Towards Ending Migraines

[tara]

Don't seem to tolerate aged cheeses, unfortunately because I love them. Cottage cheese and milk sometimes seem OK, but not when when my heads starting to feel off. I think. There are always so many factors, some of them uncontrollable, that it's hard to isolate causes.

 

[Blossom]

Don't seem to tolerate aged cheeses, unfortunately because I love them. Cottage cheese and milk sometimes seem OK, but not when when my heads starting to feel off. I think. There are always so many factors, some of them uncontrollable, that it's hard to isolate causes.

Yeah, I've been there! Some things I've figured out months later. Your bringing attention to some people needing more calories really made a difference for me tara, so thank you. I hope you feel better soon!

 

[tara]

Fortnightly log installment - warning: long and boring. Enter at your own risk

I've had 10 days migraine-free - yay! But fighting to not get one today - wish me luck. Seems silly, but it's easier to eat enough on work days than on my weekend off. Later breakfast, less OJ and white choc in the morning, later lunch, and now it's hard to catch up. Best to eat more in the morning, then I can function OK with less in the afternoon.

Since last migraine 10 days ago, what I've been doing
c. 1 tbsp chicken neck stock with breakfast and dinner. Haven't calculated how much of a neck this is.
Also got some BCAA and taurine (purebulk powder). 2-3g BCAA + 1/2 - 1g taurine after breakfast and dinner along with my calcium, magnesium, niacinamide supplements. BCAA smells like carob.
Decaf coffee only, made with mostly milk and a tbsp sugar, 2-4x/day.
Very little brown chocolate, but lots of white choc lately.
Small serve fast-fried liver 30-50g x3-4/week with breakfast - yum.
Oysters 3-4/fortnight. Occasional luxury.
Carrot salad most days, but some lapses.
Still taking K2 3-4/wk and occasional vit E, vit D, aspirin.
Drinking 1-2l OJ, 1/2-1l milk, a little green tea, eating eggs, beef, lamb, stock, jelly, cheese cake (frequent and affodable luxury), potatos, some varied cooked and raw fruit and a little cooked veges. Dates for night snacks. And occasional random food - eg cake at work.
A tiny bit of sunshine some days, but not every day. Slight sun burn today - but so nice to be out in it. :)

Progress?
Sometimes it feels like all these things are helping, but now I feel like I'm on schedule for my usual weekend off migraine (haven't given up fighting it yet - wish me luck!), and the overall frequency and duration has not reduced over the last few months.
Still wake up 1-2/night for a snack, but mostly get 7-8 hrs sleep. Seem to tolerate sleeping warmer now than I was - don't wake up having to throw off blankets often these days. Or may be I'd just forgotten that winter's like this
Seldom get the foggy-headedness I used to associate with milk. My hunch is it's the progesterone and/or more sugar that's helped with this. Very pleased with this!
Always enjoy my food. No longer force myself to eat anything I don't feel like just because 'it's good for you'. Probably eating consistently a bit more, gained a little weight (probably mostly fat, but hopefully some other rebuilding too), and had a little more physical energy.
Pleased and surprised that bowels still usually work even when little fibre, but they get sluggish with migraine.
Hoping to grow out the last couple of tiny white spots in my fingernails in the next 3-4 wks. If I do that without growing any new ones, it will be the first time I can remember in 30+ years. I hope I can take this as a tiny sign of progress. Still lots of vertical ridges, though.
A couple of injuries feeling better, but not sure if this is just that I haven't been using them as much.
Temper improved, gradually more calm and firm with my young ones. Still a work in progress.
Worked some muscles hard (for me) but briefly/intermittently last night, after skipping it the last few mths. Have lost strength, but fun to play. Fuelled by cheesecake :)

Next steps
Still need to get it together to go to doctor. Still wondering which of available drugs to ask for, and how much to share my thinking.
Have ordered cascara sagrada (nature's way), should get it soon. To try when migraine threatens, and maybe other times too.
Remember to take E more often.
I got some B1and B6 powders. Figure out how much to try, and how to measure. Have little scales and little spoons, but short of time.
Get a routine to take supplements to work so I get calcium and BCAAs etc with main meat meal midday.
Maybe increase chicken neck a little eventually, but will keep it at current quantity for a bit longer first.
A small amount of strength training on a regular (weekly?) basis. Daily short lunch time walks - keep meaning to do this, but get glued to desk.

