The Tea On Splitting Headaches And Mindful Migraine Management

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome to the Essence of Health Tea Time podcast. I am your host, Dr. Shayla Toons-Whithers.

(00:15):
As a double board certified family and obesity medicine physician with over 12 years of experience
in medicine, I teach motivated individuals how to achieve their desired quality of life
while preventing and reversing chronic diseases. It's tea time!

(00:37):
What part of your health journey is most challenging? Is it the actual effort of sticking to a plan?
The cooking and the meal planning? The exercise routine? Not enough time for everything you
think you need to do? Or the confusion of it all? If you said yes to any of these obstacles,

(00:57):
then keep listening to learn how you can smash these problems just by checking your email.
You check your email inbox every day already, but what if checking your inbox brought you
better health instead of the stress it sometimes can bring? Well, I have news for you. You
can improve your health, get a jump start on improving your health conditions, and start

(01:20):
to feel like a better version of you just by checking your email inbox over the next
five days when you join the free Nourish and Flourish 5-Day Challenge. You'll get health
tips, actionable videos, a goal and habit tracker, and healthy recipes every day for
five days. Better health is the best investment you'll ever make, and this is only a small

(01:46):
investment of your time. You have nothing to lose, but everything to gain. The Nourish
and Flourish 5-Day Challenge was designed to set the foundation for healthy habits for
life. Say yes to yourself today and sign up now at drshayla.com forward slash nfchallenge.

(02:06):
I'll also place these details in the show notes. The essence of health is in you. See
you in your inbox.
On today's episode of the Essence of Health Tea Time podcast, I have a special guest,
Dr. Allison Offert. Dr. Offert is originally from Pennsylvania and is a wife and mom to
two kids. She knows what her patients live with, having lived with migraines herself

(02:31):
since she was in medical school. She's a graduate of the University of Miami with a degree in
psychobiology and graduated medical school in Philadelphia at Jefferson Medical College.
She completed residency and fellowship training at Virginia Commonwealth University. Dr. Offert
serves on a number of boards and committees, including the Southern Headache Society, American

(02:53):
Headache Society, and the American Academy of Neurology. As a former child athlete, she
has a passion for this line of work and opened the Pediatric Headache Center of Richmond
in 2016 to provide world-class care for headache and concussion patients. She has served over
5,000 patients providing quality care and by enhancing the lives of her patients suffering

(03:16):
from migraines. Welcome to the show, Dr. Offert. So happy to have you.
Hi. Thanks for having me. I'm so excited to be here.
Awesome. Awesome. Now, we're going to dive in by having you just really explain to us
your understanding of really what's happening in the brain during a migraine and how this
even has maybe evolved with our understanding. Yeah, sure. I know we have a very ambitious

(03:42):
goal of what to cover today. So yeah, we'll jump right in. It is interesting. I think
a lot of people think of migraines as vascular because it feels pulsing, it feels throbbing,
and there's part of that, but that's not the driving force we realize anymore. So it's
actually a sterile inflammation that happens when you have a migraine. The vessels will
leak different proteins, little inflammatory markers. And so some of the newer therapies

(04:06):
that you may see commercials for, unfortunately, right? But the CGRP drugs, those are all aimed
at some of these new targets that we found that leak out of the blood vessels. So it's
a very different process than a couple of decades ago that we thought was the underlying
issue. There's also still a lot we don't know. We know that migraine with aura is very different
than migraine without. In fact, you can actually watch an aura spread across the brain on an

(04:28):
EEG, which most people probably don't find exciting, but I'm a dork. I think that's very
cool. No, that's interesting. So they actually have watched that in research. You can see
it. But that phenomenon obviously doesn't happen when you have a migraine without aura.
And so how does that change the cascade later? We don't know all of that entirely. So there's
still a lot about migraine we don't know, which leaves an opening for a lot of opportunity

(04:49):
for therapy. But it also means right now there's a lot of sort of black holes for therapy because
we don't know how to make everyone better yet either. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Thanks for explaining
that to us. And really, that's why we have you here, because we needed an expert to talk
to us about this stuff, because with this even lack of understanding what's come about,
folks are suffering. And so even with that, I know as a family doc, folks can have all

(05:14):
kinds of triggers. But what are some of those more common triggers that your patients typically
have? So I typically focus on the five big ones. But I tell people, you know, it can
be anything. So one of the things you should do if you're trying to figure out your triggers
is keep a diary. You can do it on a piece of paper. You can do it on an app on the phone.
You can do it just on the notes on your iPhone, memos. I don't care. But sort of watch for

(05:37):
the patterns of what might be setting you off if you're not sure. But some of the big
ones are definitely you want to stay hydrated. So I tell people you're drinking trying to
drink two to three liters a day. And it doesn't sound like much till you try to do it. It's
a lot of water. I primarily work with children. I do see some adults. But so I know sometimes
for kids, depending on where you are in the country and what school you're at in the water

(05:59):
water policy, sometimes you do have to do things for the students so they can have their
water and drink all day, because I know they limit bathroom trips and things like that.
So you do have to worry about that stuff. But they should be trying to drink as much
as they can. If they have to drink before and after school, fine, but just stay hydrated.
And it's best if it's mostly water. I mean, you can drink some Gatorade if it's the summer
months and you're sweating or your kids drink milk that count that stuff to you. But it's

