3 Common mistakes of managing migraine

Let’s talk about the 3 mistakes that I see women make when it comes to managing migraine. I’ve made these same mistakes myself – for many years – but looking at these three factors has made a huge difference to my health, and the health of my patients. Good health makes us more resilient to migraine flare-ups.

The first mistake is not addressing our migraine drivers. There can be an over reliance on just treating the symptoms – with medications, painkillers or supplements. Medications and supplements can be great in helping us get through a migraine by managing pain, nausea and other symptoms, but they don’t really address the cause.

In fact, when it comes to medication, they can make the problem worse in the long term. While migraine does have a genetic factor, there are many possible contributing causes as to how many migraine attacks we get – such as hormones being a bit unbalanced, the liver may not be functioning quite as well as we would like, muscular or skeletal issues, food intolerance or digestive problems – and of course neurotransmitter issues – often caused by long term stress.

This is where I see naturopathic care excelling, as we can be health detectives when it comes to finding causes of migraine flare-ups.

The second mistake is ignoring nutritional approaches. And I’m not just talking about figuring out our food triggers (although this is still important). I’m talking about eating clean, nourishing, unprocessed foods. F

or some people, following a more rigid diet framework works best, while for others, a general approach of eating less junk and more nutritious foods is the way to go. There are many different migraine nutrition approaches out there, and sometimes you need to find the one that works best for you. (Guiding clients in this area is something I love to do!).

Some nutrition plans can be incredibly effective in preventing and reducing migraine attacks. And these diets are not about deprivation. In fact, with migraine sufferers it is often better to eat a little more calories, rather than less – to ensure that our brains are getting a steady supply of nutritional requirements.

In practice, I have access to many different nutrition approaches to guide clients through. And in my opinion, food is definitely the most effective medicine when to comes to migraine.

And the third – and perhaps the most important – thing I see is women not prioritising self care. Something I notice in many migraine sufferers, and I’m guilty of this too, is that we can have a tendency to push ourselves too hard. This could be you if who get a migraine at the start of the weekend or a holiday.

Many also don’t prioritise or invest in health, and this can drive the migraine cycle resulting in more flare-ups and other health problems too.

So, making time for self care – including rest, time in nature, slowing down, eating well, getting enough sleep, doing things that fill our cup, is really key to starting to managing migraine.

I hope this reminds you that you are worth taking time to look after yourselves.