Wondering
Increase potassium : sugar ratio? Eat quite a bit of sucrose.
For reducing serotonin, is there any problem with having BCAA in the evening? Should I be separating my calcium and magnesium supplements? It's hard enough to remember everything now - hoping I don't have to make it even more complicated.
Tyrosine for more anti-serotonin? Wait with tyrosine till spring, since I think Haidut said sunlight was important for getting reduced serotonin effect?
Copper? Got some copper salicilate a while ago, but not used much.

 

[tara]

Well I fought it off last Saturday, but it got me on Sunday. But less than a day this time, thank goodness, and OK since then. Just 50mg sumatriptan, a couple of hours of sleep, and a few more hours of lying and sitting down.
Missed my NWT* (from TOK) yesterday morning, and was worried about going down. Drank a little coffee (with caffeine) to compensate, and an extra half dose at bedtime. Managed to resist the coffee withdrawal migraine that briefly threatened today.

I've been erratic with the progest-e the last few weeks - 3-6x/day, and my cycle is eratic - probably connected. Other than my nightime progest-e, I usually remember to take it when I start feeling a bit off and food doesn't help. Maybe the NWT is helping, and I'm not getting those reminders by feeling bad. That would be hopeful. I imagine it would be better to be more systematic with the progest-e.

Got cascara sagrada. Took one today. Effects not obvious yet.

Happily eating cheese cake and drinking lots of (sweet coffee) milk the last while, without any of the fuzzy-headedness I used to associate with dairy. I'm very pleased with this - hope it lasts.

*(Natural Wet Thyroid)

 

[SQu]

Nice progress!
Vertical ridges - how do those look? I get troughs that grow out in the direction of nail growth. Bumpy effect. They track metabolism, but i still haven't worked out how to stop the dips that they mark.
I never took bcaas at night so can't say, but as serotonin disturbs sleep, might be worth a try.
keeping energy level up seems to be helping you?

 

[tara]

Vertical ridges in nails just as prominent. Nails possibly slightly stronger. I only have 2 full lunulas and a couple of slight ones. Didn't notice how many years ago I lost them.
I've been taking 2-3g BCAAs after dinner, along with 1/2-1g taurine. I guess I could try a bit more just before sleep.
It's too short a time to say if there's real progress - I've always had ups and downs, partly cycle dependent. The first time I go a month without a migraine I'll be hopeful. When I get three months I'll be celebrating. Certainly I function better when I can keep my energy up, but I can't always tell how to do that, other than coffee, and that usually results in a crash migraine.

 

[tara]

Fought off another one last night, even though it had progressed further than I can usually stop. Possible triggers: late lunch (even though I snacked through morning), light exercise (and sociallising) through evening.
What might have helped fight it off: before bed: spiked oj, sweet coffee milk, 1000mg aspirin, 15+ drops progest-e over 20mins, 3g BCAAs; during night: ~5 drops progest-e x2 when I woke up (with dates).

 

[tara]

Fought off another one last night, even though it had progressed further than I can usually stop. Possible triggers: late lunch (even though I snacked through morning), light exercise (and sociallising) through evening.
What might have helped fight it off: before bed: spiked oj, sweet coffee milk, 1000mg aspirin, 15+ drops progest-e over 20mins, 3g BCAAs; during night: ~5 drops progest-e x2 when I woke up (with dates).

But then I had 2 days of headaches, followed by 3 days of migraines and another day of headaches. Finally OK today.

Have been going to sleep with cloth over head for more than a week, and waking up with calmer breath. I'll keep doing this for a while, and just for tonight I have a belt round my chest to enforce diaphragmatic breathing.

