Cures for your migraine

MANY THINGS can trigger a migraine, from hormonal changes to stress, to certain foods. These intense headaches are characterised by a throbbing or pulsing feeling that usually occurs on one side of the head and can be accompanied by nausea and sensitivity to light. Treating a migraine at the first sign is the quickest way to get relief.

The simplest way to prevent a migraine is to avoid what triggers it. However, that means identifying the trigger, which can be challenging. Try keeping a headache diary and note the frequency, intensity, and duration of attacks. Log what you discover is triggering the condition, and avoid triggers as much as possible.

Develop a plan for how you are going to tackle your migraine so that you are prepared when one strikes. Your plan may involve ensuring you have your medication or other symptom-reducing items available at all times and that you have a place to retreat to when you feel the onset of migraine symptoms. This plan will save you time so that you can focus on recovering instead of trying to figure out how to recover.

DEHYDRATION A TRIGGER

According to Dr Orlando Thomas, medical doctor and functional medicine practitioner at Thomas Medical and Shockwave Centre, dehydration can be a migraine trigger or can make a migraine last longer. So, it makes sense that drinking fluids can help prevent a migraine and can help alleviate them when they do occur.

“Hydration is key. One study found that migraine sufferers who drank about six cups of water daily for two weeks, in addition to their usual daily intake, experienced 21 fewer hours of pain and less intense headaches. You can commiserate with your body weight, that is drinking an ounce of water per kilogram of your body weight,” Dr Thomas said.

Caffeine, he said, has a love-hate relationship with migraine. The presence or absence of caffeine, as in coffee or certain teas, can affect the dilation of the vessels. Too much of this substance or withdrawal from it can bring on migraines.

If withdrawal is causing your migraine, having caffeine may help. But this will only continue the addiction cycle. Try weaning yourself off of caffeine over time. If too much coffee is causing your migraines, try cutting back and swapping your regular caffeinated beverage for decaffeinated coffee or tea when possible.

“Migraine can be triggered by caffeine because it dehydrates the body and affects how your brain cells work. If caffeine is a trigger for you, you can wean yourself off it. Avoid coffee, cola, diet coke, Pepsi, and all drinks high in caffeine,” Dr Thomas said.

Dairy products, gluten, alcohol, monosodium glutamate, are all triggers for migraines. “Gluten is a big trigger for migraine. So, wheat, flour, rye, barley, bread, buns and bulla’s must be avoided,” he said.

Artificial sweeteners are a big category of foods that may trigger migraine. “If you see a food marked diet, no sugar, low sugar, sugar-free, and you have migraine, you will probably want to avoid these kinds of food,” Dr Thomas said.

Some people are sensitive to nuts as a migraine trigger. At the same time, they are a valuable food high in minerals like magnesium, copper, zinc, and selenium which are generally all supportive to those with migraine.

Nuts are especially valuable as a low-histamine snack providing protein when you are on the go, and they can be made into delicious nut cheeses that offer a great way to avoid fermented cheese which can trigger migraine.

INTEGRATION AND NOURISHMENT

In general, healing involves integration and nourishment. Always, the goal is to support enzyme function through mineral balancing so that a person is better able to digest and assimilate nuts or any other food. This is a better root-cause approach than simply avoiding triggering foods indefinitely.

“You can avoid cashew, fermented and pickled food; salt mackerel, red-herring, cured meat, olive, avocados, mushroom, and dried foods,” Dr Thomas said.

Knowing when you need to see a healthcare provider is another critical aspect of living with migraines. Get emergency medical help if you experience a headache worse than any you have experienced in the past, problems speaking, along with vision and motor function changes, loss of balance or other neurological symptoms, and sudden onset of headache.

In addition, call your doctor if any of the following happens; there is a change in the pattern of your headaches, your treatments are not working anymore; you are experiencing side effects from medications; you have started taking birth control while on medications; you are taking pain medications three or more days a week and headaches are worse when you are lying down.

keisha.hill@gleanerjm.com