(06:22):
the hydrating it's a non caffeinated. Because that leads us into this second piece, which
is caffeine. So I'm not I tell kids I'm not especially teens. I'm not taking your caffeine
away. Don't panic Starbucks. Right. I if someone took my coffee, I'd probably be pretty angry.
So don't do that. But you don't want to drink too much. So caffeine can help and hurt and
that's I think confuses a lot of people as well. Because excedrin things like medications

(06:44):
we prescribe like Furosat half caffeine in them. So they can't help a headache. But you
drink too much or ingest too much, you're going to give give yourself a headache if
that withdrawal headache. So you do have to keep a balance so you can have some you just
don't want to overdo it. Also, it's interesting to the more you ingest caffeine, the less
helpful it is as a rescue. So if you want to use that for yourself or use excedrin,

(07:05):
you make sure you're not drinking too much because it's not going to help you anymore.
You also want to be physically active. Yes, it's good to be a healthy weight. That is
part of it. But that's not the only reason I even tell my in shape athletes, they need
to keep working out right? Because that endorphins you make when you're exercising will actually
help your headache. So I tell people, if you have a headache that is so horrible, it hurts

(07:26):
to move and I've had those were just the idea of rolling over in bed is too much. But no,
don't go to the gym. But if it's the start of a headache, you take in your meds and you
were supposed to, you know, go work out with a friend, go you might actually feel better.
It actually can help your headache go away. So it's important that we keep moving. Sleep
is another one. If you don't sleep well, or you stay up too late, you can trigger some
headaches for some people. It also is the timing of the sleep. So there are some people

(07:50):
that really do have to go to bed at the same time every day and get up at the same time
every day. A lot of kids don't like that idea because they want to sleep in on the weekend.
And for some people, that's fine. You sort of have to test that water for yourself. So
sometimes it's not the amount of sleep, it is the timing of it. And then my last big
one I usually talk about every visit is stress. And I say that one for last because it's the
one I can't fix very easily. I can't tell you to drink more. I can't tell you like that

(08:13):
stuff doesn't work. So with stress, it could be, you know, whether it's work stress, family
stress, school tests, SOL time, if you're on a state that does all that, or AP tests,
things like that, absolute stress is going to set them off. So I try to tell people,
look, the time to figure that piece out is before you're stressed. The more times you
can find a way to relax and whatever version that is for you, make it a habit, make it

(08:36):
a habit before you need it. And so it can be things like meditating, it can be yoga,
it can be going for a run, it doesn't have to be the same thing for everybody. That's
why I can't, I can't necessarily help you because I don't know what's going to work
for you. Like I will be honest, I am not a meditator. I tried and I will tell you it
does work. So for anyone out there listening, meditation and it does not have to be, you

(08:57):
know, 20, 30 minutes of meditating. I did because I'm a mom, right? You heard. So it's
like within minutes, my brain's going, did I write that down? Oh, I got to pick that
up. Yeah, I can't, I just can't. I'm an entrepreneur and a mom, my brain's going 80 miles an hour
at any time. So, but I did, I committed to a couple of weeks. I was like, I'm going to
try this. I really want to be able to tell people. And I did, I think it was three minutes

(09:20):
of guided meditation because like I couldn't just sit there. So I had someone, I didn't
telling me to picture this, do this. Right. And I did handle stress much better in that
timeframe. Even when I hadn't wasn't meditating, like the rest of that day, it did set your
brain into a different zone. And the more your brain finds that zone, the easier it
finds it when it needs it. So it really is something you need to practice and keep up

(09:40):
with. But in whatever it is, I had one kid that, you know, we did have to have a conversation
with him and mom because it was this video games, right? He could play, it was mindless.
He could get lost in the game and said, all right, fine. That can be your relaxation.
Not a problem, but you have to put a limit on it. It has to be a game that you can stop
because you need to get your schoolwork done. You can't play for hours. That's not acceptable
either. But you can figure out a way to make any of that work so that you can relax and

(10:05):
chill. And, you know, again, when that stress comes up, like the other thing, if people
are sort of hesitant, like yoga is great. Love yoga, did yoga for years, but you can't
do downward dog in the middle of math class, right? Right. So some things I think for
kids that's really easy is to do deep breathing, whether it's box breathing or whatever form
you want to slow their breath in and out because that physiologically is going to slow the

(10:28):
heart rate, lower their blood pressure. They don't even have to try it because your body
does it and they can do that anywhere. They can be in the middle of class, take some breaths
and then like, and just sort of chill themselves out and no one knows they're doing it. And
the teacher will appreciate it as well. Yeah, exactly. Right. So those are kind of like
big triggers. There can be food triggers. We could play spend a whole hour on food triggers.

