Vitamin D Deficiency is Common with Chronic Migraine Patients

If you’re looking for chronic headache pain relief, you may want to consider vitamin D replacement. The numbers of people with vitamin D deficiency across the globe are staggering. Recent studies in 2009 showed that individuals that were vitamin D deficient and suffering from different types of headaches, including migraine and chronic tension-type headaches, responded well to vitamin D replacement and their overall health improved.

Vitamin D is not actually a vitamin. Vitamins are defined as essential nutrients we gain from food whereas vitamin D is actually a hormone that we make from cholesterol in our skin once it is exposed to ultraviolet B radiation that emits from the sun. One of vitamin D’s main roles is to help the body absorb calcium. Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to various bone conditions such as osteoporosis and arthritis for years. However, until recently, the concentration has been on increasing calcium levels in the body which will not happen without the addition of vitamin D. Vitamin D deficiency has also been linked to 17 different cancers including ovarian, breast, and prostate cancer, malignant melanoma as well as other forms of cancer.

Taking vitamin D at the onset of a migraine isn’t going to do any good. Vitamin D needs to build up in the system over time and the average person needs 1000 UI per 25-30lbs of body weight, which means in the neighborhood of 5,000 to 10,000 IU daily for an averaged sized person. Currently no dangerous side-effects to vitamin D have been documented. Yet, vitamin D deficiency has been connected to several illnesses including diabetes, common colds, depression, etc. Further, vitamin D deficiency is a known cause of birth defects.

Vitamin D deficiency is actually at pandemic proportions. Between 40-100% of our elderly population that reside in communal homes are vitamin D deficient. Additionally it is believed that 73% of pregnant women and approximately 30% of doctors and healthy students have vitamin D deficiency.

The exact reasons why vitamin D helps cure migraines and chronic headaches is not known but it is most likely because of the analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects of vitamin D. Though you cannot expect to take one dose of vitamin D as a migraine remedy, starting an appropriate vitamin D regimen can help prevent future migraines.

It should be noted that vitamin D supplements in most drug stores are low doses such as 400-600 units which is not a sufficient amount to make any real difference. As stated earlier, an average sized person needs approximately 5000-10,000 IU of vitamin D. Also, vitamin D3 is a more preferable choice than vitamin D2. Vitamin D2 is a synthetic made from a plant whereas D3 is taken from animals and is also called “human vitamin D” due to close resemblance to the vitamin D our bodies make on their own. As always, if you wish to start a regimen of vitamins that has not been previously recommended by your doctor, you should talk things over with them first.