Migraines

[Flynn]

Ni men hao,

 

Do any of you guys get chronic migraines? I'm coming down with one right now, and I was wondering if any of you guys had some preferred methods of dealing with them. I don't get them too frequently (once every month or two, sometimes more when I have lots of work-related stress), but I still don't like popping large quantities of painkillers when I do. Are there any natural remedies or meditative practices I could try, or am I kind of stuck with ibuprofin and sleep?

 

Flynn

[Stigweard]

Ni men hao,

 

Do any of you guys get chronic migraines? I'm coming down with one right now, and I was wondering if any of you guys had some preferred methods of dealing with them. I don't get them too frequently (once every month or two, sometimes more when I have lots of work-related stress), but I still don't like popping large quantities of painkillers when I do. Are there any natural remedies or meditative practices I could try, or am I kind of stuck with ibuprofin and sleep?

 

Flynn

Deep abdominal breathing at least 1/2hr per day. Try to "hold" your energy no higher then your heart. Swallow saliva 9 times down to your Dan Tien with your breath (i.e. breath out when you swallow down) whenever you feel too much pressure in the head.

[bindo]

My girlfriend had some good success with this http://www.fourseasonsherbs.com/4seasons/m...ne_formula.html

 

before I learned how to pull the extra energy out of her head. She used to get 2-3 migraines per week, but now hardly ever gets them anymore.

 

It's easy to learn but you would need someone there to do it for you.

[Bum Grasshopper]

Brainwave Entrainment has been proven to aid migraines and chronic pain. Alpha frequencies and delta have both been effective. Neuro- Programmer 2 has a unique program that combines photonic (flashing lights) stimulation at delta, and audio entrainment (isocronic tones ) at alpha to treat headaches.

 

A free 2 week trial can be downloaded here: Transparent Corp

[markern]

Cranio sacral therapy!!

 

Are you doing qigong and medtiating etc.? If not well then those things should do a lot. THere are also specific medical qigongs for migraines. THe advice about dan tien breathing sounded very good as it will get energy down and relax at the same time. Mindfulness is also supreemly usefull with any sort of pain. THe mindfulness based stress reduction programes found that peoples pain from more or less any condition was reduced by between 40-50% in a month or two. These were chronic pain patients that nothing else had helped. For migraines especially there should be pain reduction because they can often be tension related. Anyway mindfulness has the benefit of making any pain you do have much more livable. Shinzen young has a superb article on his homepage on reducing and living with physical pain through mindfulness and he also has a CD with specific meditations for pain.

 

THere are some really good yoga programes that are designed to be done during a migraine attack. THese are completely restorative/passive. THey use blocks and belts and bolsters to make the positions even more relaxing. THey also use some sort of cloth to tie around the head and over the eyes to relax them. This is profoundly relaxing and I would presume superb for migraines.

[joeblast]

when closing, I saw a good exercise in a medical qigong book - the exercise was pulling down the heavens, had a good grounding effect to it, was easy to follow the energy down from the head with the hands.

[Taomeow]

This is one condition where acupuncture shines.

[Trunk]

[David Yeh]

I think it'd be wise to differentiate the cause of the headache.

 

Where's the location of the pain? Back, front, sides? Is it one-sided?

What's the quality of the pain? Dull, sharp, stabbing, throbbing, pinpoint, etc?

What makes it better and what makes it worse? Better/worse with exercise, rest, meals or certain foods, stress?

Any accompanying symptoms, such as light sensitivity, nausea?

How frequently do they recur? How long have they been happening?

[mYTHmAKER]

mYTHISmaker used to get very bad migraines for many years.

She was taking - don't remember which one- aspirin, tylonal, bufferin.

Finally came across a doctor who told us that the aspirin, bufferin etc

at some point cause the migraines and you have to take them for relief.

It becomes a vicious cycle.

 

Long story short she went cold turkey and now she rarely has any migraines.

