Medication free

I think your acupuncturist would give me a migraine after less than a minute!!!

Pain isnt the bodies way of healing itself. Its the bodies way of communicating that there is something wrong - that there is something within the body that needs healing. Besides the initial communication that there is something wrong, it has no further part to play in the healing process at all..

Painkillers don't prevent or hinder the healing process. If they did, we wouldnt be taking them without causing further damage. Imagine if you had surgery, were given pain killers, but those pain killers stopped your body from healing after the surgery?

I went medication free for years after leaving uni, convinced there was nothing that could be done for me and nobody who could help. My migraines got worse, i became more withdrawn, borderline suicidal. It was the worst time of my life.

Modern medicine...its great, i love it!

I spent most of my life without any preventive medications. I have also spent a number of years with very limited pain medications. I can report that nothing changed regarding migraine. It is my opinion (and I know I've read some research supporting it at one time but can't find it) that by not using preventive medication, patients risk their migraines getting worse over time. Early intervention is critical. That being said, I think there is a lot to be said for trying non-medicine treatments as part of an overall treatment plan. After all, the medications only take us so far. Migraine is best treated by a multidisciplinary program involving medicine, lifestyle management, behavioral therapies, nutrition, and more.

As for the acupuncturist's opinion about pain...

There is acute pain that is a result of injury or illness. Then there is chronic pain that may or may not result from damage or infection. Pain is a symptom that should not be allowed to get out of control, regardless of the cause. I have a friend who experiences extremely high blood pressure with every migraine. For her, it is critical that she prevent as many attacks as possible and that she quickly abort the ones she does get. Allowing pain to exist to facilitate healing doesn't make sense. Pain increases blood pressure, inflammation, and actually slows the healing process.

I will keep looking for that research to support what I just wrote and post it here as soon as I find it.

Have a great day!

To add to this discussion, i am on the journey now of slowly weening off meds to see what I really "need." It's a long and slow process (I'm in my second year and doing it gently) and I'm doing it under my doctors supervision. I wouldn't be able to do this if I hadn't gotten the migraines under better control, however, using regular and complementary medicine. I don't think I'll ever be med free either, but hope to not be on several different medications. I would caution you against stopping any meds, especially abruptly, unless you are absolutely sure. I've had a well-meaning alternative medicine practitioner suggest I go off a preventive, and even though I cleared it with my doctor, I was not ready and it made me sicker. I went back on the med.

Best of luck!
Lisa

Thanks all, very interesting to hear everyones thoughts, thanks. Comin to the tail end of a migraine as we speak and hopin to het better at the prevention part once again 😀 they are such a bummer