Liver Function and Migraine

So far in this blog, we’ve looked at how the estrogen/progesterone balance affects migraines, why magnesium is essential, how leaky gut can lay the groundwork for migraine, how cherries can help us and why we need to find a good medical practitioner to help us pinpoint the causes of our migraines.

I’d like to repeat that I’m not a medical expert or practitioner of any kind, I’ve just suffered from terrible migraines pretty well my whole adult life until recently and I’d like to pass on some interesting stuff that’s really helped me.

Now, I’d like to address another fundamental piece of the migraine puzzle: liver function.

The liver is a wonderful organ designed to clean up and detoxify our bodies, among its other roles.

As we are all aware, our modern world is full of toxins and our poor old livers sometimes have a hard time keeping up. Poor liver function can lead to a variety of diseases including gout, rheumatoid arthritis, eczema, PMS and of course migraine headaches. The liver is apparently overwhelmed in migraine sufferers.

It’s not just the actual chemical toxins in our food and environment that the liver has to deal with, although those do put a heavy load on it, but these toxins can include hormones and other substances that our own bodies produce and the liver can’t deal with fast enough.

Add to that the proteins, fats and other nutrients that are allowed to enter the blood stream (through a leaky gut, for example – see separate post on this topic) that the body sees as dangerous foreign substances that must be eliminated in the liver, and you can see why the liver gets overwhelmed.

In some people this allergic reaction can trigger vascular changes (changes in the blood vessels).

Why does a sluggish liver cause migraines? “The connection between the liver and migraine headaches was established when scientists discovered that the vascular changes associated with migraine are linked with altered serotonin metabolism. Since the metabolism of serotonin takes place in the liver, some researchers now believe that by improving liver function, the frequency and severity of migraine headaches may be reduced, thereby normalizing serotonin metabolism and restoring vascular health.”, according to Found Health: http://www.foundhealth.com/migraine-headache/causes

Our livers aren’t diseased; they’re just not able to work fast enough. So, it makes sense to:

1. Avoid chemicals as much as possible. Even the neurologist I consulted about my migraines advised me to do this.

If someone were suffering back pain from carrying too big a load, the first thing you’d do is take as much as possible of the load off his back before you’d start treating his back pain and strengthening his back muscles. It’s the same with our overworked liver; we first have to reduce the level of toxins it has to eliminate as much as we can.
So, we should eat as cleanly as possible, as organic as we can and avoid all other chemicals in our environment.
Also, we all know that alcohol is hard on the liver, so avoiding it when we're trying to take the load off our livers makes sense.

2. Do something to support liver function.
The most helpful thing for me is a homeopathic remedy from my naturopath. It's called Unda 243 (see below)
Also,there are natural foods that can support liver function.

Foods that contain sulfur help remove toxins from the liver, so garlic, onions, egg yolks, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, collard greens, Brussels sprouts, asparagus, coconut, avocadoes, watermelon, parsley, sweet potatoes, tomatoes and bananas can be our allies in the war on migraines (except, of course, any food that is a migraine trigger for you). http://www.livestrong.com/article/315458-foods-that-support-liver-function/#ixzz24697AsNu

Also fresh lemon juice, apples, green tea and others listed here: http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/natural-health/liver-cleanse-foods/

Some of these guidelines coincide with the Liver-healthy shopping guide from the Canadian Liver Foundation here: http://www.liver.ca/files/PDF/LIVERight__Liver-Healthy_Shopping_Guide_-_rvsd_Feb_2012.pdf

There are also some supplements that are known to help:

Milk thistle has long been used to help liver function and can be found online (for example at www.lef.org ) or at most health food stores.

Milk thistle, green tea and other liver support supplements can be a little aggressive though, so use with caution, especially at first. I personally run into trouble if I use them. I recently started drinking weak green tea, thinking it would help me get my liver back on track, but I 'crashed' and had a migraine again for a few days.

The medicine I’m using to support my liver was prescribed by my naturopath. It’s a homeopathic product called UNDA 243.  It’s working great! I’ve been eating a very clean diet, avoiding migraines triggers and allergens as much as possible for years. Now though, with the Unda 243, I’ve been trying little bits of foods that normally would trigger at least a liver reaction if not a migraine (I had a bit of gouda cheese yesterday) and I’ve had very little reaction. I just take a few extra doses of the Unda and I feel ok.

I still have to be careful not to overdo it though. If I have a meal with several triggers and maybe a small glass of white wine, I don’t get a migraine the next day, but I get an ‘overloaded liver’  reaction (foggy negative head, bloating, nausea, generally feeling unwell…).

So, if I’m careful and take things slowly, I’m confident that I’ll be able to get back to more normal eating some day. There’s light at the end of the tunnel!

I’m finding that it’s well worth the effort to put into practice all of the things I’m outlining in this blog and I sincerely hope it’s a help to you too.