Migraines Situation: Environmental Connections?

[TheGoogler]

For roughly the past month since hearing about a family friend's migraine condition, I have been compiling information in my free time and trying to come up with some potential solutions to her chronic migraine situation. I was fortunate enough to have recently found this forum, and it has been very helpful in giving me a better understanding of causes/effects of migraines among other things. However, seeing as cases of migraines carry a tendency to vary from one to another, I felt it best if I give a thorough rundown of her situation, and the ideas I have considered may help.

Any advice, ideas or insights you may have are appreciated.

[Also: Disclaimer: I haven't thoroughly explored the forums, so if you think other threads hold answers to questions I ask here, feel free to link them]
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Some basic background information on my friend:

• Female
• 22 years old
• No family history of migraines
• No personal history of head trauma or general head injuries
• No weight concerns/obesity

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• Moved to Austin, TX area from the Midwest ~9 years ago
• As of JAN2017, has 32 allergies/food allergies
  • the only allergies she says were not developed in TX are 2 dust mite allergies
  • father has a few allergies, "more of a problem with grass" whereas her allergies are "more of a problem with trees"

List of all her allergies:

• Cats
• Penicillium
• Hackberry
• Ash
• Candida
• Maple
• Oak Mix
• Pecan
• Sycamore
• American Elm
• Walnut Tree
• Mountain Cedar
• Fall Elm
• Cladosporium
• Helminthosporium
• Alternaria
• Red Berry Juniper
• Cocklebur
• Short Ragweed
• Giant Ragweed
• Walnuts
• White Potatoes
• Peaches
• Apricots
• Coffee
• Mushroom
• Strawberry
• Carrots
• Squash
• Garlic
• House Dust Mite F*
• House Dust Mite P*

*Pre-existing
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• Migraines began 4 years ago (1-2 weeks before 18th birthday), frequency has steadily increased since (no recorded migraines previous to this)
  • Migraines initially came ~every 3 months, has increased to ~every 2 weeks, sometimes more
  • Frequently hospitalized due to severity of migraines
  • Migraine duration currently averages anywhere from 7 hours - 10 days, severity fluctuates
• "pre" migraine phase usually either very brief or nonexistent
• Frequency has increased to a point where her "no migraine" baseline now includes constant daily pain
• MRIs have come up clear
• Only diagnosis given to her was "Chronic Migraines"
• Not diagnosed with tinnitus, but she believes she has this as well
• No official designation given by doctors or specialists on origin of migraines
• All migraines are located above the eyebrows on both sides of the head
• Severity of pain has increased to a point that she can no longer guarantee being able to function on any particular day; has to spend many days doing close to nothing
• Primary speculated factors of triggers are the weather and pollen (TX is a known hotspot for migraines)
  • Migraines will sometimes kick in before a storm hits, and sometimes they occur spontaneously
  • Sudden feeling of fatigue also indicates oncoming migraines
• Has short-term memory problems, migraines magnify this
  • memory problems are believed to have always been present
• No vision loss from migraines

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• Averages 9 hours of sleep/night, does not have problems with sleeping itself
  • Sleep schedule is consistent
  • Sleep not an effective way to eliminate migraines
  • Will often wake up with migraines
• Has tried a gluten-free diet, did not work
• Is currently considering a Whole30 diet
• has known serotonin-based issues, including depression and anxiety

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• No treatments currently work, most effective treatment used to be CAMBIA (diclofenac potassium) [worked for 6 months]
  • this includes hospital visits as of DEC2016, nothing completely removes pain anymore

List of all treatments attempted to date, of which only her recently prescribed Ketoprofen is having an impact:

• Nortriptyline
• Gabapentin
• Phenergan
• Myotherapy
• Benadryl
• Nadolol
• CAMBIA
• Dexamethasone
• Botox (15 rounds)
• Tens Machine
• Sumatriptan
• Zomig
• Tramadol
• Acupuncture
• Lidocaine injections into back of the head
• Zofran
• SPRIX
• Prednisone
• Massages
• Combination IV Cocktail [Toradol, Steroid, Reglan, Phenergan, Magnesium, Zofran, D______ (she forgot this one's name)]
• Prescription dose Magnesium (1 year+)
• Topamax (topiramate)
• M-grain oil on temples & neck
• REPLAX (eletriptan)
• Verapamil
• Ketoprofen*

