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Towards Ending Migraines
- Thread starter tara
- Start date
Got overwhelmed by milk a few weeks ago. Bother, blast and bellyache (not actually a bellyache, just couldn't resist the expression). The problem is that the first casualty of a negative reaction to milk is my ability to think about it. So it took me a while to recognise the obvious, and back off. A particular kind of dull fuzzy head and headaches - not the same as migraine, but maybe contributes to setting them off. A day without milk and my head was my own again. Since then I've been having a bit of milk, but nowhere near the ~ two litres I'd been enjoying. It's so much harder to get in enough protein without it - I've probably not been getting 80 grams every day. I don't really want to be eating huge meat meals. I'm eating some gelatin, but I'm not confident enough about the quality of what I have access to to want to eat 50+ grams a day of it. So, eggs, liver, shrimps, cod, beef, lamb meat, stock and gristle.
Have been taking the pizotifen for several weeks, but not increased to the full prescription yet. It makes it harder to wake up in the morning. So far it hasn't stopped the migraines, but it may be helpful. I guess I could try doubling it while I have a bit of holiday now. I've been taking cyproheptadine occasionally as one of several tactics to head off impending trouble - sometimes win, sometimes don't.
Migraines still happening. Lack of sleep (or the subsequent long catch up sleep) seems to be a contributing trigger. Sometimes its unavoidable, sometimes just hard to manage, sometimes I do fine for a week. Holidays I can get more.
Sunshine is great. I keep noticing how much more energy I have on warm sunny days, of which we've had a few lately. I love where I live, but maybe I will consider moving somewhere warmer sometime. Not just now though.
Have been taking the pizotifen for several weeks, but not increased to the full prescription yet. It makes it harder to wake up in the morning. So far it hasn't stopped the migraines, but it may be helpful. I guess I could try doubling it while I have a bit of holiday now. I've been taking cyproheptadine occasionally as one of several tactics to head off impending trouble - sometimes win, sometimes don't.
Migraines still happening. Lack of sleep (or the subsequent long catch up sleep) seems to be a contributing trigger. Sometimes its unavoidable, sometimes just hard to manage, sometimes I do fine for a week. Holidays I can get more.
Sunshine is great. I keep noticing how much more energy I have on warm sunny days, of which we've had a few lately. I love where I live, but maybe I will consider moving somewhere warmer sometime. Not just now though.
Update.
Still getting lots of migraines.
More often shorter, and not losing the whole day, though using drugs to make that work. I'm pretty sure the chicken neck soup helps too.
Changes to food and supplements:
Was getting old fuzzy-headed symptoms from milk again too often, so I cut back but not stopped altogether. Still have a bit of milk in a couple of (decaf) coffees.
Added estroban.
It's hard to get enough protein without the milk.
Recently got GL gelatine and hydrolysate, and using either or both daily in drinks.
Got tired of maing carrot salad. Have been eaing fruit salad every day since christmas.
Approaching equinox. I have loved summer, and I'm dreading winter.
Have been using pizotifen for the last few months. Currently trying to go up from one to two tablets (0.5mg each). Not quite in a reliable routine about this yet, sometimes forget, so I haven't given it an adequate test yet.
I have been doing a pretty good job the last few months of avoiding unnecessary hunger stress. My weight has gone up by at least 15kg over the last year. Feels good to be more solid. I'm pretty sure I've gained some lean mass as well as obvious fat. Was experimenting with a little regular cyproheptadine toward the end of last year. Have had to watch myself against the pull to restrict, and to let myself eat to appetite and gain weight. Seems to have stopped since I cut back on the milk and cypro. Possibly slowly losing again, though that could just be the recent spate of migraines and resulting reduced appetite - not a good thing. Doing my best to keep up generous nutrition. It is only logistics that stops me eating enough most of the time, and I've got much better at that.
The thing I think I should be doing that I'm finding hardest is getting to bed and to sleep at a suitable time in the evenings. It's not insomnia - I sleep fine once I get my head down, it's reluctance to get into bed. I keep deciding to change this, and struggling, and not succeeding anywhere near as often as I think makes sense. This could be a key factor.
Still getting lots of migraines.
More often shorter, and not losing the whole day, though using drugs to make that work. I'm pretty sure the chicken neck soup helps too.
Changes to food and supplements:
Was getting old fuzzy-headed symptoms from milk again too often, so I cut back but not stopped altogether. Still have a bit of milk in a couple of (decaf) coffees.
Added estroban.
It's hard to get enough protein without the milk.
Recently got GL gelatine and hydrolysate, and using either or both daily in drinks.