Got a very very mild cold last week (following kids), and seem to have thrown it off quickly and easily.

Next experiment is not one I've read from Peat, but wanting to try it anyway: high dose B2. There are apparently studies showing something like half the migraineurs get about 50% reduction in migraine frequency from 400mg vit-B2, though it takes a month to notice and 3 months for full effect. Some people report improvement from 200mg. This is way more than normal doses, and more than I can get from food. Some study/ies included B6.
I got B1, B2, and B6 powders (already have niacinamide). I had 100mg B2 yesterday, 200mg today, along with a little B1 and B6, and the usual niacinamide. Aim to increase to 400mg B2.
I've read that Peat thinks B2 is often contaminated and causes problems. Any idea what kind of problems - and whether I'm likely to notice - what I should look out for? So far no obvious problem. It seems less risky than the preventive drugs my doctor has suggested.

 

[managing]

Tara: Two thoughts. First, have you tried pure fructose? I fought off a migraine recently with a glass of milk with plenty of fructose dissolved in. Fructose takes a very different path to cell. But if milk is a problem, you could simply dissolve in water. It is highly soluble.

Also, I have found that most supplements make me feel better for awhile, and then worse. And the more different ones I take worse. Have you considered a supplement holiday (other than thyroid of course, if you take/need it).

 

[tara]

Tara: Two thoughts. First, have you tried pure fructose? I fought off a migraine recently with a glass of milk with plenty of fructose dissolved in. Fructose takes a very different path to cell. But if milk is a problem, you could simply dissolve in water. It is highly soluble.

Also, I have found that most supplements make me feel better for awhile, and then worse. And the more different ones I take worse. Have you considered a supplement holiday (other than thyroid of course, if you take/need it).

Thanks for your thoughts, managing.

I've not tried pure fructose - just looking to see whether/where I can get it locally - haven't found a source yet.
I sometimes go for spoonfuls of a mild clover honey as quick high-density sugar fix when I'm fighting migrianes. I've read that honey can be up to 65:35 fructose:glucose, but not sure what the ones I've used are. My tolerance for milk seems to be improving - I'm drinking more and more of it.

I may try a supplement holiday at some stage - but this month and maybe longer I'm adding B vitamins, esp. B2. WRT thyroid, currently I'm supplementing small amounts of NWT. I'm most attached to the progest-E - it's the only supplement that I can tell makes a fairly quick difference to me most of the time. Caffeine makes a quick noticable difference too, but the unavoidable withdrawals make it not worth using too much - though I'm probably still getting some via my decaf habit.) Now that I'm drinking more milk, I probably don't need the calcium supplement as much - recently reduced it a bit.

Do you have a history of frequent migraine? Has it improved? If so, what do you put it down to?

 

[tara]

Since the last update, I had 10 days off migraine, one day on, one day off, one day on, and now I'm up to day 11 off - if I get through the next couple of days without one I'll be both surprised and pleased. I got through my last period completely without migraine, which is unusual. I may have thrown more progesterone at everything at the time.

Seems like I'm using more and more progest-e as time goes on. Would you expect a body to adapt to it so that it has less effect after a while of regular use? I usually use it at least 5 times a day, sometimes more when head threatens. But not enough to stop a full normal period. When I started using it I was getting through a bottle a month. This month I'll be lucky if two bottles does it. Expensive. But maybe I could use even more. Doubt if I could get pure progesterone powder here.

Days are getting a little longer, with occasional opportunities for exposing skin to sunlight.

I'm drinking more and more milk - sometimes up to 2l/day, mostly skim, with sugar, weak decaf, and a little salt. I use 3% for cheesecake. None of the fuzzy-headedness i used to associate with milk - maybe the progesterone and/or the coffee. Tastes great to me. Sometimes pour coffee-sugar- salt-syrup into milk bottle to take out. Maybe continuous very low dose caffeine can work for me, even if I can't hack teh strong stuff yet.

No full caffeine coffee this month, and very little cocoa chocolate - but still eating a bit of white chocolate.