• Current medications are Zyrtec (every night), Zoloft (sertraline) 100mg and Seasonique birth control

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• Visited Mayo Clinic in Minnesota 01MAY2017 (10 days ago)
  • Had MRI and MRV (I asked her if anything showed up on those, waiting for response)
  • Was started on Verapamil, with RELPAX and Ketoprofen "for emergencies"
    • Was told Verapamil would take ~3 months to see results (I am asking her what prescription/dose... AFAIK 3 months is a severe overestimation)
  • She reports Ketoprofen worked well when used in the evening on 02MAY (I have asked her if it is still effective and if the other medications have any effectiveness as well, will update when she responds)
  • Clinic refused to answer questions regarding potential environmental factors, even when asked directly

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*Please correct me for any inaccuracies, as I only have a beginner's knowledge on all this. Also, if any particular studies come to mind that may help out here or just provide supplemental information, I would greatly appreciate you linking them.

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It seems that her change in environmental has likely played a role in the gradual onset of this issue. I have no idea why the Mayo clinic refused to address the topic, I'm tempted to call and ask.


She is looking to move when possible, but it doesn't seem likely to happen in the near future. I am proceeding with my research under the presumption that her current prescribed drugs will not sustain long term treatment, as everything else has eventually succumbed to the migraines and not seemed to correct the root of the problem, of which I am still uncertain.


As I understand it, migraines are often caused by imbalances in serotonin, histamines, prolactin and estrogen. I have been trying to figure out what link exists between the aggravating environmental factors and chemical levels in her body, assuming imbalances in these are what is causing the migraines. She has not been tested for estrogen or prolactin levels.


The treatments I have been looking into suggesting to her are:

• Topical lisuride application, with ritanserin if side effects appear
• Microdosing psilocybin (not including LSD because lisuride has the same mechanism)
• Medical marijuana
• Nootropics (haven't done enough research yet to suggest any stacks)
• Tyromix if she finds herself to have low prolactin levels
• Cyproheptadine (unless Cetirizine or Loratadine are better)
• Zolmitriptan
• Ergot Alkaloids
• Peat-based diet

*She works in the medical field, and they have regular drug screenings (I do not know what for specifically)

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I have not had the time to look into each individual treatment option yet, so if there are overlaps between any I apologize in advance. I also do not know how mechanistically related these may be to things she has already tried. Basically this is everything I have so far come across that doesn't (I think) directly line up with what she has already tried and seems to hold at least some potential. It's a bit of a shotgun effort.

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I don't know what type of diet would be best suited to treat chronic migraine conditions. She wants to try the Whole30 diet and see if it produces any results; if someone knows already the (in)effectiveness of this and/or better alternatives, I would be thrilled to hear.

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I read through the entire Lisuride origin thread and it seemed to hold a lot of potential, but seeing as I have not yet reliably identified the causation of the migraines, it could very well prove ineffective.

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If anyone is able to figure out from what I have so far shared what may be the likely culprit(s) for these migraines, I'm all ears. If anyone knows specifically what the correlations are between weather, pollen and migraines, and whether or not they have to do with interfering with chemical levels, any information on that is greatly appreciated. I have unfortunately been very busy wrapping up my semester these past few weeks, so my research has come to all but a standstill, and I figured posting this might generate some results. Also, if you know of any studies that could provide further information or back up claims I would appreciate that too.

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Additional Questions:

• Are there any other/better treatment options that I should look into for this?

• Any good studies that can drop some hard knowledge on some of this?

• Is there any particular information not mentioned that may help? (I can ask her and usually get responses within the day.) I can provide a list of all her allergies if that would help, I left it out for now because I felt it might just be a bit excessive.
  • Conversely, is there any irrelevant information I included that I could remove in an effort to prevent too much clutter?

• Is it realistic to believe that this problem can be solved without her being required to move out of Texas?