Edited December 16, 2009 by mYTHmAKER

[wafflesqi]

I can tell you what works for me. I also get migraines once or twice a month. It is usually one sided but varies from side to side. It's also throbbing and sometimes I get nausea with it. I practice meditation, yoga and qigong. Someone mentioned here that " those things should do a lot". Well it just doesn't make any difference in my case. I still get the migraines and lately I get them at night. I refuse to take drugs. Most of the time what works for me is the combination of Feverfew and Ginger. If I start taking it in big doses at the first signs, then the pain mostly goes away or becomes manageable. You also have to get high quality Feverfew with at least 0.7 % Parthetenolide.

 

It's harder when it happens at night since I already wake up with a full blown headache. In instances like that, the only things that helps me to go back to sleep is the deep abdominal breathing. The headache doesn't go away, but I can go back to sleep. I tried magnets and have the "immortality" rings that were mentioned on this forum. I only started using the rings 5 weeks ago, but so far I see no health improvements. I tried acupressure and aromatherapy to no avail. Some yoga does help, but you have to be able to do it and sometimes it can make it worse. I would love to hear from other migraine sufferers what works for them. People post a lot of suggestions here for books and CDs, but I don't know if they had any personal experience with it.

[Biff]

Try this...

 

Would love some feedback on results.....

 

36Ppo0d-XbU&NR=1

[Ya Mu]

Have seen some folks that said Petadolex (long term)as well as Curcumax have helped. These are manufactured by Integrative Therapeutics corp.

 

Don't do any qigong that keeps energy in the head; always bring back down to Dan Tian.

 

May wish to talk with your doctor and ask if low dose amitriptoline would help.

 

Try clinical qigong done by a competent practitioner. Could be reg sessions combined with nutritional/herbal solutions is a good way to help.

 

Food allergies is another thing to look into. Elimination diet will tell.

[WhiteTiger]

I think it'd be wise to differentiate the cause of the headache.

 

Where's the location of the pain? Back, front, sides? Is it one-sided?

What's the quality of the pain? Dull, sharp, stabbing, throbbing, pinpoint, etc?

What makes it better and what makes it worse? Better/worse with exercise, rest, meals or certain foods, stress?

Any accompanying symptoms, such as light sensitivity, nausea?

How frequently do they recur? How long have they been happening?

 

This is very interesting.

 

What's the quality of the pain? Dull, sharp, stabbing, throbbing, pinpoint, etc?

What makes it better and what makes it worse? Better/worse with exercise, rest, meals or certain foods, stress?

 

Could you explain for a bunch of different situations these questions should be answered and once answered what it means. If not could you direct me to a source in which I can teach myself about such things?

[David Yeh]

This is very interesting.

Could you explain for a bunch of different situations these questions should be answered and once answered what it means. If not could you direct me to a source in which I can teach myself about such things?

 

The location of the pain determines the sick channel and gives clues as to the origin of the problem. Gall bladder channel, for instance, runs all over the side of the head. GB is closely related to the Liver, and headaches from the condition called "Liver yang rising" tend to be one-sided, throbbing headaches. Often i've even been able to observe Liver yang headaches specifically at points, like GB-20 (side of the occiput) and GB-15 (front of the head, above the pupil).

 

Frontal headaches tend to be more Stomach channel and are often related to sinus issues.

 

Quality: If it's dull and worse with exertion, it tends to be qi or blood deficiency. If it's sharp and stabbing, it's blood stagnation, even more so if it's needle-like. If it feels like a tight band around the head, it's probably qi stagnation.

 

If it tends to be better than rest then it's some kind of deficiency, if it's worse with rest (i.e. worse when still and not moving as much) then it's some form of excess or stagnation. Of course any headache could be seen as stagnation, but in some cases it's actually because the yang has lost contact with the yin and "floated" up into the head, and thus is rooted in a deficient condition. Which is, in my experience, what most Liver yang rising headaches are (and most migraines I could classify as some sort of Liver yang related condition).

 

If it's worse with meals then the Spleen or other digestive organ is involved.