Got another Purebulk parcel, with more mag glycinate, and B5 and B12, amongst other things I may try at some stage.

B vitamins: The last two weeks I've upped the B2 to 400mg - 200mg morning and night. And added in B5 and B12.
I'm mixing about 8 days' dosing B2 into nearly half a litre of water into a glass bottle, along with much smaller amounts of B1, B3 (~200mg/day), B5, B6, B12. Shake well and measure out 30ml morning and night, added to a glass of OJ. I think maybe I can detect a small increase in energy from the mix, but not strong enoug to be sure. I'll probably keep doing this for at least another 2 wks, maybe 2 mths, before trying to assess whether it's useful.

Those nails I was pleased with last month - I spotted another white patch.

Got a nasty rash on ankles - described in a separate thread:
viewtopic.php?f=56&t=4430

Injured tendon - separate thread:
viewtopic.php?f=56&t=4431

 

[tara]

I read some part of your post. I am curious about your thyroid numbers.
Reference range of thyroid numbers often are quite high compared to
what RP recommends.

Found old (Jan 2013) lab report. Here's the Thyroid Function Tests section:
'Free T4: 14pmol/L (10 - 24)
TSH 2.3 mIU/L (0.40 - 4.00)
Consistent with euthyroidism.'
No T3 data
Not sure how these units relate to other units I've seen on this forum. But I'm guessing that this TSH is 'normal' (ie common), but significantly higher than optimal. Is it high enough to justify low dose thyroid supplement if I can get any?

Also, Iron:
Serum iron: 13 umol/L (10 - 30)
Transferrin: 2.8 g/L (2.0 - 3.5)
Transferrin Saturation: 18% (16 - 50)
Ferritin: 33ug/L (20 - 200)
Not too bad? Any comment?
I've noticed quite a few age spots in the last year or two - that's the accumulation of excessive endotoxin + iron + PUFA, right? I should keep drinking coffee with my meat when I can, not orange juice, right?

Reproductive hormones: (taken c. day 14 of ~23-27 day cycle, I think)
FSH: 12.6 IU/L
LH: 8.8 IU/L
Normal enough?

Also:
Testosterone: 1.2 nmol/L (0.5 - 2.7)
Free Testosterone: 9 pmol/L (<50) (This one had measured high several years ago.)
SHBG 114 nmol/L (20 - 90)
Free Androgen index: 11 (<80)
SHGB was marked as High, but GP didn't comment to me about it. I was not supplementing any hormones, nor pregnant at the time. Does this mean anything to anyone?

In Complete Bld Count, all in range except
eosinophils a bit high - probably fighting mild infection or allergy, right?
There's no prolactin test that I can see.

Latest doctor visit

I finally went to doctor again. I've seen him before but not discussed migraine with him in detail before. My old doctor left and he's now it, so I figured I should give him a chance.

Tried to discuss with him what might be going on. He was not interested in engaging - just said no to almost every thing I suggested, without giving any information or alternative viewpoint. Totally trusts TSH range, etc.

He was willing to prescribe pizotifen, which I got but haven't started using.
"Pizotifen is a serotonin antagonist acting mainly at the 5-HT2A and 5HT2C receptors. It also has some activity as an antihistamine as well as some anticholinergic activity.[10]" -Wikipedia
He would have prescribed topiramate if I'd prefered. I'm still trialling cyproheptadine - and awaiting Peat's response to Mittir's question about using it long term. The pizotifen may be a reasonable one to try, if it is a serotonin antagonist?

Blood test September 2014
I got some blood tests done but not all ones I wanted like PTH. Have only heard a couple of numbers over the phone, not yet seen full results - will try to get them.
TSH: 2.1 [slightly lower than previous 2.3 - random fluctuation/chicken neck soup/real (small) improved thyroid function?]
Pb: 0.5umol/l (range 0-0.5) [Bother - my guess is that I had higher exposure 2-4 years ago, when I was eating a lot of greens from the garden and there was a lot of dust blowing around. So I might have had higher lead levels then.] Separate tread started on this a few days ago: viewtopic.php?f=56&t=4658.
Calcium 2.3 corrected [don't know the units, or what corrected means, or what the accepted range is].
No PTH or Prolactin test.

