Natural Migraine Remedies Reduce Need for Prescription Drugs

Jacob Teitelbaum, MD, Offers Strategies for Treatment and Prevention in New Book, Pain Free 1-2-3 – A Proven Program for Eliminating Chronic Pain Now!

NEW YORK – SPRING 2006 – According to the National Headache Foundation, 28 million Americans suffer from migraines, missing an average 20 workdays per year. While the exact cause is still unconfirmed, migraine management is the goal of every sufferer. In his new book, Pain Free 1-2-3 (McGraw-Hill April 2006), Jacob Teitelbaum, MD, teaches us how to manage these debilitating headaches with natural remedies, and even prevent them.

“The key to migraine management,” says board certified internist Dr. Teitelbaum, “is that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of treatment.” Research shows that in addition to effectively treating migraines, many medications and natural remedies can actually prevent them. “While natural remedies for prevention can be at least as effective as prescription medications, they can take up to three months to start working. So medications can be used while you’re waiting for the natural preventatives to take effect,” explains Teitelbaum.

Associated with symptoms like nausea, sweats, dizziness, slurred speech, and debilitating pain, migraines are believed to arise from changes in brain chemistry causing blood vessel dilation and inflammation. Prescription medications from the Imitrex or Triptans family are effective in 34 to 70 percent of patients within two hours. Other treatments may work for acute migraines when Imitrex does not, including aspirin in combination with some medications that enhance absorption.

But since these prescriptions may carry side effects (ranging from hives to difficulty in breathing and chest pain), a growing number of migraine sufferers are discovering natural alternatives that are safer than prescriptions and equally effective, and less expensive. In fact, according to the American Chronic Pain Association, most patients with chronic pain turn to alternative treatments regardless of the medication they are using or the nature of their pain.

Butterbur—a root extract that’s available in tablets – can eliminate an acute migraine when taken in 100 mg doses every three hours. Butterbur can also prevent migraines. Begin with 50 mg three times a day for one month and then 50 to 75 mg twice a day for ongoing protection. Magnesium is another natural migraine remedy. One to two grams of intravenous magnesium over 15 – 30 minutes has been shown to eliminate an acute migraine 86 percent of the time within 15 minutes. Magnesium by mouth has been found to be effective for migraine prevention and is as effective as Elavil®.

Natural Migraine Remedies Reduce Need for Prescription Drugs, 2-2-2

Since most Americans are magnesium-deficient, many migraine patients are recommended to take 150 to 200 mg of magnesium twice a day. Riboflavin (vitamin B2) has also been shown to decrease migraine frequency. In one 3-month study, patients taking 400 mg daily experienced a 67 percent decrease in frequency as well as a decrease in severity. In addition, vitamin B12 in nasal spray (1000 micrograms) has been proven to reduce migraine frequency by an average of 43 percent.

Dr. Teitelbaum, Director of the Center for Effective Fibromyalgia/CFIDS Therapies in Annapolis, Maryland, is the best-selling author of From Fatigued to Fantastic! (Avery Penguin Putnam), and is also co-developer of the new all-natural pain formula, End Pain, an extension to the top-selling Fatigued to Fantastic Energy/Revitalization line from Enzymatic Therapy, Inc. He specializes in Fibromyalgia, a chronic pain condition that afflicts at least 6 million Americans and is routinely misdiagnosed.

About Pain Free 1-2-3 (McGraw-Hill April 2006)

Chronic pain and fatigue expert, Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum provides over 100 natural and prescription treatments for managing muscle pain, fibromylagia, headaches, arthritis, nerve pain, back pain and more in Pain Free 1-2-3. This breakthrough book guides readers step-by-step on exactly what treatments are more likely to help and how to tailor them for maximum effect, so that no matter the source pain, readers can get pain-free now!

About the Author

Jacob Teitelbaum, M.D. is medical director of the Center for Effective Fibromyalgia/CFIDS Therapies in Annapolis, MD. Having suffered and overcome these illnesses, he spent the next 28 years creating, researching and teaching effective pain-control therapies. He lectures internationally and is the author of the best-selling book From Fatigued to Fantastic! (Avery Penguin Putnam).