Headache cure. Vitamin B2 and Magnisium

[bluebird]

I've been "headache-y" as far back as I can remember. But as I got older things got worse and worse until I was getting headaches almost every other day. And then the migraines started popping up once a month or so. It was REALLY bumming me out. I had seen a couple doctors who gave me pain meds but no real answers as to why it was happening. Then I saw this neurologist a couple years ago and he told me to take vitamin B2 and magnesium. I did for a couple days and then just kind of forgot to keep doing it because I didn't really think vitamins were going to do anything. I think I actually posted about this a bit ago in another thread.

Headaches continued and I just started accepting the fact that this was my fate. A couple months ago I was looking in the kitchen cabinet and saw the vitamin bottles so I decided to give it another go. I stuck with it this time and was taking 500mg magnesium and 200mg B2 everyday. after about a week my headaches stopped. Completely.

Its incredible. I advise anyone who has problems with headaches to give vitamin B2 and magnesium a shot. You can even get both at CVS drugstores.

Hope this helps someone. Let me know if it does.

-Ian

Oh and just to be safe, ask you doctor (if you have one) about taking these vitamins...Even though they're just vitamins.

 

[fazer]

I'm going to pass this to my daughter to try.  It would be a miracle if that would help her.

 

[boji]

I've been getting them more often too as I get older. Likely tension headaches. Water water water usually helps, and caffeine pills, but my doc recommended magnesium as well, as it promotes muscle relaxation.

 

[bluebird]

I think the body stops extracting vitamins and minerals from food as well as we age.  The two brands I get are in the picture. I would advise to take them with food and not too close to bedtime. I think the B2 may keep some people up. I hope this works for your daughter fazer, it really was a miracle for me!

 

[alexc]

Magnesium supplement tablets work wonders for me  - in my muscles and joints after I overdo it physically in the orchard 

It works quite quickly, taking the worst ache out the system for that 12hrs or that it takes me to recover  ...  till the next day.

Of course, one needs to make sure they don't over load on dietary supplements ...

 

[Ricardus]

I get neck tension headaches that nothing helps. I also get occipital nerve pain in the back of my head as well after gym workouts.

 

[JohnRoberts]

I think the body stops extracting vitamins and minerals from food as well as we age.  The two brands I get are in the picture. I would advise to take them with food and not too close to bedtime. I think the B2 may keep some people up. I hope this works for your daughter fazer, it really was a miracle for me!

ding, ding, ding,.... not sure that vitamins deficiency literally cause headaches, but nutrient deficiencies can cause a full range of maladies. Yes, as we get older our ability to extract vitamins from our food deteriorates (does not stop, but slows down). This is further exacerbated by our reduced food consumption as we age and slow down... Unless we keep eating the same amount while doing less activity and blow up like a balloon with excess body fat.

I am cheap and conservative (careful) so I take two generic "one-a-day" vitamins along with my too many other pills and capsules.

There are two general classes of vitamins, fat soluble and water soluble... our body generally pisses out excess water soluble vitamins (visible as bright yellow urine stream).  Excess fat soluble vitamins generally get parked in our body fat, and get released if/when we lose weight (another reason to not lose weight too fast). 

Some important minerals can be problematic when completely missing, and problematic if we take too much (like selenium, turns your fingernails dark).

My anecdotal experience with headaches is probably not universally applicable. Not to tempt fate, but I can't remember the last time I had a headache, but I did walk away from a decent paying job almost 20 years ago, because I was arguing with the guy whose name was on all the buildings. I sleep like a baby*** ever since.

While I was still dealing with chicken-sh__ corporate politics I found working up a sweat at the gym was useful to clear excess "fight-or-flight" hormones from my bloodstream, that can be unhealthy if allowed to fester (I also punched a couple holes in my office door). 

JR

***I sleep like a baby, I wake up in the middle of the night (but only to pee,, I'm old).  8)

 

[alexc]

Very interesting post thanks JR  - the info on dietary vitamins very much so, and I really do empathise with your description of 'late-term work' and letting go of that proper job.  Reminds me very much of my last job, which is now 10yrs past 

I do remember getting headaches all the time when I worked the 'big jobs' ...  before I was more educated on the subject, I would take 'headache pills' and 'bash on thru to the other side'  ..  what else can you do ?  It's hard to be detailed technical and business- political when your brain is on fire ..  and the business-engineering world is a demanding one.

Not much place for the 'failing horse' really.

But it was all the 'flu' s  that I would get all the time, working in the big city and using public transport. Crazy, months long  flu that I was literally defenceless against and would result in having to undergo serious meds to get rid of.

Particularly the uber-virulent 'kids flu'  that everyone else would have some defence against ..  but not me! 

Once I 'moved to the country' mercifully those illnesses disappeared  ...  of course to be replaced with other ones, but I don't miss the headaches and flu episodes 'on the 35th floor'.

 

[JohnRoberts]

I have had good luck knocking down a recalcitrant flu/cold with raw garlic...  These days I just take 1 clove a night chopped up and washed down with beer prophylactically. I haven't been sick for years, but am not exposed to other people's snot nosed kids as much as back when I worked in an office with their parents.

JR

 

[iomegaman]

I'm sure it does not help that the % of minerals and vitamins in the average diet has declined by nearly 50% over the last 50 years...

Processed food is not...food.

Magnesium is very critical to men over 50 for lots of things but one of the major things it does is help the body absorb what nutrients it can get...

 

[JohnRoberts]

I'm sure it does not help that the % of minerals and vitamins in the average diet has declined by nearly 50% over the last 50 years...