 

[tara]

Recent changes to routine:
Increased quantity of chicken neck soup. Still fairly small amount 2x/day. Can't see how I can make this work if I want to go away for summer hols etc. :)
Cyproheptadine. Haven't settled on a regular dose yet, but like the effects. :)
More milk, a bit less oyster shell. Good when I'm well, but still sometimes not good when I'm unwell. Should probably try only drinking it when I feel well, and avoiding it when I'm not feeling well.
Cascara sagrada 2-3/wk, 1 capsule opened and boiled into tea.
Keep intending to use more charcoal, but have trouble finding time when it doesn't coincide with other food/supplements.
B2: After a few weeks of ~200mg x2/day, the last week I've cut back down to 100mgx2/day.

My head is still doing regular migraines. I wonder if the lead loading is also contributing to migraine.

Other things to try:
Try regular small cypro - eg 1mg 2x/day.
Chaste tree (vitex)
Milk thistle

 

[Blossom]

I read some part of your post. I am curious about your thyroid numbers.
Reference range of thyroid numbers often are quite high compared to
what RP recommends.

Found old (Jan 2013) lab report. Here's the Thyroid Function Tests section:
'Free T4: 14pmol/L (10 - 24)
TSH 2.3 mIU/L (0.40 - 4.00)
Consistent with euthyroidism.'
No T3 data
Not sure how these units relate to other units I've seen on this forum. But I'm guessing that this TSH is 'normal' (ie common), but significantly higher than optimal. Is it high enough to justify low dose thyroid supplement if I can get any?

Also, Iron:
Serum iron: 13 umol/L (10 - 30)
Transferrin: 2.8 g/L (2.0 - 3.5)
Transferrin Saturation: 18% (16 - 50)
Ferritin: 33ug/L (20 - 200)
Not too bad? Any comment?
I've noticed quite a few age spots in the last year or two - that's the accumulation of excessive endotoxin + iron + PUFA, right? I should keep drinking coffee with my meat when I can, not orange juice, right?

Reproductive hormones: (taken c. day 14 of ~23-27 day cycle, I think)
FSH: 12.6 IU/L
LH: 8.8 IU/L
Normal enough?

Also:
Testosterone: 1.2 nmol/L (0.5 - 2.7)
Free Testosterone: 9 pmol/L (<50) (This one had measured high several years ago.)
SHBG 114 nmol/L (20 - 90)
Free Androgen index: 11 (<80)
SHGB was marked as High, but GP didn't comment to me about it. I was not supplementing any hormones, nor pregnant at the time. Does this mean anything to anyone?

In Complete Bld Count, all in range except
eosinophils a bit high - probably fighting mild infection or allergy, right?
There's no prolactin test that I can see.

Latest doctor visit

I finally went to doctor again. I've seen him before but not discussed migraine with him in detail before. My old doctor left and he's now it, so I figured I should give him a chance.

Tried to discuss with him what might be going on. He was not interested in engaging - just said no to almost every thing I suggested, without giving any information or alternative viewpoint. Totally trusts TSH range, etc.

He was willing to prescribe pizotifen, which I got but haven't started using.
"Pizotifen is a serotonin antagonist acting mainly at the 5-HT2A and 5HT2C receptors. It also has some activity as an antihistamine as well as some anticholinergic activity.[10]" -Wikipedia
He would have prescribed topiramate if I'd prefered. I'm still trialling cyproheptadine - and awaiting Peat's response to Mittir's question about using it long term. The pizotifen may be a reasonable one to try, if it is a serotonin antagonist?

