When pharmaceutical manufacturer Novartis issued a massive recall in January, it removed many products from pharmacy shelves, including Excedrin, Bufferin, and Gas-X. One such product was Excedrin Migraine — a combination of aspirin, Tylenol, and caffeine — that many people relied on to relieve migraines. Many thought the products would return quickly since the reason for the recall was reported as a manufacturing problem that included chipped or broken tablets, but shelves remain bare six months later. Generic substitutes work fine for some, but not for others who have been paying as much as $150 for 100 tablets on eBay.
While your first instinct may be to reach for a bottle of ibuprofen or acetaminophen when your head starts aching, there are many natural alternatives that are safe to try. One — magnesium — may ease a migraine immediately, and correcting a deficiency may keep you from getting headaches in the first place. And another — water — may also keep headaches at bay. The following are natural solutions that may ease your pain without the side effects that often accompany over-the-counter headache remedies and prescription medications, and even keep migraines from happening in the first place.
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Coenzyme Q10. A Swiss double-blind, placebo-controlled study found that CoQ10 cut the number of migraines in a group of patients who had an average of 4.4 migraines per month. One group received 100 mg of CoQ10 three times a day for three months, while the second group received a placebo. The CoQ10 group experienced a significant drop in the severity of symptoms as well as a 33 percent reduction in the number of migraines.
Feverfew. The herb feverfew has been used for hundreds of years to treat headaches, especially migraines. A British placebo-controlled study published in the Lancet found that one capsule of powdered freeze-dried feverfew daily eliminated the symptoms of migraine headaches in 24 percent of patients and reduced the symptoms in other patients. In another study, 70 percent of the patients taking feverfew reported it reduced the number and intensity of their headaches. One expert believes it works by reducing the amount of prostaglandins which contract blood vessels and cause the pounding that's typical of many headaches.
Butterbur. A double-blind study published in Neurology found that migraine patients who took 150 mg of the herb butterbur daily reported a 48 percent drop in migraines, and those taking 100 mg experienced 26 percent fewer migraines than the placebo group. Another double-blind study found that patients who took 50 mg of butterbur twice daily had a 50 percent reduction in migraines over those taking a placebo.
Water. Preventing headaches may be as simple as drinking enough water, says the prestigious Mayo Clinic. While thirst is a good indicator that your body needs more water, the Mayo Clinic recommends looking at the color of your urine instead. If it's clear, you're drinking enough. If it's yellow, you may be dehydrated, and the darker the shade of yellow, the more dehydrated you are. Pain from a headache caused by dehydration may be at the front or back or on just one side of the head and may get worse when you bend your head down, according to Dr. Howard LeWine of Harvard Medical School and Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital. "Dehydration causing headaches is much more common than is generally recognized in the medical profession," he told Wichita's Examiner. To avoid dehydration, drink a minimum of eight 8-ounce glasses of water each day.
If you're still longing for Excedrin Migraine tablets, you might consider trying a generic brand that contains the same ingredients. Or, according to Good Morning America, you could take the identical amount of all three Excedrin Migraine ingredients at the same time — 250 mg of Tylenol, 250 mg of aspirin, and 65 mg of caffeine, approximately the same amount as in one cup of coffee.
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