Headaches including migraines
CAUSES
Many headaches can be musculoskeletal issues and a good chiropractor or physical therapist can often be helpful for them.
Poor gut function such a constipation will cause a lot of headaches
Women who have menstrual related migraine headaches typically will get their migraines at ovulation or just before or during menses. Studies have show that a drop in estrogen levels can be a major trigger of menstrual migraines.
Toxic exposures can cause them.
Migraine headaches are often quite easy to help if one understands that they are usually going to be a food reaction, a hormonal imbalance, or a lack of serotonin and/or dopamine.
TREATMENT
The first thing is usually to help the gut to function better. People with headaches can often be constipated. By simply doing physiologic things to help the gut work better, headaches will usually diminish or disappear.
One patient of mine was 18 and a student at university in Seattle. He was having a reported 3-5 severe migraines per week. Between the pain and the medications he was taking, it was challenging to study and achieve good grades. The family suggested avoiding gluten as a trial. He refused. He wasn’t going to miss pizza and sandwiches without a test to prove he had an issue with it. The family doctor did a test for celiac disease and it was negative - so the patient was told by the doctor that he could eat as much gluten as he liked. (NOTE: non-celiac gluten sensitivity is a very important cause of illness and is often overlooked.) Finally the family convinced him to visit our office and he told me he wanted a test. We used EnteroLab in Dallas which does a stool test. His results were very positive - not for celiac (which is a specific sort of gluten intolerance) but for a serious allergy/sensitivity to gluten. That convinced him to give gluten avoidance a try. I saw him two months later and he reported that he had not had one migraine in those two months except when he ate at the school cafeteria. He thought he was eating safe, gluten-free foods at the cafeteria, but when a migraine started shortly after lunch, he went back to the cafeteria and asked to see the full ingredient lists for the foods he had eaten. Sure enough, one of them contained gluten. Needless to say, he was convinced.
Migraines can be caused by many different foods, gluten being only one of many. To help migraines, one must, in these cases, discover which foods might be causing the pain and then carefully and consistently avoid those triggers of migraines.
Women with menstrual migraines are often effectively treated by providing the right kind of estrogen at the right time.
A most remarkable treatment for migraines has been in development for the last 20 years. It does not require taking any prescriptions medications. (See document at end of this list - Jacob Mirman MD re Hinz amino acid protocol)
The Hinz protocol for migraine headaches is very effective for most migraines. It entails using very specific amounts of specific amino acids and B vitamins. The protocol begins with a basic dosing which works well for some people. Often people need to go to a second stage dose. And occasionally a person will need to increase to the third level of dosing.
We can certainly help you with these approaches at the Wilkinson Wellness Clinic.