New Daily Persistent Headache Support Group

Has anyone tried the natural herb "feverfew"?

I tried a herb formula at one point that had a bunch of different things in it. I can't remember what all they were, but I was allergic to it so I quit very quickly. That doesn't give you much help.

I found an interesting article here: http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/feverfew-000243.htm

I was pleased to see the part in the article about drug who it is counter indicted for (though definitely ask your doctor first anyway; it is just an article off the internet). I bet I would be allergic to it since it is related to ragweed. Hope that is some help. Mary

Does feverfew work for you?

The jury is still out on that one. I started taking it 2x a day on Monday and I must say my headache does not seem to be as intense. My goal is to quit taking Lyrica. It causes much wait gain and is very expensive. I will keep you informed.

That will be wonderful if it works for you. I was allergic to both so they may be related (or I may just be allergic to a lot of things ). It would certainly be nice if you could switch to feverfew and get effective relief that way. Mary

Thanks Mary. The way I feel right now, I don't think it is working. Sometimes, and I know this is not healthly thinking, I wish I could lay down at night and not wake up. I have a high tolerance to pain but this is getting ridiculous. And the bad thing about it is these Drs are a joke.

Nennis, I am so sorry things are going so badly for you. I understand why you would want to lay down and not wake up sometimes, just because you don't want to have to face the pain. I am glad that you are able to get relief when you are asleep though. I can see why you would want to stay that way a lot.

Are you able to ask your doctor for a referral for another opinion or to find another doctor to go to? You need a headache specialist; preferably one with a lot of experience. I don't know your situation, but if you doubt it is a migraine you should ask them about that. I hope you have some options or are able to find someone who is willing to work with you. There is a lot of information on this forum about what different people take and what works/ doesn't work for different ones of us with NDPH.

I don't know what all you have tried but, don't give up. I have found medications that have lowered my pain level to a much more livable level. (I take Seroquel and Topamax). It took a lot of experimenting to find them and I still need more improvement to be able to work, but it has improved my quality of life immensely. I hope things get better for you. Mary

Sorry to hijack this thread, I'm thinking of taking feverfew.

But I have read that eating magnesium supplements may have more significant effects, so I decide to try. I feel that after eating the supplements for a significant period of time, my headache was more manageable.

I tried Feverfew for several days and I noticed by typical headache turned into a "sick" headache. I don't know if it was

going to anyway, but I have quit taking them. I will try magnesium.

Thank you

I have not yet tried Feverfew, although I had planned to but have had some success with Rhodiola Rosea. It helps all sorts of things such as reduced stress, better sleep, possible decrease in likelihood of cancer, increase mental functioning and clarity-they have studies that show med students etc did better academically on tests when taking this herb. Anyway, I was guessing that maybe why it helped my headache is because of the fact that it reduces inflammation.

Between exercise and Rhodiola, I just feel "great" which really helps in coping with the pain. The only issue I have had with it is that it seems to work well for a few weeks and then stop? I'm just not sure yet as I haven't experimented long enough. It does seem to kick in again if I'm off it for awhile and then start up again.

I'm not taking it now because we are thinking of trying to conceive again once the infectious disease folks get all of their testing info back on me. So, I'm afraid to be taking the herb while pregnant which is also why I'm not taking any of the other assorted meds that they would like to put me on.

If anyone else tries this, let me know how you do on it, I'm really curious about this herb and it's ability to help.

Cynthia