Natural Remedies for Migraines

Some perfumes cause severe migraine headaches for me. Debilitating pain, faintness, nausea, vomiting, the whole nine yards. Extra strength aspirin used to help, but that brings other problems. I found an online reference to feverfew and bought capsules. Now, even in the migraine stage where I can't see or walk straight, if I can get to the feverfew, I get relief. One or two capsules emptied into a small cup of water, shoot it down and chase it with more water. In my condition, I don't have time to wait for tea to brew. Within 10 minutes, I have complete relief. Then all I have to do is pray the neighbors have finished their laundry or have left for new vistas. :-)

Marjoram tea relieved my migrain. I have suffered from migrains for over 20 years and have tried most medicines OTC and prescription out there. I know most of my triggers but sometimes one will sneak up on me anyway. I found a remedy online a few years back and now it's all I use. I steep 1 1/2 to 2 Tablespoons of marjoram in a small 2 cup tea pot and drink it strait up. It doesn't taste the best but after one cup I find relief from the pain and the foggy head feeling. I buy mine in the spice aisle at the grocery store, some stores carry it cheap in a bag- that works too.

Magnesium is supposed to help migraines.

Once I hit my early fourties I notices I started having migraines every month, some would last for over three days! Anyhow, I noticed it was right around the time of my cycle. I've seen all the specialist and tried some things. I really wanted something easy and natural, that I can take when I'm traveling. A Naturopathic medicine doctor , she suggested BUTTERBUR extract. I take a few when I feel the slight pressure in my head, and I know it is an early sign of migraine coming on. Anyhow, BUTTERBUR extract apparently increases circulation in the brain. This has been truly amazing! No more migraines! Hopefully, BUTTERBUR extract will help other be cured of migraines.

Migraines - Ice/hot neck wraps.

A massage instructor told me that when you have a migraine, the blood is entering the head faster than it is leaving. His solution is to keep a flexable neck wrap in the freezer or refrigerator. Have a very warm wrap ready - such as a slightly damp towel hot (but not too hot) from tap water or a microwave.

To stop a migraine, wrap the cold wrap around the neck - make sure you get the front of the neck - for 30 seconds. Then apply the hot wrap for 30 seconds. This is to shock the veins open. Repeat as necessary. I don't get migraines anymore - thanks to the ACV - but I really would like feedback on this remedy.

Also for the same reasoning, if you donate blood, your migraine will go away almost instantly.

I have had migraines for 24years. nothing seemed to work at all. By accident, I found a cure for them! I was using spirulina (12 capsules a day) for something else and I realized that I had gone two months with absolutely nooo headaches at all. I'm a very skeptical person when it comes to trying new things, but spirulina made me a believer. Try it and let me know how it works for you.

I think your mother would get even better relief for her headaches if she were to get a good transdermal form of magnesium. There are some really good ones out there, and all she has to do is soak her feet in it for about 20 minutes in the evening. If you do a google search on it, you will find lots of good information about it. Hope this helps.

I'm also from Sykesville area, too! I get migraines as well -- have for about 20 years now. Sometimes I would swear they are related to my menstrual cycle, sometimes they are not. I can eat really bad foods & be fine, or go on a health-conscious diet & get these headaches. Usually they are with nausea. Also de-hydration has almost nothing to do w/my headaches.

Anyway, I'll try the paper bag technique (from the local McD's right? -LOL!!) Interesting about the carbon dioxide...

Another (CHEAP) sort-of remedy I wanted to mention is...(I've been desperate after having tried both OTC & Rx meds NOT help).......(drumroll, please) a cheap $3 tube of toothpaste. Doesn't have to be any brand in particular...just apply to the temples, maybe around the eyes -- be careful not to get in the eye.

The cool sensation makes the pain temporarily subside. I've found this toothpaste treatment (my BF calls it "warpaint") combined with sleep or rest in darkness, headache meds, & TIME helps to relieve the migraine. Thanks & good luck!

I have had terrible migraines weekly for over 40 years I now take 1 CoQ10 and 2 feverfew every morning I have had only three migraines in the past year. Hope this helps my son and daughter in law live in Sykesville.

