TheGoogler
Member
- Joined
- May 11, 2017
- Messages
- 51
For roughly the past month since hearing about a family friend's migraine condition, I have been compiling information in my free time and trying to come up with some potential solutions to her chronic migraine situation. I was fortunate enough to have recently found this forum, and it has been very helpful in giving me a better understanding of causes/effects of migraines among other things. However, seeing as cases of migraines carry a tendency to vary from one to another, I felt it best if I give a thorough rundown of her situation, and the ideas I have considered may help.
Any advice, ideas or insights you may have are appreciated.
[Also: Disclaimer: I haven't thoroughly explored the forums, so if you think other threads hold answers to questions I ask here, feel free to link them]
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Some basic background information on my friend:
*Pre-existing
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List of all treatments attempted to date, of which only her recently prescribed Ketoprofen is having an impact:
*Please correct me for any inaccuracies, as I only have a beginner's knowledge on all this. Also, if any particular studies come to mind that may help out here or just provide supplemental information, I would greatly appreciate you linking them.
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It seems that her change in environmental has likely played a role in the gradual onset of this issue. I have no idea why the Mayo clinic refused to address the topic, I'm tempted to call and ask.
She is looking to move when possible, but it doesn't seem likely to happen in the near future. I am proceeding with my research under the presumption that her current prescribed drugs will not sustain long term treatment, as everything else has eventually succumbed to the migraines and not seemed to correct the root of the problem, of which I am still uncertain.
As I understand it, migraines are often caused by imbalances in serotonin, histamines, prolactin and estrogen. I have been trying to figure out what link exists between the aggravating environmental factors and chemical levels in her body, assuming imbalances in these are what is causing the migraines. She has not been tested for estrogen or prolactin levels.
The treatments I have been looking into suggesting to her are:
*She works in the medical field, and they have regular drug screenings (I do not know what for specifically)
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I have not had the time to look into each individual treatment option yet, so if there are overlaps between any I apologize in advance. I also do not know how mechanistically related these may be to things she has already tried. Basically this is everything I have so far come across that doesn't (I think) directly line up with what she has already tried and seems to hold at least some potential. It's a bit of a shotgun effort.
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I don't know what type of diet would be best suited to treat chronic migraine conditions. She wants to try the Whole30 diet and see if it produces any results; if someone knows already the (in)effectiveness of this and/or better alternatives, I would be thrilled to hear.
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I read through the entire Lisuride origin thread and it seemed to hold a lot of potential, but seeing as I have not yet reliably identified the causation of the migraines, it could very well prove ineffective.
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If anyone is able to figure out from what I have so far shared what may be the likely culprit(s) for these migraines, I'm all ears. If anyone knows specifically what the correlations are between weather, pollen and migraines, and whether or not they have to do with interfering with chemical levels, any information on that is greatly appreciated. I have unfortunately been very busy wrapping up my semester these past few weeks, so my research has come to all but a standstill, and I figured posting this might generate some results. Also, if you know of any studies that could provide further information or back up claims I would appreciate that too.
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Additional Questions:
@haidut @charlie any suggestions?
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Thank you to all that took the time to read this, regardless of whether or not you have anything to contribute.
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Footnote: I am quite tired at this point and have been working on this write-up for the about 7-ish hours now, apologies if anything seems a bit scatterbrained. Correlations correlations correlations...
Any advice, ideas or insights you may have are appreciated.
