MIGRAINES - POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS
Updated: 2 days ago
I've researched many articles on what may help migraines. Some of them are tied to Lyme and some are more general. The causes can vary from day to day, so I've found that sometimes trying a few different things is necessary. Here is what my trusted doctors, our community and the newest research point to. My head pain post may also help you further.
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HEAD PAIN AND MIGRAINES EDUCATION
HEAD PAIN / HEAD PRESSURE - POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS
TREATING WHAT'S BEHIND IT
- ILADS lists headaches among the common symptoms of chronic Lyme. Talk with your Lyme literate doctor about treating the Lyme and co-infections behind your migraines.
- Dr. Richard Horowitz found that higher-dose dapsone, used as part of a combination protocol, helped headaches along with other major Lyme symptoms. It's a prescription, so it's a talk with your doctor.
- Remember to detox, since herxing can make head pain worse.
Learn more and find products here:
SUPPLEMENTS STUDIED FOR MIGRAINE
My Lyme-literate naturopathic doctor's go-to for migraines in his patients is butterbur paired with feverfew. The two are paired in some migraine formulas. Of the two, butterbur has the stronger research.
Buy here (Vitanica Butterbur Extra: PA-free butterbur, ginger, feverfew, magnesium, riboflavin and 5-HTP; not with antidepressants unless your doctor is guiding you):
Buy here (NOW Foods Butterbur 75 mg: PA-free butterbur with feverfew):
MAGNESIUM (2024 GUIDELINE; 2025 AND 2026 REVIEWS)
Reviews of many trials found fewer migraine days and attacks, and less severe pain (the newest 2026 review found the clearest benefit was less severe pain). The Canadian Headache Society lists magnesium citrate as a low side effect option.
Learn more and find products here:
RIBOFLAVIN (VITAMIN B2) (2022 AND 2026 REVIEWS)
Fewer and shorter migraines in reviews of many trials, with the most benefit at 400 mg a day. A 2020 review found it worked about as well as a common prescription preventive, with fewer side effects.
Learn more and find products here:
COQ10 (2025 AND 2026 REVIEWS)
May mean fewer migraine attacks. My CoQ10 post shares Dr. Marty Ross's caution about CoQ10 with atovaquone (Mepron, Malarone) for Babesia.
Learn more and find products here:
BUTTERBUR (PA-FREE ONLY)
A 2025 review called the trial evidence strong, and a 2026 real-world study of 120 people found headache days fell by more than half, though it had no comparison group. Choose butterbur labeled PA-free, and check with your doctor first, especially if you have liver concerns.
Learn more and find products here:
Buy here (Integrative Therapeutics Petadolex: PA-free butterbur only):
FEVERFEW (2025 REVIEW)
A 2025 review of 9 trials found slightly fewer and shorter attacks, though pain wasn't lower, and other reviews are mixed. A 2025 American Family Physician review says it has shown benefit and is usually well tolerated. Don't use it if pregnant or allergic to ragweed or daisies. Stopping it after long use can bring muscle stiffness, anxiety and headaches.
Buy here (Designs for Health Migranol: feverfew, riboflavin, magnesium, rosemary and curcumin):
PEA (PALMITOYLETHANOLAMIDE) (2024 AND 2025 TRIALS)
In a 2024 trial, 600 mg taken at the start of a migraine helped more migraines clear by 2 and 8 hours, with less need for rescue medicine. The ingredient maker paid for that study. A 2025 trial of PEA with melatonin cut monthly migraine days from 3.4 to 2.2.
Learn more and find products here:
MELATONIN (2026 REVIEW)
A review of 9 trials found shorter attacks, fewer headache days and better sleep, with fewer side effects than a common prescription preventive, though it worked less well than that medicine. Pick a well-tested brand.
VITAMIN D (2021 AND 2025 REVIEWS)
Reviews found fewer migraine attacks and headache days. Ask your doctor to test your level first.
Learn more and find products here:
MAST CELLS AND HISTAMINE
- A 2025 study by mast cell specialists found migraines or severe headaches in 70% of women with MCAS (vs 27.9% without). Of those who used antihistamines, 23% found them helpful for migraine.