 

Typically in a classic migraine with one-sided pounding or throbbing headache, it's also somewhat stress-related, and is accompanied by light sensitivity, nausea, sometimes ringing in the ears. All of that is classic Liver stuff. Liver nourishes the eyes, Liver can overact on any organ when it's out of balance (so if your liver is upset, and your Stomach is weak, it'll harass the Stomach and cause nausea).

 

If it is a Liver yang rising condition, it's really rooted in the deficiency, either of Liver yin or qi/yang. The long-term solution is to nourish the qi and the Liver and figure out why it's not rooting. Often it's due to long-term stress and overwork, or repressed emotion eating up your available resources.

 

Some of this stuff is available in textbooks, some of it is from the lineage I studied in. I think Liver yang rising is usually considered an excess type of condition, but in my experience this is not the case.

 

This was sort of rambling, so i hope it was helpful.

Edited December 18, 2009 by David Yeh

[wafflesqi]

Hi David,

 

I found your explanation very helpfull. I now understand a number of things that are associated with my migrane. Do you know how to resolve the "Liver yang rising" condition?

I would appreciate the suggestions.

 

Thanks.

[David Yeh]

Hi David,

 

I found your explanation very helpfull. I now understand a number of things that are associated with my migrane. Do you know how to resolve the "Liver yang rising" condition?

I would appreciate the suggestions.

 

Thanks.

 

It depends on whether your root condition is a qi/yang deficiency or a yin deficiency, but in either case, since the originating problem is a deficiency, the general principle is to root and nourish.

 

Often diet and digestive energy is an important key. You may not be eating the right foods, or at the right times, or the right amounts. A good rule of thumb is how you feel (ie your qi) after a meal, or after you eat certain foods. From my own personal experience, I would suggest that sugar is a major contributor in Liver yang issues and just cutting out sugar and paying attention to blood sugar balance can help.

 

Other than diet, stress is also a big one. (Both sugar and stress affect the adrenals which are, like all the glands, related to yin/yang balance.)

 

The basic theme is that something is not being nourished due to lifestyle, overactivity, overthinking, poor eating, stress, emotional overreaction, or some other external or internal factor.

 

Other people recommended bringing the qi down and putting it at dantian. This is excellent not just in a literal way but in a metaphorical one too. People whose Liver yang "rises" have depleted the place where the Liver yang can go home, they've deprived their "active" or yang natures of a place to be "passive" or yin, and rest. So focusing on that aspect of your being will help you in the long run to restore balance.

 

This usually is more of a long-term and preventative thing, as far as ways to solve your headache when you're in the middle of it, I have a lot less to say because in my experience it's pretty hard, once the yang has floated up it just wants to go. Have had a little limited success with reaching in and pulling the qi down, or strongly tonifying at dantian, but others here probably have a lot more experience with that.

[WhiteTiger]

The location of the pain determines the sick channel and gives clues as to the origin of the problem. Gall bladder channel, for instance, runs all over the side of the head. GB is closely related to the Liver, and headaches from the condition called "Liver yang rising" tend to be one-sided, throbbing headaches. Often i've even been able to observe Liver yang headaches specifically at points, like GB-20 (side of the occiput) and GB-15 (front of the head, above the pupil).

 

Frontal headaches tend to be more Stomach channel and are often related to sinus issues.

 

Quality: If it's dull and worse with exertion, it tends to be qi or blood deficiency. If it's sharp and stabbing, it's blood stagnation, even more so if it's needle-like. If it feels like a tight band around the head, it's probably qi stagnation.

 

If it tends to be better than rest then it's some kind of deficiency, if it's worse with rest (i.e. worse when still and not moving as much) then it's some form of excess or stagnation. Of course any headache could be seen as stagnation, but in some cases it's actually because the yang has lost contact with the yin and "floated" up into the head, and thus is rooted in a deficient condition. Which is, in my experience, what most Liver yang rising headaches are (and most migraines I could classify as some sort of Liver yang related condition).