[Also: Disclaimer: I haven't thoroughly explored the forums, so if you think other threads hold answers to questions I ask here, feel free to link them]
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Some basic background information on my friend:
- Female
- 22 years old
- No family history of migraines
- No personal history of head trauma or general head injuries
- No weight concerns/obesity
- Moved to Austin, TX area from the Midwest ~9 years ago
- As of JAN2017, has 32 allergies/food allergies
- the only allergies she says were not developed in TX are 2 dust mite allergies
- father has a few allergies, "more of a problem with grass" whereas her allergies are "more of a problem with trees"
- Cats
- Penicillium
- Hackberry
- Ash
- Candida
- Maple
- Oak Mix
- Pecan
- Sycamore
- American Elm
- Walnut Tree
- Mountain Cedar
- Fall Elm
- Cladosporium
- Helminthosporium
- Alternaria
- Red Berry Juniper
- Cocklebur
- Short Ragweed
- Giant Ragweed
- Walnuts
- White Potatoes
- Peaches
- Apricots
- Coffee
- Mushroom
- Strawberry
- Carrots
- Squash
- Garlic
- House Dust Mite F*
- House Dust Mite P*
*Pre-existing
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- Migraines began 4 years ago (1-2 weeks before 18th birthday), frequency has steadily increased since (no recorded migraines previous to this)
- Migraines initially came ~every 3 months, has increased to ~every 2 weeks, sometimes more
- Frequently hospitalized due to severity of migraines
- Migraine duration currently averages anywhere from 7 hours - 10 days, severity fluctuates
- "pre" migraine phase usually either very brief or nonexistent
- Frequency has increased to a point where her "no migraine" baseline now includes constant daily pain
- MRIs have come up clear
- Only diagnosis given to her was "Chronic Migraines"
- Not diagnosed with tinnitus, but she believes she has this as well
- No official designation given by doctors or specialists on origin of migraines
- All migraines are located above the eyebrows on both sides of the head
- Severity of pain has increased to a point that she can no longer guarantee being able to function on any particular day; has to spend many days doing close to nothing
- Primary speculated factors of triggers are the weather and pollen (TX is a known hotspot for migraines)
- Migraines will sometimes kick in before a storm hits, and sometimes they occur spontaneously
- Sudden feeling of fatigue also indicates oncoming migraines
- Has short-term memory problems, migraines magnify this
- memory problems are believed to have always been present
- No vision loss from migraines
- Averages 9 hours of sleep/night, does not have problems with sleeping itself
- Sleep schedule is consistent
- Sleep not an effective way to eliminate migraines
- Will often wake up with migraines
- Has tried a gluten-free diet, did not work
- Is currently considering a Whole30 diet
- has known serotonin-based issues, including depression and anxiety
- No treatments currently work, most effective treatment used to be CAMBIA (diclofenac potassium) [worked for 6 months]
- this includes hospital visits as of DEC2016, nothing completely removes pain anymore
List of all treatments attempted to date, of which only her recently prescribed Ketoprofen is having an impact:
- Nortriptyline
- Gabapentin
- Phenergan
- Myotherapy
- Benadryl
- Nadolol
- CAMBIA
- Dexamethasone
- Botox (15 rounds)
- Tens Machine
- Sumatriptan
- Zomig
- Tramadol
- Acupuncture
- Lidocaine injections into back of the head
- Zofran
- SPRIX
- Prednisone
- Massages
- Combination IV Cocktail [Toradol, Steroid, Reglan, Phenergan, Magnesium, Zofran, D______ (she forgot this one's name)]
- Prescription dose Magnesium (1 year+)
- Topamax (topiramate)
- M-grain oil on temples & neck
- REPLAX (eletriptan)
- Verapamil
- Ketoprofen*
- Current medications are Zyrtec (every night), Zoloft (sertraline) 100mg and Seasonique birth control
- Visited Mayo Clinic in Minnesota 01MAY2017 (10 days ago)
- Had MRI and MRV (I asked her if anything showed up on those, waiting for response)
- Was started on Verapamil, with RELPAX and Ketoprofen "for emergencies"
- Was told Verapamil would take ~3 months to see results (I am asking her what prescription/dose... AFAIK 3 months is a severe overestimation)
- She reports Ketoprofen worked well when used in the evening on 02MAY (I have asked her if it is still effective and if the other medications have any effectiveness as well, will update when she responds)
- Clinic refused to answer questions regarding potential environmental factors, even when asked directly
*Please correct me for any inaccuracies, as I only have a beginner's knowledge on all this. Also, if any particular studies come to mind that may help out here or just provide supplemental information, I would greatly appreciate you linking them.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It seems that her change in environmental has likely played a role in the gradual onset of this issue. I have no idea why the Mayo clinic refused to address the topic, I'm tempted to call and ask.