My girlfriend of a year and a half has been getting migraines since she was a child (also when getting her cycle). Early on in our relationship I suggested she take an all natural approach to curing her migraines. After doing some research online we found a few herbs and vitamins known to help alleviate migraine headaches. A few of which were mentioned above. I recommend trying as many ways (without bad side effects) as you can. Migraines are not fully understood yet, and each person has different migraine triggers; so you never know which remedy will work best for you!

Hello Jesse;

Migraines....

My own thoughts on migraines, and I read this years ago... is that some genetic types use us their B vitamins more rapidly than other folks. Especially, under pressure situations. This is very problematic in the area of the eyes as vitamin B3 is a dialator and if it is used up then there is a collapse of the capillaries...this producing a migraine.

This is the cause ... so my reading told me... for a CLASSIC migraine; the aura...blurred vision and nausea. So I have taken nutrients that are dialators....such as B3 and Feverfew, an herb.

As long as I take a few tablets of B3 daily and get that famous flush I do not have migraine problems. Feverfew also has the same dialating effect.

I have migraines from the age of 4. That was 66 years ago. The only sure relief came from Sinus Buster and
you can find it on the web. It works so well I no longer need to carry hydrocodone with me at all times. I even make my own using elixir of cayenne and water in a nasal spray bottle..Try it and see for yourself.

I am 67 years old and started getting migraines about 5 years ago. My migraines are severe. Along with vomiting, I get diarrhea which actually helps relieve my headache. I also use cold compresses on my neck and apply pressure to my lower neck.

Dear Marthe,

What your feeling maybe something bad your sickness reminds me when I had bad headaches. I would get just like you with the vomiting and diahrrea. One day I felt a huge bang in my head it was a BRAIN ANEURYSM. Then it burst and that is when I found out I had a BA. Please go check yourself with your doctor. Better to be safe than sorry!

My mother suffers from severe migraines. ... I looked to the Internet for help. I found that green or red grapes often help with migraines and since we had some in the refrigerator I decided to give them to my mother. She ate them and within thirty minutes her migraine was cured, with a tiny headache left.

me and my mother both suffer from severe migrane pains. we both use to take regular medicine to avoid it. then we heard of black seeds. the trick is to chew the seeds raw and then drinking water on it. i and my mother both have been using it, i get instant relief in 10 minutes, my mother was also getting quick relief but now again shes suffering from severe eye migraines. the doctors say that its not curable.. i m really worried. i wish i could find some way of helping her. please inform me of any one has any info or anything to help me find a viable cure for her. thanks.

Nigella sativa and its black seed are known by other names, varying between places. Some call it black caraway, others call it black cumin (Kalonji), or even coriander seeds. In English, the Nigella sativa plant is commonly referred to as "Love in a Mist".

Nevertheless, this is Nigella sativa, which has been known and used from ancient times and is also known in Persian as Shonaiz. and you can find out more abt it on this link http://www.sweetsunnah.com/cgi-bin/category.cgi?category=blackseed can you please inform me of remedy to cure my mothers disease :) thanks and take care abeer

To Lisa from St. Clair Shores, Michigan (ll/14/07)' Were you perhaps using Nutrisweet (aspartame) to sweeten all that green tea you were drinking? If so, it was more likely that aspartame was causing your headaches - it is notarious for causing headaches and many other problems. Honey or stevia is a much safer sweetener.

Possibly your migrane is mechanical, not chemical; maybe neck misalignment or shoulder stress causing nerves/muscles to be pinched? (I get this from bad 'computer posture' I. E. rounded back, crook neck; and when slouching during studying, driving, bench work, cooking all day). In this case, I use a firm, thick travel pillow (in the shape of a "C"), or lay down on my back with a rolled up towel under my neck, to straighten then neck, then the headaches eventually disappear; adding a heating pad or hot shoulder drape to the area works much faster as it helps release muscles that get agitated and contracted due to the nerve stress. The heating pad with moisture cloth, or the shoulder drapes made with buckseeds or rice (for microwaving) are exceptional since they produce moist heat which penetrates the muscles more quickly and thouroughly. A magnesium supplement will also help the muscles relax/decompress.