Processed food is not...food.

Thats why I eat near zero processed or fast food..

Magnesium is very critical to men over 50 for lots of things but one of the major things it does is help the body absorb what nutrients it can get...

My one a day vitamins (for men over 50) contains 13% of my daily magnesium requirement, so taking 2x daily gets me up to 26%.. Several foods I eat also contain magnesium.

I need to find one a day vitamins for men over 70...  : :

JR

 

[cyrano]

I'm sure it does not help that the % of minerals and vitamins in the average diet has declined by nearly 50% over the last 50 years...

Processed food is not...food.

Magnesium is very critical to men over 50 for lots of things but one of the major things it does is help the body absorb what nutrients it can get...

As long as you talk about real food and not McDo, our food is generally better than it ever was. I looked up the numbers.

Where our food industry fails miserably, is in the preparation. Bread is the best example. Dough needs at least 4 hours of rising time to give the enzymes the time to work. There are hardly any bakers around that do that. So most of the nutrients in the dough are simply wasted.

There are numerous other examples where time is too short, Even a simple clove of garlic, crushed, needs about 20 minutes (resting after being crushed) to get to full force,

Time is what'll kill us...

 

[JohnRoberts]

As long as you talk about real food and not McDo, our food is generally better than it ever was. I looked up the numbers.

We need to be reminded how valuable it is to be able to buy fresh(?) fruit and vegetables year round. Some plant varieties are tweaked genetically to transport better, but nutrition is generally good. 

Where our food industry fails miserably, is in the preparation. Bread is the best example. Dough needs at least 4 hours of rising time to give the enzymes the time to work.

Time is money and I don't do bread, but when I make my occasional tomato pie (pizza) I let the dough rest overnight in the fridge.

There are hardly any bakers around that do that. So most of the nutrients in the dough are simply wasted.

There are numerous other examples where time is too short, Even a simple clove of garlic, crushed, needs about 20 minutes (resting after being crushed) to get to full force,

I do not let my garlic breath (while I suspect I have garlic breath  8) ) and I don't crush it to break the cell walls, I cut it into many small pieces... One clove a day soaked in beer from the inside.

Time is what'll kill us...

The passage of time gets us all...

JR

 

[gevermil]

"One clove a day soaked in beer from the inside "

Wait , what ?

do tell , whats your perceived benefit from garlic ?
just curious

 

[JohnRoberts]

"One clove a day soaked in beer from the inside "

Wait , what ?

do tell , whats your perceived benefit from garlic ?
just curious

Less sniffles and mild colds... 

And it keeps vampires away, useful this time of year...

JR

 

[bluebird]

+1 on the garlic... I've eaten raw cloves when sick and it seemed to help. My dad said it "cleans your blood". Not sure exactly what that means medically but its definitely a kick in the butt. But be warned, your breath will be terrible for at least three days after...

 

[cyrano]

Garlic has disinfectant properties. At least, if you give the enzymes involved at least 20 minutes to react to the oxygen in the air.

And that's also why crushing is better than cutting. Very finely chopping works too, but some people seem unable to do that.

 

[scott2000]

one of the major things it does is help the body absorb what nutrients it can get...

I remember when doing a cleanse I was taking some nasty stuff made with bentonite clay and psyllium husk....I've read  the clay helping with absorption... I guess the powder was supposed to help clean the digestive tract/plaque and can help with nutrient absorption....

...the stuff was tough to drink.... Not  sure if it worked or not but the cleanse itself did cut my cravings for sodas,sweets and junk food (a lifetime habit)... going on over 3 or 4 years now..... I just buy fruit cups from the convenience store anymore..... Of course it's more expensive......go figure...

 

[JohnRoberts]

I remember when doing a cleanse I was taking some nasty stuff made with bentonite clay and psyllium husk....I've read  the clay helping with absorption... I guess the powder was supposed to help clean the digestive tract/plaque and can help with nutrient absorption....

...the stuff was tough to drink.... Not  sure if it worked or not but the cleanse itself did cut my cravings for sodas,sweets and junk food (a lifetime habit)... going on over 3 or 4 years now..... I just buy fruit cups from the convenience store anymore..... Of course it's more expensive......go figure...

Psyllium husk is just a non-nutritious fiber that absorbs water and expands, it sometimes used in foods as an additive to increase volume/fiber. Probably does the same thing in your gut to make you feel full if you don't eat enough fiber (fruits and vegetables).

Bentonite clay sounds like maybe voodoo nutrition but it claims to bind to bad things and help remove them. Real medicine uses Chelation therapy or ingesting binding agents to remove heavy metals from our body,  many of which can be toxic.

Maybe eating clay is DIY chelation.

=======

@ Cyrano, I have heard claims made for aged garlic but never that it needs 20 minutes to oxidize...  If anything that seems like it might be counter productive. Do you have a reference for that..?

I found lots of pubmed studies about garlic's medicinal properties but nothing describing "oxidation of crushed garlic"...  I did find one interesting study comparing chewed garlic to swallowing it whole.

We conclude that undamaged garlic (swallowed) had no lowering effect on lipid level of serum. But Crushed garlic (chewed) reduces cholesterol, triglyceride, MDA and blood pressure.

So we agree it needs to be crushed, or sliced thin to release its goodness (breaking the cell walls). I remain unconvinced about letting it sit out to breath for 20 minutes.  Likewise I am not ready to start chewing raw garlic even thought that might improve efficacy. 8) 

JR