Got tired of maing carrot salad. Have been eaing fruit salad every day since christmas.
Approaching equinox. I have loved summer, and I'm dreading winter.
Have been using pizotifen for the last few months. Currently trying to go up from one to two tablets (0.5mg each). Not quite in a reliable routine about this yet, sometimes forget, so I haven't given it an adequate test yet.
I have been doing a pretty good job the last few months of avoiding unnecessary hunger stress. My weight has gone up by at least 15kg over the last year. Feels good to be more solid. I'm pretty sure I've gained some lean mass as well as obvious fat. Was experimenting with a little regular cyproheptadine toward the end of last year. Have had to watch myself against the pull to restrict, and to let myself eat to appetite and gain weight. Seems to have stopped since I cut back on the milk and cypro. Possibly slowly losing again, though that could just be the recent spate of migraines and resulting reduced appetite - not a good thing. Doing my best to keep up generous nutrition. It is only logistics that stops me eating enough most of the time, and I've got much better at that.
The thing I think I should be doing that I'm finding hardest is getting to bed and to sleep at a suitable time in the evenings. It's not insomnia - I sleep fine once I get my head down, it's reluctance to get into bed. I keep deciding to change this, and struggling, and not succeeding anywhere near as often as I think makes sense. This could be a key factor.
Further to update.
Over the last 2-3 months, after cutting back on milk, I've found myself reducing progest-e dosage. Fuzzy-headedness would remind me to take progest-e, because it often helped. Without so much of that symptom, I let it slide. The last few weeks I've mostly only had a morning and evening dose. Maybe that's why i had 5 migraine days last week (more than usual). Or else it was sleep-debt all week and late lunch on the weekend, or the extra chocolate. Or all of the above.
Over the last 2-3 months, after cutting back on milk, I've found myself reducing progest-e dosage. Fuzzy-headedness would remind me to take progest-e, because it often helped. Without so much of that symptom, I let it slide. The last few weeks I've mostly only had a morning and evening dose. Maybe that's why i had 5 migraine days last week (more than usual). Or else it was sleep-debt all week and late lunch on the weekend, or the extra chocolate. Or all of the above.
Current supps:
Pizotifen 0.5mg x 2 last few months. Could go up to 3 per day.
NDT 1/4 tab (~1/2 grain) - swapping in to replace one dose of NWT.
progest-e ~3 drops (10mg) 2x
Vitamins, Ca, Mg, daily, zinc picolinate ~1/week
Have had a couple of weeks of getting to bed earlier most nights, but occasionally got a late one.
Nearly only white chocolate the last week.
Very little decaf coffee (0-1/2 tsp instant x1)
Solban x 1 spray on face or arms on age spots most days last couple of weeks
Oxidal (Methylene blue) 1 drop (~400mcg) 2x/week on skin of foot last 3-4 weeks. Pee not blue, maybe ever so slightly greenish tinge to the riboflavin yellow? Considering whether I want blue toenails for the summer - so far trying to avoid them - I'm guessing they would stay blue long after I stop applying it.
Occasional aspirin - 500-1000mg.
~200ml milk/day
Just took temp, evening: 36.4 C, cold feet (fire's died down - bed time). Will try to take more temps.
Still lots of migraines.
Possible next experiments?
Reading Nate's experiments with serotonin-lowering substances. I'm wondering if my next experiment might be with amino acids. I have some - glycine, lycine, BCAAs - and used occasionallybut not been consistent. I haven't yet got y head around adding in even more supplements into my routine, and I'm thinking I need to get it really regular to avoid rebound migraines. Still struggling with how to reduce meat and get enough protein. Head clearer with less milk.
Also got Wobenzymes on recommendation, but only taken a couple. I wonder if it would help me digest milk well.
Also got petadolex butterbur extract. Don't know whether it makes sense to combine with pizotifen. Would like to know what it's mechanism of action is supposed to be. Haven't tried it yet.
Pizotifen 0.5mg x 2 last few months. Could go up to 3 per day.
NDT 1/4 tab (~1/2 grain) - swapping in to replace one dose of NWT.
progest-e ~3 drops (10mg) 2x
Vitamins, Ca, Mg, daily, zinc picolinate ~1/week
Have had a couple of weeks of getting to bed earlier most nights, but occasionally got a late one.
Nearly only white chocolate the last week.
Very little decaf coffee (0-1/2 tsp instant x1)
Solban x 1 spray on face or arms on age spots most days last couple of weeks
Oxidal (Methylene blue) 1 drop (~400mcg) 2x/week on skin of foot last 3-4 weeks. Pee not blue, maybe ever so slightly greenish tinge to the riboflavin yellow? Considering whether I want blue toenails for the summer - so far trying to avoid them - I'm guessing they would stay blue long after I stop applying it.
