Migraines
Gluten-Free Diet Stopped Chronic Migraines
Q. Reading your column provided me with life-changing information. I am now 56. As a child and into my late teens I endured chronic belly pain. Despite many tests over the years, no diagnosis was esta…
Brain Freeze Can Stop Migraine Cold
Q. I appreciate what people have shared about their tricks for relieving headaches and migraines. I was especially intrigued by reports that provoking brain freeze with ice cream might stop a migraine…
New Headband Device Cuts Down on Migraines
The FDA has just approved a new device designed to prevent migraine headaches. The headband from Belgium uses transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, abbreviated TENS, to ward off migraines. The …
B Vitamin Riboflavin Helps Prevent Migraine Head…
Q. After my migraines began flaring up weekly, I started taking riboflavin (vitamin B2) daily. Ten weeks into this regimen, I have only had two really bad headaches. I still have Maxalt as a backup, b…
A Spoonful of Yellow Mustard Eases Pain of Ice P…
Q. I have ice pick migraines. They caused sharp stabbing pain in my head all day long, 7 days a week, until I heard about mustard. I can get two hours of pure pain relief from swallowing a teaspoon of…
Harnessing the Power of Placebo to Fight the Pai…
Placebo power can make a difference, even when it comes to treating migraine headaches. A fascinating study of 66 migraine headache sufferers tested the placebo hypothesis by having the volunteers r…
Ice Cream Headache Stopped Doctor’s Migrai…
Q. I have suffered with migraines for decades and rely on sumatriptan (Imitrex) to control my pain. The other day I was visiting friends and I felt the all-too-familiar start of a bad headache (pain b…
Triggering Brain Freeze May Stop Migraine Headac…
Q. I have been suffering from severe migraines and recently noticed that if I chug a Slurpee and induce "brain freeze," my headache immediately clears up or goes away entirely. It makes more of a diff…
What Works Against Weather-Induced Headaches?
Q. I get caffeine withdrawal headaches and treat them with a cup of coffee. The severe headaches I get from the weather are more difficult to treat. They occur when it is about to rain. Why does this …
Headaches: Chocolate Shake for Migraines
[audio src="//www.peoplespharmacy.com/wp-content/uploads/ChocShakeHeadache.mp3"][/audio] Conventional wisdom has it that people who suffer migraine headaches should avoid chocolate. But a trucker tell…
Headaches: Brain Freeze Against Migraines
Many home remedies seem strange to health professionals. That's because such non-standard approaches are rarely taught to impressionable students. Pharmaceuticals are considered scientific. After all,…
Seven Keys to Preventing Migraines
It is estimated that as many as 30 million Americans suffer from migraine headaches. Specialists say that migraines are frequently underdiagnosed and undertreated. The majority do not get effective pr…
Botox Benefit for Migraine Is Modest
Botox or botulinum toxin A has been used to smooth out wrinkles for more than a decade. More recently Botox was approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat chronic migraine headaches. How we…
Brain Freeze Migraine Remedy
Every once in a while a visitor to our website shares a remedy that surprises and delights us even if we can't find any scientific support for it. Then along comes extraordinary research from highly r…
Vitamin Overdose Damages Nerves
Vitamins are essential compounds that we don't make ourselves. Consequently, we must get them from our food, or failing that, from supplements. In most cases, people can't get too much of any vitamin …
Avoiding Gluten Stopped Migraines
Q. I had migraines all my life and have taken everything and more in the way of drugs. In December I decided to quit eating gluten (wheat, barley and rye). To my surprise, my headaches disappeared. A.…
Pros and Cons of Chocolate
Q. I really love chocolate and if there are proven health benefits I will be very happy indeed! I still have doubts whether chocolate can be healthy. How about sharing information on side effects and …
Snoring Treatment Stopped Migraines
Q. I suffered from migraine headaches for many years, with the only relief being very strong medications. I learned to live with them, predict them and their severity and treat them without drugs if t…
Ice Cream Cure for Migraine
Q. You recently wrote about an ice cream cure for a migraine. I am a lifetime sufferer. While in the throes of a multi-day migraine, I ate ice cream too fast and got "brain freeze." My migraine disapp…
Is Licorice a Migraine Trigger?
Q. About twelve years ago, I experienced symptoms similar to stroke. I was hospitalized for five days, and several specialists examined me. The symptoms quickly resolved and have not recurred. They fi…
Natural Relief for Headaches
Q. I have had bad headaches for years and have tried just about everything from acetaminophen and ibuprofen to prescription pain relievers. They help a little but the headaches always return with a ve…
OTC Painrelievers Work for Migraine
Migraine sufferers often rely on prescription medicines for relief, but a couple of new studies suggest that some of the 28 million Americans who get migraines might be able to use over-the-counter pi…
Headache Relief Elusive
Q. I am desperate to find a way to relieve my headaches. I have been prescribed at least a dozen different drugs for tension headaches and migraines. Here is a partial list of what I have tried in vai…
Natural Remedies For Migraine
Q. One of your readers requested natural recommendations for migraines. I had tried many migraine treatments. Then I developed wheat intolerance, and since quitting grains (wheat, rye, barley, oats), …
Ginger Beats Back Migraine Headaches
Q. You recently offered a list of natural migraine remedies people have tried. I've had migraines since before I was in kindergarten, and I'm 58 now. The best thing I've found is ginger: Jamaican-styl…
FDA Warns of Serotonin Syndrome
Several years ago we got a desperate phone call from a friend. He was afraid his wife had suffered a stroke. She was in a coma, unresponsive and he feared he would soon be forced to decide whether to…
Avoiding Migraines with Wheat-Free Diet
Q. I suffered from migraine headaches for more than 10 years. I saw several neurologists, but my intense headaches forced me to take early retirement. In the fall of 2002, I went from 3 headaches a we…
Melatonin Conquers Morning Migraines
Q. Since the age of 23 I have had frequent migraine headaches. Over the years, many doctors have prescribed medicines to prevent them, but none has worked. Drugs can stop the migraine if I take them e…