The majority of people do not think that antibiotics cause migraine headaches – or that pharmaceutical medications used to manage their migraines may be directly inhibiting their ability to heal.
If you ask most people with migraines if indigestion, inflammation, muscle tension, and hormones are all part of their migraine headaches, quite a few of them will say YES. Many of these people are also aware that getting plenty of potassium and magnesium is important for proper electrolyte balance, but may not understand why their electrolyte levels are off.
Increasingly, more and more people are also aware of a disorder called histamine intolerance, and understand that their indigestion and migraine headaches may be resulting from an overload of histamine which occurs in the gut when the body is unable to break histamine and tyramine-rich foods down due to an enzyme deficiency (primarily, DAO, aka diamine oxidase).
Most migraineurs are also aware that dilated blood vessels are implicated in migraines, but won’t see a connection between their low blood pressure and the blood vessel dilation during migraine.
This constellation of symptoms can be very difficult to understand, and rarely do we see a clear presentation for what these different symptoms have to do with each other much less what their underlying cause is.
In this article, I’d like to share with you the pieces of the puzzle as I have come to understand them in the process of healing my own migraine headaches and histamine intolerance. It’s my (layperson’s) belief that even sporadic antibiotics cause migraine by way of negatively affecting primarily the gut flora and the kidneys.
Laypeople and medical doctors use the term “cause” and “causation” differently. Strictly speaking, it is inaccurate to claim that antibiotics “cause” migraine headaches, in the sense that we know that many migraine headaches have other or multiple confounding causes as well. In a very general way, this article is simply pointing out that antibiotics can be one of the major causative factors in the development of migraines in many but not all cases of migraine, and that this is often not fully recognized. Clearly, antibiotics is a huge category of drugs with many different specific effects depending on the type of antibiotic used, but generally speaking, they are all recognized to negatively impact gut flora balance and kidney health.
Please note that this hypothesis and all the information contain here is based off of my own research, self-experimentation and observations helping others as an experientally-trained health coach, and not as a traditionally-trained medical doctor.
Mainstream and Alternative Classifications of Migraine Headache and the Role of Pharmaceuticals in Migraine Causation
The International Headache Society’s ICHD-3 classification system outlines three types of migraine: migraine with aura, migraine without aura, and retinal migraine. Migraine types formerly thought to be distinctive disorders, such as chronic migraine and hemiplagic migraine, are now being classified as “complications” of migraine.
In contrast, clinical nutritionist Byron J. Richards has created his own classification system for migraine headaches because, “From a practical point of view the different types of headaches that Western medicine classifies have little use in fixing the source of the problem and stopping the headaches from happening in the first place.” His classification is: Lymphatic/Pressure Headaches, Hormonal Headaches, Blood/Toxic Headaches, and Nerve Inflammation Headaches.
It is a sobering commentary on the skill of Western medicine that their toolbox for this issue is limited to a variety of pain killers – which sometimes treat or manage the pain in a symptomatic way and sometimes don’t work so well. While some type of pain killing is better than the headache, getting stuck in the rut of ongoing painkiller use is also problematic and not addressing the source of the problem.(Source)
WebMd doesn’t recognize that antibiotics cause migraines. It describes “medication headaches” and reports that many drugs can induce “acute headache”, but describes antibiotics only in relation to drug-induced meningitis, a “rare occurrence.”
Many drugs can induce acute headache, including nitroglycerin, antihypertensive agents (beta-blockers, calcium channel blockers, angiotensin-converting enzyme [ACE] inhibitors, and methyldopa), dipyridamole, hydralazine, sildenafil, histamine receptor antagonists (e.g., cimetidine and ranitidine), NSAIDs (especially indomethacin), cyclosporine, and antibiotics (especially amphotericin, griseofulvin, tetracycline, and sulfonamides). Drug-induced aseptic meningitis, a rare occurrence, has numerous possible causes, including NSAIDs, antibiotics, . . . vaccines (polio; measles, mumps, and rubella; and hepatitis B); and some other drugs. . .
If, however, we know that many people with histamine intolerance manifest with symptoms of migraine, the question becomes which medications in particular lower DAO or trigger mast cells to release histamine. A growing list of medications known to be indirectly implicated in migraine headaches, histamine intolerance, and mastocytosis is available here.
