Migraines? Magnesium!
There's a slight pressure behind your eyes. You know what it means. A migraine will soon explode in your head. You won't be able to work, eat, sleep or drive your car. You'll become so sensitive to light that neither sunglasses nor closing your eyes will be dark enough. One by one, the other symptoms start arriving. In just a few minutes, you'll need to lie down in a very dark room and pass in and out of a surreal existence until the migraine ends.
Your migraine may not start the same way, but the end result is the same: unforgiving, unrelenting pain that is so unbelievably severe that life is unbearable.
How I banished my migraines forever
As I write this, I'm about a month away from turning 58. When I was a teenager, I had so many migraines, that it was easier to count the days without a migraine than to count the ones with them! There was a pattern, but no one was interested. In my case, the migraines came just before my period and ended about a week after my period. That's about three weeks out of every month. I was miserable most of the time.
Around the age of 14, I became interested in eating a proper diet and bought my first Adele Davis book - Let's Eat Right to Keep Fit. Davis suggested that women who have severe menstrual cramps (which I also had) could benefit from magnesium supplements. My mother wasn't about to buy magnesium supplements, so I was left in a lurch. When I finally left home after college, I took my first magnesium supplement and saw my migraines virtually disappear. I'd get a few every now and then, but the severity was minor and the duration was usually less than a day. As of today, I haven't had a migraine for 19 years.
Doctors aren't interested in natural cures for migraines
When I was a teen, I told a doctor that I had severe headaches. His response? You need a boyfriend to get your mind off yourself. Not much has changed. About five years ago, I read an article that migraine sufferers should stick to prescribed drugs and not "take a chance" with magnesium. The article was in a well-known headache journal for migraine sufferers, was written by a medical doctor and was published by a world-famous medical clinic located in a northern US city. The doctor explained that magnesium might not work or could possibly interfere with prescribed drugs. If that's the case, then patients should have been advised to stay clear of all foods with high magnesium levels. Of course, they weren't.
It seems that most doctors are interested in treating patients (or, rather, symptoms) without giving non-drug alternatives any consideration. That's probably the reason you're reading this blog. You've got a pounding in your head, and no one's been able to make it disappear.
Start with low magnesium dosages and work your way up til you find YOUR level
The magnesium I take is a 400mg capsule. I get additional magnesium with my calcium supplement. My total daily magnesium intake is 967mg a day. I get 189mg in my calcium supplement with each meal, and I take my 400mg magnesium supplement with breakfast. Before I entered menopause, I took 1,400mg a day. Some people need even more. If you decide to give magnesium a try, do so in small dosages. Too much magnesium can cause diarrhea. By working your way up the dosage scale, you'll be more likely to find the optimum level for your body.
I don't know everything about migraines, but I know someone who does
What Your Doctor May NOT Tell You About Migraines was written by Alexander Mauskop, MD, and Barry Fox, PhD, and will give you several alternatives to expensive prescription drugs - including magnesium. Click on the Amazon link below if you're interested in this groundbreaking book!
Additional sources:
Magnes Res. 2005 Jun;18(2):109-22
Curr Pain Headache Rep. 2005 Jun;9(3):202-5
J Am Acad Nurse Pract. 2004 Jun;16(6):251-6
Vitam Horm. 2004;69:297-312
* * * * * * * *
I am not a doctor and have no medical training.
The information in this blog is not intended
to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
Statements made on this blog
have not been evaluated by the FDA.
Consult a healthcare professional before using any products,
treatments or exercises mentioned on this blog.
"Let food be thy medicine and
medicine be thy food" - Hippocrates
Your migraine may not start the same way, but the end result is the same: unforgiving, unrelenting pain that is so unbelievably severe that life is unbearable.
How I banished my migraines forever
As I write this, I'm about a month away from turning 58. When I was a teenager, I had so many migraines, that it was easier to count the days without a migraine than to count the ones with them! There was a pattern, but no one was interested. In my case, the migraines came just before my period and ended about a week after my period. That's about three weeks out of every month. I was miserable most of the time.
Around the age of 14, I became interested in eating a proper diet and bought my first Adele Davis book - Let's Eat Right to Keep Fit. Davis suggested that women who have severe menstrual cramps (which I also had) could benefit from magnesium supplements. My mother wasn't about to buy magnesium supplements, so I was left in a lurch. When I finally left home after college, I took my first magnesium supplement and saw my migraines virtually disappear. I'd get a few every now and then, but the severity was minor and the duration was usually less than a day. As of today, I haven't had a migraine for 19 years.
Doctors aren't interested in natural cures for migraines
When I was a teen, I told a doctor that I had severe headaches. His response? You need a boyfriend to get your mind off yourself. Not much has changed. About five years ago, I read an article that migraine sufferers should stick to prescribed drugs and not "take a chance" with magnesium. The article was in a well-known headache journal for migraine sufferers, was written by a medical doctor and was published by a world-famous medical clinic located in a northern US city. The doctor explained that magnesium might not work or could possibly interfere with prescribed drugs. If that's the case, then patients should have been advised to stay clear of all foods with high magnesium levels. Of course, they weren't.
It seems that most doctors are interested in treating patients (or, rather, symptoms) without giving non-drug alternatives any consideration. That's probably the reason you're reading this blog. You've got a pounding in your head, and no one's been able to make it disappear.
Start with low magnesium dosages and work your way up til you find YOUR level
The magnesium I take is a 400mg capsule. I get additional magnesium with my calcium supplement. My total daily magnesium intake is 967mg a day. I get 189mg in my calcium supplement with each meal, and I take my 400mg magnesium supplement with breakfast. Before I entered menopause, I took 1,400mg a day. Some people need even more. If you decide to give magnesium a try, do so in small dosages. Too much magnesium can cause diarrhea. By working your way up the dosage scale, you'll be more likely to find the optimum level for your body.
I don't know everything about migraines, but I know someone who does
What Your Doctor May NOT Tell You About Migraines was written by Alexander Mauskop, MD, and Barry Fox, PhD, and will give you several alternatives to expensive prescription drugs - including magnesium. Click on the Amazon link below if you're interested in this groundbreaking book!
Additional sources:
Magnes Res. 2005 Jun;18(2):109-22
Curr Pain Headache Rep. 2005 Jun;9(3):202-5
J Am Acad Nurse Pract. 2004 Jun;16(6):251-6
Vitam Horm. 2004;69:297-312
I am not a doctor and have no medical training.
The information in this blog is not intended
to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
Statements made on this blog
have not been evaluated by the FDA.
Consult a healthcare professional before using any products,
treatments or exercises mentioned on this blog.
medicine be thy food" - Hippocrates
posted by Edith Gaylord | 8:30 AM
2 Comments:
I am also a migraine sufferer. I am 24 and this year they became worse, and I was diagnosed as chronic. I had just begun my 3rd year of university, and my weekly schedule was filled with school, work, and volunteering, where 5 days of the week I'd be going non-stop for 14 hours. My doctor's response? Take up Yoga. (Apparently my lack of time escaped him). I'll try the magnesium, thank you! Nothing else he's prescribed works!!
jj,
Please let me know how it works. While 1,400mg a day used to be good for me before I became menopausal, you may need a different amount. Some people need as much as 1,700mg a day! That's a huge amount, but it sure beats a pounding head.
Edith Gaylord
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.
<< Home