• Why would Mayo clinic refuse to address potential environmental factors?

• Is it likely that the weather/pollens have been damaging overall gut health and/or creating chemical imbalances, thus causing the migraines? Or something different? (It took ~5 years of living in Texas before the migraines appeared)

• Are there any particular diet suggestions that may be likely to help her?

• Does anyone have any good sources that outline the differences & similarities in chemical mechanisms for some (or all) of the treatments she has so far tried? And if what I suggested works differently or is likely to be more of the same?

• Is there a relationship between prostaglandin and prolactin, serotonin, dopamine, histamines, or estrogen? And if there is, could someone point me to a good source or sources that do a good job explaining the relationships between these different chemicals? I’m not yet too efficient at finding well-summarized breakdowns of the mechanism aspects behind chemicals in general. Also I realize this question may be way off target as well.

• (Far left field) Is it possible NSI-189 may hold any potential for treatment? I've been looking into that chemical independently and was wondering if anyone had heard of any cases with it treating migraines. I don’t know how strong of a ripple effect changes in the hippocampus would have on the frontal lobe, if any.

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@haidut @charlie any suggestions?

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Thank you to all that took the time to read this, regardless of whether or not you have anything to contribute.

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Footnote: I am quite tired at this point and have been working on this write-up for the about 7-ish hours now, apologies if anything seems a bit scatterbrained. Correlations correlations correlations...

 

[Giraffe]

Welcome to the forum, @TheGoogler . Sorry to hear about your friend's trouble.

Just a few thoughts...

• Do you know if she started any of the drugs she is taking now shortly before the migraine attacks first started?
• Your post made me think of things Peat said about chemical sensitivity. You might want to look up the quotes. Also look into progesterone. (links: www.raypeat.com -- Interview Transcripts | Ray Peat Forum -- Search)
• Some positive results of allergy tests only mean that the person has recently been exposed to said substance. (I am not knowledgeable enough though to elaborate on that.)
  
• One user reported that taurine helped.

 

[TheGoogler]

Welcome to the forum, @TheGoogler . Sorry to hear about your friend's trouble.

Just a few thoughts...

• Do you know if she started any of the drugs she is taking now shortly before the migraine attacks first started?
• Your post made me think of things Peat said about chemical sensitivity. You might want to look up the quotes. Also look into progesterone. (links: www.raypeat.com -- Interview Transcripts | Ray Peat Forum -- Search)
• Some positive results of allergy tests only mean that the person has recently been exposed to said substance. (I am not knowledgeable enough though to elaborate on that.)
  
• One user reported that taurine helped.

1) No, but I can ask her!
2) Will do!
3) I'll keep that in mind, and see what else I can find when I have some time.
4) Noted!

Thanks for the response! I'll look into those quotes and progesterone when I have some time later. And I'll update the post as I get more information.

 

[TheGoogler]

Another question I wanted to throw out there while I'm at it:

I often hear people say "We don't know what causes migraines." or something to that effect. Is this referring to something more specific than chemical imbalances, or is it just a common misconception?

 

[Giraffe]

Some positive results of allergy tests only mean that the person has recently been exposed to said substance. (I am not knowledgeable enough though to elaborate on that.)

3) I'll keep that in mind, and see what else I can find when I have some time.

Maybe someone else chimes in. The explanation is posted on the forum, but I don't remember where. IIRC (some of?) the markers used to diagnose allergies are meaningless.

 

[Evelyn Salt]

How long has she been on Seasonique birth control? It contains ethinyl estradiol which has many side effects including migraine headache.

