Saturday, March 22, 2014

Migraine Prevention: Butterbur

Recently, I decided to try and new supplement called Butterbur, which is an aid for preventing migraine headaches.

Butterbur is a plant found in the daisy family. Daisies remind me of the movie You've Got Mail when Meg Ryan says to Tom Hanks that daisies are the friendliest flower. I've always agreed. And apparently, the plant has healing qualities as well. 

Below is the butterbur plant. Pretty, huh? 




"People use the leaf, root, and bulb to make medicine. Some butterbur preparations contain chemicals called pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs), which can damage the liver and cause other serious harm. Only butterbur products that are certified and labeled “PA-free” should be used.

Butterbur is used for pain, upset stomach, stomach ulcers, migraine and other headaches, ongoing cough, chills, anxiety, plague, fever, trouble sleeping (insomnia),whooping coughasthma, hay fever (allergic rhinitis), and for irritable bladder and urinary tract spasms. Butterbur is also used to stimulate the appetite (WebMD)."

II have suffered from migraines for a few years now., and decided to give the supplement a try two weeks ago. 

I have tried multiple triptan prescriptions drugs, like Maxalt, Frova and Imitrex, Excedrin, ibuprofen  and drinking more water. I hated the side effects I had from the riptans and Excedrin. They gave me anxiety, sweat, rapid heart beat and insomnia. Pain killers, like Loratab, will always decrease the migraine pain. However, I cannot function properly during the week on Loratab, because it is a drug with strong side affects of sleepiness, dizziness and nausea. When I am getting migraines several times a week, I cannot rely on pain killers. Another remedy I have found that sometimes works for me is coffee and ibuprofen. If I take ibuprofen and a cup of coffee the moment I feel the onset of a migraine, I am usually able to feel relief. Unfortunately f I get a migraine late at night, I don't want to drink caffeine for fear of not being able to sleep. 

So, I decided to give an herbal supplement a try and see if migraines can actually be prevented. I honestly never tried this before, because I did not believe prevention was possible. 

I have been taking 75 mg of butterbur, two pills, every day for two weeks now. So far, no migraine! Seems too good to be true. I'm not sure how long this will last or how often I will get migraines while taking this herb. For now, I am happy with the results :) 





It has been nice to wake up with a clear feeling head. It feels so good to be able to work at a computer screen all day long at work with no pounding achy head by 3:00 pm. 

I found my 30 day supply for 15 dollars at Whole Foods here in Oklahoma City. 

It seems this herb may have inflammation healing properties that could help my Crohn's disease as well. This is a plus for me!

If you suffer from migraines and you have not found a great resolution yet, please try this supplement. Every person is different, and we all respond to things differently. So, it may help some and others not. 

Please let me know what other remedies you use! I'd love to know. No one really understands how bad and debilitating a migraine can be until you have suffered from one. So, let's help each other out!

By the way, I was not paid to advertise for this herb. :)

6 comments:

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