Occasional aspirin - 500-1000mg.
~200ml milk/day
Just took temp, evening: 36.4 C, cold feet (fire's died down - bed time). Will try to take more temps.
Still lots of migraines.
Possible next experiments?
Reading Nate's experiments with serotonin-lowering substances. I'm wondering if my next experiment might be with amino acids. I have some - glycine, lycine, BCAAs - and used occasionallybut not been consistent. I haven't yet got y head around adding in even more supplements into my routine, and I'm thinking I need to get it really regular to avoid rebound migraines. Still struggling with how to reduce meat and get enough protein. Head clearer with less milk.
Also got Wobenzymes on recommendation, but only taken a couple. I wonder if it would help me digest milk well.
Also got petadolex butterbur extract. Don't know whether it makes sense to combine with pizotifen. Would like to know what it's mechanism of action is supposed to be. Haven't tried it yet.
tara said:
Hi Tara,
How are you going now with your migraines? My girlfriend used to have migraines very regularly, but now less than once a year. My girlfriend has tried many of the protocols you have tried, but things that seemed to work for her were to keep things simple:
Establish good vitamin D levels - GF takes 4000IU of D3 a day
Establish good magnesium levels - GF takes 200mg in morning/300mg in evening - 500mg a day total
Establish good CoQ10 levels - this is expensive, but it seems to do something - 150mg twice a day (morning and night)
Maintain good B2 - she follows similar protocol as you, daily 200mg B2.
Generally, my GF avoids PUFA, pork, bacon, fatty meats, sandwich meats, olives, rich cheeses (beware of hidden glutamate), cheap chinese MSG-containing foods (must avoid these at all costs), condiments of any sort (avoid sulphites), vegetable oils, nuts, bread (except the odd piece of proper fermented sourdough).
She eats: normal cereal (rice bubbles, not very good I know), full fat milk, not too many eggs, ripe fruits, plain cheddar cheese, lamb, steak, lots of chicken, butter, coffee, dates, rice (not brown), potatoes, sweet potatoes, and homemade popcorn with olive oil and salt. Main vegies are peas, broccoli, carrots, capsicum.
If she ever feels anxious or worried about not sleeping well (she sometimes gets stressed about this), she uses niacinamide and B6 together, and she goes out like a light.
I highly recommend trying to take a teaspoon of taurine as your migraine starts - it can stop it before it continues. I also find glycine highly beneficial. It will keep inflammation low in your body.
Personally, I think all of the heavy hormone-related meds should be kept on the backburner until you have worked out your diet well, and what feels good for you. That's most important. Hope your feeling better, and hope my post helps you a bit.
Hi Chispas,
That's fantastic that your girlfriend has (largely) solved her migraines!
Mine are just as frequent as ever, maybe more so, though I think I've been recovering faster since bumping up the thyroid a little recently (1/4 tab nutripak NDT).
I probably don't eat much of the foods your GF avoids, except for sometimes fatty meat, and occasionally a little bacon (< 1 rasher/month, so probably not a key trigger), and occasional a little bread/baked-wheat (not good for me, I think). I don't seem to handle plain cheddar, unfortunately, or coffee.
I had an insomniac night a week ago, but they are seldom. More common is that I sometimes don't get to bed and turn out lights early enough. But still, I get ~8hrs sleep most nights, and just occasional late nights for other reasons - I've improved this the last couple of weeks. I take B-vits including niacinamide and B6 regularly morning and evening.
I have some gelatine or collagen most days. I've tried taking glycine a couple of times at migraine onset, without noticable effect. I think I've got some taurine at home, so I'll try that next time I'm at home in prodrome.
I'm considering seeing if I can get a manageable way to get a little of some or all of glycine, taurine, lysine and BCAAs in a really regular way.
I got some CoQ10 a while ago, and haven't got regular with that. That would probably be worth trying systematically too. I've read elsewhere of CoQ10 being helpful for some people with migraine.
I've been trying to figure out diet for at least two decades. Reading and implementing some of Peat's ideas for about 2 years.
Thanks for your interest and ideas.
That's fantastic that your girlfriend has (largely) solved her migraines!
Mine are just as frequent as ever, maybe more so, though I think I've been recovering faster since bumping up the thyroid a little recently (1/4 tab nutripak NDT).