 

[Constatine]

Migraines are what got me into health in the first place. When I was young I had a migraine for 5 hours every day (though my migraines had vision loss) which made school and a social life impossible. My migraines went away over time after living a more healthy lifestyle (ray peat diet, plenty of sunlight, maintain frequent non-intensive activity, and plenty of supplements). People with migraines are often very unstable in terms of mental health, if you fix the migraine you will also improve one's mental health (due to the cause of migraines which is primarily excess serotonin and all the other things that have a proportional relationship with serotonin -such as estrogen and NO). My recommendation is as follows -

• Anywhere from 300 - 1000mg of aspirin a day - aspirin here is not used as a painkiller but to lower all mention stress hormones (estrogen, serotonin, NO, etc) and promote dopamine signaling as well as stimulate the mitochondria.
• Increased zinc and magnesium consumption or supplementation
• Supplement or have more fat soluble vitamins in the diet (especially vitamin A and D) very very high doses of retinol may be advantageous
• Avoid anything that increases endotoxin and perhaps supplement cascara
• Get plenty of sunlight (especially in the early morning)
• Perhaps put her on tianeptine (an SSRE) reduces serotonin and reverses depression via its actual cause. Very effective long term.
• riboflavin
• niacinamide
• Get a good amount of calories via collagen or other such gelatin based foods-supplements.

Note that migraines have a similar cause to learned helplessness (depression) and autism. Anything that helps with either would also help with migraines. Though there are different types of migraines all migraines are in a way a metabolic issue that stems from high serotonin. It is commonly called a brain energy problem. Stimulation of the mitochondria (serotonin turns off mitochondria) will aid in migraines.

prostaglandin, prolactin, serotonin, histamines, and estrogen are all stress hormones that share a direct relationship. If one goes up it is likely the other will go up as well. Dopamine is inversely associated with serotonin and prolactin and can reverse the effects of all mentioned stress hormones.

The whole30 diet is a bad idea. Or rather it depends how one approaches the diet and what they actually end up eating. You do not want to avoid surgar (though you should always eat surgar with protein), and you do not want to avoid milk (of good quality at least...avoid milk if you buy cheap brands with vitamins in it). I recommend a diet high in fruit (look around this forum regarding specific fruits, there are some fruits that will worsen her symptoms and increase endotoxin-serotonin), shellfish (especially shrimp and oysters), gelatinous animal products (like bone, broth, etc), liver, and milk (only if good quality). Muscle meats are fine if you don't consume them often (the amino acid content of muscle meats simulate stress, this is nullified by gelatin).

Also here is a good thread about migraines: Nitrix Oxide (NO) Is A Likely Cause Of Migraines

 

[Regina]

Migraines are what got me into health in the first place. When I was young I had a migraine for 5 hours every day (though my migraines had vision loss) which made school and a social life impossible. My migraines went away over time after living a more healthy lifestyle (ray peat diet, plenty of sunlight, maintain frequent non-intensive activity, and plenty of supplements). People with migraines are often very unstable in terms of mental health, if you fix the migraine you will also improve one's mental health (due to the cause of migraines which is primarily excess serotonin and all the other things that have a proportional relationship with serotonin -such as estrogen and NO). My recommendation is as follows -

• Anywhere from 300 - 1000mg of aspirin a day - aspirin here is not used as a painkiller but to lower all mention stress hormones (estrogen, serotonin, NO, etc) and promote dopamine signaling as well as stimulate the mitochondria.
• Increased zinc and magnesium consumption or supplementation
• Supplement or have more fat soluble vitamins in the diet (especially vitamin A and D) very very high doses of retinol may be advantageous
• Avoid anything that increases endotoxin and perhaps supplement cascara
• Get plenty of sunlight (especially in the early morning)
• Perhaps put her on tianeptine (an SSRE) reduces serotonin and reverses depression via its actual cause. Very effective long term.
• riboflavin
• niacinamide
• Get a good amount of calories via collagen or other such gelatin based foods-supplements.

Note that migraines have a similar cause to learned helplessness (depression) and autism. Anything that helps with either would also help with migraines. Though there are different types of migraines all migraines are in a way a metabolic issue that stems from high serotonin. It is commonly called a brain energy problem. Stimulation of the mitochondria (serotonin turns off mitochondria) will aid in migraines.

prostaglandin, prolactin, serotonin, histamines, and estrogen are all stress hormones that share a direct relationship. If one goes up it is likely the other will go up as well. Dopamine is inversely associated with serotonin and prolactin and can reverse the effects of all mentioned stress hormones.

