Kelli's Migraine Daily

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Hi everybody,

I received an email the other day from fellow migraineur Christi Flaherty of Illinois.  She was recently “turned on” to 5-HTP, a supplement recommended by her migraine doctor.  It’s a serotonin regulator, and her doctor has been recommending it as a preventative option for migraine. Christi said it does  seem to be helping with her migraines and she wanted to share this information with us all.

I had not heard of this supplement as of yet, but thought I'd look it up on a few sites for you.  It appears to be a supplement mostly recommended for alternative treatment of depression, as it helps increase levels of the brain chemical serotonin.  Increased serotonin has also been connected to weight loss, decrease of panic attacks, helping with headaches and migraines, decrease of insomnia episodes (it helps with melatonin levels too), and with pain from fibromyalgia.  It appears that it is still quite early and that there are not many definitive studies on the secondary effects of 5-HTP beyond its effects on the symptoms of depression.

If you're not great about taking daily medication (up to 3 times a day), this supplement is probably not for you.  This is the dosing information I commonly found for migraine relief:

"For migraine prevention: Work gradually up to a dosage that controls migraine pain, starting with 50 mg three times a day but ultimately exceeding no more than 100 mg three times a day. It may take several months to get the full benefit of 5-HTP's migraine-preventive effects."

I don't know about you all, but I have had my problems with depression.  From what I have learned, migraineurs very often suffer with depression... we may be more chemically prone to it and of course the stress from migraine pain doesn't help.  So if you have both issues going on right now and are not already on an SSRI (Prozac type drugs) or other drug that will act negatively with 5-HTP (check the interactions info), you may want to ask your doctor about this.

Please visit the following links to learn more. Please understand that I can't warrant any of these sites to be accurate.  Much of the information found on the web about supplements comes from manufacturers or others trying to sell the supplement... and therefore may be biased. 

VERY IMPORTANT!! Make sure you check with your doctor before taking ANY new substance (herbal OR pharmaceutical).

http://altmedicine.about.com/cs/herbsvitaminsad/a/5HTP.htm?terms=5-HTP

http://altmedicine.about.com/cs/headachemigraine/a/Migraine.htm

http://www.vanderbilt.edu/AnS/psychology/health_psychology/5htp_myth.htm

http://www.biosynergy.com/5htp.htm

http://www.wholehealthmd.com/refshelf/substances_view/1,1525,747,00.html

http://www.lightparty.com/Health/5-HTP.html

I don't know about you all, but I am definitely going to be calling my doctor to see if it's okay for me to try this.  I am a horrible night owl and have a terrible time falling asleep, do have a history of depression, have horrible problem controlling my weight and eating habits, and have migraines.  Sound like a serotonin problem to anybody?   I will post here in a couple  months and let you know what happened with my trial of this supplement.

No more migraines,
Kelli  :)

Prepare and Stomp Out Holiday Migraines

I don't know about you all, but I ALWAYS get more migraines over the holidays and when I have "time off."  I've attributed it to my change in sleep schedule, change in eating habits, driving / motion sickness, and just the overall change in my mental and emotional state (less stress from work, etc). 

Everything just kind of "relaxes" and on comes the migraines.  I very fortunately don't see the holidays or visiting my family as stressful... I am blessed with a wonderful family that gets along great, so my family time is the time I'm most relaxed and happy. I LOVE Christmas and see it as the furthest thing from stressful.

But, it never fails that every time I go home to visit my parents, I get headaches.  I know it's not from more stress, but likely from less stress and some other triggers.  So how do we prevent the inevitable "downtime" headaches now that the holiday season is right around the corner.

I found these terrific articles that I think might be of help to us:

Tips for Preventing Holiday Migraines by Nicole Miller of BellaOnline.com

Handling Holidays and Head Pain by Deborah Wirtel of Headaches.About.com

Ho, ho, ho … Help! How to Avoid Holiday Headaches - Types, Symptoms, Treatments by Michele Meyer of Better Homes & Gardens

Take some of this advice to heed and I can almost guarantee you your headaches will be better over the holidays. 

No more migraines,
Kelli  :)

New Migraine Book Now Available

Hi all,

I just wanted to let you know that Teri Robert's new book "Living Well with Migraine Disease & Headaches" is now available for purchase. 

Teri is someone who is working so hard to help her fellow migraineurs understand our disease through her website, articles and publications: http://www.helpforheadaches.com/

No more migraines, Kelli  :)