I probably don't eat much of the foods your GF avoids, except for sometimes fatty meat, and occasionally a little bacon (< 1 rasher/month, so probably not a key trigger), and occasional a little bread/baked-wheat (not good for me, I think). I don't seem to handle plain cheddar, unfortunately, or coffee.
I had an insomniac night a week ago, but they are seldom. More common is that I sometimes don't get to bed and turn out lights early enough. But still, I get ~8hrs sleep most nights, and just occasional late nights for other reasons - I've improved this the last couple of weeks. I take B-vits including niacinamide and B6 regularly morning and evening.
I have some gelatine or collagen most days. I've tried taking glycine a couple of times at migraine onset, without noticable effect. I think I've got some taurine at home, so I'll try that next time I'm at home in prodrome.
I'm considering seeing if I can get a manageable way to get a little of some or all of glycine, taurine, lysine and BCAAs in a really regular way.
I got some CoQ10 a while ago, and haven't got regular with that. That would probably be worth trying systematically too. I've read elsewhere of CoQ10 being helpful for some people with migraine.
I've been trying to figure out diet for at least two decades. Reading and implementing some of Peat's ideas for about 2 years.
Thanks for your interest and ideas.
itsALLgood
Member
- Joined
- May 2, 2015
- Messages
- 9
Hi Tara,
When do you migraines usually start? During sleep? You mentioned having noticed sleep being an important factor in your migraines - as have I. Have you noticed a correlation between blue light (computer/ phone) use and the quality of your sleep? My eyes are very sensitive and personally I find that too much computer use throughout the day and especially before bed exacerbates headaches/migraines.
An app called "Time Out" has been helpful in reminding me to take a break every so often to stretch/rest my eyes. Ultimately though I have to ration my exposure to blue light and avoid it as much as possible before bed.
When do you migraines usually start? During sleep? You mentioned having noticed sleep being an important factor in your migraines - as have I. Have you noticed a correlation between blue light (computer/ phone) use and the quality of your sleep? My eyes are very sensitive and personally I find that too much computer use throughout the day and especially before bed exacerbates headaches/migraines.
An app called "Time Out" has been helpful in reminding me to take a break every so often to stretch/rest my eyes. Ultimately though I have to ration my exposure to blue light and avoid it as much as possible before bed.
Giraffe
Member
- Joined
- Jun 20, 2015
- Messages
- 3,730
Tara, have you tried milk thistle?tara said:
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itsALLgood said:
Hi itsALLgood,
Often I wake up feeling a bit off, and go through prodrome to full migraine over many hours through the day (then last for 3 days, last time I didn't throw sumatripatan at it, which is a fe years ago).
I think sleep deprivation makes me more prone, but sometimes it doesn't get me till I eventually have a 'catch up' sleep.
I work 4 days sitting several hours at a computer, under fluorescent lighting, but also get lots of light in a nearby window when it's sunny outside. Lately I get at least as many migraines, maybe more, on non-work days than work days. At home I sometimes spend an hour or two at computer too, sometimes in the evening. May not be good. But days when I'm out and about and away from my computer I can also go down.
I am hoping to make changes to lighting throughout the house sometime in the next year or so. Last winter I used halogen floodlights for a bit of intense light for a little some evenings. I liked it, but no significant reduction in migraines. Thanks for reminding me - I got a heat lamp that I want to set up. We are heading into spring, and getting a bit more daylight now.
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Giraffe said:
Not yet.
Still have some in the cupboard, still considering it. I think there may be some concern about it being estrogenic?
I had a cold last week, and took to the old traditional lemon and honey drink, and added garlic to my carrot salad for a week. I think I might continue this a bit longer as my next attempt at giving my liver a bit of love and care.
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Giraffe
Member
- Joined
- Jun 20, 2015
- Messages
- 3,730
Hi Tara,
YuraCZ has linked an interesting interview with Morley Robbins here post 101430. Peat will not agree with everything Robbins says, but they do agree on quite a few things.
I wonder if this interview could give you some new ideas on how to tackle your migraines.
In part 2, 15:00 he briefly talks about histamine intolerance being a player in migrane linking the whole to copper, zinc and vitamin B6.
YuraCZ has linked an interesting interview with Morley Robbins here post 101430. Peat will not agree with everything Robbins says, but they do agree on quite a few things.
I wonder if this interview could give you some new ideas on how to tackle your migraines.
In part 2, 15:00 he briefly talks about histamine intolerance being a player in migrane linking the whole to copper, zinc and vitamin B6.
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Thanks Giraffe,Giraffe said:
This is an area I don't understand at all well yet. I'll look at that interview when I can. There are more recent posts on copper toxicity too.
