Getting relief from migraine pain is definitely possible

“When I get a really bad migraine, I’m basically stuck lying down. I start by taking three or four headache pills, but they don’t help, so I end up taking five, and my headache just gets worse. I feel nauseous and like I might throw up. These migraines make me super irritable and easily angered, so nobody can come near me. It’s tough on my family and friends, and I feel awful about it. I feel like I have no control over the situation. I can’t eat all day, and it feels like I’m about to collapse. I’ve had brain MRIs and lots of tests, but they couldn’t find anything wrong, so I’m willing to try anything to get rid of these migraines.”

Migraines are more common in women, especially young women. They cause moderate to severe headaches that come back again and again, and they can last from four hours to a painful 72 hours. It’s really disruptive to daily life and work.

Typical migraine symptoms include a throbbing, pounding pain, often on one side of your head. You become super sensitive to noise and light, and you might feel like throwing up or actually vomit. What makes things worse can vary from person to person, but skipping meals, not getting enough sleep, sleeping too much, pushing yourself too hard, or doing strenuous exercise can all make the symptoms worse. Stress is the biggest trigger and affects more than half of all migraine sufferers. Alcohol, especially red wine, is also a common trigger.

There are things you can try that don’t involve medicine, like finding ways to manage stress, making sure you have a regular sleep schedule, and trying exercise therapy. It’s really important to keep a steady routine and figure out what sets off your migraines. Keeping a detailed record of when your headaches happen, how long they last, how bad they are, where they hurt, what you ate, and anything unusual about your day can be a big help in dealing with migraines.

If non-medicine treatments don’t work, you might need to give medicine a shot. Some common medicines doctors prescribe include sumatriptan, zolmitriptan, and naratriptan. They can cause things like pressure in your chest, tingling, and strange sensations. If you use them too much, you might end up with medication overuse headaches. There are also medicines you can take to prevent migraines, like anticonvulsants, beta-blockers, calcium channel blockers, or antidepressants.

If medicine doesn’t help or you have side effects, you could consider trying Herbal medicine and acupuncture treatment. At our clinic, we look at each patient’s body and health through abdominal exams and patterns of tong. Then we figure out what outside things might be causing your migraines. Herbal medicine and acupuncture aren’t the same as Western medicine. We give different treatments depending on your personality and what’s going on with you.

Let me tell you about two patients we’ve seen this year:

Patient 1: In April, a woman in her early 50s came to us. She’d been getting migraines since high school, and they were getting worse as she got older. When she came to us, she was having really bad migraines at least 5-6 times a month. She’d throw up and feel sick, so she had to lie down. Her migraines were triggered by stress, alcohol, and fasting for too long. The pain was so bad that she couldn’t visit our clinic, so she decided to try only herbal medicine. The first herbs didn’t help much, but with the second treatment, the number of migraines started to go down. By the third treatment, the pain was less intense, and she had fewer migraines. Now, she’s on her fourth round of herbal medicine, and she only gets migraines 1-2 times a month, and they’re not as bad. She doesn’t need painkillers anymore. She is satisfied with her daily life eventually.

Patient 2: In June, a woman in her mid-20s came to us. She’d been dealing with left-sided migraines for three years. When the pain hit, she’d feel dizzy and super sensitive. Stress and anxiety made her migraines worse. Western medicine didn’t work for her, so she wanted to try acupuncture. Her migraines didn’t last as long as the first patient’s, and after 7 acupuncture sessions and two rounds of Chinese herbs, she felt over 90% better.

Both of these patients were new to Chinese medicine, and they had stress in common as a trigger. Painkillers only gave them temporary relief from the pain, and they didn’t fix what was causing the migraines. That led to long-term side effects that made their lives even harder.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10514352/