TreeGal said

Tea and migraines and/or other headaches

I know I’m not the only one who deals with migraines and other headaches! Any suggestions on teas to help with migraines? I have chronic migraine as well as pretty frequent other headaches. In addition to the head pain, I am often hit with mild nausea and sensitivity to sound. (Not trying to whine, just giving complete info!) Caffeine does not seem to make a difference one way or the other (unless I’ve had absolutely none). Thanks for any suggestions!

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I definitely go for a strong mint tea when I have headaches, even just taking a whiff of the the mug seems to help, even before I start sipping.

Ditto, but also eucalyptus blends.

TreeGal said

Any eucalyptus blends you’d recommend? I have Cold 911 which I do love when congested, so I can try that one. But I’m open to other suggestions, too!

To be honest, Cold 911 is my go to eucalyptus blend as well. For a while I also just had straight up eucalyptus “tea” with nothing else added to it and I used to mix that with black tea since I personally find caffeine usually helps with most of my headaches, at least.

I also just realized that I have another current headache “go to” blend that’s a herbal tea – Super Detox from Saje. It’s a pretty simply blend; peppermint, lemon myrtle, and chili flakes. I don’t personally care about “detox” teas, but I find the lemon/mint combo quite soothing/relaxing.

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jesjen11 said

I also use mint tea when my headache are the worse it can be. Sometimes it helps but not always. The best cure is sleeping but it can be different to fall in sleep with so much pain!

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I have severe chronic migraine without aura, with photophobia, phonophobia, and nausea, and caffeine also does not effect me one way or the other (it doesn’t help me, and also isn’t a trigger for my attacks).

I have not found any teas that can help with the severity of the head pain for a fullblown proper migraine, despite trying just about every “headache” blend out there. However, strong mint or ginger teas do help me greatly with the nausea that accompanies the migraine. Usually there will be a point where the nausea is so bad I don’t even want tea, but once past that, mint or ginger helps a lot at settling the stomach. If I can start drinking the stomach-setting teas in the predrome phase before the nausea starts getting really bad, that is ideal. I’ve also found that lavender milk is quite soothing to me during the postdrome (aka the “migraine hangover” phase that comes just after the pain leaves) phase of the attack.

TreeGal said

Ah, yes, trying to explain migraine hangover to people. I’m lucky that my migraines are more frequent than severe – I have mild to moderate ones frequently, but I only get a severe, full-blown one maybe 3 times a year. Usually I get the severe head pain but my other symptoms are generally no worse than moderate. (I’m generally somewhat light and sound sensitive anyway, but that does get worse – I often smell phantom smells, and get a mild tunnel vision.) I hate the hangover phase, though. The pain relief is great, of course, but no one understands why I don’t want to just jump up and run around in joy. I just want to curl up and sleep.

I really need to get better at recognizing when they’re coming. My only known trigger is atmospheric pressure changes. With those at least, I can probably keep a better eye on when they’re coming and try the mint tea and Tylenol approach ahead of time.

Barometric pressure changes is one of my main triggers as well, as is hormonal fluctuations (which I suspect may be the cause of my recent attack, as my headache calendar shows it is PMS week which is a nasty time hormone-wise), and sadly, those are both things I can’t control. I have a few food triggers that are easy to avoid (alcohol, MSG), and staying on a schedule helps too (eating at the same time, not skipping meals, staying hydrated, sleeping and waking on a set schedule, etc.) Charting when you get a migraine and then trying to record anything that may have been “different” that day (didn’t sleep well that night, had to get lunch late, ate out at a restaurant and possibly had something weird, putting when storms occur since often the migraines happen just before or just after the rain, etc.) can help you start to pinpoint down triggers a little easier so you can become a little better at the prediction, or at least at starting to notice your predrome signs after time.

I get 10-15 migraines a month (though I’m currently on the new Aimovig CGRP shot to try to reduce that number), and if my rescue triptan doesn’t work, the severity can reach what I call “death pain” — off the “1-10” scale where I just want someone to put me down. My attacks will also easy last 1-4 days during those instances (I’m currently on day 2 of an attack with my at about an 8-10, so just below “death pain”… I’m unhappy, but I’ve had worse). I have nothing but the deepest emphathy for fellow migraineurs!

Ah, that sounds terrible. I’m so sorry you have to go through those migraines. I can’t imagine having even the smaller headaches I have for more than a day. I just realized I haven’t had one of those must-go-to-bed headaches for months now and the only things I can think of that I’ve been doing differently is taking half a multi-vitamin every day in the morning and night and also drinking water with half a fresh lemon squeezed into it once in a while. I haven’t really had headaches since I started doing this about ten months ago. Hmm. Before ten months ago I’d only have the occasional vitamin and never had fresh squeezed lemon.

TreeGal said

Ugh, that’s too many for migraines! I have a headache way more days than not (probably about 25 in a month), but they aren’t always migraines. I take Migrelief as a preventive and it’s helped a lot with the headache severity (both migraine and other) and frequency (migraine). I’m good on vitamins, etc. but I do love water with lemon so maybe I’ll give that an official try, too. Mastress Alita, I hope this round ends sooner than soon. I tend to get them for days at a time as well, which “they” never quite believe. I hope this one is even over before you see this!

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