My wife had suffered from debilitating migraines for years. The various presciptions the doctors prescribed did not work and had significant side effects. Finally, I did a ton of research and found that migraines are caused by a deficiency of Vitamin B and Magnesium. Since then, a good B-complex vitamin and magnesium supplement a day keeps the migraines away. They start up if she misses more than a day. Also, before she started this supplement, she ended up in the ER again with a massive migraine--I convinced and strong armed the doctor to administer IV magnesium (it couldn't hurt). Amazingly, her migraine was gone in 10 to 20 minutes. He had never seen this--my wife was amazed--she didn't know what the doctors did and didn't believe me until the doctor confirmed. Since then, she is very careful about taking her B-complex and magnesium supplements.

Like PD, I dicovered a connection between Chinese food and my migraines. It was MSG. I've had migraines from Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut, and an ever growing list of prepared foods to the point where I don't eat them much anymore (better for my body anyway). I found the best way to avoid them is try to avoid MSG, but it's very difficult, so I also take magnesium (400 mgs) a day. It seems to help keep them down, although lately I've been getting a lot of them but I think it was dietary because I was eating junk. *L* I'm going to try the ACV and see if that helps.. But if Chinese food triggers you, it just might be MSG.. good luck!

Don't just avoid MSG (monosodium glutamate) but avoid glutamate altogether. Sounds easy, but it's not. Many processed foods when processed (especially at high heat and in water) break down into the free amino acid, glutamate, which causes the same reactions in the body as monosodium glutamate. Most processed foods and even foods you cook at home from "scratch" can break down into glutamate. I would advise reading www.msgmyth.com for more info. My migraines and fibromyalgia are better since I changed my diet and shampoos, lotions, etc. Also, just because a product is labeled as NO MSG does not mean it does not contain multiple ingredients that break down into glutamate and will give you the same reaction as MSG.

MIGRAINE CURES: I usually have several migraines during a month, but since the first of January, until February 22, 2007 (during the time I could not eat or drink much, because of throat problems), I noticed I never got the first migraine during this time, On Thursday February 22, 2007 I had my first migraine, severe one. I thought I would try something I had bought for Migraines, It was called MY-GRASTICK, (roller stick 3ml/0.1fl.oz.) it contains 100% pure & Natural peppermint (menthe) & Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) & essential oils. I had used it on normal headaches and they went away but it was made for migraines. I tried it for several hours that day. It would ease it for a short while but it would come back just as strong, it would not go away, I finally took my migraine medicine. I then had a second Migraine on Sunday February 25, 2007, even more severe than the last one. I woke up with this one. I then decided to try your ACV remedy. I mixed ACV with Sea Salt, Baking Soda and water, sipped while putting ice packs on my head. The migraine eased off enough, where I could go to sleep, few hours later sipped some more of the ACV mixture, migraine eased off to a faint pain, never had to take any pills for it. I then got to wondering, what I had eaten, drank, took, did or did not do, that caused the first migraine and second migraine. These are the only changes in my diet before the 1st Migraine on February 22, 2007, I ate Chinese food, I had stopped taking my Vitamin B drops and I was no longer putting a drop of iodine on my hand every night before I went to bed (was putting it on a skin problem) and I accidentally drank some buttermilk (thought it was milk). Between the first migraine on Thursday February 22 and second migraine February 25, 2007, I had eaten Chinese Saturday night, was not taking my Vitamin B drops and was not putting the iodine on my hand. I am not going to eat any more Chinese for awhile, and I am going to test the B Vitamins and iodine drop, to see if one of those were actually keeping me from getting a Migraine. Will let you know my progress.

The migraine may have come from the chinese food, it is usually loaded with MSG and that will bring on a migraine very quickly in me. Also it makes me hold a lot of fluid.

I first started taking cold showers as a suggested remedy for migraines. It more than worked. It also helped alleviate skin breakouts, regular muscle cramping, and some blood pressure issues (I changed nothing else in diet or exercise to be sure this was what was having the effects) I find it's best to start barely warm and slowly get to cold. If you can't stand ice cold at first just go "on the cool side" till you get a tolerance. You don't have to *freeze* to get the benefits. Also I find cold baths do *not* have the same therapeutic effect as' cold showers (anyone else?)