(10:48):
Right. You know what I love about the triggers you just mentioned as, you know, listeners
of my podcast know I focus a lot on metabolic health because that's really, you know, where
my focus is. But all the triggers you mentioned are the same thing in metabolic health, the
same things that you have to focus on getting good sleep, managing your stress, those things
are those same key components. Even watching your, your hydration intake, those are all

(11:14):
the same necessary pieces for our metabolic health. And so what I, you know, what I want
folks to even take from that is just, you know, making these things a part of your routine
because it's going to be helpful for so many aspects of your overall health and wellness.
Yes. Sleep is one of the things too, when it's off, it affects so many things. Like,
yeah, it impacts how you handle stress, it impacts how you think and how you work. And

(11:37):
I mean, there's so many things about that overall wellness that if you can control or
work on or control what you can, it does, it helps so many things. And it is something
that we can affect. And there's a lot about our health that it's genetic or whatever things
that are out of our hands. These are things that we can actually work on. Yeah. Right.
Right. Yeah, for sure. You know, I feel like as a mom, you probably can relate to this.

(11:59):
I learned the most about sleep after I had babies and seeing them, you know, those toddlers
and when they're off that schedule and they haven't had sleep, they are a whole mess,
you know, they're like throwing tantrums, they can't even tell you what's wrong, you
know, nothing, their favorite thing is not a favorite anymore. But then if they've had
that really good sleep, it's a whole new human. And you know, as adults, we have, we do the

(12:21):
same version of that. Yeah. You just have more frontal lobe to not scream out loud.
Yeah. Right. Yeah. So it is. It's just so important. And then that meditation piece,
like you said, you know, I think a lot of people do get it in their minds that, oh,
you know, I got to go to the Zen and I got to do a full, you know, hold to do 20, 30
minute thing. But you're right. You definitely don't have to do that. And I actually I recommend

(12:45):
the guided meditations to for my metabolic health folks, because it does it as busy professionals,
you know, there's always something to do. And if we got to sit for, you know, 15 minutes
and sit there and think all we got to do, we're going to leave more anxious than actually
physical exercise to a lot of people think of them to do yoga. You know, I have to do

(13:05):
90 minutes of high yoga. No, it can be a few minutes. It can be you can go for a short
walk. Exactly. Add up throughout the day. And a lot of my kids, like, I don't know where
you know, 10, where your listeners are. Some of our high schools here in Richmond are they're
huge. I mean, so they're getting steps walking from class to class all day. I'm like, count
that. Or if you have a school job, you're on your feet. Count that as exercise. It does

(13:27):
not have to be this dedicated at the gym. Active movement. Exactly. Yeah, yeah, for
sure. Awesome. All right. Now, dietary intake, you touched a little bit. You were going there,
but let's let's dive into that a bit more. What dietary intake potentially may influence
migraines that may figure those kind of dietary foods and then those that do the opposite

(13:50):
of that that are actually more helpful. So I will say one thing because I know it goes
around on the Internet or books or whatever. There is no migraine diet. Don't trick yourself
into that. It's not that there is no one diet for everybody. Right. And just those trends
of people that do that. Now, is there an anti-inflammatory diet? Sure. There are definitely foods that
are more pro-inflammatory and that's going to apply to your metabolic people too. Right.

(14:12):
So it's absolutely there are foods and there are additives like turmeric that will help
you with that. You know, getting more greens, getting more. Yes. Biggest thing I tell people
is just the healthier you eat, the better off you're going to be. The less processed,
the better off you're going to be. You're going to get rid of those, the MHG, the red
dyes, all that stuff that can trigger migraines because you're eating more whole natural foods.

(14:33):
Don't make it more complicated for yourself. You know what I mean? Like from a migraine
standpoint at least, it's just it's that's all you got to worry about. And by nature
then you're going to cut down the sugar, the additives, all that stuff. But again, I work
probably with kids so that you look at them and tell them to eat more vegetables and put
the takis down. They get a little upset with you. Right. So I'm like, okay, you can have

(14:55):
some. Be a kid because I know when you get to be an adult, you can't do any of that and
you eat, you know, everything lasts on your hips and whatnot. So I'm like, eat some, but
do it in moderation. So there really is no specific food to avoid or go for but except
to do anything in moderation. And I have some kids and I wish I could remember what the
additive was, but there was a donut of all things, special donut here. Those of you who

(15:19):
don't know, Richmond, Virginia was this donut haven for a while. We had I think six different
donut shops, all like, yeah, now we're, we're big into beer. I don't know. Donuts and beer.
Does that sound healthy at all? Right? So anyway, there was some special donut sheet,
but she and it would, there was, I don't think it was the topping that would give her migraine.

(15:41):
And I feel like we'll eat it once in a while. If you really want it, it was one of her favorite
foods. Just be prepared with your rescue and if you're headed to kids, then you treat it.
No, you can't eat it all the time, but you don't have to live your life without it if
you really like it that much. Like, so just balance it. But the big, the big food additives
to try to avoid are nitrates are a big one and these are not true for everybody. So let

(16:01):
me say that too, cause some people are like, I eat bacon and don't get at it. Well, then
it's good for you. Right? So nitrates are big. So nitrates are in bacon, hot dogs, aged
cheeses, so things like Parmesan and some lunch meats, depending on what brand you buy.
So you have to watch some of that. MSG is another big one. So MSG is more in processed

