FAQ Episode 48: Four simple lab results everyone with migraine should know.

Frequently Asked Questions about Natural Migraine Relief

A lab test done on your blood is a window into the biochemistry of your body. There are a dozen or more lab tests that can yield useful information about imbalanced biochemistry and its impact on those with migraine, and I discuss them in detail in my Natural Migraine Relief course.

In this post, I’d like to share with you what I consider to be the top four of these blood tests that everyone with migraine should have done, and if abnormal, properly addressed. Any lab can do them, and they can also be easily done through a direct-to-consumer online site (see footnotes)¹

Four key lab tests for migraine patients

Vitamin D3 level

I could spend an hour reviewing the ways Vitamin D3 can positively impact your health. I’ll use one study to accentuate the importance of Vitamin D3 level on migraine expression.

The Migraine Center at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center analyzed existing data on 7,691 young migraine sufferers and found that 70% of the participants had significantly lower vitamin D levels than the standard reference range.(1) This data most likely applies to adults with migraines, as well. Another study showed that half of those with Vitamin D3 support brought to optimal levels saw their migraine attack frequency reduced by 50% or more.

You can find this study, its source literature and much more at my free post: FAQ Episode 11: Migraine prevention: Make sure you don’t ‘fall back’ on your Vitamin D3 level. I also discuss in detail the dosing recommendations for Vitamin D3 in FAQ Episode 40: Vitamin Deficiencies predict migraine risk under the section about taking the “Basic Four.” The Natural Migraine Relief course also has at least 10 references to optimal Vitamin D3 dosing.

Unfortunately, you can’t accurately guess at your level. I’ve seen older people with a tan have inadequate levels when their skin did not convert sunlight well. You have to check the blood test to know: 1) where your level lies and 2) how much supplementation is needed to augment the level to optimal benefit.

Homocysteine level

This pro-inflammatory protein can provoke a number of health problems including migraine headaches. Elevated serum homocysteine levels are also tied to long term risk from heart attacks, strokes and brain aging disorders. Around one-third of us in North America have the MTHFR genetic predispostion to run elevated homocysteine levels, although its expression will vary person-to-person. Fortunately, taking pre-methylated B vitamins to correct the problem is often a safe and inexpensive ‘fix’. If you have a family history of stroke, heart attack, dementia or migraines, you and affected family members should have your homocysteine level checked. If this level is elevated > 12, rechecking the level after supplementation will tell if you have added enough of the methylated B vitamin treatment to offset the genetic predisposition and the clinical expression, in this case migraines. The problem of elevated homocysteine and the inflammation it provokes is that it is otherwise silent. No specific short term symptom will tell you that its elevation is a danger, although at times having migraines is a clue to suggest that you should have your level checked. I discuss the background and all the specifics on therapy options in the Natural Migraine Relief course Lesson 7: Inflammatory Factors as a root cause of Migraines: Part I.

Thyroid panel

Thyroid is a hormone that directly affects every cell in the body, acting as the ‘metabolic spark plug’ for cell energentics. When thyroid levels are at low levels, you can actually live for years with sub-optimal function throughout the body. The long list of associated symptoms reads like it was written by a neurotic or hypochondriac! A little of this, a little of that, but nothing that will kill you outright. Unfortunately, women are more likely than men to have a thyroid disorder. As a woman ages toward 50, she is estimated to have somewhere between a 35-65% chance of having suboptimal thyroid function. Furthermore, those with migraines are 40% more likely to have low thyroid as a promoting factor than the average person. So screening with a panel that looks at your TSH, Free T4 and Free T3 can find out if your migraines have a low thyroid level as a potential promoting root cause factor. *

Who knows, you might fall into the “I didn’t know how bad I was until I got better!” club. See my FAQ Episode 30: Low Thyroid and Migraines for a more detailed discussion, or if you are a paid subscriber, also go to course Lesson 15: Hormone Root Cause factors in Migraine: Thyroid gland and correlate with your Migraine Action Plan.

*make sure that someone doesn’t read a level right down at the bottom of the range as “its in normal range, so you must be fine.” If you are at the 5th%tile range, that’s ‘normal’ for five percent of the population. That means there’s a 95% chance that its too low for you. If that scenario fits your findings, make sure to find a doctor that understands that you might need a trial dose of thyroid support therapy to find out if you (and your migraines) function better at a “higher portion of the normal range.”

DHEA level

DHEA is the most abundant steroid hormone in the human body. Unfortunately, levels fall off rapidly after our early 20s, and at an even faster rate with either chronic situational or medical induced stress conditions. DHEA is derived from the adrenal “mother molecule” pregnenolone, which also plays a supporting role with the entire steroid family. Supporting youthful levels of both DHEA and pregnenolone can modulate the steroid hormones effect on inflammation whichs drives some migraine headaches. Keep in mind that the “reference lab levels” will be listed on reports for both pregnenolone and DHEA are reflective of “typical,” not “optimal” levels. For example, for DHEA-sulphate, typical lab report normal values for women range from 20-400 ng/dl, where the optimal levels should be at least above 200. The same is true for pregnenolone, with typical ‘normal’ being 10-230 ng/dl and the optimal also being in the 200+ range.

If you’re low on these levels, there are two general approaches to raising them:

1. take adrenal adaptogens like ashwaganda, rhodiola, shisandra and eleuthero to assist your own natural adrenal output. This works best for those under 45 who have a shorter term stress induced adrenal shortfall. Look for a good combination like Natural Factor brand’s Adrenasense, at one cap in the AM.

2. Taking support doses of both pregnenolone and DHEA. Usually ~50 mg/day of pregnenolone and 10-25 mg of DHEA to start. Because these hormones can be used to make downstream hormones like testosterone, higher range doses should be monitored with lab testing for DHEA and/or testosterone.

While lab results don’t always tell the whole story, they can uncover potential therapy options that could be part of your migraine solution therapy. Consider getting these four tests done. See the footnote below for a direct-to-consumer testing option.

If you would like to find out about other lab tests that can be useful for managing migraine, join us as a paid subscriber for the Natural Migraine Relief course and to use the Migraine Action Plan©

1. There are several options and the one I like the best for cost, convenience and reliability is at www.lifeextension.com Just type in the lab you want in the search box (or use the drop down menu) at the top of the page. For instance, the full thyroid panel I discussed is available through them for $75. You pay them, go to a local Labcorb draw site and then Life Extension emails you results in a few days.