I suspect I may not get enough zinc - I occasionally supplement, but not daily, and still get occasional little white flecks on nails that I've heard may be a zinc deficiency symptom. Oysters are too expensive to eat a dozen a week - I occasionally have one or two.
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Tara - I read your entire thread, and I just want to thank you for taking the time to track this. My headaches have gotten much worse since going to RP. I strongly suspect it's hormonal, as I used to get 3+ headaches per month (not migraines) in my teens/20s, but they would go completely away with advil. I then had my babies last one when I was 30, and my cycles just went to hell and at 34 my hormone labs were approaching post-menopausal. But I was doing low-carb then, when I knocked that off and started taking progesterone, all my symptoms went away except these awful headaches which are now migraines. Usually affecting one side from head down into my shoulder. Lasting usually 3 days. I have work and the kids, I don't have time for this!
The only plus about low carb was I didn't have a single headache the entire 6+ months I did it. I'm trying to figure out if I can apply any difference there to what I'm doing now. (1) Drank a lot of water. (2) Ate 1-3 bananas a day, did the extra potassium help? (3) Had lots more protein, between whey and "ancient grains" and greek yogurt and nut butters. Of course it just as well could've been that I was starving myself, and my body was going into emergency mode, flooding it with stress hormones that masked the pain.
Do you think breathing has any affect on your headaches? I'm going to try myofunctional face and tongue exercises and Buteyko breathing. Someone on a different forum said their migraines resolved after having a frenectomy, have you looked into that?
The only plus about low carb was I didn't have a single headache the entire 6+ months I did it. I'm trying to figure out if I can apply any difference there to what I'm doing now. (1) Drank a lot of water. (2) Ate 1-3 bananas a day, did the extra potassium help? (3) Had lots more protein, between whey and "ancient grains" and greek yogurt and nut butters. Of course it just as well could've been that I was starving myself, and my body was going into emergency mode, flooding it with stress hormones that masked the pain.
Do you think breathing has any affect on your headaches? I'm going to try myofunctional face and tongue exercises and Buteyko breathing. Someone on a different forum said their migraines resolved after having a frenectomy, have you looked into that?
Hi Kelly,
Thakks for reading my long log. Sorry you too are dealing with these migraines - it sure makes parenting young ones harder (sometimes impossible), doesn't it? Mine go worse after my two pregnancies.
I've read of people having bits of the trigeminal nerve either anaesthetised with botox, with temporary relief (~3months IIRC). And I've read of surgical removal of the trigeminal nerve (some successes, but quite a lot of failures too, and some of the failures got chronic phantom pain that was worse than what they started with.)
Thakks for reading my long log. Sorry you too are dealing with these migraines - it sure makes parenting young ones harder (sometimes impossible), doesn't it? Mine go worse after my two pregnancies.
Interesting. I wonder if it was stress hormones of low carbing giving you a break, but possibly setting you up for more vulnerability when you stopped it, or whether there is something you are eating or doing now that is hard on your system. Some of the stress hormones have an antiinflammatory effect. I think I may be more likely to get migraines in my 'down' time (not reliably, though). People can have allergies and other reactions to different foods eg. chocolate, cheese, oranges.Kelly said:
I'll be interested to hear if these help you. Rakhimov at normalbreathing says migraineurs need to take it gently with Buteyko training - a too sudden increase in CO2 can be a trigger for some people. I think I have had some benefits from attending to my breathing, but I have not had a reduction in migraine frequency or severity. I have not taken the training very far though, I gave up fairly soon after taking some of the low hanging fruit. Maybe more persistence would pay off, but I was not making enough progress to persist - I did get as far as making the DIY breathing apparatus and tring it a few times.Kelly said:
Do you know if it was labial or lingual frenectomy or somewhere else? I have not come across this at all. Is it widely used for migraine treatment, or was the migraine relief a fluke arising from a frenectomy for other purposes?Kelly said:
I've read of people having bits of the trigeminal nerve either anaesthetised with botox, with temporary relief (~3months IIRC). And I've read of surgical removal of the trigeminal nerve (some successes, but quite a lot of failures too, and some of the failures got chronic phantom pain that was worse than what they started with.)
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Giraffe
Member
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- Messages
- 3,730
No, I was considering to try milk thistle, but I decided to try other options first after I read this post 91014 post.tara said:
Tara, have you tried eye-exercises? I originally tried them to improve sight on one of my eyes (it worked), but the real bonus was the relaxing effect it had on my body as a whole. I did not notice how tense my forehead was until it relaxed and how bowel cramps are related to my eyes. I get headaches when my eyes are strained. They don't qualify as migraines yet (not yet), but the trend is pretty clear.