(16:22):
foods. It's not just in certain categories of foods. It's just processed. It's that flavor,
the umami and the whole thing. So just put that for some people. And even just with the
MSG, cause I'm a label reader and I've even seen it on the labels of some like spices
and stuff, things that you just wouldn't imagine that it would be in. So for folks listening,

(16:43):
just look at the label for sure. It was in some salad dressing packets that I saw, like
it's in there. Yeah. So it could be an interesting thing. Cause I know my kids have milk proteinology
center finding milk in certain chips and in certain brands, like we and my daughter had
one barbecue chip. The one brand was fine. The other brand had milk in it. And it was,
I mean, yeah, you really do. Reading labels is huge. Red dyes, usually red dye 40 is the

(17:07):
big one. And that has a lot of other behavioral implications as well. But I also, I don't,
I have to look this up. So I apologize. I didn't think to look at it before, but whatever
makes flame and hot that red color is not natural in any of them. That seems to set
people off. Yeah. So I mean, you know, and it's really no shocker, even if you don't
know the exact name of it. Right. Anyone would know the flame. Come on folks. We know it's

(17:31):
flame and hot. Yeah. It doesn't like Takis and stuff doesn't seem to do it. Like the
Doritos, but the ones that are flame and hot, whatever that red is, that has set off some
people. But I've had some people, I had one gentleman, it was actually a dad of a patient,
does something about white rice and don't ask. I was like, I, that should be the blandest
food ever. He, he couldn't eat it. It would set him off. But it is, you know, more process

(17:56):
because they've, you know, blanched it and all those things to get it to that. So maybe
the other big one I want to touch on, and again, we just sort of touch on is, is gluten.
Gluten is another big one for people. And I'm not saying cut gluten out, right. But
you do find that if you eat heavy gluten meals, you get a migraine, then you might want to
watch it. And you can ask to be tested for celiac. There is now being discovered a tie

(18:17):
between celiac and migraines. So I don't, it's not so one to one that I don't test all
my patients for celiac, but I do send the panel if we, you know, keep a diary and watch
her and, and sometimes some people, it's not that they are truly celiac, but they're sensitive
to it. So they, yeah, exactly. So you have to sort of eat it in smaller amounts. Like

(18:37):
you still have some, at least it's much better than it used to be. But right. Yeah. And for
listeners, I did, I did a whole episode on gluten and, and I'm with you. It's not that
everybody needs to go gluten free, but there are, you know, just certain indications in
certain ways that you may want to cut back for certain reasons, but yeah, they can take
a listen. Yeah. Exactly. Go back. Right. All right. Awesome. But I like the resounding

(19:03):
theme there really is whole unprocessed foods because once again, that's good for our overall
health anyway. Um, the less processed things that we can consume. If you're frustrated
with your weight, taking more medications than you like to, have been told that you
are at risk for the development of a chronic preventable disease or just are not filling

(19:26):
in the best of health, then I'm talking to you. Why? Because you're tired of fat dieting.
You know, it's time for a change and you want a sustainable plan to improve your health.
If you have found yourself at this place in life, well, I have developed a program that's
just for you. It's called the essence of health and it's your prescription for transformation.

(19:50):
My goal with this program is to give you the tools needed to create sustainable lifestyle
changes within a group coaching setting, along with one to one individualized coaching to
give you a personalized path to help. That's just for you. The benefits are priceless.
So join today, head on over to e oh, h coaching.com to learn more. The essence of health is in

(20:17):
you. And then we talked about sleep and stress. So just what are your kind of key tips that
you typically give folks for, for managing that sleep piece that may be something, you
know, outside of the norm? So I'm gonna, I'm gonna say something first. That's gonna be
unpopular with the kids, but the parents are gonna stand up and applaud. Put your phone
down. Put your phone down. And I'm guilty of it. I'm guilty of scrolling mindlessly

(20:44):
because you just the end of the day, you have decision fatigue, your brain is tired, you
do not want to think anymore. And it's mindless. And those apps are very well designed to keep
you in there. That's what that algorithm does. And at that, again, we could spend a whole
hour on where that goes for mental health, for our children, like it is, it's a whole
nother discussion, but the blue light will wake you up just being on the phone. They're

(21:08):
not backlit like the e readers, but also what you're engaging in is going to keep you up.
And so there are lots of studies from the psych perspective, where social media absolutely
impacts your mood. And what I found really fascinating in this, this was in the pandemic,
I did a whole the psychology of happiness course, because I had nothing to do. If you

(21:30):
have it is fascinating to do. They did study. So it kind of makes sense if you go on social
media and you're looking at, you know, accounts that you think they're doing better than you,
right? You're there on big trips, or they're posting fancy cars, whatever, well, you're
going to feel bad about yourself, right? That's kind of natural instinct. But they also found
that if you went and specifically looked at accounts that you thought you were better

(21:54):
than, like you were trying to make yourself feel better. They actually also made you feel
worse. Which is, yeah, and they don't really know why. But the end result is that look,
no matter what you're doing on Facebook, or social media or Instagram, or whatever you're
on, it's probably not going to make you feel better. Right?
Yeah. I like to remind people, even my own kids, you know, it's like, people don't intentionally

