I apologize if I'm about to give you more information than you really wanted to know about how this topic came up today!  I woke up yesterday morning with the worst headache I think I've ever had.  The pain was concentrated only on the right side of my head, which was different than any other headache I'd ever experienced before.  I got up and was overwhelmed with nausea and ended up getting sick.  I took a couple of Ibuprofin after that and decided to head to work, still in excrutiating pain.  The sunlight seemed to make the pain worse and I had to turn my car radio way down because noise was an issue as well.  I got to work and had to feed the feral cats that live on the property and got sick again as soon as I went inside. After about an hour, I ran into a co-worker who took one look at me and said "You need to go home".   I did, and pretty much slept all day.  When I woke up, the headache was finally gone.

I wasn't aware of it then, but after talking to several migraine sufferers and doing some of my own research on the web, that's exactly what I had yesterday.  I'd never had one before (and hope to never have one again), but I do have some ideas what triggered it.  For one, it was the day before my period started and the sudden drop in estrogen is sometimes a trigger (women suffer migraines more frequently than men) and another factor was probably the couple of glasses red wine I drank the night before (due to the tannins, another trigger.  For a complete list of possible causes and triggers for migraines, click here). 

Luckily, I found a list of alternative and complementary treatments on the Mayo Clinic website that may help:

Accupunture:  It's not routinely recommended by medical professionals for treatment of migraines, but clinical trials have shown that it may indeed be helpful for headaches.

Biofeedback: This technique, which monitors and helps you control responses in your body, has proven to be extremely helpful in treating migraines.  It's also safe to use in combination with migraine medications.

Massage:  While massages value on treating headaches hasn't been determined, it is an effective tool for reducing stress, as we know, and stress is yet another trigger.

Herbal, mineral and/or vitamin supplements:  Butterbur and Feverfew, both herbal supplements, may prevent migraines altogether and at the very least reduce their severity (as always, check with your doctor and do not take if you are pregnant).  Vitamin B2, Coenzyme Q10 and Magnesium sulfate supplements may also help prevent the trigger of migraines (again, discuss with your doctor).

Hopefully you'll never suffer from these, but here's some ammo to add to your arsenal if you ever do!  Until next time...