Migraines

Has anyone tried enemas to relieve migraines?

I suffer from them quite often, and have tried just about everything!

(I am new to enemas, though - and can't wait 'till the next one!)

I do not suffer from migraines, thank goodness!

I have been told that coffee enemas can help relieve the

migraines!

Good luck with it!

Hi Rosie

I suffer from migraines infrequently and have discovered that anything you can do to help relax is beneficial.

An enema series helps me relax, and a coffee retention enema helps even more at the end of an enema series

Mike

The caffeine in coffee, NoDoz, Vivarin or other caffeine containing enema products may help with a migraine because it constricts the cranial blood vessels. For some people, the coffee enema may be better than swallowing the caffeine in pill form because nausea often accompanies migraines and makes it hard to keep down anything you eat or drink. Overuse of caffeine can also predispose a person who gets migraines to have them more frequently. Just like with energy levels and eating foods in another thread, what you want is to maintain your body on an even keel. Moderation is the key.

Cafergot is a suppository that contains ergotamine and caffeine. It is used at the very first sign of a migraine, and it also constricts blood vessels throughout the body. Correct timing of use is important. Cafergot is an abortive headache treatment, which prevents the development of the headache, rather than a treatment for an established headache. The medication should be administered at the first sign of headache.

The causes of migraine are not fully understood, but dilation of blood vessels in the brain may play a part in causing the headache pain. Ergotamine and caffeine both are vasoconstrictors, substances which act to constrict blood vessels.

Because the vasoconstrictive effects of ergotamine and caffeine are not selective for the brain, adverse effects due to systemic vasoconstiction can occur. Cold feet or hands,angina pectoris or dizziness are some examples. There are also uterine side effects.

Ergotamine, if used frequently over a prolonged period of time, can cause dependence in the patient. If dependence occurs then cessation of ergotamine use can precipitate the same headaches which the drug was being used to treat.

I have used coffee enemas to help relieve migraine headaches, while it won't wipe them away in an instant, being quiet while holding a fairly strong coffee enema does provide allot of relief. it seems to ease the nausea as well. Fortunately I don't suffer from them very often.

Excellent post, Susie. Very well done.

It has been my experience that a lot of folks label any intense headache a "migraine" without understanding that migraines have a specific etiology as you pointed out (they are vascular in nature) and have very specific symptoms such as photosensitivity which are not necessarily observed in other types of headaches. Headaches can be caused from eye-strain, muscle tension (specifically in the neck), bruxism or from a number of other sources.

If the caffine doesn't help, that pounding in your head just might have been caused by something else.

The Cave Man

Caveman, as you said, most people actually believe a migraine is a very bad headache, and have no idea what a migraine really is.

Susie, you are knowledgeable enough to comment on this one. No, I have never heard that enemas can help with migraines.

But my wife suffered hugely during and after menopause from hot flushes (no, I'm NOT off thread!). Almost by accident we discovered a product called Menograine, formulated for migraines AND hot flushes. It contains a low dosage (25 micrograms)of clonidine, a drug more often prescribed in much larger doses for high blood pressure. Anecdotal feedback from friends seems to suggest this stuff does work for both. As if that weren't enough, we also found it helped with a congenital tachycardia that she has lived with (getting steadily worse with age) since she was sixteen! Reported it to our doctor, who said, "Oh, yeah! I'd forgotten about that stuff!" See the link here.

http://home.intekom.com/pharm/lennon/menogran.html

And it's cheap, too.

Johnny

susie, you are knowledgeable enough to comment on this one. No, I have never heard that enemas can help with migraines. . . . . .

ENEMAS per se, is not what I said would be good for a migraine, or even an ordinary headache, regardless of how bad it feels.

It is the CAFFEINE that I said would help. You can eat it, drink it, have it by enema or in a parenteral solution, but it is the CAFFEINE, not the act of the enema that helps the headache or migraine. Again, it works because the caffeine constricts the cranial blood vessels, which reduces the pain.

Susie, I think we all got the gist of of your statement and many as do I respect your offerings of wisdom. It was apparent that bigbag thought he had something to contribute and therefore did. I hope we don;t get so tied up in the contents of a thread that we don't feel we can add anything to it.

One of the aspects of migraine is intra-cranial pressure, commonly described as a blood vessel issue where constriction by caffeine (or other drugs such ergot derivatives) is considered helpful.

One must realize, notwithstanding the relaxation effects (possibly) of an enema and any benefit from medicaments introduced rectally, the fluid factor is an opposite consideration. Unless there is enough salt content in the enema water, osmosis across the tissue membranes in the intestine (colon) does very commonly cause the enema taker to absorb a fair amount of the fluid from the enema. This will couteract the intended benefits from the enema's content in reducing the brain pressure. The use of rectally inserted medication, then, is probably better done by suppository, or very low volume enema. Any enema water should be salted

(1 teaspoon per pint) to thwart the absorbtion of excess fluid).

I sometimes get a headache from constipation, but I doubt if it is bad enough to be a migraine. If things aren't moving down there and I have a headache, a session with the 2 quart bag will take care of the problem.

Ok, migraines are throbbing headaches, they throb with the heart beat, so do hemmorages in the brain, but that is very very rare. So nothing is absolutely safe.

A throbbing headache, a common migraine, without prodrome, the flashing lights, is most often from a chemical cause:gunpower , chocolate, milk, cheeze, but usually the person has a tendancy to migraines. Some people never have headaches, no matter what they do! Lucky people.

Any way common migraines, a coffee enema helps immensely, should releive the head ache within a few minutes. It does, via the caffine, constrict the arteries, and it can remove the offending chemical if it is in the colon.

Next, classical migraines, those of us lucky enough to have these know them well, you get them regularly till in your 40s usually then they get better. With these you have the prodrome, flashing lights or something that lets you know its comming, within a few minutes you are down with that throbbing headache. A doctor that does manipulation can turn one of these off in about 20 minutes with an adjustment to the upper thoracic spine, the usual source of the vasodilation, and coffee enemas followed by rest, relaxing and heating the upper back can help or fix them too.

The enema works better than taking it orally because you absorb the caffiene about 15 to 20 times faster via colon, then you get rid of it, so it has a faster, larger spike of caffiene and less effect generally, and the headache is usually gone as you go to the bathroom. However, coffee is acidic, can irritate the colon. I neutralize it with baking soda to prevent this, and wash it out with a baking soda or saline enema after the headache is gone.