People’s Pharmacy: New approaches might help daughter’s migraines
My 13-year-old daughter suffers from migraines, sometimes lasting for five days. The neurologist has controlled them up to now with ibuprofen and a caffeinated soda, but that is no longer working.
They want to put her on an anti-epilepsy drug, but that makes me uncomfortable. Is there anything more natural?
We appreciate your concerns, since there can be side effects with anti-epilepsy medications. Your daughter should see a headache specialist, preferably one with experience treating teens.
Biofeedback is a safe and potentially helpful approach (Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine Supplement 3, July 2010). Other ways to prevent migraines without drugs include acupuncture, magnesium, Coenzyme Q10, riboflavin and herbs such as feverfew and butterbur.
I have had horrendous leg cramps at night. My pain threshold is high, but these had me moaning, unable to find a position without having some other muscle cramp.
Quinine tablets usually gave relief within 10 minutes. However, on one particularly bad night, with no relief coming, I took a second tablet within 30 minutes of the first. When I awoke in the morning, I was totally deaf — no clock chimes, no dog collar jingling, nada.
At first, it was actually a nice experience — my own world. But that wore off when I couldn’t hear the phone ring or listen to the radio.
By late afternoon, I had my hearing back, but I will not take quinine again. To prevent cramps, I drink water with half a lemon squeezed into it just before bed, sometimes I take the hottest shower I can stand and occasionally I use a liniment like Heat or Icy Hot. Walking the cramp out still seems to be the best.
You experienced “cinchonism,” or quinine toxicity. In addition to temporary deafness, symptoms may include headache, ringing in the ears, nausea, dizziness, rash and confusion. The Food and Drug Administration banned quinine for treating leg cramps because it can cause life-threatening blood abnormalities.
Joe Graedon is a pharmacologist, and Teresa Graedon is an expert in medical anthropology and nutrition. https://www.peoplespharmacy.com.
