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Migraines and Headaches

Migraine headaches can be very severe and usually last for several days. Migraines are often preceded by an “aura,” which may consist of visual disturbances such as flashing lights. The headaches are often associated with nausea, sweats, dizziness, and light and sound sensitivity.
The cause is still controversial, with muscle contraction, low serotonin and the relaxation (dilation) of blood vessels all playing a role.

Consult with a chiropractor to help reduce the pains of migraines. It's known to help reduce the effects of migraine headaches.

TREATMENTS:

After 3 months of being on the supplement regimen below, continuing to use a good multi-nutrient powder alone may be enough to prevent your migraines from recurring. Natural approaches can commonly eliminate even frequent and horribly severe migraine problems, but remember that it usually takes 2 to 3 months to see the effect — so give them time to work.

Recommended Supplements

Multi-nutrient powder

Take a good multi-nutrient powder.

Vitamin B2

300 mg of vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) in the morning.

Magnesium

200 mg of magnesium at night.

Butterbur

Butterbur (Petadolex) can both prevent and eliminate migraines. Take 50 mg 3 times a day for 1 month and then 1 twice a day to prevent migraines. You can take 100 mg every 3 hours (for a maximum of 300 mg in a 24 hour period) to eliminate an acute migraine.

Magnesium

In the hospital emergency room or holistic doctor’s office, 1-2 grams of intravenous magnesium over 15 minutes can effectively eliminate an acute migraine within minutes (to find a holistic physician, visit www.HolisticBoard.org).

Medications

During a migraine, medications are also reasonable (and can be taken with the natural therapies). Though the tendency may be to wait to see if you really need it, the earlier the migraine is treated, the more successful the treatment is — and spending 2 days with a migraine is a lot less healthy than taking the medication!

Aspirin, Tylenol and caffeine

In the U.S., medications in the Imitrex® family still remain the first choice that physicians use for the treatment of acute migraines. No one is paying to give the physicians the research showing that the old combination of aspirin, Tylenol and caffeine (cost approximately 20 cents vs. $10-25/dose) is equally effective, so don't forget that you can use these if needed (e.g., 1-3 Excedrin Migraine or Excedrin Extra strength — the dose recommendations on the bottle are fairly low). Midrin®, which is a prescription mix of three medications, can also be effective. Two capsules are taken immediately followed by 1 capsule every hour until the headache is relieved (to a maximum of 5 capsules within a 12 hour period).

The Imitrex family of medications is OK to use — just a bit expensive. A fascinating study can guide you on when to use Imitrex family medications vs. when to go with other therapies. 75% of migraine patients get painful sensitivity to normal touch around their eyes (e.g., wearing eyeglasses). If you use Imitrex before you get the pain and tenderness around the eyes, it will knock out the migraine 93% of the time. If the pain and tenderness around the eyes has already set in, Imitrex only eliminates the migraine 13% of the time (although it still helped the throbbing). In other words, if you are one of the lucky ones who does not get pain around the eyes, the Imitrex can knock out your migraine at any time. If you are one of those who do get pain and tenderness around the eyes, it is a race against the clock to take the Imitrex before that pain starts. This means that you should take the Imitrex early in the attack (within the first 5 to 20 minutes) before the skin hypersensitivity gets established.

Other Therapies & Advice

Food allergies

Avoiding hidden food allergies can reduce or eliminate migraines in 30-85% of patients. In one study, the most common reactive foods were wheat in 78% of patients, oranges in 65%, eggs in 45%, tea and coffee in 40%, chocolate and milk in 37%, beef in 35% and corn, cane sugar and yeast in 33%. Clinical experience also suggests that the artificial sweetener aspartame (NutraSweet®) can trigger migraines and other headaches (although this is controversial). You may find that instead of avoiding foods that trigger your migraines for the rest of your life, you can eliminate the sensitivities/allergies using a powerfully effective acupressure technique called NAET (visit www.NAET.com).

Estrogen patches

In women, if the migraines are predominately around the time of the period or associated with taking estrogen, the key is to prevent the fluctuating estrogen level. One way to do this is to use an estrogen patch for one week beginning a few days before the period is expected (e.g., a Climara® .025 patch).

More Information Online

American Board of Holistic Medicine (find holistic pratitioners at www.HolisticBoard.org)

NAET (acupressure technique for treating food allergies at www.NAET.com)

Bladder Infection

Bladder infections, also called "cystitis," are very common in females because the opening from the outside of the body to inside the bladder is very short. This makes it easier for bacteria (usually the healthy E. coli which come from our rectum/stool) to get into the bladder. While most bacterial infections simply get washed out each time you urinate, the E. coli have little "Velcro-like sticky pads" on them that allow them to stick to the bladder wall — so they don't wash out.

Although bladder infections can occur without symptoms, more often they trigger an intense urge to urinate (urgency), urinating frequently (even when there is little urine), and burning on urination (called dysuria). Blood visible in the urine is less common, and warrants a trip to the doctor.

Before beginning antibiotics, it is good to have the doctor get a urine sample to do a culture to test for bacteria. Often in women with recurrent bladder symptoms (see Interstitial Cystitis) there is no infection, and the antibiotics simply make the problem worse in the long run.

In men, because the penis makes it a long trip for bacteria, bladder infections are uncommon unless there is a blockage. This usually occurs from prostate problems in men over 60 or from kidney stones in younger men. In a young man with urinary burning, prostatitis is more likely than a bladder infection. If you wake with even a drop of discharge (before you urinate) on the tip of your penis, you also need to check for sexually transmitted infections (it may not be, but have it checked). If you have the symptoms of urinary urgency and burning and the doctor can't figure out what it is, see Pelvic Pain, Males.

TREATMENTS:

Consider seeing your doctor for a urine culture immediately. If you have blood visible in the urine, a fever, or back pain with the infection, you must see the doctor immediately. In addition, here are natural treatments you can do for bladder infections (if the symptoms are not resolving by 24 hours into treatment, see your practitioner):

General Diet Advice

Drink water

Drink plenty of water to wash out the infection.

Recommended Supplements

D-Mannose

Take the supplement D-Mannose. If prone to bladder problems, this is a good supplement to keep in your medicine cabinet. It is a healthy sugar which is excreted in the urine. It coats the "Velcro-like sticky fingers" of the E. coli bacteria so that they can't stick to the bladder. Then the bacteria wash right out when you urinate! The dose is 1 teaspoon each 3 hours while awake till the infection is gone (use 1/2 dose in children 5 years old and younger and it is OK in pregnancy and diabetics). To prevent recurrent bladder infections, take 1/2-1 teaspoon 2x day (especially after sex). Higher dosing can be used if needed and it can safely be used long term. It has no effect on healthy bacteria, and therefore has none of the toxicity of antibiotics.

Vitamin C

Add vitamin C 500 mg 2-6x during the day.

Treating Recurrent Infections

Verify the bacterial infection

Check repeat urine cultures to confirm the symptoms are actually from a bacterial infection.

Bathroom habits

The bacteria come from the anal area, so when you wipe after a bowel movement, wipe in a direction toward your back and away from the bladder. Otherwise, you're offering the bacteria a free ride to your bladder.

more info at http://Endfatigue.com