Migraines, headaches, and relationship to b12

[MindfulSquirrel]

I feel like I spend half my life with a headache these days 😭 There’s definitely migraine with prodrome/aura, which I suspect would be there to some degree without the PA as it’s so hormonal. Then there’s tension headaches, bad posture headaches, and a weird sort of one that feels like a sinus pressure headache without the congestion. It’s that latter one that I had suspected was a low B12 headache but after having one today a few hours of my injection, which then morphed into something more migraine like, I’m not so sure anymore.

Does anyone relate, either to the weird pressure headaches or any of it? And did anyone with headaches, including migraine, find they got better with optimal B12 treatment? Has anyone noticed any link between headaches and their B12 cofactors not being quite balanced correctly?

A neurologist has suggested I start taking 400mg of riboflavin (B2) and upping my magnesium supplement, but with the B12 injections, folic acid and B-complex I’m going to start feeling like a walking B vitamin before long. 😭

[Nackapan]

I have suffered migraines for the first time with b12 deficiency. I used to be in a constant headache that went into a migraine at times. . Thr longest event being 6 days .

3 neurologists had different views of what sort they were.

I now still have them but less frequently and usually less severe.

So regular b12 has helped.

The weird pressure sinus I know.

Tension headaches i know .

Vestibular migraines I know.

Apparently there are over 25 different sorts.

.I'm still prone to a headache thd day after a b12 injection 💉 not sure why.

[MindfulSquirrel in reply to Nackapan]

Good to hear that yours are a bit better now, if not gone. 🙂

[MindfulSquirrel]

I’m going to add a follow up question - has anyone experienced a temporary worsening of headache/migraine as a reversing out symptom?

[deniseinmilden in reply to MindfulSquirrel]

Yes, I get migraines.

I haven't directly connected them to B12 deficiency or treatment as there definitely was a correlation between them and my hormone levels but not the B12 - they just happened to occur around the same time.

I did wonder if the progesterone I was taking to stop the migraines also lowered my B12 levels or effective response to it - I have injected 1.5mg every day for more than 8 years. I take Sumatriptan when I get a migraine to help manage it.

Last Christmas I had a very high temperature as a result of pneumonia and pleurisy which caused a significant increase in my migraines - they were lasting a week or more and I was getting them almost weekly so I rarely was without one. They were just reducing when I got covid in May and had another extremely high temperature - which set off 3 months of either constant or daily migraines.

I accidentally found the only cure was to walk lots. I was doing donkey rides with someone for work, and walking over 15 - 20 miles at weekends was giving me relief. Now I only need to walk for an hour or so to clear them. I try to go for a walk as much as possible now to keep them away - this works for tension headaches too.

[MindfulSquirrel in reply to deniseinmilden]

Yes, my first probable COVID infection led to a 2 1/2 month headache 😭 , that pressure type one that kept turning into migraine. When we realised it was partly migrainous my GP took me off the combined pill incredibly promptly!

I did a tap class with a migraine the other day, with ear plugs in so the noise didn’t bother me. The class thought I was either mad or hardcore but if I stopped doing everything with even the less painful headaches, I would never do anything!

[MindfulSquirrel in reply to MindfulSquirrel]

It’s also the prodromes which are the worst. Pain I can cope with. The ramped up stress levels/irritability/anxiety which I’m now recognising as prodrome is just awful. I’m not the person I want to be at these times. 😕

[deniseinmilden in reply to MindfulSquirrel]

When my migraines were really bad about 10 years ago - every day for the 3 weeks I took The Pill, repeatedly - I went to see the Dr who sent me straight to hospital because he thought I'd had a stroke!

A nurse at the time had them and said "nice work if you can get it" when I said I'd been told to go and lie down in a dark room when I got them, but with being self-employed I just had to carry on, but barely could.

You just do everything you can to mitigate their effects and do what you can, don't you?! I know what you mean - well done!

I can't carry on without the Sumatriptan though - that's revolutionised having migraines for me over the past couple of years.

I'm fascinated by the effects of the extreme (and now, thankfully, less extreme) walking though. That's a clear "cure" rather than a chemical mask.

I hope you find a way to alleviate yours.

[Nackapan in reply to MindfulSquirrel]

Mine only started then ...so yes.Days bedbound on lots of pain killers .

Couodnt even use eyes

[Sailinglady]

I've suffered with migraines for the last 30 years. I was diagnosed with PA 2 years ago (but probably had some sort of B12 deficiency all my life).My migraines definitely reduced in frequency when i got my B12 levels topped up properly (months of EOD then weekly injections). My migraine frequency has increased again over the last few months (where I'd reduced to 4 weekly injections, and all my symptoms returned). I managed a walk yesterday without triggering another migraine (they are exercise induced, now that my hormones are settling down...). My other B12 symptoms are also settling with a few weekly injections.

I talked about this with my neurologist about a year ago, and she was not aware of an association between B12 and migraine, but I'm very convinced there is one for me. Riboflavin never worked for my migraines (but I have seen it be very effective for others).

I don't get an instant response from a B12 injection. It takes 12 to 24 hours to notice any change in energy or other symptoms.

[MindfulSquirrel in reply to Sailinglady]

Yes, likewise I think 24-48 hours is when I notice the benefits.

