93. Chronic Migraines for 20 Years… Gone in 6 Weeks?

Monica was taking Fioricet, Zofran, and ibuprofen several times a week on top of Nurtec every other day as a preventative. She'd been battling severe migraines with debilitating nausea for almost 20 years.

After six weeks of working together, she went 10 days without any abortive medication.

In this episode, I break down exactly why Monica's results came so quickly and what makes my approach different from the supplement-shelf approach most natural practitioners take.

I explain why I do a detailed symptom assessment instead of ordering expensive specialty testing, and why I go in like a laser instead of throwing everything at you at once.

I also talk about mental and emotional component that most practitioners completely miss. Monica has a demanding profession she loves, not a toxic workplace, but the stress was draining her vitality. We worked on managing those demands in a way that doesn't contribute to migraines.

This episode is for you if you've tried other natural practitioners and ended up with 10 supplements to take at different times of day, if you're highly sensitive and worry that any change will trigger a migraine, if you have a demanding job or family situation and need something that actually fits your life, or if you've been told there's nothing more that can be done.

If you're having 8+ migraine days per month and you're ready for a laser-focused approach that addresses both the physical and mental-emotional components, I can help.

Schedule your free consultation here:
https://www.drlesliecisar.com/apply

Free Training: 5 Proven Steps to Being Migraine Free (Even if you think you've already tried everything.)

https://www.drlesliecisar.com/5SHMN

Connect with us:

Website: https://www.drlesliecisar.com/

Free Facebook Group: Healing Migraines Naturally, with Leslie Cisar, ND

Ready to try something radically different that actually works? Read more about my approach here: https://www.drlesliecisar.com/map

