Drugs -

[Narms]

BB, kry jy migranes? Indien nie, sharrap en gaan speel in die pad!!!

OF

Kry 'n migrane dan sal jy weet waarvan ons praat!!

BB I am with Nilo on this one.

If you haven't had one - you have nooooo idea.

Edited June 14, 2008 by Narms

[Markus&Susan]

This is a little off the track but my daughter takes Ritalin, don't want to open the Ritalin debate but am I able to bring some medication into Astralia for her or will I have to get once we land?

[Mara Bester]

Must say I can relate to an extent to what Mau is trying to say, I really had a shocking way of looking after my body, eat all the wrong foods in copious amounts and basically no exercise - not to mention the fact that water was not a regular part of the diet either - now I am not saying that I have it pinned, but for the last year I have really been putting a lot of effort into changing this.. Lost some weight - still have a long way to go though, adjusted my lifestile and I am really trying to do the exercise thing. The incidents have gone down from about 2-3 episodes a month to about as many in this year.. For those episodes though I used the migral nasal spray as soon as I get the "aura" and then go and lie down.

Suppose it is different for everybody - so I guess getting to the "root cause" is the best. Still trying to find out why I got the others though I think that stress has a lot to do with it..

[Guest Mauritz]

Suppose it is different for everybody - so I guess getting to the "root cause" is the best. Still trying to find out why I got the others though I think that stress has a lot to do with it..

I'm going to try and answer the migraine question in such a way that you get input from both sides - more a combination of orthodox and natural/alternative medicine. I'm going to show you that the alternative approach is integrated and studied by highly educated medical professionals.

I mentioned the two 'case studies' because I 'treated' both in my first years of studies into Naturopathy. At that stage I just didn't get it - both people were migraine free and the 'treatment' cost was zero - just a bit of self discipline and elbow grease. How come both were treated for a combined 30 years - thousands and thousand of dollars later - the migraines were just getting worse?? If and idiot, like me, with very little knowledge managed to change two individuals lives for the better - so can you, so can anyone. I can't see why a system of medicine get upset because there are good people out there who contribute to the health and lives of others.

I see two important factors here - one system made a fortune out of two individuals - no result, just temporary relief. The other - zero cost and permanent relief. It was not me that 'cured' these people. I was only there to point a finger to an alternative - the work was done by the individuals themselves. If you fall into the category of 'quick solutions' a 'quick fix' - you don't really want to change - then take drugs - they were designed for you. If you want to control your life and take responsibility for yourself and family, then nearly anything is 'curable' - your body didn't survive millions of years to go and sit and a corner and wait for handouts. Your body is fully capable in repairing itself - all you have to do is to give it the opportunity to do just that.

My way of tackling migraines:

I believe that around 80 to 90% of migraines are caused by food allergies. If you ask any 'specialist' the most common allergens known to man are wheat and diary related. I simply put people on a rotation diet - that's excluding the following for a few weeks - one at a time: Red meat, wheat products, diary products, preservative, caffeine, chocolate. There are others as well.

In my wife's case - it is as simple as red meat. The moment she stopped - no migraine. If she eats 50g of red meat today - the migraine sets in withing 48 hrs. She can't drink any red wine either. What is interesting is that she can drink soup made from red meat without any problem. She can eat rabbit without a problem, as well as chicken and fish.

The other bloke - it was dairy products. The moment he gets back on milk related product - the headaches and vomiting starts up again. I can do the allergy 'testing' quickly now - using kinesiology - back then it took about 4 weeks to find the culprits through dietary changes. I just want to make it clear - I don't do the 'human' thing anymore - I treat horses and dogs. If you want to know why - just ask

Hippocrates - the "Father of Medicine"

2500 years ago, Hippocrates, the "Father of Medicine", said to his students, "Let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food". Moses Maimonides, the great 12th century physician, repeated the Hippocratic statement when he said, "No illness which can be treated by diet should be treated by any other means". In essence, Hippocrates and Maimonides were insisting that their students practice nutrient therapy.

This type of medical therapy is being used by doctors today, but only by a minority. It is more likely to be applied by nutritionists who have studied the specialist subject of nutrition in depth. There is little training in nutrition at medical schools and unless a doctor has pursued the study of nutrition out of choice, he or she is unlikely to be sufficiently informed to advise about optimum nutrition.

Just something interesting - the 'medical oath' has been scrapped - not compulsory anymore for doctors. Guess diet has been replaced by drugs - more money in a 'magic bullet' compared to a dirty old carrot.

The experts opinions:

The following people, you can look up on the Net - internationally renowned medically trained experts.

According to James Braly, M.D., Medical Director of Immuno Labs in Fort Lauderdale, Florida - 90% of migraine headaches are directly linked to food allergies or to reactions caused by additives. Even as early as the 80's, studies were published in The Lancet (British Medical Journal) that showed that 93% of migraine sufferers found relief when allergenic foods were eliminated from their diet. A double-blind placebo test proved that a re-introduction of these food into the group's diet caused the migraine headaches to reoccur.

Some of the culprits included benzoic acid (preservative), tartrazine (food dye) and aspartme (NutraSweet - also excessive salt intake.

