Finally free of migraines now for 1 Year after 28 years of migraines!

Hi folks,

I’m a 38 year old male who has been getting migraines 2-20 times per year since the age of 10. My headaches began with “scintillating schotoma” — a visual disturbance that began by pieces of my vision that would start to be “missing”, then escalating to flashing lights, fireworks, etc. This would be followed up within the hour by the mother of all headache pains, vommiting, etc.

Because of the stomach sickness, I was usually unable to take pain medication because I’d just offer it back up to the porcelain god soon after.

No medical doctor really ever seemed to prescribe any help. I tried Imitrex and related medicines to no avail. I was just resigned to getting migraines and suffering through them, trying to learn to manage the pain as best as possible.

I spent many years believing that low pressure weather patterns were to blame and noticed periods of life where I got fewer migraines and others where I got more. I tried removing all sorts of “triggers” from life — chocolate, sugar, alcohol, etc. I’m a very analytical person by nature and occupation, and could never, ever find a consistent pattern of events or stimilus that were seemingly to blame.

After frustation with no medical solutions, I searched and searched the web, as I am sure many migraine sufferers do. Nothing really ever stood out. I was able somewhere along the lines to read in an un-related article how there’s a possible correlation between interrupted sleep and migraines. It was thought that this had something to possibly do with melatonin. Although probably not recommended by any physician, I started a self-prescribed daily nighttime dose of 3 MG of Melatonin (sublingual). There were also several added items such as Vitamin B-6 and GABA if I recall correctly. Long story short, I didn’t see a noticeable decline in headache frequency, however I DID notice that the headaches were not often as severe, nor as long. “Hmmmm” I thought.. maybe I’m on to something? In hindsight, I believe the melatonin did help me get to sleep easier (and without known side effects) and the added B vitamins likely helped me to just be in better health and less stressed. I also noticed that if I took a melatonin and/or B complex supplement as soon as visual disturbances began, that I’d often rebound very quickly and often without much of a headache. Unfortunately, it didn’t resovle the most annoying part of my migraines — the loss of vision.

So in mid 2011, I was getting migraines, though less severe at an interval of about 1 every 6-7 weeks. I would joke to my self and wife that it must be my time of the month. Anyway… after watching the popular movie Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead, my wife and I were inspired to try a 10 days juice fast. Not for any reason other than to just give our bodies a break from normal eating habits.

After doing so, I felt reasonably better in general and as usualy, waited for my next migraine to come. And waited…. and waited…

Welp… it’s been about a year and I’ve still not had a migraine.

Was it the juice fast? I don’t think it was, though that could be possible. I’d imagine that without follow-up fasts I’d be getting them again — it’s not like concentrated nutrition just stays in your body forever, you know?

Here’s what I’ve come to believe — and I beleive the research of others probably supports this; I believe that my body had been deficient in nutrients, especially magnesium.

Many americans have simply tried to just go out and find a supplement that will solve their specific symptom. I believe this is fundamentally wrong and sees nutrition and the body as overly simplistic and disregards the complexity of the human body mechanically and chemically. I don’t believe that simply getting a supplement would have helped. It never did in the 28 years prior. So what changed besides juicing?

In the days since our juice fast, we started to value fruits and veggies much more. We’ve ALWAYS eaten healthy according to the USDA food pyramid (which I now don’t consider healthy at all). We made some very simple changes. We started to treat fruits and veggies as the main dish of our meals and treated meat, dairy, and other foods as the side dishes. We still eat pasta, meat, bread, etc — but in smaller, limited quantities. We eat a lot of veggies — a whopping amount — they fill up most of our grocery cart in fact. You know what though — they’re delish! We buy mostly organic and either eat raw, roasted, or grilled. We’re not eating like rabbits either. We’re eating good food the way the good Lord made it. So it would seem that eating the natural foods available to us provides the nutriotion we need to be healthy.

Maybe that seems over simplistic to some — but it worked for me. I’m not under the impression that it would solve everyone’s migraines, but for me, it set me free from 28 years of frequent, painful headaches. Regardless if it’s a cure or not, I believe nutrition is good place to start for anyone facing a health challenge.

It might be expensive some might say. Yes, it is. But what does poor health cost? As someone somewhere once said…. “You make your healthcare decisions at the grocery store. You make your sickcare decisions at the doctor’s office!” Seems pretty wise to me. Hopefully some other sufferer will learn from my success.

I’m always willing to share more details with anyone who could use some help and encouragement.

Regards,

Andrew G.
Central Pennsylvania