Diet and Health FAQ

Tagged As: Migraine Headache Remedy

Question:
My girlfriend has very frequent migraines. She has been to her doctor who immediately turned to prescription drugs. The problem is that she hates taking pills, does anyone know of any more 'natural' remedies to at least alleviate the pain (ie. herbs, teas etc)? I would appreciate any comments and suggestions and especially I'd like to hear what works for other people with migraines.

Answer:
I have suffered from migraines all my life, and when I get one of those things I would take *anything*, natural, artificial, unnatural, or demonic to get rid of it. Your girlfriend must have a strength of conviction that leaves me in awe. However, there are som ethings to try. If she has *not* been seen by a neurologist (as opposed to a GP), she should. If she has not been given a list of tyramine rich foods to avoid (plus other things, such as red wine (any alcohol, really)) then she should be. Feverfew has been shown in one study with which I am familiar to be effective for migraine reduction; however, the study pre-selected its population based on previous experience with feverfew, so as far as I am concerned it is a bit suspect. Finally, non-ingestion cures can have a dramatic effect. Biofeedback has been shown to be effective, so much so that neurologists often have a biofeedback instructor on staff. When I had cluster headaches (a relative of migraines) several years ago that was resistant to *all* the medications I tried, hypnosis was damn near miraculous.