At the Corners of Migraines and Magnesium

I've been told by a nutritionist to take magnesium (which I knew) in the form of magnesium aspartate (which I had thought was not so good).  So before I began actually taking the supplements I purchased I did a bit of extra research.  Turns out I was right.  Aspartate is an excitotoxin.  Excitotoxins are substances which stimulate neurotransmitters.  High levels can cause over-stimulation leading to damage and death of nerve cells.  In the long term it can lead to stroke, brain damage and even Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's disease.  I guess it's possible that the amount of aspartate I would gain from taking magnesium aspartate isn't great enough to cause damage but I'm not yet convinced.  So now I venture to find a better magnesium supplement, one that won't damage my brain, if anyone out there has any information it would be great to have some help.

Treating Migraines With Vitamins and Nutrition

Image courtesy of:
http://www.amazon.com/Vitamin-Cure-Migraines-
Headaches-Supplementation/dp/1591202671

     Having been a life-long sufferer of migraines, I've decided to use this blog to chronicle my attempts to find a suitable treatment for myself.  I have tried physical therapy, relaxation techniques and several medications over the years as well as having been a perpetual consumer of ibuprofen.  Spurred by some of the information in the documentary "Food Matters," I started reading books on using vitamins to treat migraines.  I began with a book from 2005 which proposed the use of the so-called triple therapy which consists of the vitamins magnesium and riboflavin and the herb feverfew.  I then made my way to the book pictured above, "The Vitamin Cure for Migraines."  It is an excellent book for anyone considering treating their migraines with vitamins and herbs.  It is not the most well written book but it is full of useful information.  The author himself is a migraineur and has tried all of the vitamins and herbs he writes about on himself.  He also cites numerous studies, some of which I have read and researched.  I find the idea of treatment with vitamins to be the ultimate solution and am just beginning to search for an adequate treatment for myself.  I will be seeing a nutritionist throughout this experiment in order to have tests run on my vitamin and mineral levels and to discuss the best ways to go about administering the supplements that I need.  I plan on updating with posts every step of the way, any successes and failures will be journaled here in the hopes that I can convince others to consider treatment with vitamins over medication.

      For anyone who is already skeptical, let me just say that anyone's most powerful tool against migraines, or any condition or disease, is knowledge and a willingness to experiment.  I have done extensive research on this topic and am sure that vitamins are the answer.  The book mentioned above is a comprehensive review of the subject and provides a great resource for any doubters.  Studies have tested the effects of numerous vitamin treatments and has led the author, and myself, to conclude that vitamin treatments present equal probabilities of success as treatment with prescription and non-prescription drugs.  The difference is in the side effects.  Vitamins have almost no side effects, and those that do exist are rarely harmful.  That being said, it is safest to have your own levels tested before beginning a treatment, to ensure you don't consume toxic levels of any vitamin.  The best way to do this is to see a nutritionist or an orthomolecular practitioner who work with migraine patients.  Unfortunately both are rarely covered by insurance, leaving the cost of consultations, check-ups and supplements up to the patient.  However, in many cases, testing can be routed through ones general physician in order to avoid having to pay for the high cost of those.  For those unfamiliar with orthomolecular practitioners, they are alternative healing practitioners and are often times considered controversial in the medical world as they work with treatments that involve high doses of vitamins and other practices that are not FDA approved and are not common practices.  Neurologists are also helpful and should be visited initially by migraineurs to make sure that migraines are not being caused by a serious condition such as brain tumors or obstructions of blood flow to the brain.  I have gone to a neurologist myself to ensure that these were not factors in my migraines but after I was prescribed a medication which caused a significant increase in my heart rate, I decided to take matters into my own hands.  I have opted to visit a nutritionist, as I have not been able to find an orthomolecular practitioner in the area who works with migraine patients and have my first consultation in a few days which I am very excited about.  

     So, for those considering treatment with vitamins, or for those who want to prove me wrong, I encourage everyone to follow along with me and do your own research and let me know what you find.  When doing so, one should bare in mind that medical doctors, medical schools, hospitals and medical centers are often funded by pharmaceutical companies which unfortunately biases much of the work that has been done.  Additionally, things like daily recommended allowances of vitamins are often based off of incorrect information or misinterpretations of information.  (A good example of this is Vitamin C which, in high doses of up to 20 grams/day, have been used to successfully combat a number of diseases and conditions despite the common misconception that the body can only consume 200mg/day.  For more information on this see: http://orthomolecular.org/library/jom/2005/pdf/2005-v20n04-p237.pdf.)  

     After all, wouldn't it be great to find a treatment for your migraines that doesn't involve significant risks of heart attack, stroke, more or worse migraines and countless other side effects?

Flailing My Arms on the East Coast

     Exactly one year ago I was lucky enough to be figuratively flailing my arms with my wonderful butterflyfish feeding group in Belize while trying to wrap my head around the fact that soon I would be heading to Australia for 5 1/2 months.  This year I'm reminiscing with friends, re-posting pictures of both Belize and Oz and trying to appreciate the cold and snow that I was able to escape last year.
     Along with the snow and the inescapable long winter months, Christmas also looms ahead in the near future.  I kind of hate holidays, for multiple reasons.  For one, holidays are great reminders of being single, because let's face it, at some point we all reach the age where all of our friends are spending the holidays with their partners and all of our cousins and relatives that we're stuck celebrating with are in relationships.  For another, nobody seems to celebrate any of the holidays for the right reasons, they become big commercial celebrations that everybody dreads.  Which brings me to my last point, nobody else has the holiday spirit, so how am I supposed to?  But this year that's going to change, because I'm forcing the holiday spirit on myself.  And thus far its been going pretty well.  I think I've chosen a good year to do this. I've spent the past two weeks on what should just be called Christmas Island, seriously I think there's a parade and five or six craft fairs every weekend in November and December.  I'm also spending some time in New York City which should also help.  I don't think I can say that I'm really in the Christmas spirit yet, but it's only the second day of December so there's still time.  And I'm determined that between studying for and taking the GREs, applying to grad school and writing grants that I will find time to really get into the swing of things this Christmas.