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Migraine is more than a headache – a rethink offers hope

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Re: Migraine is more than a headache – a rethink offers hope

#241

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Have you tried cold brew? It has about 10x the caffeine of an espresso shot. Espresso has the least amount of a caffeine of coffee drinks. Cold water and long exposure extracts more caffeine than hot water and short exposure. Source: I’m a coffee nerd.

The difference isn't typically that vast. At usual dilution levels, drinking a 16oz cold brew would be slight caffeine gain on the double-shot. Heat does extract caffeine better that cold, which is why the shot is prepared in ≈25 seconds and the cold brew concentrate takes 12-20 hours. Source:10 years experience as a working barista.

Also, I don't keep cold brew on hand during the winter, but I can whip up a double espresso in under a minute and get ~150mg of caffeine, which is basically equal to my daily intake. And I can _consume_ it faster than trying to chug a 16oz cup of cold brew. Gulp, done. :) And yummy.

I could take the excedrin-style things but coffee is pretty easy. And the goal isn't "max caffeine", the goal is 150-250mg.

The funny thing is that I really have no idea if this caffeine+ibuprofen routine is actually effective. One of my doctors in grad school suggested it, as someone who also suffered aura-only migraines. He said it worked for him, and I figured that either it was sometimes effective, or I'd have some placebo action working for me, so I just adopted it. :) I'm OK with placebo if it's working. The caffeine is based on an older theory of vasoconstriction that seems to not be aligned with the modern thinking on migraines, but, eh, mine are pretty tame compared to what some people get so I haven't felt the need to work too hard to optimize this.

Re: Migraine is more than a headache – a rethink offers hope

#242

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Gerd and the like are sometimes caused by too little acid. Maybe your GP can discuss HCl pills to take if you feel a flare up coming? I only get bad reflux a few times a year and I use baking soda, so I never think to buy HCl at a pharmacy. Best of luck.

But baking soda is basic while HCl would be acidic?

right, I use a base to neutralize the acid in my throat because i never remember to buy hcl tablets at the pharmacy when i am there quarterly. If i had issues more commonly i would have probably already tried HCl. My reflux went from twice a month to a few times a year after i completely stopped drinking any alcohol. I reckon my few times a year now is from eating spicy food and then drinking too much liquid.

i should note that the HCl tablets thing is something i picked up on in my 20s, apparently everyone had reflux back then, and most people just ate a tums or whatever, but a couple of folks had their doctors tell them it was because of weak stomach acid, so food was taking too long to digest, then you're laying down or whatever.

My little anecdotes are flavor, they're not relevant to HCl tablet efficacy (for example.) It's just an OTC thing that either works or doesn't. Ask your doctor today.

Re: Migraine is more than a headache – a rethink offers hope

#243
post #213

I get migraines about 6 - 8 times a year, complete with visual aura and very occasionally speech aphasia. I tracked them in a spreadsheet for years so have a rough idea of triggers but it's proven fairly bad at predicting. I've tried many drugs to combat them, but there is one thing that helps me short-circuit it 99% of the time is a high amount of caffeine. It's not perfect -- I liken it to side-stepping a train; yo…

> one thing that helps me short-circuit it 99% of the time is a high amount of caffeine

The med that helped my dad with migraines was Vanquish (aspirin, acetaminophen, and caffeine.

Your experiences with migraines are interesting and relatable. One thing I have noticed is random scalp tingles in the day before a migraine.

Re: Migraine is more than a headache – a rethink offers hope

#244

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just so people are aware there are several types of magnesium supplements and they all do different things. One of them is for relieving constipation and will not help with migraines, probably. For instance I've recently started trying magnesium glycinate as a sleep aid. Anyhow I don't know which is which so I look it up.

It's glycinate too.

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Re: Migraine is more than a headache – a rethink offers hope

#245

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Did you have any side effects from the medication, or was it pretty smooth sailing?

I'm on Emgality, and haven't noticed any side effects at all. Honestly the worst part of it has been getting special approval from insurance; sometimes they don't cover much of it but right now the manufacturer provides a savings card that brings it down to $35/month.

That's great to hear! It's always a gamble with new meds, so getting life-changing results without side effects is a huge win

Re: Migraine is more than a headache – a rethink offers hope

#246
post #236

I used to get frequent migraine attacks - there were times when I would be down 3 days in a week, just unable to be productive. A lot of it was induced by stress. I then tried something novel - I took some LSD. I had an intense psychedelic trip, dug deep into my psyche, realized I was a giant ball of anxiety. The anxiety's root cause was ultimately a fear of mortality (around the same time, my dad was going through a…

I had a headache that seemed like a cluster headache and I took lsd every week for about 3 years, I'd get 5 days headache free out of 7 - was wonderful. Then I met a gp who actually helped and mentioned indometacin and because that worked I was diagnosed with chronic parosysmal hemicrania. PPIs didn't work, so I took ranitidine but eventually my stomach couldn't take the indometacin anymore and I had to stop it - the…

Damn. That's awful.

Methinks dentists could be doing a lot more screenings for diseases.

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