The whole30 diet is a bad idea. Or rather it depends how one approaches the diet and what they actually end up eating. You do not want to avoid surgar (though you should always eat surgar with protein), and you do not want to avoid milk (of good quality at least...avoid milk if you buy cheap brands with vitamins in it). I recommend a diet high in fruit (look around this forum regarding specific fruits, there are some fruits that will worsen her symptoms and increase endotoxin-serotonin), shellfish (especially shrimp and oysters), gelatinous animal products (like bone, broth, etc), liver, and milk (only if good quality). Muscle meats are fine if you don't consume them often (the amino acid content of muscle meats simulate stress, this is nullified by gelatin).

Also here is a good thread about migraines: Nitrix Oxide (NO) Is A Likely Cause Of Migraines

Great advice Constatine!!

 

[lollipop]

Great advice Constatine!!

+1 bookmarked! Thank you @Constatine

 

[Ella]

All good advice Constatine.

Her liver detoxification pathways are comprised. A healthy liver is able to detoxify all manner of environmental toxins. She has a monthly period, the liver is required to detoxify and excrete all hormones produced each month along with all those medications and environmental chemicals. She needs a good diet and adequate protein in order to get her liver functioning properly. Sugar, gelatin, foods and fibre. Has she been able to pinpoint whether migraines coincide when hormones are surging, around day 21 and before her period.

Increased zinc and magne, sium consumption or supplementation

Does she suffer from anxiety attacks on top of the migraine headaches. She may be low in all her alkaline minerals. Losing magnesium rapidly, How much salt is in her diet and exactly how much food is she eating? Skipping meals and highly stressed.

If so her hormones and cortisol will be off. She should have these tested. Do DUTCH test - only one I recommend because it gives information on how liver is processing hormones, cortisol and DNA damage from oxidative stress.

Supplement or have more fat soluble vitamins in the diet (especially vitamin A and D) very very high doses of retinol may be advantageous

If she has never eaten foods like liver, organ meats and shellfish and she is low in Vitamin D she will react badly as soon as she starts to excrete estrogen from vitamin A. Need to go slow.

Avoid anything that increases endotoxin and perhaps supplement cascara

If she is low in zinc and vitamin A she could be harbouring some bad parasites, viruses and bacteria. Immune system will also be off and gut lining extremely sensitive.

Activated charcoal can also help along with the cascara. Carrot fibre, mushrooms and bamboo shoots.

riboflavin

She may react badly to supplementation of riboflavin if she is experiencing anxiety attacks. Even if riboflavin is coming from just eating liver.

Describe what she eats and calories

 

[burtlancast]

Surprised no one mentioned yet electromagnetic radiation: light bulbs, cordless phones, wifi, etc...all already confirmed to trigger migraines in sensible people.

 

[Lilac]

In one of the On the Back of the Tiger interviews, Ray describes the first time he cured one of his migraines with "a big glob" of progesterone. He said he was so desperate, he didn't care about the potential adverse effects in a man. By the time he got back into bed, a soothing darkness ran through his head and erased the pain.

A biggish dose of progesterone is also what Ray recommended for my mother's months-long winter-sickness, high-cortisol migraine.

 

[Sucrates]

"Zoloft (sertraline) 100mg and Seasonique birth control".
They're the first suspects, with the BC #1.

"Is there a relationship between prostaglandin and prolactin, serotonin, dopamine, histamines, or estrogen?"
Yes, prostaglandin and prolactin, serotonin, histamines, estrogen (and nitric oxide) tend to rise together, aside from prolactin they're all known to be involved in migraine (that is, I'm ignorant on prolactin). Dopamine tends to be in opposition. The only things I know that are shown to influence migraines work probably on serotonin or definitely on estrogen/progesterone. Often estrogen is the dominant factor (see BC).

LSD/Lisuride. I'm not sure they have the same mechanism, LSD may be more effective and it almost certainly has a much longer effect. I'm not sure any mechanism is really known to be honest. I spent dozens of hours looking and they all seemed to be on shaky ground under enough examination.

Propranolol is another serotonin antagonist that is useful for migraines, higher doses can make it problematic but low doses might have a good cost/benefit ratio.