In addition to the direct impact of meds on DAO levels, mast cells, gut microbiome, kidneys, and liver (not to mention thyroid, pancreas, etc), it is well established that many pharmaceuticals are “Drug Muggers” – they steal vital nutrients (such as B vitamins) needed by the body to make the enzymes necessary to break histamine down. From an evolutionary perspective, pharmaceuticals and synthetic chemicals are novel and challenging for our bodies.
Notice that none of the explanations in this section for how meds affect us implicate antibiotics in chronic migraine. So why do I insist that antibiotics are the main culprit? Because their use leads to a predominance of histamine-producing bacteria in the colon, and hormonal, electrolyte, and blood pressure problems that manifest due to kidney dysfunction.
But it’s worse than that. I believe one of the main reasons that antibiotics cause migraine is because most antibiotics contain fluoride, which is a halide that competes with iodine. Thyroid disease is directly correlated to migraine pain, and iodine is needed for thyroid function. Getting exposed to too many halides can wreak havoc on your thyroid gland.
If we look at the history of people with migraines, they almost all have had numerous doses of antibiotics throughout their life (who hasn’t?). Many who have tried my protocols confirm that their migraine headaches started after a major surgery or dose of antibiotics. This assault so undermined their own body’s resilience that a chronic debilitating condition resulted.
It’s my view that these cases are not a result of that single dose of antibiotics or pharmaceuticals, but rather, that the person was already compromised from intermittent antibiotic use throughout their life and that one incident was the straw that broke the camel’s back. As with many other pharmaceuticals (such as vaccines), the question is: how many doses can the body handle, and at which point is a threshold reached that tips the body over into chronic inflammatory disease?
Why do so many people with migraine headaches have high levels of histamine?
It’s great that more and more people, including physicians, are becoming aware of the problem of histamine intolerance. Anyone familiar with histamine intolerance will know that DAO (diamine oxidase) is one of the enzymes that breaks down tyramine and histamine rich foods. Therefore, the idea goes, histamine intolerance is caused by low DAO levels, which may be compromised due to medications that lower DAO, such as acetaminophen and other NSAIDs. This is the classical perspective on histamine intolerance. It’s also well known that some opiates trigger mast cells to degranulate and release histamine that way. This is called mastocytosis. So clearly there are many routes through which one can end up with a lot of inflammation (ie, histamine) in the body.
A DAO level test can be done, but if a person were to show normal levels of DAO, this would not mean that they don’t have histamine intolerance, in my view. It would only mean that there was so much histamine in the body that even normal DAO levels couldn’t break it all down. I personally prefer to refer to the symptoms of an overfull “bucket” of histamine as “histamine overload” rather than “histamine intolerance.” “Histamine Intolerance” implies there is a malfunction in the person’s body, whereas “Histamine Overload” correctly describes an excessive amount of histamine caused by factors that have overwhelmed the body’s ability to break it down.
On the other hand, it’s important to keep in mind that intolerances to many compounds, including sulfur and glutamate, can mimick histamine intolernace. Regardless, the mechanism of the overfull bucket is the same. Gut bacteria produce glutamates as well, so once gut bacteria are thrown off, any number of foods can add to the overfull bucket. Most high histamine foods also contain high amounts of glutamate as well as mold.
Why do so many people with migraine headaches have dilated blood vessels and electrolyte imbalances?
There seem to be mixed views as to whether migraine is an issue of constricted or dilated blood vessels. It seems clear that with migraine, there is less than optimal blood flow and that this leads to loss of oxygen to the brain and attendant pain.
Constricted blood vessels would seem to logically be the cause of lack of blood flow, whereas it would seem dilated blood vessels would lead to more blood flow. However, the opposite is true. The important key to understand here is that dilated blood vessels are also associated with low blood pressure. Most migraineurs have low blood pressure, so while the vessels may be dilated and wide open for the blood to flow, if the pressure of that blood is low, it will not be able to bring the blood and oxygen to the head.
Additionally, low blood pressure will prevent good circulation to the extremities, which is why many with migraine headaches have cold hands and feet, tingling in hands and feet, and various peripheral neuropathy issues.
So the root question is actually, “Why do so many migraineurs have low blood pressure?” Well, what regulates blood pressure? The kidneys do. They regulate blood pressure partially by way of how they regulate electrolyte balance. Antibiotics are known to cause electrolyte imbalances via damage to the kidneys. This can be mitigated as outlined in the Repattern Migraine Masterclass by consuming the optimal levels of potassium to sodium electrolytes (2:1 ratio), which will raise blood pressure, increase DAO levels, and improve cellular respiration and metabolic function.
