a brain tumor, and made the first of what would be numerous appointments with several different doctors—some who were patronizing; others who were uninformed; still others who simply shrugged and sent me home.

That’s when I realized there wasn’t going to be an easy cure for my problem.

After years of using a wide variety of preventative and last resort medications, I finally realized that I would never find that “magic silver-bullet” that would relieve my horrendous pain and give me back the third of my life I was spending in a dark room away from my family. What I needed to do, I knew, was take charge of my illness. I found that what worked best for me was the inclusion of an holistic approach to my migraines, and it’s an approach that’s made significant improvements to my life.

“Holistic medicine is not an alternative, but a complement to what you’re already doing for your headaches,” writes Robert Ivker, D.O. in his book, Headache Survival: The Holistic Medical Treatment Program for Migraine, Tension, and Cluster Headaches. Ivker believes that taking back control of your life begins by making certain lifestyle changes, and adding a regime of supplements and herbs to your daily routine.

Lifestyle changes begin by recognizing the migraine “triggers” that you’re susceptible to. Food triggers are particularly suspect and hard to pin down. Ivker suggests completely eliminating the following known triggers from your diet, and then slowly adding them back in, one at a time, to gauge your headache response: Aged cheese, aspartame, bananas, chocolate, citrus, coffee, MSG, nuts, packaged and cured meats, pickled foods, red wine, and soy sauce. If you notice other foods that seem to bring on a migraine, perform the same test on them.

Other triggers to be aware of that are even harder or sometimes impossible to avoid include bright light or glare, high altitudes, loud sounds, fragrances, smoking, stress, and sleep. To minimize the effect these triggers have on you, try the following: wear sunglasses, use earplugs, avoid strong perfume and other scents, stop smoking, and learn to relax or meditate. Also, get a full night’s sleep, and go to bed and get up at the same time, even on the weekends.

Two lifestyle changes that are easier to accomplish are staying hydrated and starting an exercise regime. “Drink half an ounce of water per pound of body weight if you are a healthy but sedentary adult,” according to Ivker, “and increase that amount to two-thirds of an ounce per pound if you’re an active exerciser.” The best bet for exercising is not to overdo it. Walking, yoga, tai-chi, and stretching are always a good choice for folks who aren’t accustomed to a lot of movement.

The last lifestyle change I’ve tried comes from Professor Rodolfo Low’s book, Migraine: The Breakthrough Study. Low found that most migraineurs also have hypoglycemia, so he created four rules that, when followed, completely eliminated the migraines in ninety percent of his subjects. These rules are, in no particular order: Completely eliminate refined sugar from the diet; never allow more than three hours to go by without eating; avoid alcoholic beverages; and avoid hypoglycemia-producing drugs.

After implementing these lifestyle changes, Low recommends introducing supplements and herbs that are known to be beneficial for migraine relief. Many studies have shown that migraineurs have low levels of magnesium in their blood; so add 200mg of magnesium three times a day, balanced with 1000mg of calcium. Two B vitamins are particularly helpful, Low believes. He recommends taking 400mg of B2 (riboflavin) and 50 mg of B6 every day.

Herbs are also recommended by holistic experts to combat migraine, although they sometimes take a few weeks before their effects become noticeable. Feverfew has been known for centuries to be useful for migraines; either eat a fresh leaf every day or, if you can’t tolerate the leaf’s bitterness, take one over-the-counter capsule of the herb three times a day. Well known in Europe is the herb butterbur; the recommended dose is 50mg twice a day. St. John’s Wort tincture or tea is good for the pain and depression that often accompanies migraines. Some migraneurs swear by fresh ginger for nausea, a frequent side effect of migraines.

An holistic approach to migraines, one that treats the whole person and not just his symptoms, is fast becoming the most popular approach to migraine relief. It’s one that’s helped me get myself out of my darkened bedroom and back to the full life that I knew was missing. With a couple of lifestyle changes and a little extra work, you can join me out here, too.

Tammy Valdovino is a freelance writer and confirmed bibliophile who lives in Northern Arizona.