For me the Tibetan eye chart was a good tool to train self-awareness. You are asked to hold it very close to your nose. If I try to see clear what is on the paper it triggers headaches, but if I tell myself, "Don't try to see clear. Just move the eyes and relax.", I start to see clear. There are simpler exercises if relaxing the eyes is what I want, but to note when I start to get tense is a crucial thing for me.
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tara said:
I tried to find the post again, but couldn't. I believe it was a lingual frenectomy, and I also believe she just did it solely for migraine relief. I'm going to ask ... someone (doctor? dentist?) about this.
I've been taking 1g glycine, 2 g taurine, 200 mg b2, scant 100 mg magnesium (my stomach can't tolerate more) twice per day for the past month. I'm still getting migraines but they seem to be shorter in duration. Definitely this more recent one was only about 2.5 days, where my migraine same time last cycle was a week. I'm going to add CoQ10 into the mix and track for a few months, see what happens. (I'm also taking a ton of progest-e.)
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Update.
For many months I've been getting migraines one or two days nearly every week.
I stopped the pizotifen a few weeks ago. Just forgot to take it a couple of times, then noticed I ddn't miss it, and gradually tapered it off over a week or so. I started it up gradually about a year ago, and it clearly hasn't reduced migraine frequency. The dr would be happy for me to take more of it, but I've not felt like it. I got up to nearly the usual preventive dose.
Pizotifen theoretically has some anti-serotonin effects.
A week after stopping I got a couple of days of migraine, then a lovely three weeks without (still had a to fight off a few, but successfully). Enough to start getting a little hopeful. But this last week I've had migraine 5 days out of 8, so no longer so opimistic. Trying to think about what else might have changed.
It has also become easier to wake up in the mornings and stay alert through the day since I stopped, which is welcome. I wonder if that is serotonin rebound.
As I've said before, last year I focused on avoiding hunger stress, and gained about 15kg. This did not reduce migraines, but did seem to reduce some stress symptoms. Then I kept eating and stayed at that weight for many months. Then since last winter I gained a little more. I think I was sometimes compulsively overeating on unhelpful foods (eg chocolate, often white).
As soon as I stopped the pizotifen, my appetite reduced and my compulsive eating stopped. I have had a few patches of accidental undereating again, which may have been a trigger for recent migraines. And of course once migraine process is underway, my appetite and ability to handle sugar tend to drop. So the scale says I've lost this year's weight gain in the last month, but I expect most of that is glycogen and accompanying water. Maybe a little fat and/or lean loss too.
After I stopped the pizotifen, I've been getting hayfever. Not sure if that's just coincidence - the relevant pollens may just have hit the airwaves - or whether the pizotifen was providing some anti-histamine effect. I'm not aware of it being advertised as having this effect, but maybe it does.
Waking temps the last week 36.4. Still slightly low, but not extreme. I made sure to keep the thermometer in till it stabilised properly, which took at least 10 mins. If I'd quit after 5 mins I'd have thought my temps were lower. A couple of years ago when I measured waking temps thoroughly for a week or so at the same time of year, they were all just below 36.0, so I take this as an improvement, probably due mainly to supplemental natural thyroid. Maybe indicates I could increase the thyroid supps a bit more still.
Other tactics I've been trying to apply lately, with varying consistency, include:
-Much reduced milk consumption the last few months, but still having a little most days. Even though I'm still getting lots of migraines, reducing the milk seems to leave my head clearer, so I'll continue with this.
-Resumed carrot salad since my last cold in September. Grating 3-4 days worth at time makes this easier to do. I usually want to eat it, it's just making it that's a hassle.
-I've continued to add just a little raw garlic to this too. I think this helps with keeping my head clear, so I'm guessing it's helping to keep the endotoxin levels down.
- A little liver a few times a week. I thought I was going off it at one stage, but I think it was just a less fresh batch - the next batch tasted great again.
- Mostly avoiding wheat, but indulged a few times this week in home-made slow-leavened white bread - maybe that's contributed.
-Daily a little decaf coffee (eg 1/2 tsp), a little aspirin (eg 100 - 250mg). Talked with someone else who found one little aspirin a day kept her migraines at bay. When migraine is underway, I get averse to both coffee and aspirin, so not forcing it then.
-I'm still taking B-vits twice daily, but this last week's batch I lowered the riboflavin. Maybe I'll increase this again in the next batch, since I've had a bad week.
-Daily Mg and Ca, sometimes twice daily. With little greens most days but very little dairy, I'm not getting much calcium. I'm supplementing calcium as oystershell at 1/4 - 1/2 tsp most days, so not particularly high calcium intake over all.