Aspirin and caffeine can be very useful, consider cyproheptadine a different substance to the other "antihistamines".

 

[TheGoogler]

Migraines are what got me into health in the first place. When I was young I had a migraine for 5 hours every day (though my migraines had vision loss) which made school and a social life impossible. My migraines went away over time after living a more healthy lifestyle (ray peat diet, plenty of sunlight, maintain frequent non-intensive activity, and plenty of supplements). People with migraines are often very unstable in terms of mental health, if you fix the migraine you will also improve one's mental health (due to the cause of migraines which is primarily excess serotonin and all the other things that have a proportional relationship with serotonin -such as estrogen and NO). My recommendation is as follows -

• Anywhere from 300 - 1000mg of aspirin a day - aspirin here is not used as a painkiller but to lower all mention stress hormones (estrogen, serotonin, NO, etc) and promote dopamine signaling as well as stimulate the mitochondria.
• Increased zinc and magnesium consumption or supplementation
• Supplement or have more fat soluble vitamins in the diet (especially vitamin A and D) very very high doses of retinol may be advantageous
• Avoid anything that increases endotoxin and perhaps supplement cascara
• Get plenty of sunlight (especially in the early morning)
• Perhaps put her on tianeptine (an SSRE) reduces serotonin and reverses depression via its actual cause. Very effective long term.
• riboflavin
• niacinamide
• Get a good amount of calories via collagen or other such gelatin based foods-supplements.

Note that migraines have a similar cause to learned helplessness (depression) and autism. Anything that helps with either would also help with migraines. Though there are different types of migraines all migraines are in a way a metabolic issue that stems from high serotonin. It is commonly called a brain energy problem. Stimulation of the mitochondria (serotonin turns off mitochondria) will aid in migraines.

prostaglandin, prolactin, serotonin, histamines, and estrogen are all stress hormones that share a direct relationship. If one goes up it is likely the other will go up as well. Dopamine is inversely associated with serotonin and prolactin and can reverse the effects of all mentioned stress hormones.

The whole30 diet is a bad idea. Or rather it depends how one approaches the diet and what they actually end up eating. You do not want to avoid surgar (though you should always eat surgar with protein), and you do not want to avoid milk (of good quality at least...avoid milk if you buy cheap brands with vitamins in it). I recommend a diet high in fruit (look around this forum regarding specific fruits, there are some fruits that will worsen her symptoms and increase endotoxin-serotonin), shellfish (especially shrimp and oysters), gelatinous animal products (like bone, broth, etc), liver, and milk (only if good quality). Muscle meats are fine if you don't consume them often (the amino acid content of muscle meats simulate stress, this is nullified by gelatin).

Also here is a good thread about migraines: Nitrix Oxide (NO) Is A Likely Cause Of Migraines

That's a lot to work with, thanks!! I'm trying to figure out where it is she wants to go from here, there's a lot to consider. I think also that after being put through so much, she might just be getting demotivated. So whatever we can do to try and re-mediate that is the aim right now.

 

[TheGoogler]

All good advice Constatine.

Her liver detoxification pathways are comprised. A healthy liver is able to detoxify all manner of environmental toxins. She has a monthly period, the liver is required to detoxify and excrete all hormones produced each month along with all those medications and environmental chemicals. She needs a good diet and adequate protein in order to get her liver functioning properly. Sugar, gelatin, foods and fibre. Has she been able to pinpoint whether migraines coincide when hormones are surging, around day 21 and before her period.



Does she suffer from anxiety attacks on top of the migraine headaches. She may be low in all her alkaline minerals. Losing magnesium rapidly, How much salt is in her diet and exactly how much food is she eating? Skipping meals and highly stressed.

If so her hormones and cortisol will be off. She should have these tested. Do DUTCH test - only one I recommend because it gives information on how liver is processing hormones, cortisol and DNA damage from oxidative stress.



If she has never eaten foods like liver, organ meats and shellfish and she is low in Vitamin D she will react badly as soon as she starts to excrete estrogen from vitamin A. Need to go slow.



If she is low in zinc and vitamin A she could be harbouring some bad parasites, viruses and bacteria. Immune system will also be off and gut lining extremely sensitive.