(22:18):
put the bad stuff on social media. So that's why it's going to look like, oh, everybody's
doing amazing. Everybody's living this lavish life. That's because they didn't put the other
stuff. Yeah, they're not putting the laundry they
pulled in yesterday. Exactly.
The sandwich they had at lunch. Yeah. So those things, again, if you do it right before bed,
you're going to have a hard time winding down. The same is true of TV. And I know there's

(22:41):
a lot of you probably hear this too, Mam, I need the TV. I need the noise to go to sleep.
No, you don't. You can do white noise. You can do something else that's not engaging.
Because even if it's a show you've watched, you're listening to the conversation, you're
processing the show, you're thinking about, like, I'm a huge Golden Girls fan. Anyone
who knows me, I'm going to have to think every Golden Girls collectible on the planet. I
can quote most of the episodes. If I have it on, I'm still listening to it. Like, I

(23:04):
know what joke is coming. I know I'm not, you're not relaxing. If you actually talk
to sleep experts, they will tell you about two hours before bed, you should be turning
all that stuff down. I don't know a single person is going to do that. Like, you're supposed
to turn lights down in the house two hours before. Like, our lives are just too packed.
I can be realistic. Let's do half an hour, 45 minutes. Can I get an hour before bed?

(23:27):
You know, like, to just start turning all those electronics off. I am guilty of that, too.
This lecture goes as much to me as to everybody else. Those kind of things will help you fall
asleep easier. And to keep in mind that it's not instant. Sleep is a habit. So everything
you do around going to bed is a routine. So you want to keep that routine as consistent
as possible. When you change it, you're not going to fall asleep instantly the next night

(23:49):
because you turned your phone off. It's not going to happen. Don't give up. Some people
are like, I turned it off and I didn't fall asleep. But because it's not going to be that
fast. So you give yourself some time to get used to that new routine and a new way to
put yourself to sleep. Do smells tend to trigger? Because one thing I like to do is like use
like lavender, I use my own spray. Do those trigger migraines though for some people?

(24:12):
It depends on the person. Some they do. I have some patients that actually use peppermint
oil, essential oil to break their headache and they'll put it on their temples and things
like that and actually let it go away. So for some people that's fine. Some people one
scent is okay. For some people peppermint might be all right, but the lavender bothers
them. You just you have to sort of try for yourself. Sometimes when I'm like, I love

(24:32):
Yankee candle, candles, scented, all kinds of stuff. But if I'm having a migraine, I
can't, it's too much. Or sometimes people it's the amount like they could handle one
candle but they're not going to go into the store where there's 60 different flavors
than any given day. So yeah, so it's not that I'm not against using it. You just have
to sort of try for yourself if it bothers you or not. And then the stress, getting good

(24:57):
night's sleep is going to help your stress. And we sort of talked about relaxation, everything
with stress before. So just kind of work on that. It's just all of those are habits and
skills that you have to work on just like any other, whether it's hitting a baseball
or hitting a free throw or throwing a touchdown. It's all stuff you have to work on to get
better at. This is the same. It's the same skills. Right, right. Yeah, yeah, for sure.

(25:20):
And then, you know, even just kind of going back a little bit to those environmental factors,
what are some of those other kind of common environmental factors that you find may contribute
to my guess? Try to keep light out of your room as much as you can. I mean, some people
recommend actually go get blackout curtains. I don't go that far because I don't want to
make people spend money if they don't have it. Yeah, if you have blackout curtains, great.

(25:43):
Please try to keep lights out. Keep it as dark as you can. And the other big one to
me is keep it cool. If your room is hot, you're not going to sleep as well. You know, whether
it's having a ceiling fan on or just a fan in general or just adjusting. A lot of times
we have thermostats that you can program. So at night it drops that you're not cooling
your house that much all day. Stuff like that will help with the environment. There's lots

(26:04):
of discussion about pets in your bed. I'm going to try to skip that one because I'm
guilty that both my bold and sleep in my bed. And no, I don't sleep as well because they're
at my feet and I've tried to dodge them all over. You know, so you really, if you really
want to be diligent, put your pets on the floor in their own little bed somewhere. Does
the pet dander trigger for some people? It depends on if you're allergic to it or not.

(26:27):
Yeah. I mean, if obviously if you are sensitive to that and it's in your bed, it's in your
face, like I know my daughter is sensitive to the dog first. So we don't let the dog
in her room usually. Yes. Then you, because it's going to cause inflammation. So to that
point, and I'm going to take a little side trip for a second because I got the window.
Cause that same idea with sinuses, a lot of people couldn't say, Oh, I've had sinus headaches,
sinus headaches. That's, and you know, you've had migraines. It doesn't mean your sinuses

(26:50):
aren't setting off your migraines. They are two different things. And so a lot of people
with allergies, they're going to have that inflammation. So the same thing is true of
the dander or whatever. And that's going to irritate all these nerves. So all the nerves
in your head, face and neck are what control that migraine flow. And so if you are irritating
that nerve, whether it's through dental work or allergies or whatever, that can then set
off headaches. So you do want to be careful if you do have allergies, you can have sinus