-Daily ADEK, usually separately, but when I'm too tired I use the estroban. Some of it topical.
- Most days a little of Haidut's solban on the face, sometimes on other bits if burnt.
- Methylene blue - 1 drop oxidal (400mcg) daily in a glass of water, usually some before sleep and some on waking.
-Intermittently, glycine (~2g), taurine (~1g) - esp. when migraine threatens. I'd like to make this daily, but still haven't got this into my routine reliably.
-Intend to supplement zinc once or twice a week, but often forget. Probably haven't had any the last couple of weeks. Maybe that's trouble?
- Thyroid increased: NDT 1/4 tab 2/day + NWT small serve 1/day.
- Continuing progesterone, this year at about 10mg 2/day, occasionally a little more.
That's a lot of supplements! No wonder I sometimes forget things, and am slow to add more. The only thing I take highish doses of are some of the B-vits. Not sure if I should drop any of them.
Next:
- I ordered some feverfew, since someone recommended a standardised product that had lots of good reviews and seems to serve them well. Hasn't arrived yet, but I intend to give this a go when it does. It seems as though some of what it does is similar to aspirin, but there are also claims that it helps strengthen and stabilise blood vessels, which seems like a good thing. The downsides that I am aware of are that it may set up for withdrawal symptoms when stopped/omitted.
- Still think the amino acid supps might have something to offer, if I could get myself organised on these consistently.
- Considering using the milk thistle and/or COQ12 and/or theanine I have in the cupboard, but not got around to it yet.
- Still struggling to get sleep regular. No insomnia, just don't go to bed early enough. A likely contributor to my trouble.
For many months I've been getting migraines one or two days nearly every week.
I stopped the pizotifen a few weeks ago. Just forgot to take it a couple of times, then noticed I ddn't miss it, and gradually tapered it off over a week or so. I started it up gradually about a year ago, and it clearly hasn't reduced migraine frequency. The dr would be happy for me to take more of it, but I've not felt like it. I got up to nearly the usual preventive dose.
Pizotifen theoretically has some anti-serotonin effects.
A week after stopping I got a couple of days of migraine, then a lovely three weeks without (still had a to fight off a few, but successfully). Enough to start getting a little hopeful. But this last week I've had migraine 5 days out of 8, so no longer so opimistic. Trying to think about what else might have changed.
It has also become easier to wake up in the mornings and stay alert through the day since I stopped, which is welcome. I wonder if that is serotonin rebound.
As I've said before, last year I focused on avoiding hunger stress, and gained about 15kg. This did not reduce migraines, but did seem to reduce some stress symptoms. Then I kept eating and stayed at that weight for many months. Then since last winter I gained a little more. I think I was sometimes compulsively overeating on unhelpful foods (eg chocolate, often white).
As soon as I stopped the pizotifen, my appetite reduced and my compulsive eating stopped. I have had a few patches of accidental undereating again, which may have been a trigger for recent migraines. And of course once migraine process is underway, my appetite and ability to handle sugar tend to drop. So the scale says I've lost this year's weight gain in the last month, but I expect most of that is glycogen and accompanying water. Maybe a little fat and/or lean loss too.
After I stopped the pizotifen, I've been getting hayfever. Not sure if that's just coincidence - the relevant pollens may just have hit the airwaves - or whether the pizotifen was providing some anti-histamine effect. I'm not aware of it being advertised as having this effect, but maybe it does.
Waking temps the last week 36.4. Still slightly low, but not extreme. I made sure to keep the thermometer in till it stabilised properly, which took at least 10 mins. If I'd quit after 5 mins I'd have thought my temps were lower. A couple of years ago when I measured waking temps thoroughly for a week or so at the same time of year, they were all just below 36.0, so I take this as an improvement, probably due mainly to supplemental natural thyroid. Maybe indicates I could increase the thyroid supps a bit more still.
Other tactics I've been trying to apply lately, with varying consistency, include:
-Much reduced milk consumption the last few months, but still having a little most days. Even though I'm still getting lots of migraines, reducing the milk seems to leave my head clearer, so I'll continue with this.
-Resumed carrot salad since my last cold in September. Grating 3-4 days worth at time makes this easier to do. I usually want to eat it, it's just making it that's a hassle.
-I've continued to add just a little raw garlic to this too. I think this helps with keeping my head clear, so I'm guessing it's helping to keep the endotoxin levels down.
- A little liver a few times a week. I thought I was going off it at one stage, but I think it was just a less fresh batch - the next batch tasted great again.