She is looking to move when possible, but it doesn't seem likely to happen in the near future. I am proceeding with my research under the presumption that her current prescribed drugs will not sustain long term treatment, as everything else has eventually succumbed to the migraines and not seemed to correct the root of the problem, of which I am still uncertain.
As I understand it, migraines are often caused by imbalances in serotonin, histamines, prolactin and estrogen. I have been trying to figure out what link exists between the aggravating environmental factors and chemical levels in her body, assuming imbalances in these are what is causing the migraines. She has not been tested for estrogen or prolactin levels.
The treatments I have been looking into suggesting to her are:
- Topical lisuride application, with ritanserin if side effects appear
- Microdosing psilocybin (not including LSD because lisuride has the same mechanism)
- Medical marijuana
- Nootropics (haven't done enough research yet to suggest any stacks)
- Tyromix if she finds herself to have low prolactin levels
- Cyproheptadine (unless Cetirizine or Loratadine are better)
- Zolmitriptan
- Ergot Alkaloids
- Peat-based diet
*She works in the medical field, and they have regular drug screenings (I do not know what for specifically)
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I have not had the time to look into each individual treatment option yet, so if there are overlaps between any I apologize in advance. I also do not know how mechanistically related these may be to things she has already tried. Basically this is everything I have so far come across that doesn't (I think) directly line up with what she has already tried and seems to hold at least some potential. It's a bit of a shotgun effort.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I don't know what type of diet would be best suited to treat chronic migraine conditions. She wants to try the Whole30 diet and see if it produces any results; if someone knows already the (in)effectiveness of this and/or better alternatives, I would be thrilled to hear.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I read through the entire Lisuride origin thread and it seemed to hold a lot of potential, but seeing as I have not yet reliably identified the causation of the migraines, it could very well prove ineffective.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If anyone is able to figure out from what I have so far shared what may be the likely culprit(s) for these migraines, I'm all ears. If anyone knows specifically what the correlations are between weather, pollen and migraines, and whether or not they have to do with interfering with chemical levels, any information on that is greatly appreciated. I have unfortunately been very busy wrapping up my semester these past few weeks, so my research has come to all but a standstill, and I figured posting this might generate some results. Also, if you know of any studies that could provide further information or back up claims I would appreciate that too.
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Additional Questions:
- Are there any other/better treatment options that I should look into for this?
- Any good studies that can drop some hard knowledge on some of this?
- Is there any particular information not mentioned that may help? (I can ask her and usually get responses within the day.) I can provide a list of all her allergies if that would help, I left it out for now because I felt it might just be a bit excessive.
- Conversely, is there any irrelevant information I included that I could remove in an effort to prevent too much clutter?
- Is it realistic to believe that this problem can be solved without her being required to move out of Texas?
- Why would Mayo clinic refuse to address potential environmental factors?
- Is it likely that the weather/pollens have been damaging overall gut health and/or creating chemical imbalances, thus causing the migraines? Or something different? (It took ~5 years of living in Texas before the migraines appeared)
- Are there any particular diet suggestions that may be likely to help her?
- Does anyone have any good sources that outline the differences & similarities in chemical mechanisms for some (or all) of the treatments she has so far tried? And if what I suggested works differently or is likely to be more of the same?
- Is there a relationship between prostaglandin and prolactin, serotonin, dopamine, histamines, or estrogen? And if there is, could someone point me to a good source or sources that do a good job explaining the relationships between these different chemicals? I’m not yet too efficient at finding well-summarized breakdowns of the mechanism aspects behind chemicals in general. Also I realize this question may be way off target as well.
- (Far left field) Is it possible NSI-189 may hold any potential for treatment? I've been looking into that chemical independently and was wondering if anyone had heard of any cases with it treating migraines. I don’t know how strong of a ripple effect changes in the hippocampus would have on the frontal lobe, if any.
@haidut @charlie any suggestions?
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Thank you to all that took the time to read this, regardless of whether or not you have anything to contribute.
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Footnote: I am quite tired at this point and have been working on this write-up for the about 7-ish hours now, apologies if anything seems a bit scatterbrained. Correlations correlations correlations...