FAQ Episode 82: The Stoic Philosopher's Guide to Migraine Relief

Frequently Asked Questions about Natural Migraine Relief

Isn’t it great when you do one simple thing, and it completely solves your problem? Such moments occur frequently enough for us to recognize that it’s theoretically possible. And just often enough to tease us, as the eventual solution is usually a bit more complex and elusive.

I encounter this in medicine all the time, and it’s especially true in the case of migraine headaches. In these circumstances, I have found that adopting what is known as a Stoic philosophical view of the problem can be helpful. Stoicism emphasizes accepting what we cannot control right now, without becoming passive or indifferent to finding solutions to life’s challenges. This requires the cultivation of both patience and persistence. Patience, to work through the process one step at a time. And persistence, to move on to the next step, and then the next, without losing hope or enthusiasm despite the inevitable setbacks. Is that ever easier to say than do!

You don’t have to embrace that process right away, but I predict that you’ll make more progress when you do. As you travel that path, consider three related concepts that apply to ‘solving’ your migraines:

-Migraine headaches are more manageable than they are fixable. I don’t foresee a ‘cure’ for migraine, but by minimizing the root cause factors specific to you we can dramatically reduce and even clear their frequency and intensity.

-Managing migraines is a multifactorial process. There is always more than one reason you have migraines. We want to find and manage every one of them that we can.

-Managing migraines is a cumulative process. You will most likely find and clear migraine promoting factors one or two at a time, not all at once. Many small steps, rarely one great leap. And it truly can try your patience.

Finding root cause factors = building reserve migraine resistance

Because migraine headaches have both inborn genetic predisposition factors and situational, environmental and lifestyle provocative factors, each person with migraine headaches actually has a disease variant that is unique to them. You will find doctors, drug companies and nutritional vendors who will tell you that their singular ‘fix’ is right for you. Let’s not kid ourselves. Does one size fit all? Or maybe they’re psychic? If so, I want to see their winning Powerball tickets.

Now, it is true that the ‘fix of the month’ may address one or more basic root factors involved in your migraine, and that this will most likely add some reserve to the overflow of your migraine threshold. When this happens, we are truly grateful. But that alone is rarely enough.

To demonstrate the concept of cumulative root cause factors vs migraine threshold vs your reserve capacity, you may have previously seen the following simple analogy.

Here a full to overflowing cup is the threshold where a migraine is expressed, say…more than eight ounces.

If any given therapy ‘empties the cup’ from eight down to seven ounces, you have some reserve, and then migraines may require more triggers events to provoke them.

We can go further down this road and more effectively manage your migraines by finding as many of the underlying migraine promoting factors that are specific to you, your genetics, and your lifestyle specific habits. Draining the cup down to one or two ounces will provide much more reserve to manage day-to-day insults and trigger challenges. Not a “migraine cure,” but rather “migraine, well managed.”

This is rarely done in one set of “we’ve got your story figured out in full” recommendations that clear all your migraine specific root cause factors in one go. It’s a process. And while you will benefit from having a team to assist you in the process, you are the one who has to take primary ownership of this process.

Migraine Relief affirmations

Developing the right mindset makes it easier to find and follow the an effective path forward. I endorse your regular reaffirmation of the following five concepts (this also works for almost any other problem in life if you substitute that concern for the word ‘migraine’). I would like to think that Stoic stalwarts like Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius would agree.

1. I understand that my migraines probably don’t ‘have a fix’, but with the right approach, they can be well-managed.

2. I understand that I won’t solve my migraine problems immediately, but I will aim to continually educate myself on migraines in general and specifically, about the root cause factors that could apply to my story.

3. I’ll accept that there are probably several factors promoting my migraines, and I’ll seek to understand each one I find and how to minimize it’s impact on my health.

4. Like most things in life, this is a work in progress. While I am ambitious to gain relief from migraine headaches, I am also patient enough to take the small but consistent steps needed to push my progress forward.

5. I will find the right partners to staff my support team as I gather the knowledge, motivation and momentum to overcome my migraine headaches.

I am pleased to bring what I’ve learned about migraine management over four decades of medical practice to you, my Substack family. Please consider me to be a “member of your team” on your road to migraine relief. Take a few minutes to look over my Frequently asked Question’s Table of Contents for free and in-depth discussions about migraine root cause factors that can offer key insights on managing your headaches.

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