According to Dr. Braly, a rotation diet is one of the simplest and most effective measures anyone can take to both prevent and deal with the problems of food allergies. "Normally I would rotate the foods every four days," he advises. "This means that you are not eating any one food more often than every four days. You might be able to have the same food more than once in a day, but then you wouldn't have it again until four days later. Some people may need to go longer than that, but usually four days is pretty close to ideal."

Dr. Braly also suggests adopting a lifestyle that includes a wide variety of nonallergenic fresh fruits and vegetables, seeds and nuts, and low-fat, nondairy protein in your diet. "Grains are important too," he says, "although I would stick to grains like brown rice, millet, amaranth and corn as examples."

A bit more about nutrition:

Conventional statistics suggests that 35 million Americans are afflicted with allergies. James Braly, MD, places the figure much higher. " Actually the majority of Americans suffer from allergies. This is particularly true of food allergies, which is, along with under nutrition the most commonly undiagnosed condition in the United States today."

Dr. Fuller Royal, MD, HMD, MHMA, FBIH also agrees that antibiotics can cause allergic reactions and feels that in many cases their use is unnecessary. " Antibiotics further add to the confusion the immune system is facing, until the immune system is no longer able to tell friend from foe. When that happens, it starts reacting to all sorts of things which are not foes, that then become treated as allergens : this leads to fatigue and allows viruses, bacteria, and so forth to come in and play havoc."

Other sources responsible for allergies include nutritional deficiencies, a repetitive and monotonous diet, chemicals in the food chain due to pesticides and preservatives, and chronic intestinal yeast overgrowth (candidiasis ), according to allergy specialist John Mansfield, MD of England.

On a previous occasion the 'homeopathic' thing was brought up - I let it go - no point if two individuals sit and 'argue' boring the heck out of the others. Just as prove of how integrated homeopathic medicine is into the conventional system - look at the following scientists and medical experts (including Dr. Fuller Royal):

http://www.britinsthom.com/faculty.asp

As technology improves, scientists can now find means of understanding systems of medicine which was previously classed as 'witchcraft' - these include acupuncture and homeopathy. Today there is a huge interest in homeopathy from a pharmacological perspective.

In short - hope this indicates to you how powerful a little bit of knowledge and discipline can be. How much money is wasted on migraines????? The total cost to society????? Can you please name any of your black workers back in Africa with this white man's disease????

I see many people are talking about vaccines and immunisation and the immune system. If you're interested - let me know. I don't suck things out of my thumb - there are many highly educated medical experts and scientist out there, as well as scientifically backed research - heaps of information available I just know where to find it.

Edited June 15, 2008 by Mauritz

[Nilo]

I believe you have a definite point Mau, and the solution you are suggesting is harmless and defenitely worth a try.

Just one question, I don't get migranes anymore I believe due to the Homeopathic treatments. Now my question, WHY?? I have read up and studdied the subject and still don't have a clue.

[SueB]

Thanks for taking the time to reply!! Nothing beats a healthy lifestyle - if one has the discipline for it

[Guest Mauritz]

I believe you have a definite point Mau, and the solution you are suggesting is harmless and defenitely worth a try.

Just one question, I don't get migranes anymore I believe due to the Homeopathic treatments. Now my question, WHY?? I have read up and studdied the subject and still don't have a clue.

Hi Nilo

I'll try and answer it so that it makes sense. Homeopathy works directly on you immune system. Allergies are related to your immune system via a immune response. Homeopathic medication very from symptom to symptom, form person to person. It's unique, something tailor made for you - that's how it's suppose to be.

Depending on your situation and symptoms you'll be 'prescribed' a specific remedy - this will act on you immune system in a way to stimulate your immune system - to create the necessary 'actions' - overcoming the 'allergy' or response to the allergy.

Here in Aus it is a affordable and safe system. Be careful who you see, there are many sharks out there. Ask around - word of mouth spread quickly through a community. If it's useless - people will make it clear - if it works - you'll know about it.

Also - be careful with caffeine while you make use of homeopathic medication. Ask the medical professional or practitioner about contraindications regarding whatever you're taking.

[Alibaba]

I have luckily never had a migraine in my life, but my uncle has had them since I could remember. He had to go on early pension due to his migraines. There is NOTHING and I mean absolutely nothing in SA that he has not tried. He is having less migraines since having a brain tumour removed, but they are not gone at all. I am taking over 40 years of really really bad migraines. He is so careful with his diet, very lean and totally fit.

Some things work for some people and not for others. To say a lifestyle change will cure it, is just too simplistic. Of course I promote a healthy lifestyle, but one of our best friends died at the age of 40 of cancer. He was very thin and fit, ran a lot of marathons in his life (was very good at it too), never drank, smoked or used drugs. Sometimes bad things happen to good people.

[Mara Bester]

Mau

I cannot agree more! I did not mention all the allergies I have from dust to colourents, preservatives and flavourants, part of the diet change had a direct impact on the amount of these culprits and that was the biggest change! It took me a while to put it all together though..

[Dirtbikerider]

Mauritz,

I am a firm believer in all you have had to say, I found the same cause for my high blood presure.

Are you a practising phisitian, in Australia ?

If so where are you as we are soon moving to Brisbane and I am intrigued by your philosophy and would love to meet you.

I also only use homeopathic or naturopathic remidies as far as I can.

DBR.

[candivw]

Since i cut caffeine and sugar out diet i have not had a migraine. Works wonders.