(27:14):
headaches. Yes. But they can also set off your migraines and you can be having both.
So you want to be, it's not that all I treat my sinuses, so it must be something else.
So they still can be connected. It's still important to treat both of those. Yeah. Yeah.
I'm glad you touched on that. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. I get that question all the time. Yeah.
And what are some of the non-pharmacological, I know you're a doctor and you're going to

(27:36):
be amazing at prescribing medications, but what are some of those things outside of medications
that folks can do for treatment? Absolutely. And so, yeah, I'm a pediatrician at heart.
I'm a child neurologist and then did headache specialist. So I'm all about prevention. I
totally love that angle. So I'm a little different than some neurologists. I'm like, no, if we
can prevent all this, and that's why we've been talking about sleep and exercise and

(27:57):
right, you can do all that and keep them from happening. Great. So all of that stuff is
definitely natural. Everything we've talked about and controlling those triggers, but
you can take things like magnesium is nice. And that actually works for a fair number
of people. I know it seems like, oh, I'm just taking a vitamin or I guess a mineral technically,
right? But it does work. But it's, I still tell people it has side effects. So herbal
stuff can still have side effects. So magnesium can upset your stomach. So you do want to

(28:20):
be careful with that. And a lot of people will ask me too, well, what about the different
magnesiums? Here's the different magnesium scoop. It doesn't matter which magnesium from
a headache perspective. Doesn't matter. They're all going to work. They're all going to absorb
the magnesium. That's ultimately what's going to help. That side group you're asking about.
So the magnesium sulfide, the magnesium oxide, citrate, lysinate, whatever. That's more relative

(28:41):
to the side effect of what you're going to get when you take it. So you may have touched
on this and another thing too, because again, I had it, but I'm glad you are because I was
going to be my next. It's good for so many things. Oh my God. And we do not ingest enough
magnesium. It's in greens. It's a lot of stuff that the American diet does not eat enough
of. So yes, supplement for many things. So my, if you really want to, I tell people if

(29:01):
you want to be an overachiever, go for magnesium glycinate. That's going to be absorbed the
best and it's going to cause the least amount of side effects. But at least around here,
it's hard to find it in the store. So usually you're going to have to order it. But I just
don't know if you have Amazon Prime or a quick delivery. You can just get it delivered. If
you want sort of middle of the road, magnesium oxide is usually easily found in stores and

(29:23):
it's, it's okay. It's absorbed pretty well. It can cause side effects, but it's better.
If you have someone who's already on the constipated train, then I would do magnesium citrate because
then you're going to kill two birds with one stone. So you're going to treat the constipation
and the headaches at the same time. But if you have a sensitive stomach, stay away from
magnesium citrate. That's what's in Phillips. That's what's in a bunch of other stuff. So
that's kind of the low down on magnesium. It does come, I also warn people, the pills

(29:46):
are huge. They are horse pills. They're big. So if you have a younger patient or someone
who's just not great at swallowing pills, you're not going to want to buy magnesium
as a pill. There are gummies. I know dentists hate that, but brush your teeth. You'll be
fine. Sugar folks. Exactly. So, okay. You know, it's not great, but it's better to get
it in. There are powders you can drink as well on the market. And they're, I think the

(30:10):
one is like raspberry lemonade flavor. So they're not bad. Yeah. It depends on whether
you want to drink that or not, but you can do it that way as well. Yeah. I have some
folks who actually do better with those than the pills, like you said, because of that.
Yeah. Yeah. And magnesium is good for sleep too, folks. So while you're eating. It's not
going to knock you out like a melatonin, but it's really cool. So if you have some, especially

(30:31):
with anxiety where their brain is racing at night, that's why they can't get to sleep.
Magnesium is great because it calms that down. They're also, I have to say, I was very skeptical
when this came up to me with a patient, they asked about doing topical magnesium. And so
I was like, I'm not sure that's going to absorb enough. Like I just, and no one, no one's
studying a vitamin. So we don't really know. So they had a friend who had told them about

(30:54):
it and she actually got diarrhea from using it. And I said, well, then it must be absorbed.
Right. It must be absorbed. Right. So, okay. And the kid, I think he was six or seven.
So he was little and they were trying to, you know, and he might've had a gelatin issue
and that's why he couldn't take the gummy. So do you have to be mindful of that too?
So they were doing it topically and it actually helped it. So you can use it that way. It's

(31:17):
again, a little more inaccurate because you're not really dosing it the same way, but in certain
situations that's the best way you can get it in, then you can do it as a topical cream
too. That is an option. So I have to say, I was, I was skeptical. I didn't think it
would work and, but it did. It actually worked for him.
Wonderful. Good to know. Yeah. And so what are just those, any other practical steps

(31:38):
just to really get people started noticing their triggers and even just started working
with their doctor or someone like you with your coaching to just get on a effective plan?
What would you kind of say?
So one of the first things, especially if you have headaches often is keep a diary because
you will be surprised at the amount of times it all runs together. Either you're having

(32:00):
more headaches than you realize or you're, you know, you're, oh no, I'm not having them
as often, but God, they're really worse when they have, like it just helps put things into
perspective. You don't have to do it forever. I typically do it for, depending on how often
your headaches are, a month or two, just to give yourself a snapshot before you go in
because that way you can really tell the doctor, Hey, I'm having them twice a week. I'm having
them, you know, once a month, whatever. Also having it written down is going to help you

