Painfree for years. Now 90% aura-free too, with a gene fix
Excruciating migraines started in my teens. Doctors were no help. It's taken years of record-keeping and experimenting to find my own answers - for almost no cost. They might work for you too - IF you have the same genetic makeup. I want to share my observations here, for others ready to take action. It's your choice. Either take time and personal responsibility, like a precise log, and gene test, or just keep waiting for someone else to find some magic bullet.
You see people here asking "What worked for you?" Without also asking "What symptoms or genes might we have in common?" There are at least a dozen different migraines linked to specific genetic mutations, some affecting K, Ca, Na concentrations in the brain. One clinical trial on a drug that had worked for me was called inconclusive because too few were cured - ignoring our positive results, or any thought to our "exceptional response." NIH has just started an "exceptional responders initiative" to identify WHO responds to WHICH treatment (for cancer, bit it's a good example for migraine).
MY analysis of MY case and MY cure (vastly simplified).
I soon discovered that my best pain therapy was just a few hours of sleep. Then known lifestyle changes stopped pain from even starting. Eventually I also found I have a 1-in-20 genetic mutation which creates too many platelets, which temporarily clogs blood vessels, which precipitates aura, which led to migraine. This clogging also contributed to hearing loss/tinnitus, TIA lesions, and retinal clouding. Some day genes won't be destiny, with the invention of gene-fixer CRISPR. But instead of waiting, I simply counteracted the platelet problem with clopidogrel. This finally stopped most auras, which could have been the real problem from day one. Daily aspirin might have been an even cheaper fix - for MY case.
Want to re-analyze your own?
That's amazing that you have been able to identify your specific gene type. Is gene testing complicated or expensive? Do you have to see a doctor or can you just go to a lab? It's really great to hear of someone with such significant improvement.
Complete genome testing is commercially available at various websites (which I may not be allowed to name here) for a few hundred dollars, but analysis of their raw data is the hard part. If you are looking for a few specific genetic mutations that have been associated with migraine, you should go to your doctor and request the test. Mine was covered by medicare, so I don’t know the cost.
Some suspicious genes are PRDM16, LRP1, TRPM8, MTHFR, NOTCH3, KCNK18, SLC4A4, CKIdelta, PRRT2, SCNIA, CACNA1A, and ATP1A2, which is very close to my mutation, Factor V Leiden, but I haven’t figured out their relationship yet. More genes are listed here in the PRO section, by founder Olivier Chateau, including GST, TNFa, HLA-DRB1, ESR1, DBH, PGR, DRD2, ACE, INSR, COMT, SLC6A4, ETA-231.
You can Wikipedia their descriptions to decide which ones seem to fit your symptoms.Second thoughts
Maybe I was too clinical. Maybe it doesn’t really matter whether or which genetic mutation you might have. When you look at what they have in common, it seems like most are related to either blood circulation problems, or an imbalance in brain chemistry. Your genome might just make it quicker to decide which solutions (many mostly free or cheap) to try first.
While those particular mutations make migraine more likely, they can still be overcome, just with greater effort.
Vascular blockage can have many non-genetic causes also, which are never good, so look for them first. And too much stress, or relief from stress, or too little or too much sleep, or wrong foods can hurt … so try lifestyle changes too.
Maybe that explains why either triptans (tighten vessels) or topirimate (opens them) works in different populations.
Lots of intense brain stimulation creates a lot of waste chemicals. Clearing it out takes a good waste removal system, including good blood and lymph circulation, and good sleep.