Activated charcoal can also help along with the cascara. Carrot fibre, mushrooms and bamboo shoots.



She may react badly to supplementation of riboflavin if she is experiencing anxiety attacks. Even if riboflavin is coming from just eating liver.

Describe what she eats and calories

I'll see how specific she can be about all of this. I don't think she watches diet intake religiously, I'll see exactly what it is she does know and can help specify. Also, thank you for the warnings! There are certainly a lot of variables to consider when figuring out what the hell might work.

 

[TheGoogler]

In one of the On the Back of the Tiger interviews, Ray describes the first time he cured one of his migraines with "a big glob" of progesterone. He said he was so desperate, he didn't care about the potential adverse effects in a man. By the time he got back into bed, a soothing darkness ran through his head and erased the pain.

A biggish dose of progesterone is also what Ray recommended for my mother's months-long winter-sickness, high-cortisol migraine.

I'll file that under both the "emergency solutions" category and "look into later " category, thanks!

 

[TheGoogler]

"Zoloft (sertraline) 100mg and Seasonique birth control".
They're the first suspects, with the BC #1.

"Is there a relationship between prostaglandin and prolactin, serotonin, dopamine, histamines, or estrogen?"
Yes, prostaglandin and prolactin, serotonin, histamines, estrogen (and nitric oxide) tend to rise together, aside from prolactin they're all known to be involved in migraine (that is, I'm ignorant on prolactin). Dopamine tends to be in opposition. The only things I know that are shown to influence migraines work probably on serotonin or definitely on estrogen/progesterone. Often estrogen is the dominant factor (see BC).

LSD/Lisuride. I'm not sure they have the same mechanism, LSD may be more effective and it almost certainly has a much longer effect. I'm not sure any mechanism is really known to be honest. I spent dozens of hours looking and they all seemed to be on shaky ground under enough examination.

Propranolol is another serotonin antagonist that is useful for migraines, higher doses can make it problematic but low doses might have a good cost/benefit ratio.

Aspirin and caffeine can be very useful, consider cyproheptadine a different substance to the other "antihistamines".

The |Everything else vs. Dopamine| explanation simplifies it quite a bit.

I don't think she wants to consider LSD due to its illegality, Lisuride is a maybe.

Marked propranolol and aspirin, caffeine as well. Thanks!

 

[tara]

Welcome TheGoogler,
Sorry your friend has to deal with this, and glad she has an ally in you.

Some great ideas above from Constatine, Ella, Sucrates.

It's migraines that got me here too, and though I can't say I've solved them yet, I've learned a lot that has been helpful. Mine have been bad enough to seriously mess up my life, but not as frequent or intractable as your friend's.
(My long and rambley thread, in which many kind and helpful posters have made suggestions, some of which may be of help to your friend, is here: Towards Ending Migraines).

Here's a couple more ideas ...

There's doubtless a need for symptom relief, but also to address the underlying metabolic weaknesses that predispose to the sensitivity. (It's tricky, because some of the drugs used for symptoms may also be a burden in the long run, and it's not always easy to find out about this.)
So don't underestimate the importance of considering long-term nourishment and stress-reduction, appropriate movement, breathing, etc.

I'll add a couple of things here that Peat has said he found helpful himself against his own migraines, in addition to the comment above about progesterone.
He said he sometimes succeeded in stopping a migraine with very large amounts of either milkshakes or icecream. (Intensive nourishment. For me, low fuel supply used to be my most reliable migraine trigger.)
He said regular daily raw grated carrot salad worked to prevent them. This is to help sweep out endotoxin and estrogen from the GI tract before too much of it is absorbed into the system. Endotoxin excess can make it harder for the liver to get on with all its other jobs, and that may be amongst the factors. Keeping bowel transit going, cascara sagrasa, ....

And I'll suggest checking thyroid status. Both but getting lab tests and by monitoring body temps and resting heart rate. Don't just take a drs opinion that it's fine, but get the actual numbers, and read up Peat's articles to get a fuller understanding. Hypothyroidism could be a basic underlying contributor to the problem, along with whatever other factors, like possibly excesses of estrogen, histamine, serotonin, etc.