In health,
Dr. Leslie Cisar

Episode Transcript

hi there it's Doctor Leslie
I wanted to jump on here real quick
and share a client Celebration with you guys
I wanna celebrate one of my clients
her name is Monica
she gave me permission to use her name and
and talk about her case here with you
so I wanted to do that so um
Monica
and I started working together about six weeks ago
and when we started working together
she was experiencing you know
severe migraines a lot of nausea right
so that nausea symptom
a lot of times it's worse than the head pain
so migraines characteristically with a lot of nausea
and so several times a week
she was taking abortive medication Fioricet
Zofran Fioricet to relieve the pain
Zofran to help relieve the nausea
she might have to add an ibuprofen kicker
on top of that this is over and above
taking nertec every other day as a preventative
her migraines started you know
when she was a young adult
but they really got bad almost 20 years ago
and so this is the typical progression right
the migraines start out really intermittently
they're not causing us that much suffering
we wish we didn't get them
but maybe they're just a few times a year
but unfortunately over time
the frequency and the severity starts to increase
you know we have a couple kids to boot and then
you know uh oh
now I'm actually having chronic migraines
and so this has been going on for her
for almost 20 years now
she's been on other preventatives
other abortives nothing worked for her
she was really just powering through right
white knuckling it through um
and her profession
is a profession that's very physically demanding
and also very intellectually
or mentally demanding too
so um
she loves what she does
this isn't a toxic workplace situation
but she just has a job that's very physically
and intellectually demanding
and so you know
when you have a migraine and you're nauseous
oh my goodness right
it's it's
it's a nightmare when we started working together
this is where she was at
and now after we're just starting our sixth week
um this week
she's gone 10 days without any abortive medication
she's still taking her nurtec every other day
but when I jumped on the phone with her this week
wow 10 days and you haven't had any head pain
you haven't had to take any abortive medication
this is fantastic right
this is a wonderful improvement
and so we went over that uh
update and then she said something to me and she said
you know I was talking with my husband last night
and I don't want you to take this the wrong way
and I knew exactly what she was gonna say
and she said
but I was just talking to my husband and I said
I'm feeling so much better and this is all it took
how is that possible I've been on so many medications
I've gone to so many neurologists
I've been struggling with this for so long
and this is all it took and so
you know what is it that we've done fundamentally
I recommended some uh
you know kind of tidying up her eating habits
she's taking an herbal capsule
that she can purchase at a health food store
you know over the counter with her breakfast
lunch and dinner
and then I've given her a custom herbal tincture
which she has taken five drops of once a day
and so this is right
you kind of look at this and you go what
this is all I'm doing for this horrible problem right
how is this possible now
the reason why this is possible is not because Monica
doesn't have chronic migraines right
it's not because Monica wasn't suffering
and it's not because she didn't have a serious problem
it's because of the way that I approach
the migraines themselves okay
so when I start to work with a client
I'm doing a very detailed symptom assessment
most natural practitioners
particularly functional medicine practitioners
they're not doing a symptom assessment
they're doing a lot of usually very expensive
additional specialty testing okay
and then the laboratory that's kind of
doing the specialty testing is kind of saying
all right give these supplements
because this test result came back in these cases
and that's No. 1
not necessary if you actually understand how the body
generates symptoms in response to blockers
or missing pieces or deficiencies
and what I call the three principles
the three things that our body needs
in order for it to regain its
state of health and maintain its health
and when we're in a state of health
we don't experience symptoms
like migraines and other symptoms
so if you understand like
I have dedicated my life to understanding
how the body generates the characteristic symptoms
the recurring symptom patterns
and pictures that indicate where the blockers are
if you understand that and you can sort of in
do the proper interpretation of those symptoms
then you don't need all of that expensive
specialty testing
that kind of gives you the protocol in response
so this is like if you had a brain tumor
god forbid and you went into the neurosurgeon
and the neurosurgeon said yeah
you definitely have a brain tumor
and we really need to get this out
but I don't know where it is
so we're gonna saw your skull open
and I'm just gonna go in
and I'm just gonna start poking around
I'm just gonna start kind of digging in your brain
and I'm gonna try to find that tumor
and when I do we're gonna take it out
is that the kind of surgical approach you want
I don't think so right
you wanna go to the neurosurgeon that says Yep
we need to take this out and I have done the work up
the assessment the imaging right
the detailed understanding
I know exactly where this tumor is
and we're gonna go in like a laser
and we're gonna get this taken out
that's the kind of surgeon you want right
and that's the approach
that I try to accomplish with all of my clients right
so in my approach is what is the surgical
the laser like focus
that we need to have to address
the specific blockers or missing pieces
that this woman with chronic migraines has
and I wanna go in there like a laser
and I wanna do the least things that we
have to do to get this turned around
most natural practitioners take the opposite approach
they throw everything at you right
they do kind of a cursory assessment
they ask you the same types of questions
that every other natural practitioner asks you
and then they just throw the whole
supplement aisle at you okay
how many of you have already tried this
for your migraines with other natural practitioners
right so
now
you're in a situation where you're not feeling well
when we have chronic migraines
any little thing sets us off
and tips us into a migraine
and then you've got a practitioner that just threw
through the supplement shelf at you
and now you're taking 10 capsules breakfast
lunch and dinner
some things you have to take on an empty stomach
some things you have to take before bedtime
but not you know
within two hours of eating right
it's like this whole complicated thing
and then as a migraine sufferer
you're super sensitive to everything
so you're looking at all this stuff and you're going
well
I don't think I want to take these 10 things right
maybe I'll just start with one right
which one is less likely to make me have a migraine
right it's
it's a horrible experience
for a chronic migraine sufferer
and I know this
because I used to have chronic migraines
and I used to go through stuff like this
with natural practitioners OK
so because I have an intimate
personal understanding of migraines
and I've dedicated my life to doing this
I take the opposite approach