(32:23):
look at that pattern. So it helps you look at triggers. Okay. Every time there's a thunderstorm,
I get a headache. It could be the weather front and the barometric pressure coming through.
Okay. So no, I can't control that. I can't change that, but at least I know I can be
prepared. Hey, there's a big hurricane coming up the coast here. Let me make sure I have
my rescue refilled and I'm prepared. Or yeah, every time I eat pepperoni on pizza Friday,

(32:43):
I get a migraine, but then stop eating pepperoni. Like sometimes it's easy. If you can see that
pattern, it makes things a lot easier. But also going into that first visit with, with
a, particularly if you can, a headache specialist, if you have one in your area, you're going
to, you're going to hit the ground running much better if they can see all that and keep
it because to be honest with you, we can submit that to insurance if we need to justify headache

(33:04):
numbers. Like for Botox, for example, we can actually submit a patient diary of like, here's
the actual headache. So sometimes keeping that also helps with that kind of stuff. That's
good to know. I don't think I've ever known that tip for folks. Yeah. Yeah. Botox is a
whole nother animal too, but yeah. And so I, so just, I think you said this in the beginning,
but yeah, I am a headache specialist. I am a child neurologist. Then I did extra training,

(33:26):
so I'm actually double boarded, but headache specialist, the most of us are neurologists,
but they can be family medicine. They can be sometimes dentists do the, the certification
and T's can do it. So we do come from different perspectives. Most of us are neurologists
or like primary care, some of that do it. And not that neurologists can't handle headaches,
but you talk to someone who's battled with migraines for a while, they'll tell you a

(33:49):
headache specialist is we're just, cause we do, this is all I do all day. I do headaches
and confessions. And so I'm, you know, this, these are the conferences I go to. These are
the articles I read. And so it is a little different and a little better understanding.
We're not more, more detailed and we're in the weeds as it is. And so if you can't find
a headache specialist in your area, take your diary and do that. I am again, I come from

(34:09):
a peace background, so I very much come at it from a physician standpoint of, yeah, let's
keep the medicines as low as we can. Yes, they're there. If we need them, that's why
we created them right there. But if we can do, if we really can focus on, if you're not
sleeping, you're not exercising, you're not, let's focus on that for a month or whatever
and maybe do a supplement and do, as we talked about magnesium, you can do riboflavin as

(34:31):
well. Riboflavin has some evidence. I find that riboflavin by itself is hard to find.
So oftentimes some people just take a B complex. You're probably short on the other B's as
well. So why not? You can do CoQ10 is another supplement you can get over the counter that
helps. It has less evidence, but it does help some. And then I have some people that actually
do things like fever few. Butterbur, if you can find the right wine, you have to be careful

(34:54):
with butterbur. It had some issues a couple of years ago with elevating liver enzymes.
So it's not as recommended, but depending on where you find it, but fever few does have
some evidence. And so some of those things can help you and so you can supplement with
that, work on the triggers, and then you come back in a month, six weeks, if we're not better,
then yeah, okay, we go on meds. But it's a lot of that. It's that lifestyle. It's like

(35:14):
getting things in order. And that's what you were referencing. I do have a coaching program
we launched this summer aimed at specifically that it's called Mastering Migraine. And so
it really is aimed at and I'm a certified nutrition coach. So technically I can coach
any nutrition that was part of the basis, but I'm aiming at mostly migraine patients
to try to help them be an accountable partner to say, Hey, let's make reasonable goals that

(35:38):
are going to fit into your lifestyle because you're not going to change all five of those
trigger behaviors at once. Right. You're going to set yourself up for failure. And that's
true. They need metabolic. Yeah, exactly. For sure. Yeah. You got to do small, small
goals and make stuff that's realistic that you can keep up with. So something that if
you have a family, whatever dietary changes you make it that the whole family can eat
because you don't want to be cooking a meal for yourself, then a meal for your kids. Like

(36:01):
we don't have the time for that. No. So to sort of do that as a coach and say, Hey, I'm
here to help you figure that out. Somewhere from the outside to look in and say, here's
how this works. Let's make this work for you and then hold you accountable over it. And
so that's the, to me, that's a huge part of making your headaches better. But then I also
like for me, no coaching is not medical, but I never, I mean, you're like as a mom and

(36:24):
you never take your doctor hat off. It's always there. We can't, it's sewn on. Right. So I
can help patients too, if you don't have a headache specialist in your area to say, Hey,
here's how, ask your doctor about this or here's the conversation. Maybe it is. And
that's the great part of having a physician as a coach though, because you also are going
to know what's safe, what's not safe. You know, you're not like the random social media

(36:47):
person who's just going to, you know, tell you the latest facts when it may not be the
most helpful thing. You also have that, you know, that background science knowledge. Yeah.
So it is, it really does. It comes down to just a lot of simple behaviors, but in our
day-to-day lives, they're really hard to follow through on, I guess is the way to put it.