 

If it's worse with meals then the Spleen or other digestive organ is involved.

 

Typically in a classic migraine with one-sided pounding or throbbing headache, it's also somewhat stress-related, and is accompanied by light sensitivity, nausea, sometimes ringing in the ears. All of that is classic Liver stuff. Liver nourishes the eyes, Liver can overact on any organ when it's out of balance (so if your liver is upset, and your Stomach is weak, it'll harass the Stomach and cause nausea).

 

If it is a Liver yang rising condition, it's really rooted in the deficiency, either of Liver yin or qi/yang. The long-term solution is to nourish the qi and the Liver and figure out why it's not rooting. Often it's due to long-term stress and overwork, or repressed emotion eating up your available resources.

 

Some of this stuff is available in textbooks, some of it is from the lineage I studied in. I think Liver yang rising is usually considered an excess type of condition, but in my experience this is not the case.

 

This was sort of rambling, so i hope it was helpful.

 

It was a little helpful.

 

I'd like to ask more specific questions.

 

There a book you strongly recommend for this sort of stuff.

 

peace,

wt

[NeiChuan]

It depends on whether your root condition is a qi/yang deficiency or a yin deficiency, but in either case, since the originating problem is a deficiency, the general principle is to root and nourish.

 

Often diet and digestive energy is an important key. You may not be eating the right foods, or at the right times, or the right amounts. A good rule of thumb is how you feel (ie your qi) after a meal, or after you eat certain foods. From my own personal experience, I would suggest that sugar is a major contributor in Liver yang issues and just cutting out sugar and paying attention to blood sugar balance can help.

 

Other than diet, stress is also a big one. (Both sugar and stress affect the adrenals which are, like all the glands, related to yin/yang balance.)

 

 

 

 

Ah I knew it. Thanks alot.. time to buy my last energy drink Ever.

[David Yeh]

It was a little helpful.

 

I'd like to ask more specific questions.

 

There a book you strongly recommend for this sort of stuff.

 

peace,

wt

 

Sorry, I don't have a specific book in mind. As I said, some of that stuff is standard Chinese medicine stuff; you can find it in textbooks such as Maciocia's Foundations of Chinese Medicine (although I'm sure there's cheaper ones for reference, I just don't know them off the top of my head). Other stuff I learned from teachers who learned from their teachers who learned from their teachers; I just have notes.

 

You can ask more specific questions if you want, here or PM.

[Peterminator]

I had migraine with aura and now its gone so i hope my words can be helpful to someone.

I got it after few accidents. First was strong hit in the head(knocked unconscious by door) and when i woke up - i had vision problem. But it was gone after 1h. Then 2 other accidents highly unpleasant, then stress with that girl (i suck at these things so it was a big stress factor for me). And because of that i got neurosis, which was the main reason for insomnia and this both was main reason for increasing migraine. It was everyday experience. I got back from school and first thing - layed on bed because every movement was making my head so damn painful that i just couldnt move. It was like someone was touching my naked brain with his finger. I visited many hospitals and doctors and noone could help, i visited psyhologist - didnt help neither. And then i started watching comedy sitcoms and movies about martial arts. It really started fascinating me. And because of that i reached the phillosophy of the far east. I started thinking about myself, analysing my fears and trying to get over it. And after few years of "thinking" i got into sports a lot and it also helped me very much. First thing i did was dealing with my neurosis and when i actually tried to deal with it, i didnt even notice when my migraines left me. Some sight problems are still left but its not that serious than it used to be.

Its like neurosis cause heart to beat much faster and stronger without a reason (you could see that in "Wanted" movie, main character was having stress attacks) and that increase blood pressure and stuff, i felt strongest pains after/during that stress attacks (not as strong stress attacks as dude in the movie, my face wasnt all red..)

Now it seems for me like i got much closer to inner balance and that fixed the situation.

Sorry for lenght, can be boring to read but i tried to explane it from my side as clear as i could