Blood test September 2014
I got some blood tests done but not all ones I wanted like PTH. Have only heard a couple of numbers over the phone, not yet seen full results - will try to get them.
TSH: 2.1 [slightly lower than previous 2.3 - random fluctuation/chicken neck soup/real (small) improved thyroid function?]
Pb: 0.5umol/l (range 0-0.5) [Bother - my guess is that I had higher exposure 2-4 years ago, when I was eating a lot of greens from the garden and there was a lot of dust blowing around. So I might have had higher lead levels then.] Separate tread started on this a few days ago: viewtopic.php?f=56&t=4658.
Calcium 2.3 corrected [don't know the units, or what corrected means, or what the accepted range is].
No PTH or Prolactin test.

I've had high SHBG too ( in the past prior to discovering Peat's work) and had a hard time figuring out what it might mean. Even the doctor didn't know . For what it's worth Wikipedia had a list of reasons for high SHBG and the two that seemed possibly relevant to my situation were estrogenic states and anorexia. Just thought I'd mention that here in case it might be relevant to you in any way. I haven't had anorexia for 30 years but I do think I've been under/malnourished most of my life so that may have contributed along with estrogen dominance.

 

[Mittir]

I've had high SHBG too ( in the past prior to discovering Peat's work) and had a hard time figuring out what it might mean. Even the doctor didn't know . For what it's worth Wikipedia had a list of reasons for high SHBG and the two that seemed possibly relevant to my situation were estrogenic states and anorexia. Just thought I'd mention that here in case it might be relevant to you in any way. I haven't had anorexia for 30 years but I do think I've been under/malnourished most of my life so that may have contributed along with estrogen dominance.

Sometime ago someone posted about 12 studies at the other peat site showing
how thyroid supplement and high thyroid function increases SHBG and
how RP never talks about it. I searched RP's site and did not see any mention
of it. That poster claimed to be studying biochemistry and talks about RP
like this " Ray Peat got lot of good ideas but he is definitely wrong about this and that. "

I had to read almost all the studies to find out what was it all about.
I could not find anything conclusive whether increasing SHBG is bad or good.
Wikipedia does not give a clear idea either. Then in a recent interview i think
someone asked about it and RP's answer was it is a good thing to have
high SHBG, because it binds estrogen and keeps it safe.

It seems like the simplest explanation based on definition.
You do not need to search 12 studies if you know the definition
of the term. After wasting all that time, i totally avoid posts by
self proclaimed scientists, especially the one where people go beyond
their basic understanding of science. It is like interpreting a Russian
article without knowing the language.There is so much misinformation.

Later i found out RP mentioned that term in one of his article but used a
different name for it. Apparently this SHBG=SSBG. Here is a full quote from that article.

While the competition by PUFA for protein binding sites blocks the effects of thyroid hormone and vitamin A, the action of PUFA on the sex steroid binding protein (SBP, or SSBG, for sex steroid binding globulin) increases the activity of estrogen. That's because the SSBG neutralizes estrogen by binding it, keeping it out of cells; free PUFA keep it from binding estrogen (Reed, et al., 1986). People with low SSBG/estrogen ratio have an increased risk of cancer. When the SSBG protein is free of estrogen, it is able to enter cells, and in that estrogen-free state it probably serves a similar protective function, capturing estrogen molecules that enter cells before they can act on other proteins or chromosomes. Transthyretin, the main transporter of thyroid and vitamin A, and albumin (which can also transport thyroid hormone) are both able to enter cells, while loaded with thyroid hormone and vitamin A. Albumin becomes more lipophilic as it binds more lipid molecules, so its tendency to enter cells increases in proportion to its fat burden. Albumin in the urine is a problem associated with diabetes and kidney disease; albumin loaded with fatty acids passes from the blood into the urine more easily than unloaded albumin, and it is the fatty acids, not the albumin, which causes the kidney damage (Kamijo, et al., 2002). It's possible that SSBG's opposite behavior, entering cells only when it carries no hormones, is the result of becoming less lipophilic when it's loaded with estrogen.http://raypeat.com/articles/articles/fa ... ions.shtml

 

[Blossom]

I had wondered if it might actually be protective. Thanks for the information Mittir!

