B12 possibly helping - may be worth a try.

[blinc]

I've been taking 1 tablet 1000ug dissolved under the tongue daily for a couple of months now & my migraine frequency has been markedly lower than in years (60% fewer). This may be a coincidence (I'm 52, & going through menopause, & on v low HRT, but have been taking the HRT for about 3 years & that, per se, didn't help migraines at all), but I thought it was worth mentioning. I'm not going to stop taking the B12, that's for sure! I only started taking them as my daughter, vegan, was having other health issues & as I'm on a virtually vegan diet too for practical reasons, I thought maybe I should take a supplement too - I wasn't really thinking of the migraines. Once again, it does seem like a mighty coincidence, but I'm not sure how much hormones can make a very sudden improvement to migraines, so it may be that, just wanted to mention the B12 in case any one wanted to give it a try. (The ones I take are from Just Vitamins).

[Hidden]

Hi blinc, Do you think that the change in diet might also have reduced the frequency in migraines? I know that certain foods like eggs and soy are triggers for me. B12 does sound promising, must be some to try.

[blinc in reply to Hidden]

Hi Liseanne, yes certain foods are most definitely mega triggers - cheap soy sauce (Amoy) is almost instant & dreadful (one really helpful lady on this forum suggested that & she was right), also the classic MSG. However for years I have really been on a mainly very healthy, plant based diet, so I really do think there may be something in the B12, I can't believe a hormonal shift can be so sudden, & I don't want to test it out by stopping the B12. The tablets weren't expensive, so it may be worth a try...

[Hidden in reply to blinc]

Thanks blinc, I will definitely try B12.

[blinc in reply to Hidden]

Good luck, keep us posted

[BitBrokenBrain]

I believe that for some of us there does have to be a correlation. This totally makes sense to me! In addition to chronic migraines and hemiplegic migraines, I have pernicious anemia (requires B12 injections, unfortunately oral supplements don't help me). The lower my levels go, the harder it is for me to recover from a migraine, and the hemiplegic migraines become more frequent. My weird silver lining is that if they don't have any other obvious triggers and are back to back, I know I skipped an injection or need to go in for testing for possible dosage adjustments.

[blinc in reply to BitBrokenBrain]

Thank you for that - very interesting, confirms my thoughts!

[Gambit62]

B12 deficiency is certainly associated with migraine like headaches and as BitBrokenBrain says I also found that treatement for B12 deficiency lessened the frequency and severity of attacks.

However, a word of caution - 1000mcg is a lot of B12 if you don't have an absorption problem. Whilst absorption in the ileum does seem to be limited, passive absorption can lead to risisng levels of B12 in serum and in some people excessively raised B12 levels can lead to a 'functional' B12 deficiency due to raised levels affecting the efficiency with which B12 is transferred to cells, leaving them with less B12 than before the supplementation started (could affect about 1/3 of the population)

I would strongly recommend, in the absence of a B12 absorption problem (ie assuming that any deficiency is dietary) switching to a much lower dose - something like 12mcg is the RDA for B12.

I'm guessing that you probably don't want to take suppermarket supplements because of fillers etc but would suggest switching to one of those instead if you can

[blinc in reply to Gambit62]

Oh wow, what a minefield it is...may be I'll go to my GP after lockdown & see if I can have injections - that sounds like a safer bet, thank you for that information

[blinc in reply to Gambit62]

Or at least visiting the health food shop & having a chat there, they seem very knowledgeable in ours, thank you again

[Gambit62 in reply to blinc]

if they are pushing high dose supplements or recommending them then I personally wouldn't consider them knowledgeable.

Whilst it is true that B12 isn't toxic that doesn't mean there aren't potential consequences to over-supplementing.

[blinc in reply to Gambit62]

Absolutely agree...thank you, I may just keep taking what I'm taking, then go to GP after lockdown, to be on safe side