Leaderboard

Here's some good news on preventing migraines... Curr Med Res Opin. 2018 Sep 5:1-22. doi: 10.1080/03007995.2018.1519503. [Epub ahead of print] A randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, parallel trial of vitamin D3 supplementation in adult patients with migraine. Gazerani P1, Fuglsang R1, Pedersen JG1, Sørensen J1, Kjeldsen JL1, Yassin H1, Nedergaard BS2. Abstract BACKGROUND: Vitamin D levels have been linked to certain pain states, including migraine. We investigated whether vitamin D supplementation would be beneficial for adult patients with migraine (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01695460). METHODS: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled parallel trial was conducted in migraine patients (36 women and 12 men, 18-65 years of age). A 4-week baseline period was conducted before randomization to 24 weeks of treatment. Participants were assigned to receive D3-Vitamin® (n = 24, 18 women and 6 men, 100 μg/day D3-Vitamin®) or placebo (n = 24, 18 women and 6 men). Migraine attacks and related symptoms were assessed by self-reported diaries. The response rate (i.e., experiencing a 50% or greater reduction in migraine frequency from baseline to week 24), change in migraine severity, and number of migraine days were recorded. Changes in migraine-related symptoms, HIT-6TM scores, and pain sensitivity tests (pressure pain threshold and temporal summation) were also evaluated. Serum levels of both 25(OH)D and 1,25(OH)2D were assessed from baseline to week 24. RESULTS: The number of headache days changed from 6.14±3.60 in the treatment group and 5.72±4.52 in the placebo group at baseline to 3.28±3.24 and 4.93±3.24 by the end of the trial, respectively. Migraine patients on D3-Vitamin® demonstrated a significant decrease (p < 0.001) in migraine frequency from baseline to week 24 compared with placebo. However, migraine severity, pressure pain thresholds or temporal summation did not show a significant change. 25(OH)D levels increased significantly for the D3-Vitamin® group during the first 12 weeks of treatment. There was no significant change in 1,25(OH)2D. No side effects were reported or noted. CONCLUSIONS: D3-Vitamin® was superior to placebo in reducing migraine days in migraine patients. Larger studies are required to confirm that vitamin D3 might be one of the prophylactic options for adult patients with migraine. My Comments: Putting the results of this RCT in perspective, migraineurs taking 4,000 IU/day vitamin D3 experienced an average reduction of 2.86 migraine days/month while migraineurs taking the placebo experienced a reduction of 0.79 migraine days/month. Doing the math, migraineurs taking 4000 IU/day vitamin D3 experienced 2.07 fewer monthly migraine days/month than migraineurs taking the placebo. Doing a similar analysis of Aimovig (Erenumab), one of the two approved monoclonal antibody (mAb) migraine preventatives, using the same placebo-controlled study design with the same 3-month end point found it achieved a reduction in migraine days/month between 1.4 and 1.9 migraine days/month better than the placebo depending on the dose. Three months worth of vitamin D3 at 4,000 IU/day (5 cents/day) costs roughly $4.50 while three months of Aimovig at ~$600/month costs $1,800... You can do your own math on relative cost benefits... BTW... It was posts like this I made on Facebook that likely caused Facebook management to block my access... Take care, V/R, Batch

Batch...there's this curve....and you are so far ahead of it that they can't even see your dust...…. ….thanks for posting this...a piece of science we can wave in front of the droids we encounter in the medical community...who sadly sometimes don't even believe it then....see O2 deniers for CH...……………… Best Jon

I know you're trying to be helpful (and promote a product, which is generally against the rules of the board but I suppose could be waived in this case(?)), but Ajovy is not, to the best of my knowledge and with reference to the Ajovy website, approved for cluster headache -- and there's really no such thing as "cluster migraine." So unless you can clarify, this might be creating false expectations among people with cluster headache, which is not a form of migraine. I'd be happy to be shown that I'm wrong, since I think this treatment is important.

I did not take many pics. This was my first conference, it won't be my last. Besides getting to meet and hang out with lots of very nice people, I came home armed with a lot of information. Literally from the moment I arrived until the time I left I was busy gathering information, sharing stories, and fellowshipping with a great group of people. Everyone was helpful, and I came away months worth of information to process. I had never met another cluster headache sufferer before, so the conference was especially eye-opening for me. Racer1_NC taught me how to use oxygen, which I was able to put into practice the next day. I had never properly used oxygen before, and it makes a world of difference. Thank you very much for your help Before I went to the conference I had read that this condition had altered people's lives. I know it has changed mine. But getting to talk to people who understand what you are going through is absolutely priceless. Being able to relate to complete strangers in ways that I can't with my closest family members is an odd feeling, yet was completely exhilarating. I ate every meal as fast as I could, sometimes rudely talking with my mouth full. I stayed up way later than I normally would, talking and hanging out with people I had never met. The presentations were very informative, and I came home with a lot of "action items." For example: find a new neuro that will actually prescribe oxygen, because it is the best abortive treatment I have found. I have a lot of new things to try, and I am emboldened by the experiences others shared with me. As it turns out, I'm not so weird after all, and that is empowering. Also, I saw a lot of people drinking alcohol, which is a big trigger for me. As it turns out, it is for a lot of people, but they are beating the beast and can enjoy there lives. Next year, I want that to be me.

Dont give up that fast. If you can get the D3 at any level you will just need to take a few more pills. I was taking 10 of them at 5000 iu each. if you need to order a lower dose then that is what you will need to do. It will pay off in the long run.