I get migraines. They can be terrible, especially during the summer months. Some of them are so intense that I’m literally blinded by them.
So, believe me, I get it. I understand why folks who suffer from these types of headaches can be driven to try just about ANYTHING for even a little bit of relief.
I’ve been there. And I was excited when I saw the headlines about a treatment that supposedly helps 88 percent of migraine patients. And that includes people with some of the worst, most intense, and most frequent pain of all.
Good thing I didn’t bother to hold my breath. Because, as you’ll see in a moment, this solution doesn’t deliver quite what the headlines promise.
But I’ve also got something else for you today. And that’s a safer choice that could help you cut the number of episodes, ease the pain, and get back to living your life.
Migraine study ends with mixed results
It’s one thing when the treatment for your migraines is one of the usual drugs with the expected array of side effects. But this new option is quite another.
Because while it is a drug… and there are side effects… there’s nothing “usual” about any of this.
You need to spend about a week in the hospital to get it. They hook you up to an IV and put on a slow drip of lidocaine. It’s the same anesthetic you find in some pain patches, gels, and creams to help with everything from tooth pain to joint aches.
Now I don’t know about you. But to me, spending a week in a hospital connected to an IV drip sounds nearly as bad as migraines.
However, 88 percent of patients did report some degree of pain relief after they were let out of the hospital. And they went from having an average of 26.8 days per month with a headache down to 22.5 days per month with a headache.
I’ll admit that’s nothing to sneeze at. If you regularly battle migraines, several extra pain-free days are a blessing.
But as time went on, that benefit dropped. And after a month, less than half of the folks in the study maintained their improvement.
A better way to beat migraines
So, on the one hand, the lidocaine drip works to some extent. It can reduce the number of migraines you have for a month. And if you’re lucky, some of the benefits may stick around beyond a month.
But on the other hand, you have to spend a week in the hospital on an IV. And you may fall into the unlucky group that sees no benefit or has it quickly fade away.
The side effects were considered “mild.” But I think it’s safe to say we don’t know much about any long-term risks of delivering lidocaine directly into the bloodstream for a week.
If this were the only way to beat migraines for folks who have run out of options, it could be worth trying. But fortunately, it’s typically not.
The folks in this study HAD failed on other treatments before being given intravenous lidocaine. But those were all conventional medicine treatments and primarily drugs. They didn’t try any of my personal favorites for battling migraines, like supplementing with magnesium.
Most of us run a bit low in this critical mineral by some estimates. But up to 80 percent of older Americans may be getting insufficient magnesium. And that could lead directly to headaches for some folks.
Last year, one study found magnesium supplements could cut the odds of migraines by up to 24 percent.
The natural therapy butterbur could slash migraines by half in some folks.
Plus, I shared all the details of a study on a unique form of light therapy with readers that cut migraine frequency and pain by up to 60 percent. If you missed that issue, you can catch up here.
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