(37:08):
You know, it's, it's things like, yeah, I drink more water. That's not rocket science,
but it's hard to make yourself do. You get busy. You forget. You do like, I'm not going to lie,
behind the scenes here, because I left my big bottle at home. So I grabbed one from our fridge
and our infusion bar. I'm drinking while I'm working. And so it's, it's just, it's easy to
forget, or it's easy. Like you get tired. I don't want to work out today, but go do 10 minutes.

(37:33):
You'll find that once you start, you're probably going to want to keep going. Right. So just start.
And if you don't, after 10 minutes, you're like, Hey, you know what? I'm tired. I really just think
your body's telling you it's been a long day. You did some, be grateful, be glad you did your,
you did your stuff. You did your duty. Now go rest, let your body need, take what it needs.
But it's, you know, it's, it's about balancing all that. And it's, it's no, it's not hard. It's not

(37:58):
revolutionary. It's just, it's hard mentally for us to get that focus to do it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
For sure. And that, that's a great, you know, tips just to leave us on and wrap up for ourselves.
Thank you so much, Dr. Albert. We're even joining the show now before you go, how can my listeners
connect with you? Absolutely. So it depends. Depends. That's what you're looking for. So yeah,

(38:22):
as a typical entrepreneur, I have about six different lines. So, cause I, I'm also a Zumba
instructor. So yeah, I got all kinds of social media. So you can find me. I'm gonna bring you
back about that Zumba. Oh, I, oh, I love it. I, if I, if I weren't, if I weren't as old as I am
and my body could handle doing Zumba all week, I would probably walk away from medicine and do Zumba.

(38:43):
It is, it is the best community. It's so much fun if you've never done it. And I feel like it's not
a dancer. I was a college level softball player. Like, yeah, no, but it's so much fun. Yes. And
being an instructor is even better to watch. That just this community come together. And it's so
like last night, we, I taught last night and to a bunch of my regulars and we all just, it was,

(39:03):
everyone's having a bad day. And I was like, all right, that's it. The music's starting. We're
gonna leave the world outside and chill. It was, oh my God, it was amazing. And everyone, we all,
like everyone left in a good mood and we all have stress relief and yeah. So anyway, so if from a
headache standpoint, just especially people in the Virginia area or nearby states, if you want to
travel in, cause I know again, there's not a lot of headache specialists in the country. So we're

(39:24):
kind of hard to find. I'm excited. You see some adults we're on at PHCR for you. So that's our
handle across Facebook, Instagram. We are on X. I always still want to call it Twitter. We are on X.
I don't do a lot of X. So most of you are gonna connect with me on Twitter or Facebook or Instagram
or Facebook. So that's for the headache stuff. And then if you are looking at, we do a lot of

(39:50):
our wellness, the coaching. Again, if you're in the area, we do vitamin infusions. We do migraine
cocktails in-house. So you don't have to go to the ER. So we do offer that. It's one of the things I
really love when I open my own practice that I could do for headache patients. Cause the last
place you want to be with a headache is the ER. It's loud, it's bright. They don't want you there
cause they got bigger emergencies, right? So we actually do have an infusion bar that my patients

(40:12):
usually come into, but we actually can infuse for other people. It's going to be cheaper for you too
to do it in the office. So that's through Nourish, which is our wellness bar. And that's Nourish IV
for you. And that's the handle across Facebook and Instagram as well. And then the coaching program
is run under Nourish. So if you're looking for the Mastering Migraine, it does have a Facebook group,
but it's currently set as a private group cause it's going to be a support group for people after

(40:35):
they go through the program. But our website for all of that is still under it's pediatricheadiccenter.com.
So especially if you are someone in Virginia looking to become a patient, our new patient packet,
everything is on there, our fax and phone for all that stuff's on there. Nourish has its own tab on
that website. And then the Mastering Migraine has its own tab. So everything's on that website.
If you're going that way. Awesome. Yeah. And I'll be sure to put that in the show notes for our

(40:59):
listeners. So you can definitely see Dr. Alford and stop suffering through those migraines. So for sure.
I'm so glad to do this because these are stuff that just, it's simple things, but for metabolic,
for headaches, for just overall wellness, something makes such a huge difference in your life to just

(41:20):
again, eat well, sleep well, move and just nourish our body. It's just huge. And I'm so glad to get
to share that because I think people, we do want to just, you know, pop up hill sometimes.
Right. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, for sure. Thank you so much. Thank you for joining me today on the
Essence of Health Tea Time Podcast. Click the subscribe button on your favorite podcast platform

(41:45):
so that you never miss a moment of the Essence of Health Tea Time Podcast. Check out the show notes
to obtain your free tips for Healthy Living God to get you started on your health and wellness path.
Follow me on social media at Essence of Health Wellness Clinic on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube
and at doctor.tw at E-O-H-W-C on TikTok. Interested in becoming a member of the Essence of Health

(42:13):
coaching program? Well, head on over to www.eohcoaching.com. The Essence of Health is a You.

All Episodes

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

Stuff You Should Know

My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark

The Joe Rogan Experience

.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}The Tea On Splitting Headaches And Mindful Migraine Management

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

.css-r6mb8g{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:1;overflow:hidden;}Stuff You Should Know

My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark

The Joe Rogan Experience

All Episodes

The Tea On Splitting Headaches And Mindful Migraine Management

Stuff You Should Know