Migraines, Part 1: Treatments and Care

We understand how you feel. Simple tasks are difficult and exhausting. Sleep is elusive and your waking hours are stressful. It becomes easier – and less painful – to remain in a dark room rather than socialize with family and friends. Hours, days, and perhaps years of lost time are adding up. You feel broken.

We can help. Let us help you restore your life.

We have seen and have helped many patients who have suffered from migraines. We understand how debilitating this common, yet grossly under-appreciated, condition can be. Our treatment and care of those who suffer from migraines is one of the primary goals of our team.

We can help break the cycle, reduce the frequency and intensity, and often stop the occurrence of migraines altogether. Our approach of treating and caring for you is based upon an entire picture of your mental and physical well-being by evaluating you both neurologically and metabolically. No two migraine sufferers are alike.

We take an entire picture of each patient’s health for specific and tailored approach to treatment and care.

Evaluating neurologically reveals that many migraine sufferers have an overactive nervous system and upper brain. In order to slow down an overactive nervous system and counter the cause of your migraines, we use:

• Exercise With Oxygen Therapy (EWOT) – Exercise With Oxygen Therapy, or EWOT, allows us to make adjustments to how the brain is firing. The exercises, done while using an oxygen concentrator, are specific to your unique brain function, and may be prescribed alongside other brain-based therapies.
• Adjustments – Based upon our comprehensive neurological evaluation, we determine the side(s) of the brain that needs activation and adjust your spine accordingly. This allows the less-dominant side of the brain to be activated, allowing the brain to function globally at a higher level.

Many migraine sufferers – and possibly you – have significant food sensitivities and intolerances in addition to an overactive nervous system. We evaluate how your metabolism is functioning using:

• Blood Panel Analysis – Blood sample testing allows us to evaluate the function of all your organs and to address any underlying hormonal and nutritional imbalances. Additionally, in some cases, these tests have revealed that the very supplements a patient was diligently taking to support their health were, in fact, the cause of their migraines.
• Microbial Organic Acids Test (MOAT) (Great Plains Laboratory) or GI panel – Results of the MOAT indicate the metabolites produced by yeast and bacteria. Elevated test values are related to yeast or bacterial dysbiosis. This test reports 21 metabolites (including creatinine), which includes markers for beneficial bacteria, harmful bacteria, Clostridia species, Candida species, yeast and fungal metabolites, and general markers of dysbiosis. We also utilize other functional GI health panels to further evaluate factors contributing to an imbalanced microbiome and related symptomology.
• Food Sensitivity Testing and Food Sensitivity Elimination Diet – IgG (immunoglobulin G) Food allergy test results can aid in the structuring of elimination diets that may relieve symptoms of many chronic neurological, gastrointestinal, and movement disorders. IgG antibodies are present in all body fluids and serve as a first line of defense against infection, but do not release histamine or produce the familiar immediate hypersensitivity reactions of itching, hives, flushing, or sneezing associated with classic IgE allergic reactions. In contrast, IgG antibodies may have more subtle immune effects, ranging from gastrointestinal bloating and nausea to headaches, mood changes, and fatigue. Unknowingly, people may continue to eat “offending” foods, not connecting delayed reactions to the foods eaten perhaps hours or days before. By measuring IgG antibodies specific to antigenic food proteins, it is possible to identify which foods may be responsible for hard-to-define symptoms. The 93 foods tested in the IgG Food Allergy Test w/ Candida include representatives of major food groups common in the western diet. Elimination of IgG-positive foods can improve symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome, autism, ADHD, cystic fibrosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and epilepsy, according to numerous clinical studies (courtesy of Great Plains Laboratory website https://www.greatplainslaboratory.com/igg-food-allergy-test)