- Mostly avoiding wheat, but indulged a few times this week in home-made slow-leavened white bread - maybe that's contributed.
-Daily a little decaf coffee (eg 1/2 tsp), a little aspirin (eg 100 - 250mg). Talked with someone else who found one little aspirin a day kept her migraines at bay. When migraine is underway, I get averse to both coffee and aspirin, so not forcing it then.
-I'm still taking B-vits twice daily, but this last week's batch I lowered the riboflavin. Maybe I'll increase this again in the next batch, since I've had a bad week.
-Daily Mg and Ca, sometimes twice daily. With little greens most days but very little dairy, I'm not getting much calcium. I'm supplementing calcium as oystershell at 1/4 - 1/2 tsp most days, so not particularly high calcium intake over all.
-Daily ADEK, usually separately, but when I'm too tired I use the estroban. Some of it topical.
- Most days a little of Haidut's solban on the face, sometimes on other bits if burnt.
- Methylene blue - 1 drop oxidal (400mcg) daily in a glass of water, usually some before sleep and some on waking.
-Intermittently, glycine (~2g), taurine (~1g) - esp. when migraine threatens. I'd like to make this daily, but still haven't got this into my routine reliably.
-Intend to supplement zinc once or twice a week, but often forget. Probably haven't had any the last couple of weeks. Maybe that's trouble?
- Thyroid increased: NDT 1/4 tab 2/day + NWT small serve 1/day.
- Continuing progesterone, this year at about 10mg 2/day, occasionally a little more.
That's a lot of supplements! No wonder I sometimes forget things, and am slow to add more. The only thing I take highish doses of are some of the B-vits. Not sure if I should drop any of them.
Next:
- I ordered some feverfew, since someone recommended a standardised product that had lots of good reviews and seems to serve them well. Hasn't arrived yet, but I intend to give this a go when it does. It seems as though some of what it does is similar to aspirin, but there are also claims that it helps strengthen and stabilise blood vessels, which seems like a good thing. The downsides that I am aware of are that it may set up for withdrawal symptoms when stopped/omitted.
- Still think the amino acid supps might have something to offer, if I could get myself organised on these consistently.
- Considering using the milk thistle and/or COQ12 and/or theanine I have in the cupboard, but not got around to it yet.
- Still struggling to get sleep regular. No insomnia, just don't go to bed early enough. A likely contributor to my trouble.
Not closely related to migraine, but maybe connected to overall metabolism.
My year of overeating and sedentry last year did seem to sort out a couple of slow healing injuries. Unfortunately, for health and schedule reasons it's been hard to get as much regular exercise as I'd like the last year or more. And now I've picked up more injuries. Possible tennis elbow - muscle strain or tendon on top of forearm, and an inflamed and impinging shoulder. It's only intermittently painful, but I'd like them to be getting better, and so far they've been getting worse for the last 3 mnths or more. I've put the occasional dose of progesterone on shoulder, and had some physio treatment, but no obvious improvement yet.
Also, the rash I've had for more than a year is still around. Sometimes it shrinks back towards the ankles, sometimes it extends as far as armpits. I don't think it likes sea water as much as the rest of me does. Hard to scratch and apply salves between my shoulder blades, esp. with shoulder dysfunction. Tried one or two other potions, but keep coming back to my coconut oil + cocoa butter + a little beeswax recipe with a little vit-E and progesterone. I use a lot of this. Had to reduce the amount of beeswax, because it wasn't washing out of my stiffening clothes.
My year of overeating and sedentry last year did seem to sort out a couple of slow healing injuries. Unfortunately, for health and schedule reasons it's been hard to get as much regular exercise as I'd like the last year or more. And now I've picked up more injuries. Possible tennis elbow - muscle strain or tendon on top of forearm, and an inflamed and impinging shoulder. It's only intermittently painful, but I'd like them to be getting better, and so far they've been getting worse for the last 3 mnths or more. I've put the occasional dose of progesterone on shoulder, and had some physio treatment, but no obvious improvement yet.
Also, the rash I've had for more than a year is still around. Sometimes it shrinks back towards the ankles, sometimes it extends as far as armpits. I don't think it likes sea water as much as the rest of me does. Hard to scratch and apply salves between my shoulder blades, esp. with shoulder dysfunction. Tried one or two other potions, but keep coming back to my coconut oil + cocoa butter + a little beeswax recipe with a little vit-E and progesterone. I use a lot of this. Had to reduce the amount of beeswax, because it wasn't washing out of my stiffening clothes.
EMF Mitigation - Flush Niacin - Big 5 Minerals
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