FAQ Episode 13: How assisting brain repair can limit the recurrent cycle of damage in migraine

FAQs for Natural Migraine Relief for Women

Hi! Jeff Baker here again, as your physician host for Frequently Asked Questions about Natural Migraine Relief for Women. Today I’d like to address how part of the challenge of migraine is not just the “why did it happen to me?” question, but also the “how does one migraine lead to another?” process that perpetuates phases of intermittent or chronic migraines.  A key part of breaking these cycles is understanding how the brain heals itself after insults like a migraine headache, and how deficits of key nutrients can inhibit the brain repair process going forward.  This post-insult DNA repair process is a factor in every disease that involves acute or ongoing injury, and even more so with migraine headaches.

Repairing the inflammatory damage of any cell requires DNA reprogramming.   Part of this repair process involves the tagging of DNA with methyl groups.   Sometimes the ‘methyl tagging’ repair required can be the limiting factor in recovery.  Additional methylated B vitamins like B12 can promote cell healing and DNA reprogramming after stress-related damage.¹

If you have low B12, especially in its methylated state, you may not only be more prone to a chronic disorder like a migraine but also less able to recover after each headache.   This vicious cycle can contribute to chronically repetitive headaches.

For migraines, having sufficient B12, especially in its methylated form, can be a key to reducing migraine intensity and frequency.

Vitamin B12 is found almost exclusively in animal foods such as beef, liver, lamb, venison, salmon, shrimp, scallops, poultry, eggs and dairy products.  The few plant foods that are sources of B12 are B12 analogs that can block the uptake of true B12. You are most likely not able to rely solely on vegan sources for all your B12 needs. If you rarely eat the foods listed, consider using nutritional yeast. It’s high in B12 and has a cheesy flavor that can work well on any number of dishes. It can be a useful source of B12 for vegetarians and vegans. One 16-gram serving (just over 2 tablespoons) provides 24 mcg of natural vitamin B12.

Testing and treating for low B12

If you have a blood test for B12, make sure that you don’t accept “low normal” values as being sufficient.  Typically 150-950 pg/ml is said to be “the normal range” for serum B12. If you have migraines, I would advise that you consider supplementing B12 if you are not at least in the top half of this range.

The other factor is getting your B12 “methylated”, that is, into the ready state to do its repair work.  Around one-third of us here in the U.S. carry a genetic deficit in the ability to fully methylate key B vitamins (B12, but also including folate and B6). You can learn this through genetic testing, but a more useful test is that for your homocysteine level, which any lab can do. You need methylated B vitamins to clear up this protein metabolite, and if the homocysteine level is elevated, that’s a sign that you have an under-methylation problem. Ideally, a homocysteine level should be under 10, and anything over 15 is truly suspect for a serious genetic undermethylation situation. Besides being a marker for under-methylation, homocysteine itself can be a potent pro-oxidizing factor that worsens inflammation in general, especially in blood vessels and the brain.

To remediate methylation deficits, and to reduce homocysteine level you should take a combination of pre-methylated Bs, including methyl-B12, methyl-folate, and the methylated version of B6 known as pyridoxyl-5-phosphate. An useful version is this would be Life Extension’s “Homocysteine Resist” product, easy to find online at ~$9/month.

For students in my Natural Migraine Relief course, review Lesson 7 and the associated Migraine Action Plan for all the details on methylation and migraines, including both diagnosis and treatment.

Action Items for those with migraines, especially chronic migraines:

-have your B12 level checked and make sure you are at least in the top half of the normal range. Chose foods that have good B12 content (see above)

-have your homocysteine level checked to verify that you have adequate methylation capacity to optimize ongoing brain repair. A level less than 8-10 is optimal. If it is above 10-12, consider taking the methylated forms of the three B vitamins: methyl-B12, methyl-folate and pyridoxal-5-phosphate (methylated B6)

If you would like more information on how you can find and personally triage a comprehensive range of the best non-drug therapy for your migraines, see my past and ongoing articles in this free Substack blog and also check out the Natural Migraine Relief course at www.naturalmigrainerelief.online

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References

¹ Vitamin B12 is a limiting factor for induced cellular plasticity and tissue repair.  Marta Kovatcheva, et. al.   Nature Metabolism Vol 5, pp 1911–1930 (2023) https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-023-00916-6