because I know how sensitive you are
so I'm gonna do the work up front to determine okay
if we're gonna use a laser where are we gonna point it
not like a bull in a China shop
and we're going to do targeted things
the minimal that needs to be done
to get this turned around
and get your body doing what it's designed to do
which is restore itself to health
I know it doesn't feel like that
I know it feels like your body is defective and broken
and that it hates you for some reason
that you can't figure out
but that's not the case
every living thing on the planet has been created
with a self healing
with a self repairing mechanism built into it
and we are no exception in fact
we humans have I believe
the most potential for healing
out of all of the life here on the planet okay
so this is really your birthright
it's just that you don't know what to do
and you haven't found a practitioner
that actually understands migraines
in and out understands
the unique way that this needs to be approached
and has dedicated her life
to doing the type of assessment that's needed
to go in there like a laser
so that you're not stressing yourself
out with unnecessary things
because a recommendation is worthless
if you can't implement the recommendation
you know
Monica has a very demanding profession that she loves
she's married with children right
so there are other people that are depending on her and
you know want her to be around
want her to be able to care for them and
you know
do stuff with them so she can't waste her time right
she can't be putting her energy
into things that aren't necessary
that might make her feel worse
that are complicated to implement
she needs something that's doable
that works with her lifestyle
with her profession with her family demands
that she can actually implement and not have to
you know set timers and all kinds of stuff right
to to make sure that she remembers how to do it
the other critical component of our work together is
I've been working with her on managing
the very stressful demands of her work right
and this is something that we don't talk enough about
when we're talking about migraines
it's well documented
that there is a mental and emotional component
to most people's migraines
this is not to say that
100% of our migraines are being caused
by mental and emotional aspects
but you know
I think we've all had that experience right like
oh yeah
this migraine I know it's because I was stressed right
as soon as I got off that phone call
as soon as I got out of that contentious
meeting at work I could feel it right
I know that I was gonna be in trouble in a couple hours
so we've all had this experience
where we've had a migraine
and we know yeah
that was due to stress right
so in Monica's case again
because of the assessment that I did
it was pretty clear to me that there were some
physical components some biochemical aspects
that needed to be tidied up and repaired
but there were also some things on the mental and
emotional side
particularly around a very stressful profession
and in work environment that she has again
not not that it's a talk
this is not a toxic work environment
she's just in a profession
that is particularly demanding
so what are you gonna do right
are you gonna quit your job
of course not
but we wanna be able to to work and to cope
in those types of environments
in such a way that doesn't drain us
so we want to be able to thrive and flourish
in a demanding work environment
maybe you have a situation
where you have a very demanding family environment
where you have to take care of a family member right
what are you what are you gonna do
not take care of them
of course you're gonna take care of them
so we have demands on us that are not toxic
that aren't
things that we should be cutting out of our lives
but they are demands
and we want to deal with those demands
we want to cope with those demands
in a way that isn't draining us
and contributing to lowered resiliency and vitality
right
we want to interact with these stressful environments
we want to cope with these stressful environments
in a way that is not draining us
in the face of all of the
stress that the environment is creating
and so we've also been working on that aspect
so you don't get that from a capsule
you don't get that from a supplement capsule
there's no laboratory specialty test that cost
you know $2,000 to determine this right
this is a way of working
that I've developed because of my own personal journey
and my own recovery from my own migraines
and working with hundreds of other women
who are struggling with chronic migraines
and identifying some of those recurring patterns
that we
are prone to as migraine suffers and determining okay
what are some good ways of helping women
not drain themselves in these types of environments
so this is an aspect that makes what I do particularly
unique and I bet you
if you're listening to this podcast
and you've gone to other natural practitioners
for your migraines
I bet you that they didn't address this aspect at all
and this is where you know
practitioners who are working with migraine sufferers
are really missing the ball
because again
it's well documented in the migraine literature and
you know
this is like the conventional migraine literature
it's well documented that there
is a mental and emotional component to migraines
I mean let's let's get real about it
let's talk about it
so that also has to be addressed and you know
it's not just like
oh we're gonna throw some antidepressants at you right
it's not like oh well you know
you're you're just kind of you know
you're doing this to yourself
and you're stressing yourself out
it's not that at all right
it's about really digging in to what formed
the coping mechanisms
that we're using in these situations
and then evaluating
is this coping mechanism draining me
or putting me on a solid footing
and if the answer is that it's draining me
how do we create some new coping mechanisms
or some new habits
when we're dealing with these dynamics
so that we're not draining ourselves
and this is very personal
individualized work right
it's not just about kind of doing like a templated
you know journaling exercise or something like that
because these things
while there are recurring patterns that are common
amongst US women who are prone to migraines
the individual sort of path through that
for each person is going to be different
and that's that's a big part of my work too
if you'd like to leave a little comment here
and give Monica some love
that would be great um
I'm also posting this in my free Facebook group
Healing Migraines Naturally with Leslie
Caesar and D and um
if you join us there
you can do a little heart emoji or a little uh
a little uh you know
Celebration gift in the comments on the post
so thanks so much and if this resonates with you
and you're starting to see hmm okay
I'm starting to see
that the approach that I've taken so far has
had some gaps had some missing pieces
then go ahead and book a free consultation
call with me I would love to talk with you
we'll talk about your migraines
the other symptoms that you're experiencing
and I will give you my honest assessment
if I think I can help you or not
if I don't think that you're gonna be a good fit
I will definitely tell you that up front
and if I think you would be a good fit for what I do
then we'll talk about what that looks like
so thanks for joining me today catch you guys soon