I have written before about the way I have found my own gluten-induced migraine eased by using this magnesium oil spray – I seem to absorb this one better. You can read my previous post here. There was a recent study by doctors specialising in headache and migraine, published in the Journal of Neural Transmission, that suggests I am on the right track here.
I find many people are magnesium deficient although standard blood tests won’t always show that. I find pretty often that on checking red blood cell magnesium levels as opposed to plasma levels a deficiency exists, so its worth checking and trialling.
Incidentally, I have also found this spray works wonders for cramping and restless legs in some people where it is obviously related in a similar way as migraine to the contraction of nerve fibres and muscle. Just rub it straight into the leg muscles or, if having a bath, add some of the magnesium flakes. This is a good de-stress technique generally; after all, they call magnesium the ‘anti-stress’ mineral!
Key points from the doctors’ magnesium and migraine review included:
- Magnesium deficiency is linked to several processes that may promote migraine headache including: platelet aggregation, serotonin receptor function, and synthesis and release of a variety of neurotransmitters.
- Migraine sufferers may develop magnesium deficiency due to genetic inability to absorb magnesium, inherited renal magnesium wasting, excretion of excessive amounts of magnesium due to stress, low nutritional intake, and several other reasons.
- There is strong evidence that magnesium deficiency is much more prevalent in migraine sufferers than in healthy controls.
- Double-blind, placebo-controlled trials have produced mixed results, most likely because both magnesium deficient and non-deficient patients were included in these trials.
- Magnesium is extremely safe, very inexpensive and for patients who are magnesium deficient can be highly effective.
I know that magnesium does help some people, but it didn’t have any noticeable effect on my Restless Legs. However, nineteen weeks after inoculating with hookworm, my RLS completely disappeared and has never returned. Such a relief!
http://blog.autoimmunetherapies.com/gut_buddies/2010/08/17/no-more-restless-legs/
I think that magnesium did have a small impact on my migraines, but, here again, hookworms really did the business:
http://www.foodsmatter.com/natural_medicine_comp_therapies/helminthic_therapy/articles/headache_migraine.html