Magnesium

14 Jun, 2014 - 7:31 pm

I read somewhere on this site about taking magnesium. Can someone please advise about this - is it a supplement to be taken all the time or only during active periods?
How effective is it?

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17 Jul, 2014 - 8:22 pm

The supplements have little evidence base behind them but Magnesium is a Calcium channel blocker so may have an effect. I've tried taking a mix of Magnesium Oxide and Magnesium Citrate to no avail, but give it a go. It may help mitigate it for you. Provided you don't take too much of it, the worst that will happen is that you'll have more Magnesium in your urine.

As with all supplements, be sure to tell your doctor/nurse what you're taking when they ask if you're on any medication.

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17 Jul, 2014 - 8:24 pm

i to have tried magnesium and it didn't work.

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17 Jul, 2014 - 9:24 pm

Thanks for the replies. I am now into week 9 of this cycle and back to my neurologist tomorrow and was going to mention magnesium and other ideas to him because I am desperate - nothing is working for me. I am desperate. I think I am now a chronic sufferer and as I write I am two and a half hours into an attack ( kip 7)

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18 Jul, 2014 - 8:57 am

I have tried magnesium powder in previous times and it did seem to help but as we all know, sadly when we are in the midst of an attack, life can feel very hard to deal with, even drinking some magnesium powder in a glass of water.

I am a Reiki practitioner and use Reiki to help with the pain. Funnily enough I learnt last week that some Reiki healers can be low in magnesium so with that information and reading these blogs I am going to give the magnesium a try again.

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06 Oct, 2014 - 9:49 am

Ive been taken supplements and magnesium is one for them for 1 year and i was hoping i wouldnt get attacks next season (i peak jan-Mar each year) but have got it between season changes some years, sept But past 2 days im showing signs of leadup to attacks So if i do, Mag hasnt done anything then.... back to drawing board. Im thinking of botox?

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09 Oct, 2014 - 4:37 pm

Hi Kba78,

I'm going to try taking nodoz tablets (caffeine) every morning when I get mine back, to see if they help with the severity of the pain.

Caffeine (like imigran) is a vasoconstrictor, and so should reverse the effects of the vasodilation that causes the CH pain.

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16 Oct, 2014 - 5:55 pm

Vasodilation as a "cause" for CH is part of the now defunct theory of "Vascular Headache".
If we had a "cause" for CH, then we would all be closer to that "cure" we seek.
There is no known cause in CH.

The Vascular theory of headache, taught to most current practicing GPs is outdated and no longer applicable, they need to brush up on this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vascular_headache

The Vasoconstrictive effect of Imigran is a side-effect of the drug.
Mean arterial constriction seen in cross-sections of blood vessels, conducted during studies of Imigran is less than 10%. The mechanism of action behind Imigran in CH is still not known, although 5HT Serotonin receptors are implicated.

See: The vascular theory of migraine—a great story wrecked by the facts, by Peter Goadsby.

http://brain.oxfordjournals.org/content/brain/132/1/6.full.pdf

And, Cluster Headache: What has changed since 1999? Here on this site.

http://www.clusterheadaches.com.au/forum_posts.php?id=3071

Magnesium, may help unlock stores of Vitamin D.
Batch's Vitamin D regimen is still gleaning positive results on the US forum.
The Vitamin D regimen is somewhere on this site, under "Medications and treatments".
Perhaps only when sufficient Vitamin D is supplemented, can Magnesium assist as a co-factor in CH relief.

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