 

[tara]

Re: SHBG/SSBG
Thanks Mittir and Blossom.

 

[tara]

No overall improvement in migraine frequency yet. I had a better than average month - only 2 days down with full migraine, though a few other days i was fightig it and just scraped through. Encouraged. Then got one a week for the next 3 weeks, and fighting again today.

I think disrupted sleep is currently my most obvious trigger, possibly along with extra physical exertion.
It makes sense that sleep could be an issue. Read sth from Peat recently saying something about sleep disruption affecting fats in the brain. Lost the source, but if I find it again I'll post it here.

What's puzzling me is how much less resilient I seem to be to sleep-deprivation and exercise now than I ever have been, even though I am getting more sleep. My life has become increasingly narrow, in some ways, as I either can't function or am trying to find ways to reduce unnecessary stress.
Eg 3 years ago I was enduring on a lot less sleep than I get now. Now i usually get 7-8 hrs, occasionally more than 8, and occasionally less than 6. Less than 6 one night, or less than 7 three nights seems to set me up for a crash. Previously, I was getting a lot of nights at less than 6, and struggling to be able to think and function because of it. Now I am more awake during the day. But I'm still getting just as many migraines, especially after short sleep (or the following day, after longer sleep). I really try to get enough sleep, but I do like to get out dancing occasionally in the evening. And with kids, sleep is sometimes beyond my control.

I was getting a 30 - 80 min hill walk in 2-3 times a week. Now I only get out on the hills seldom, and a 40 min walk seems to knock more out of me. I don't mean achy muscles (though I can get them too), but prone to migraine next day. And dancing, which I love, seems to be risky too. The difference with dancing, I guess, is that it is in the evening, and I don't get to recharge with decent light during or after. Wonder if that is key. It also usually means a later night, so that's likely a factor. I'm getting more sunshine now spring is underway, but not regular enough. Kids broke my hot lights that I used to use after dancing, etc.

Maybe I'm dealing with gradual degeneration, and all the tactics I throw at it may slow down the progression, but maybe I'm not going to be able to reverse it. I'm not giving up the attempt - there are more things to try, and more time should bring down the PUFAs further (I'm about 18mths into PUFA avoidance), but I'm not confident.

I am spending a lot less time hungry and/or worried about being hungry. Maybe in my effort to avoid hunger I am overeating, and putting a strain on my system that way. I am also not doing as much time semi-fasting during migraines - making more effort to keep nourishing myself throughout. So not doing unintended intermitent fasting several days a month is probably also contributing to my weight gain.

Next step: Still not tried pizotifen - been waiting for a suitable weekend when I can sleep a lot if needed when I start.

 

[treelady]

Hi Tara, I just wanted to throw this in... I am taking butterbur. Petasin and isopetasin in butterbur support healthy blood vessel tone. Butterbur relaxes blood vessels and has anti-inflammatory properties. The brand I take is Petadolex Pro-Active from Enzymatic Therapy. I take 1 pill in the morning, 1 before bed. It works for me. On a 1-10 scale my pain was 15...unbearable. Butterbur took it down to a 1 :)

I was waking up with extreme pain and memory loss on a cyclical basis, every 40 days or so and it was diagnosed as migraines. Butterbur stopped the pain part of it but I would still wake up and not remember the day before or what supplements I take. Turns out in my case it was probably epilepsy all along but it didn't wake my husband until I started getting grand mals. And after years and years and years of searching, I found Ray Peat's site and I think that I have Catamenial epilepsy even though I am way postmenopausal. I am taking Progest-E and it seems to be working. I mention it in case hormones might be involved with your migraines.

Good luck :)

 

[tara]

Thanks treelady,
I'm sure there's a homonal component - often but not always times in around menstruation and ovulation. I have been using progest-e daily for about a year now. I think I can tell it helps hold things off sometimes. I definitely feel better when I use it than when I don't. But still get just as many migaines overall. Haven't tried butterbur yet - it's on my list.
I'm glad they are helping you.