Kickas.org Forums Treatments, Drugs and Alternatives Alternatives Herbal Headache Remedy

Hey guys,
I'm still in the process of getting diagnosed but nearly there. About a week and I should have my Rheumatology appointment. I'm wondering does anybody have any advise on herbal headache remedy's? I'm at the end of an online course and I've been getting really bad headaches recently. It's made me sleep off a few days to recover from it and I've so little time left I can't really afford any more power nap time. Regular headache tablets don't sit well on my stomach, or help all that much and I drink a good amount of water a day so I doubt it's dehydration. The only thing I've really come across is Passionflower which is supposed to be good I might buy monday. Any other suggestions or information would be welcome, this is really draining me.

This is one remedy that works for me. It works better now than it did when I first started using it. It's homeopathic:

BHI Headache II

for Throbbing Pain
Piercing Pain
Pain over Head and Eyes

They make two rememdies. I choose this one because it contains some remedies that I knew were good for problems caused by uric acid.

Another homeopathic remedy for headaches is Iris Versicolor. It's for frontal headaches with nausea. Symptoms might also include facial neuralgia. Actually I should go get some of this.

One other thing I can say is that foods that contain a lot of oxalic acid cause me headaches the day after. Things like tea and chocolate are probably the worst. Do you have any idea what's causing them?

Also, I didn't realize this, but if your body isn't dealing with purines, the uric acid can cause headaches. That was probably the main cause of my migraines for years and years. I didn't figure that out though til I started to get joint and tendon pain. That lead me to several books about uric acid by Alexander Haig. What an eye opener! I was so happy to find his books because they explained a lot of what was going on with me.

Too bad he's no longer alive. The books are from the late 1800's, early 1900's. I think there is more to it than just not eating high purine foods, such as get your liver and kidneys working and do whatever you can to deal with the pathogens. Also, other plant chemicals like oxalates and goitrogens would seem to be making the purines harder for your body to deal with.

Anyway, if you are interested in homeopathics, and if your headaches are usually the same, you can look up online remedies according to your symptoms.

Feverfew is the most common herb taken for headaches. When I tried it I didn't realize you have to take it all the time, not just when you get a headache, so it didn't work for me. But maybe if you start taking it all the time it might work.

White willow bark is where they got the idea for aspirin. It works more slowly than aspirin but the good side is that it isn't harsh on the system like aspirin. It also helps removal of uric acid, which might be why it works.

If you want to list your symptoms I can look in my materia medica of homeopathic remedies.

I looked up that BHI Headache II and it's got some good reviews, and not too pricey. I ended up going into town and getting this roller ball thing Head Clear, you just roll it onto your temples to relieve the headache. I'm gonna try this stuff out for the next few days and if it doesn't seem to be cutting it i'll try your suggestion.

Oxalic Acid you say? I gave it a read, along with an article or two about uric acid and purines. Never even heard of purines before I don't think. The one on uric acid said causes could be excessive caffeine consumption but it happened after I stopped drinking coffee for a few days to rest up. I switched to tea for a few days and ate a big bar of chocolate, along with some other junk food the first day of resting up so you could well be onto something.

Butterbur and FeverFew are better for migraines as far as I know. It isn't quite a migraine, but it's not far off. I asked for White Willow Bark today but they didn't have it. Didn't realize it removes uric acid, good to know. The only real symptoms I can give are I get a pain slightly right of the centre top part of my head, really hot temperature on my forehead and cheeks and pressure or tension at the front of my head and my neck. Is homeopathic just a different type of herbal medicine?

Homeopathic remedies are dilutions of all types of things, plants, metals, just about anything. They are very diluted to the point of a lot of people saying that it's not possible that they could work. But it was very popular back in the 1800's. There are books that list remedies and what they are good for. It got pushed to the wayside by pharmaceutical powers because they couldn't make as much money off of them as other drugs. It's an interesting story. If you can find the right remedy, it not only relieves the symptom but also after time will relieve the cause.
Here's a video of an eye massage that can help headaches. Check the first two pressure points that he presses on and see if they are painful for you. If so, the massage might help. It helps me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qD2OaU8FdFE

PS: Tea and chocolate also contain adequate purines to cause uric acid problems. They have an extra edge to them, though, of oxalic acid.

This is a book about uric acid where I realized that my headaches and joint/tendon problems were caused by uric acid: http://www.archive.org/stream/uricacidanepito02haiggoog#page/n10/mode/2up

I've been getting migraines since I was about 8 years old.

For me, most importantly, I've learned my triggers:

Travel, high stress to low stress (not during the stress but when i crash), hormones (nothing I could do about that but wait them out), hunger.

For me, caffeine works better than just about anything. A cup of tea almost always does the trick. I even use it preventatively when traveling, by drinking the tea before I go, then having some every few hours. Too much caffeine will flare my gastritis, but if I mostly save it for when I have migraines, it works beautifully.

Other than that, lavender aromatherapy: lavender bath oil, lavender soap, lavender candle, lavender infused shea butter. any of those. I have a small tin of pure solid shea butter infused with the lavender; i carry it in my purse; its especially great for travel.

I used to use ibuprofen, but then nsaids were bad for my stomach. Then I switched to tylenol but then didn't want to take that because of my liver. But the caffeine and lavender work so well, i really don't need anything else.

Now, if my headache is due to my neck, then I have to address that as well. But if its just a migraine, the above works well for me.

Violeta, checked out that eye massage video, that first spot just above the tear duct is the sorest by far but 1 or 2 of the other spots were quite sore as well. Haven't done it since I watched the video but I felt quite refreshed after it. Must try and make it a regular thing. Still haven't gotten around to reading that uric acid book either, i'd nearly prefer to order a paper copy to save myself the eye strain but it's a subject i've been hovering around a while.

Sue22, I drink quite a lot of caffeine myself in general. Usually I know if it's a caffeine overload, but this was different. Boundering on migraine. The stuff i'm using Head Clear has a load of lavender in it and it definitely eases the headaches but fortunately I don't seem to need it at the moment. Finally got seen by a Rheumatologist and although i'm still not quite sure i've been properly diagnosed(still no visible damage on x-ray), I have the gene and am being treated for AS so that's pretty good. I got a prescription for Vimovo after the appointment and when I asked my GP about something for headaches she said I wouldn't need anything, that the Vimovo would do the trick. And so far so good. Never thought i'd be happy with a Pharmaceutical product after having such a bad history with them ^_^

Either you misunderstood what I was saying, or I'm misunderstanding you.

No, I did not suggest that maybe your headache is coming from too much caffeine.

Rather, I said that when I get a migraine, caffeine (tea) makes it go away.

Or when I travel, if i have tea every few hours, i won't get the migraines that I always get traveling without the caffeine.

For me, caffeine makes my migraines better.

But too, I don't have much other times.