Medical marijuana reduces the number of prescriptions written by doctors, according to a recent study published in Health Affairs. The researchers at the University of Georgia in Athens looked at all prescriptions filled by Medicare participants over a four year period for nine conditions for which medical marijuana is used for. These included anxiety, depression, glaucoma, nausea, pain, psychosis, seizures, sleep disorders and spasticity. They compared 17 states and Washington, DC where medical marijuana was legalized with those where it was not. In states with legalized medical marijuana the number of prescriptions dropped by 0.5% providing estimated savings of $165 million a year. Of all approved indications, relief of pain was by far the most common reason medical marijuana was prescribed for. This was a much more dramatic effect than the researchers anticipated. They expected that the mostly elderly patients on Medicare would be more resistant to the idea of using marijuana than younger people.

In a February post I mentioned that I started prescribing medical marijuana to my patients with migraine headaches who also have neuropathic pain as part of their headache. While medical marijuana is not approved for migraines per se, it is approved for neuropathic (i.e nerve-related pain), which many migraine sufferers do have. Burning or stabbing pain indicates the presence of neuropathic pain. So far, I’ve prescribed medical marijuana to about two dozen patients and as expected, the results are mixed. It works well for some, but not other. Most commonly, patients who’ve had positive experience with recreational marijuana tend to request medical marijuana and they tend to do better than those who’ve never tried it.

Research on medical marijuana is complicated by the fact that there is no standard formulation, which means that there is wide variation in the strains of the plant with varying amounts of active and inactive ingredients. In New York State medical marijuana can be ingested, inhaled through a vaporizer or placed under the tongue. We also have various ratios of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD), which produce different results. Nevertheless, we do plan to do an observational study of 100 migraine sufferers who also have neuropathic pain. We hope to get an indication as to what route of administration and what THC/CBD ratio work best for migraine patients.

Vitamin B12 was the subject of an article in the New York Times by Jane Brody entitled, Vitamin B12 as Protection for the Aging Brain. However, she mentions that “insufficient absorption of B12 from foods may even be common among adults aged 26 to 49” and that the advice to take a vitamin B12 supplement may apply to young people as well. This is particularly true for vegans and vegetarians, as well as people with stomach problems and those on PPIs – drugs for ulcers and heartburn, such as Prilosec, Nexium, Aciphex, etc.

Vitamin B12 deficiency can cause “fatigue, tingling and numbness in the hands and feet, muscle weakness and loss of reflexes, which may progress to confusion, depression, memory loss and dementia as the deficiency grows more severe”. Severe deficiency leads to peripheral and central nervous system damage (so called subacute combined degeneration), which eventually becomes irreversible and leads to death.

Jane Brody does not mention that besides Alzheimer’s, other chronic diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, diabetes, and cancer are also associated with low vitamin B12 levels. Vitamin B12 with vitamin B6 and folic acid has been shown to help some migraine sufferers

You can ask your doctor to check your vitamin B12 level, but unfortunately it is not reliable. Most laboratories cite as normal blood levels of above 200 or 250, but there are reports of rare cases where severe deficiency is present with a level of 700. I recommend taking a supplement if the level is below 500. In severe cases or in people with stomach problems, a monthly injection is a better choice. Patients can easily self-inject vitamin B12, but it does require a doctor’s prescription. Some of my patients feel the need to inject themselves with vitamin B12 more often than once a month. Whenever they start feeling tired or having other symptoms, they take a shot. Unlike some vitamins, such as B6 and A, vitamin B12 does not cause any negative effects even at high levels. As an oral supplement I usually recommend tablets of methylcobalamin, rather than cyanocobalamin form of vitamin B12 because of better absorption. The usual dose is 1 mg (or 1,000 mcg) daily. If you are deficient and stop taking the supplement, the deficiency can return within a few months.

Intravenous magnesium relieves acute migraine attacks in patients with magnesium deficiency, which is present in half of migraine sufferers, according to the study we published in 1995 in the journal Clinical Science. Infusions not only treat an acute attack, but also prevent migraines. Oral magnesium supplementation is not as effective and helps less than 50% of patients because some patients do not absorb magnesium. Most people get enough magnesium from food, but some migraine sufferers have a genetic defect which prevents them from absorbing magnesium or a genetic defect that leads to an excessive loss of magnesium through kidneys.

Our experience with thousands of patients suggests that the majority of migraine sufferers who are magnesium deficient do improve with oral supplementation, but about 10% do not. These patients need regular infusions of magnesium and these infusions are often life-changing. Magnesium not only treats and prevents migraines, but also relieves muscle cramps, PMS, palpitations, “brain fog”, and other symptoms.

There are many mentions of magnesium on my blog and on the nyheadache.com website, so what prompted another post on this topic is a couple of patients with an unusal experience. I would occasionally see such patients but in the past few weeks, I saw several. These patients tell me that when we give them an infusion of magnesium by “slow push” over 5 minutes they get excellent relief, but when they end up in an emergency room or another doctor’s office where they receive the same amount of magnesium through an intravenous drip over a half an hour or longer, there is no relief.

A likely explanation is that a push results in a high blood level, which overcomes the blood-brain barrier and delivers magnesium into the brain, while during a drip, magnesium level does not increase to a high enough level to reach the brain. Studies have shown that migraineurs not only have a systemic magnesium deficiency, but specifically in their brains. A similar phenomenon has been described with sumatriptan (Imitrex). Researchers discovered that migraine sufferers who did not respond to sumatriptan had a much slower increase in the drug level compared to responders, even though the total amount of the drug absorbed into the blood was the same.

Recently, a patient of mine reported that cramp bark has significantly improved her menstrual migraines. Cramp bark is a common shrub with red berries. Its bark has been used for over 100 years for muscle cramps, menstrual cramps, fluid retention, and other symptoms. Fortunately, it appears to be very safe and even though no scientific studies have been performed on it, it may be worth trying. I will start recommending it to women with menstrual migraines, menstrual cramping and patients with muscle spasms in their neck and upper back.

The two top herbs I recommend to my migraine patients are feverfew and boswellia. Feverfew has been subjected to scientific studies and seems to help some patients while causing almost no side effects. Boswellia has been reported to help even patients with cluster headaches, but no rigorous studies have been done. However, it is safe and because of its anti-inflammatory properties it can also help joint and muscle aches (see my blog post on Boswellia).

Butterbur, on the other hand is not always safe, so I haven’t been recommending it. Here is one of my blog posts on it.