As it turns out, there are also bacteria in the digestive tract that help to regulate blood pressure as well. Therefore, anything that assaults the colonic bacterial balance and the kidneys (ie, antibiotics) will seriously compromise a person’s ability to regulate their blood pressure.
Researchers at The Johns Hopkins University and Yale University have discovered that a specialized receptor, normally found in the nose, is also in blood vessels throughout the body, sensing small molecules created by microbes that line mammalian intestines, and responding to these molecules by increasing blood pressure. The finding suggests that gut bacteria are an integral part of the body’s complex system for maintaining a stable blood pressure. (Source)
(An aside: some bacteria in the colon also act to help detoxify the body as well, and therefore can be seen as a “second liver”. Source: see Dr. Perlmutter’s book “Brain Maker”. Liver congestion is well known to be implicated in migraine headaches as well. Therefore it makes sense that those with imbalanced gut flora will be putting an increasing load on their liver. Many people try to treat their migraines by focusing on liver health, but it may make more sense to heal the gut first and thereby support the liver).
What role do hormones play in migraine headaches?
The adrenal glands sit atop our kidneys and regulate our stress hormones. Going through a surgery or getting antibiotics is extremely stressful, especially if the damage done from that surgery leads to a debilitating condition like chronic migraine headaches.
For many women like myself, the triggering surgery may have been a c-section operation. So on top of antibiotics and the stress from the surgery, the mother is going to have taxed adrenals from sleep deprivation from caring for her child, and in some cases years of breastfeeding which can be literally very draining even in the absence of migraine headaches. There are clearly many compounding factors that contribute to stress and adrenal fatigue, but I contend that it is the original stress to the kidneys from antibiotics and surgery that undermine the mother’s ability to be resourced and resilient in the face of the new challenges of motherhood.
The adrenal glands use progesterone to make cortisol. Therefore, the more stressed out you are, and the the more cortisol you produce, the more progesterone you will need to manufacture it. Progesterone puts the brakes on estrogen. If progesterone becomes depleted because of the high demands on it by the adrenals, there will be an excess of estrogen in the system. Estrogen suppresses DAO, thus leading to excessive histamine.
The liver processes estrogen and so, if the liver is already overloaded because the colonic bacteria that act as the second liver are missing, the liver will be more compromised, further contributing to the hormonal imbalance.
Luckily, this situation can be mitigated by improving gut flora balance and eating estrogen-reducing foods, which I go over in the Repattern Migraine Masterclass. Once the most debilitating symptoms of histamine overload and migraine headache subside, sleep patterns will be re-established, the body can rest and repair itself and the kidneys/adrenals will gradually heal.
The bottom line?
It’s important to note that while clearly, not all migraine headaches have the same root causes, people with different migraine types are responding well to the steps outlined in my Repattern Migraine Coursework, indicating that in many cases, migraines with the same root cause (imbalanced gut flora and compromised kidneys) can manifest with different symptoms in different people.
There is an enormous need for us to discover alternatives to pharmaceutical treatment, which are not only ineffective at addressing the root cause, but in many cases are exacerbating or undermining the body’s self-healing abilities. This suppressive approach to medicine is in its death-throes. People are waking up to a new paradigm of medicine that involves a return to common-sense, self-care, and natural solutions. The problems is that while many people believe in a very general way that food is medicine, it can take years to discover which foods are the best medicine for specific conditions like chronic migraine headaches.
We are in the process of reclaiming our Folk Medicine and also discovering new applications for plant-based solutions that address modern problems largely caused by pharmaceuticals that our grandparents didn’t have to deal with and so were not in the lexicon of their Folk Medicine before it was lost.
I’m overjoyed to offer my Repattern Migraine Masterclass to the Folk as a gift from Mother Nature as she continually reveals options for us that are gentle, nourishing and profoundly effective at addressing intense chronic pain conditions such as migraine headaches. Part of my excitement in sharing these plant-based solutions comes from all the positive “side-effects” of truly holistic medicine (like clear skin, more energy, deeper sleep, improved gum health, diminished PMS and cramping during menstruation, etc). The good news is that the body doesn’t know how to selectively heal.
It’s my hope that we can start to wake up to the reality of the damaging effects that antibiotic medications are having on our whole physiology, which for some of us manifests as migraines. Luckily, there are very simple, affordable, and gentle plant-based solutions to reverse this damage. Antibiotics cause migraine headaches, and humble roots and plants heal them.