You can use something like cronometer to get a rough idea of what nourishment she is getting from average day's diet. (But ignore it's calorie recommendations - they are typically low, intended for restriction, not metabolic maintenance and recovery.) Take a look at whether it generous fills typical needs for minerals and vitamins, protein, adequate carbohydrates.
I guess you've come across Peat's thinking about minimising PUFA consumption, and the effects of PUFA either eaten or released from storage under stress in suppressing metabolism and amplifying stress?
I think I read in a reference in one of Peat's articles to neurons swelling more in exposure to PUFAs than to SFAs - struck me as maybe relevant to our condition.

In addition to reading about Peat's and others' ideas about thyroid, progesterone, serotonin, sugars, you might also check out carbon dioxide and red light as they relate to metabolic health.
raypeat.com
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[kaybb]

Migraines are what got me into health in the first place. When I was young I had a migraine for 5 hours every day (though my migraines had vision loss) which made school and a social life impossible. My migraines went away over time after living a more healthy lifestyle (ray peat diet, plenty of sunlight, maintain frequent non-intensive activity, and plenty of supplements). People with migraines are often very unstable in terms of mental health, if you fix the migraine you will also improve one's mental health (due to the cause of migraines which is primarily excess serotonin and all the other things that have a proportional relationship with serotonin -such as estrogen and NO). My recommendation is as follows -

• Anywhere from 300 - 1000mg of aspirin a day - aspirin here is not used as a painkiller but to lower all mention stress hormones (estrogen, serotonin, NO, etc) and promote dopamine signaling as well as stimulate the mitochondria.
• Increased zinc and magnesium consumption or supplementation
• Supplement or have more fat soluble vitamins in the diet (especially vitamin A and D) very very high doses of retinol may be advantageous
• Avoid anything that increases endotoxin and perhaps supplement cascara
• Get plenty of sunlight (especially in the early morning)
• Perhaps put her on tianeptine (an SSRE) reduces serotonin and reverses depression via its actual cause. Very effective long term.
• riboflavin
• niacinamide
• Get a good amount of calories via collagen or other such gelatin based foods-supplements.

Note that migraines have a similar cause to learned helplessness (depression) and autism. Anything that helps with either would also help with migraines. Though there are different types of migraines all migraines are in a way a metabolic issue that stems from high serotonin. It is commonly called a brain energy problem. Stimulation of the mitochondria (serotonin turns off mitochondria) will aid in migraines.

prostaglandin, prolactin, serotonin, histamines, and estrogen are all stress hormones that share a direct relationship. If one goes up it is likely the other will go up as well. Dopamine is inversely associated with serotonin and prolactin and can reverse the effects of all mentioned stress hormones.

The whole30 diet is a bad idea. Or rather it depends how one approaches the diet and what they actually end up eating. You do not want to avoid surgar (though you should always eat surgar with protein), and you do not want to avoid milk (of good quality at least...avoid milk if you buy cheap brands with vitamins in it). I recommend a diet high in fruit (look around this forum regarding specific fruits, there are some fruits that will worsen her symptoms and increase endotoxin-serotonin), shellfish (especially shrimp and oysters), gelatinous animal products (like bone, broth, etc), liver, and milk (only if good quality). Muscle meats are fine if you don't consume them often (the amino acid content of muscle meats simulate stress, this is nullified by gelatin).

Also here is a good thread about migraines: Nitrix Oxide (NO) Is A Likely Cause Of Migraines

Can I ask what you think about the weather triggering migraine. I have one trigger...weather. So considering all these other factors, why isn't there chronic migraine going on, it's only the day before cloudy/raining/snowy weather.

 

[tara]

Can I ask what you think about the weather triggering migraine. I have one trigger...weather. So considering all these other factors, why isn't there chronic migraine going on, it's only the day before cloudy/raining/snowy weather.

I'm not Constatine, but there is a particular weather pattern that seems to make me more prone to migraine too. I've been assuming it's an effect of change in atmospheric pressure that some of us are less resilient in adapting out vascular systems to.