- A Lyme-literate doctor explains that food histamine your body doesn't break down can trigger a migraine. She suggests avoiding alcohol, vinegar, aged cheese, fermented foods, cured meats, chocolate and nuts. Lower histamine choices include fresh meat and poultry, broccoli, asparagus, zucchini, lettuce, apples, pears and melons.
- In a 2025 study of 77 people whose symptoms followed high-histamine meals, 91% had headaches, and a personal diet plan was linked with symptoms slowly easing.
Learn more and find products here:
FIND YOUR TRIGGERS
- Keep a headache log. Write down food, stress, sleep, weather and your cycle to help spot your triggers.
- Dr. Joe Burrascano has all his patients keep a daily diary, since Lyme symptoms often come and go in about a four-week cycle.
- A Global Lyme Alliance writer suggests noticing whether headaches come during herxes, antibiotic pulses or a certain time of the month.
- Triggers are different for everyone. In a 2026 review, chocolate was named as a trigger by 13.9% of people, caffeine by 12.0% and cheese by 8.0%.
- Common triggers include alcohol, anxiety, dehydration, too much caffeine, eye strain, hunger, too little sleep and stress (2025 review).
Learn more and find products here:
DAILY BASICS
- Water and electrolytes: a Lyme-literate doctor advises at least 8 to 10 glasses of water a day for POTS with Lyme, and up to 8 to 10 grams of salt a day. Ask your doctor first if you have high blood pressure.
Learn more and find products here:
- Sleep: a Lyme-literate doctor suggests 7 to 9 hours. A Global Lyme Alliance writer found rest and sleep helped her Lyme migraines the most, and staying hydrated sometimes helped too.
Learn more and find products here:
- Stress: migraines can hit as stress hormones drop after a stressful time (the "let-down" migraine). Walks outside, reading, family time and meditation apps may help.
THERAPIES
- Cold: a 2023 review found cold headbands, caps or wraps eased migraine pain at 30 minutes.
- Acupuncture: a 2025 review of 19 trials found fewer migraine days and fewer side effects than common preventive medicines. NCCIH notes some of the benefit may be a placebo effect.
- Lymphatic drainage and massage: an older 2016 study found both cut how often migraines came.
MORE HEAD PAIN IDEAS FROM OUR COMMUNITY
- Burbur Pinella (brain detox): the one mentioned most in our groups for head pain. Not for use if pregnant or nursing.
Learn more and find products here:
Buy here (NutraMedix Burbur-Pinella: Desmodium and Pimpinella):
- pH-balancing supplement or baking soda
Learn more and find products here:
Buy here (Klaire Labs Bi-Carb Formula: pH-balancing supplement with sodium and potassium bicarbonate; ALWAYS ask your doctor before adding potassium):
- Yucca root and L-ornithine, used for ammonia
Learn more and find products here:
- Binders
Learn more and find products here:
BEFORE YOU START
- Read the warning on each bottle.
- Butterbur: only PA-free. Rare liver injury has been reported even with PA-free products. Avoid it if you have liver disease or are allergic to ragweed or daisies, and ask your doctor first if pregnant.
- Magnesium can cause loose stools and may lower how well some antibiotics work. Ask your doctor first if you have kidney or heart problems.
- CoQ10: ask your doctor first if you take blood thinners or insulin.
- ALWAYS ask your doctor before adding potassium (the pH-balancing supplement contains some).
- Some migraine combinations contain 5-HTP. The label says to ask your doctor first if you take an antidepressant.
WHEN TO GET HELP RIGHT AWAY
A Lyme-literate doctor lists these as reasons to go to the ER: a headache after a head injury, sudden vision changes, weakness or numbness in your arms or legs, a stiff neck with fever, or severe light sensitivity. Please also get medical care right away for a sudden, severe or new kind of headache.
MY EXPERIENCE
- One I personally love: Find Relief, formulated by my doctor, Dr. Thoring. I take it twice a day. I'm including it here because its first ingredient is PEA, and it also contains butterbur and ginger, all covered in this post.
MORE RESEARCH WITH MIXED RESULTS
- Ginger: a 2026 review of 8 trials found it too uncertain whether ginger helps, either during an attack or for prevention. An older 2021 review found it may ease pain and nausea 2 hours into an attack. The Canadian Headache Society (2024) doesn't recommend it for prevention. Ginger may raise bleeding risk with blood thinners or NSAIDs like ibuprofen.
