NAD for Migraine Relief

NAD for Migraine Relief

A migraine is not just a bad headache. It’s a disabling neurological disease with symptoms that differ from other headaches, which as a result, require different treatment approaches.

The American Migraine Foundation estimates that at least 39 million Americans live with migraines. Large as that number is, the fact that many people do not get diagnosis or treatment for their headaches implies that the actual number is probably much higher.

There are four stages common to migraines, although not all people experience all of the stages all of the time. (And some people never experience all four of them.) The four stages are:

Prodrome: This phase, which is experienced by about 75% of migraine patients, may precede the migraine by several hours or even days and include symptoms such as extreme tiredness and yawning, irritability or moodiness, difficulty concentrating, and food cravings. often they don’t recognize it as the beginning of an attack.

Aura: This phase, which is experienced only by about 20% of sufferers, usually begins just before the headache starts and includes flashes of light, blind spots, visual shapes or bright spots, or blurred or loss of vision. These symptoms typically resolve in an hour or less

Headache: This phase typically involves intense pain on one or both sides of the head that lasts from several hours to three days and that can also include nausea, vomiting, or sensitivity to lights and noises. The pain is severe enough to interfere with the accomplishment of school, work or other activities.

Postdrome: This phase, which is experienced by 80% of people with migraines, is also sometimes called the “migraine hangover.” Its symptoms include fatigue, body aches, trouble concentrating, dizziness, and sensitivity to light.

Most migraine attacks occur spontaneously, meaning there are no known triggers. Others, however, can be triggered by causes that include stress (good or bad), caffeine or other foods, skipping meals, alcohol, sleeping too much or too little, changes in weather or barometric pressure, hormonal changes in women, concussions, and traumatic brain injuries.

Although migraines can affect people of any gender, sex, age, race, or ethnicity, they are more common in women, and research shows that hormones play a role. Genetics can also be a factor, as migraines tend to run in families. Research also shows that mitochondrial dysfunction, particularly energy deficits in the brain, can be linked to migraines.

Migraine treatments

Migraine treatments are directed at:

1. Preventing a migraine attack through techniques such as stress management and biofeedback can help reduce migraine attack frequency and severity. They are an important tool in managing the condition and reducing the frequency and severity of migraine attacks. Importantly, Springfield Wellness Center can help with these.
2. Alleviating the pain and other symptoms of a migraine attack that is in progress, primarily through prescription medications. (Although analgesics such as ibuprofen and acetaminophen can help to alleviate lesser migraines, they are usually inadequate to mitigate the pain.)

The leading prescription pain medications for migraines are sumatriptan, which is marketed under the brand names Imitrex and Tosymra, and zolmitriptan (Zolmig). These medicines belong to a class of drugs known as selective serotonin receptor agonists, which work by joining to receptors that normally bind to serotonin and cause the constriction of dilated blood vessels as a result. Unfortunately, they don’t work for all migraine sufferers, nor do they reduce the frequency of migraines.

Moreover, these drugs also cause side effects, the most common of which are dizziness, drowsiness, heaviness, nausea, stomachaches, tingling, and weakness. Other fairly common side effects include: headaches, hot/cold flashes, and tiredness. In fact, prolonged reliance on these drugs can cause “rebound headaches.”

Fortunately, there is a way off the migraine merry-go-round—and we’ve pioneered it!

As we’ve published in various case studies and scientific poster presentations, NAD delivered directly to the sphenopalatine ganglion via the nose can provide immediate, long-lasting migraine pain relief. In at least one case, a single treatment completely eliminated migraines for the patient for the entire one-year follow-up!

That case study, presented in 2022 at the Mississippi Academy of Sciences (Intranasal administration of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide alleviates headaches associated with migraine pain: A case report) described an 87-year-old woman with a 50-year history of migraines, who received NAD/lidocaine at 100 mg/mL, 0.5% per protocol of 0.5 mL, into each nostril via Sphenocatheter. For follow-up, the patient also was prescribed Real NAD+ (150mg/day) sublingual lozenges over a three-month period. Interviews conducted at one week, six weeks, three months, and one year intervals revealed no adverse effects and the patient has not had a single migraine since.

NAD researchers presented another poster in 2022, this one at the Society for Neuroscience Conference in San Diego, California. This poster (Intranasal Administration of Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide Alleviates Headaches Associated with Migraine Pain and Reduces Adverse Effects of Anxiety Disorders: A Case Report) presented the case report by Dr. Arwen Podesta on a 55-year-old male with debilitating panic attacks, migraines that had been poorly controlled by medications (quetiapine, oxcarbapezine, sumatiptan, and oxygen), anxiety and agoraphobia, as well as attempted suicide. Dr. Podesta treated the patient with .375 ml of 100 mg/ml NAD+ and .25 ml of 20 mg/ml lidocaine into each nostril via Sphenocatheter. The treatment was repeated at one and four weeks, and then interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic. However, follow-up measures of the patient’s well-being were conducted at two months, eight months, one-year, and two-year intervals, utilizing the Warwick-Edinburg Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS).

The results can be seen on the poster at the NAD Research website, but to summarize, NAD+ dramatically reduced the patient’s migraine symptoms and improved his WEMWBS score in less than four days. Moreover, despite an interrupted treatment schedule, the improvements were maintained to a lesser extent for two years.

The Sphenocath treatment itself lasts only a few minutes and is well-tolerated by all of our patients thus far.

As anyone who has suffered from migraines can attest, the prospect of reducing or eliminating migraines with an affordable, in-office treatment or two sounds almost too good to be true. That is so often what we hear about intravenous (and in this case, intra-nasal) NAD. The explanation is that NAD (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) is such an essential molecule for health and well-being that restoring it to cells that are deficient can have transformative results.

If you or someone you love suffers from migraines, please give us a call! We’ll be waiting for you!