For headaches, my acupuncturist suggested massaging the bottom of the feet -- probe around til you find the most painful, tender spots, and rub them. I've stopped several headaches, including a migraine, as well as vertigo, using this method.

If you are talking about the coconut oil found in products, then that is not unrefined. Commercially produced CO is the absolute worse! This person is talking about the pure, natural form that our bodies can metabolize efficiently. Whenever you buy coconut oil make sure it is unrefined! If a product has coconut oil in it, you can pretty much bet money that it is refined!

Tammy is right. Coconut oil triggers nasty headaches, at least for me. Be wary and check food labels.

Coconut oil will trigger a migraine instantly for me. Even just smelling in can trigger a horrid migraine.

Many people are allergic to the mold that grows quickly on coconuts. They are called mycotoxins and I also am highly allergic. I cracked open a "fresh" coconut from the store and it was covered in mold. If you don't pluck a fresh coconut off the tree and eat it right away, chances are you are getting some mold. I can eat refined coconut oil with no problems. The heat probably neutralizes the mold. But anything else not fresh, watch out and be aware. Dried coconut is the worst, called copra. Usually shipped from far away, it gets contaminated. I got instantly sick with a severe migraine from creamed coconut which I later found out was made from copra. In south India they use a lot of fresh coconut in certain dishes. When I eat there I have no reaction.

I wake up many mornings with a headache which can sometimes ruin my day. I tried the gunpowder tea remedy that I saw here and to my surprise, by the time I finish drinking the tea, I am already feeling much better and am able to get on with my day. Thank you for sending in this remedy! No OTC anti-inflammatory had been able to help with this.

Wendy,

Just check out the Wikipedia entry for "Gunpowder Tea".

one shot of elduris icelandic vodka.not a joke,really works,i suffer from severe migraines and 1 shot cures them within 20 minutes, just very difficult to find.

I have to agree with the vodka trick. After many years of being a migraine sufferer my doctor told me of this trick that her grandmother used to use. I looked at her in shock, this was a doctor who was at the end of medical remedies for me and said to just try it. It has to be good vodka, and not cheap nasty stuff mixed with chemicals. Next time I had the flashing lights and the sick feeling I had a neat double vodka, (I hate neat vodka) Disgusting. Within 5 minutes the flashing zig zags subsided and the pain was to a minimum, at least something I could cope with until I got home from work ( I am a teacher) then I could go to bed to sleep as migraine makes me extremely tired. So give it a try. I always have a tiny bottle of vodka in my bag "just in case".

A friend who I have known for roughly 30 years always has had migraine headaches for as long as I have known her. About two years ago, she started showing symptoms of early onset Alzheimer's Disease (AD), which is advancing very rapidly.

I was wondering if migraines might be a forewarning of future AD, and according to the following article, it definitely is with people who regularly have migraine headaches being three times more likely for men and 6 times more likely for women to get AD than non-migraine people :

https://www.migrainedisorders.org/migraine-and-alzheimers-disease/#:~:text=The study found that a, 9.9% of cognitively intact participants.&text=They also found that people, dementia than people without dementia.

Here are two very relevant quotes from this interesting article :

' A 2001 study examining the risk factors for Alzheimer's disease found that men and women with a history of migraine were three times more likely to develop AD.5 Looking at women alone, the study found that they were almost 6 times more likely to develop AD.5 '

' Another study was conducted to determine if migraine was a risk factor for dementia subtypes; Alzheimer's and vascular. The study found that a history of migraine was noted in 23.5% of participants with AD compared to 9.9% of cognitively intact participants.6 They also found that people with a history of migraine were three times more likely to have dementia than people without dementia.6 Similar to the previous study, they found that people with AD were four times more likely to have a history of migraine disease.6 Interestingly, when looking at the subtypes of dementia, they found no correlation with a history of migraine and vascular dementia.6 '

I tried to convince my friends to try alternative means of improving her situation, but my other friend, her husband, will not try any alternatives even though she is declining very rapidly. She is now so bad in just two years that she could not remember to take helpful supplements without someone giving them to her.

If you have migraines regularly, you are at increased risk for AD, especially if you are a woman. It may be worth taking steps early on to improve your chances against getting AD.

Art