- Omega-3: an older 2021 trial found eating more fatty fish and less seed oil cut headache days by about 4 a month. Fish oil pill results are mixed: a 2024 review ranked high amounts best, but a 2025 review found no clear benefit.
Learn more and find products here:
- DAO enzyme: an older 2019 trial in people with low DAO found attacks got shorter, though the placebo group improved too. A 2022 study found DAO was higher, not lower, in people with migraine.
Learn more and find products here:
- Vitamin C: a 2024 study found people who ate the most vitamin C had 22% lower odds of severe headache or migraine. That shows a link, not proof.
- Green light: a small 2021 trial found fewer headache days, and a 2023 study of people who bought a migraine lamp found less pain during attacks. Neither was blinded, and the lamp company helped with the 2023 study.
- Craniosacral therapy: a few small migraine trials looked positive, but a 2024 review of 24 trials across many conditions found no reliable benefit.
- Vagus nerve stimulation is being studied. A Columbia University team wrote in 2023 that it is already used for some headache conditions, but it still needs proper trials in Lyme.
RELATED POSTS
Pain / Inflammation - Possible Solutions
Mast Cell / MCAS Education
Babesia Most Common Symptoms
SOURCES
ILADS, Controversies and challenges (2026)
ILADEF, Dr. Richard Horowitz, How dapsone works (2024)
Canadian Headache Society, migraine prevention guideline (2024)
Supplements for migraine review (2025)
Supplements for migraine network review (2026)
Riboflavin reviews (2022 and 2026)
Migraine treatment review (2020, older source, still worth reading)
NCCIH, Headaches and complementary health (2023)
NCCIH, Butterbur (2024)
Butterbur real-world study (2026)
PEA trials (2024 and 2025)
Melatonin review (2026)
Dr. Stewart Tepper, Supplements for headache review (2025)
Vitamin D review (2021, older source, still worth reading)
Dr. Leonard Weinstock, Dr. Lawrence Afrin, Dr. Tania Dempsey and others, MCAS study (2025)
Dr. Tania Dempsey, Top migraine triggers (2023)
Histamine intolerance study (2025)
Dr. Joe Burrascano, Bay Area Lyme Foundation interview (2025)
Global Lyme Alliance, Not all headaches are alike (2019, older source, still worth reading)
Global Lyme Alliance, My No. 1 headache trigger (2018, older source, still worth reading)
Migraine triggers review (2026)
Migraine prevention review, American Family Physician (2025)
LymeDisease.org, Coping with POTS and chronic Lyme (2023)
Cold therapy review (2023)
Acupuncture review (2025)
Lymphatic drainage and massage for migraine study (2016, older source, still worth reading)
Memorial Sloan Kettering, Magnesium (2023), Ginger (2022) and Feverfew (2024)
Memorial Sloan Kettering, Butterbur (2023)
Ginger reviews (2026, and 2021, older source, still worth reading)
Feverfew review (2025)
NCCIH, Feverfew (2025)
Omega-3 diet trial (2021, older source, still worth reading)
Omega-3 network review (2024)
DAO trial (2019, older source, still worth reading) and DAO study (2022)
Vitamin C study (2024)
Green light studies (2021, older source, still worth reading, and 2023)
Craniosacral migraine trials (2022 and 2023)
Craniosacral review (2024)
Columbia University, Dr. Brian Fallon, vagus nerve stimulation review (2023)
Disclaimer: Rise Above Lyme makes no claims about any possible benefit of using any product mentioned within this site. Always consult with your doctor before adding anything. The information shared is based on personal experience, years of accumulated researched resources from Lyme Literate doctors and polls conducted within Lyme groups from actual patient experience using these solution ideas.
Just feedback on what a former Primary Care Dr prescribed for my migraines. It works, for me, far better than anything else I’ve tried, including injectable pens.
He put me on, on a as needed basis, (or for every day use until daily migraine attacks stop),
…a Blood Pressure tablet, -VERAPAMIL, 180mg tablet
….Dr. told me it opens up the blood vessels, thus allowing what I would describe as a ‘higher pressure’, (caused by the migraine), to have a wider area to flow through. (Important note: I do Not have high blood pressure.)
I also found if I chew it and let it dissolve under the tongue, it absorbs very quickly, (practically immediately into the blood stream). and if I…