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Melatonin Conquers Morning Migraines

Posting Date: 12/20/2004

Q. Since the age of 23 I have had frequent migraine headaches. Over the years, many doctors have prescribed medicines to prevent them, but none has worked. Drugs can stop the migraine if I take them early enough, but they shouldn?t be taken too often.

I was told the headaches would disappear at menopause, but instead they got worse. For the past ten years I have awakened three or four times a week between 2 and 4 am with a migraine. I look at my bedside clock when the headache wakes me.

I read an article about people taking melatonin for jet lag and wondered if my headaches were due to a body clock problem. The article didn?t say anything about migraines, but I tried an experiment. I started taking one 3 mg melatonin tablet each evening, and I stopped waking up with a headache in the wee hours.

For years I have been avoiding all sorts of foods that might be migraine triggers. The success with melatonin made me brave and I ate some of them. No headache, as long as I take the melatonin. I consider myself lucky and want to share my discovery.

A. You get credit for creative thinking. Scientists have also looked at the role of melatonin in treating migraine, and found these headaches may indeed be related to biorhythm disturbances. One study is titled: ?Melatonin, 3 mg, is effective for migraine prevention? (Neurology, Aug. 24, 2004).

Q. I?ve heard that red wine is good for the heart, but I don?t dare drink alcohol. Would grape juice work as a substitute?

A. Grape juice does seem to have intriguing benefits. Jane Freedman, MD, of Boston University School of Medicine, recently reported that Concord grape juice raised good HDL cholesterol and reduced inflammation when compared to a purple placebo beverage. In previous research, Dr. Freedman and her colleagues had found that Concord grape juice helps to keep blood platelets from clumping to form clots.