I do wonder if the B12 injections (plus higher vitamin D supplements twice a week) are lowering my magnesium levels, and if I have issues taking it in anyway. Yesterday afternoon I briefly felt anxious and shaky, got parathesia, and then my migraine changed side/I got a second one. I know that potassium can drop on injections so I ate a banana but also took a magnesium supplement top up, and certainly the shakiness and anxiety was better within the hour. 🤷‍♀️

As I think I’m now technically a chronic migraineur I don’t know if supplements will help but I’m going to give it a go - 400mg riboflavin, 400mg magnesium and 150mg coenzyme Q10. My wee is going to be fluorescent after this! 😂

[Sailinglady in reply to MindfulSquirrel]

I take regular magnesium and vitamin d (i was vit d deficient a few years ago). Magnesium is difficult for everyone to absorb (human bodies are not well designed). The supplements you've listed all have evidence for reducing migraine frequency with chronic migraine. If that doesn't work, then you may need a pharmacological prophylaxis to reduce their frequency. I also take candesartan for this (I found propranolol worked, but gave me Raynaud's; amitriptyline and pizotifen didn't help; topiramate helped a little, but then I got the neuropathy so can't have it anymore). If that doesn't work, then there are new fangled gpants, but they're irritatingly not funded in my area.

[MindfulSquirrel in reply to Sailinglady]

Ooo candesartan is the medicine that the neurologist recommended. Even though I haven’t tried any other prophylactic meds yet, she said I should go straight for it if the supplements don’t work. I read that it increases potassium serum, which sounded like it could cause some confusion with the advice to keep a potassium rich diet when on B12 injections. Have you had any issues with that?

[Sailinglady in reply to MindfulSquirrel]

Not that I'm aware of. I've not had a blood test for over a year, so I wouldn't know. I've not come across the advice re potassium.

[Technoid in reply to Sailinglady]

"Magnesium is difficult for everyone to absorb (human bodies are not well designed)."

About 30%-60% of ingested magnesium is absorbed but this is already accounted for in the RDA (420mg for men over 30 and 320mg for women over 30).

A well planned diet with plenty of vegetables, wholegrains, nuts and seeds can easily reach 880mg. That's more than double the RDA. Supplementation up to 250mg will likely do no harm but is likely not needed if the intake from diet reaches these levels.

[Nackapan in reply to Sailinglady]

Yes can totally relate to exercise induced. The first year was very difficult .

I built up to just walking round the block once a day .

I'd get terrible nausea. Pains to my spine .

And balance issues that stopped me 'pushing through' which was always a mistake anyway even on painkillers.

Moving at all was awful.

I coyidnt use my eyes. Putting on prescription glasses a challenge every morning .

Dark days .

Still light sensitive

Don't havd 'normal house lights '

Uplighters in the corners of rooms

Text still disappears from the right as I read ot type or write.

Has improved alot in the last yesr .

Still can't use a computer? Size of screen.

Or read a book

Huge progress though this yrsr .

[indywindy]

I don't know which B12 sort you have been injecting, but some people definately cannot handle cyanocobalamin. Switching to Hydroxocobalamin could be the way?Be mindful of the different intervals with the 2 kinds though🌺

[MindfulSquirrel in reply to indywindy]

It is hydro but the migraines very much predate treatment. I do wonder if my pain perception was being dampened by the B12 deficiency and so now I’m feeling pain more (period cramps are also worse now) but I guess I’ll just have to learn to live with that.

[ktwing]

I very much relate, all sorts of headaches, tension, migraine, some, I think, teeth related headaches, some eye-related - I think a lot of mine are hormone or stress related. I was pretty sure I had read that migraines could be related to low B12, but can't remember the source for that - here is an article about a study which found a greater serum B12 hugely decreased the chance of migraine: neurologyadvisor.com/adviso...

In my own life, it's too tricky to figure out what makes any symptom better or worse at the moment as I have too many factors going on - perimenopause, work stress, pandemic stress etc etc etc 😅

[Nackapan in reply to ktwing]

Yrs took me yrsts to seperate symptoms

[mcg-woo]

Hello and sorry you’re suffering from migraines. The onset of my migraines coincided with the gradual fall of my B12 levels around age 40. It was my very first symptom but I didn’t know why at the time? I had a couple of sinus surgeries, allergy injections. I tried preventative migraine medications without success. My migraines became chronic and I sought more aggressive treatment. My migraines are better controlled now with weekly hydroxo injections, Botox injections every 3 months and an abortive medication for when I do have one. Today, it seems I only have upticks in migraines after illness such as Covid or influenza or it’s time for Botox injections. I hope this helps you!

[Rosydawn]

Hello MindfulSquirrel,

I found I got a three day headache when my b12 levels dropped and then got a headache after the injection when I was on the NHS regime.

I now SI frequently and rarely get the headache dips in b12. Migraine which I used to get from time to time have also mostly stopped. However I also regularly see a chiropractor who treats me for head neck as well as hip.

I think it is probably both SI and chiropractor that have helped me. You might also try a food diary

Good luck and hope you are feeling better soon

[Nackapan in reply to Rosydawn]

Yes I tried a food diary.Loads of different mefs.

Still have an emergency one in my drawer.

The menopause was my trigger for b1e vit d and ferritin plummeting

I did get menopausal symptoms but knew more was going on.

Then a very low first ever serum b1e test.

Tried HRT after Gp persuaded me that could help.

7 days in induced s 6 day stretch of he'll in a migraine after a longer walk ( only 1 mile)

Weaning of it gave more head pain.

Time and B12 my recovery.

I also had a bad fall hitting my head .

So one neurologist thought post concussion thrown in too 🤔

Hellish whatever

Only have otc painkillers at present and regular b12 injections and vit. Supplements

Am able to 3alk a bit further now before the stagger leaden legs start .