Drinking Water may Dissolve a Headache
Drinking water should be considered as a first line intervention for chronic headaches, researchers in Holland suggest.
Their study compared two groups of patients with recurring headaches who consumed less than 2.5 litres of water per day. The researchers advised 52 patients to increase their water intake by 1.5 litres per day over three months, while 50 patients acted as a control group.
All patients were issued advice on stress reduction and sleep improvement strategies, and tracked their water consumption, and experience of headaches in daily diaries.
Almost half (47%) of the headache patients who increased their water intake reported much improvement compared to just a quarter of the control group, according to patient ratings of their self-perceived effect of treatment.
Drinking more water also resulted in statistically significant improvement of 4.5 points on a Migraine Specific Quality Of Life (MSQOL) score, researchers report.
However, drinking water had no effect on the frequency or duration of headaches.
“Considering the observed positive subjective effects, it seems reasonable to recommend headache patients to try this non-invasive intervention for a short period of time to see whether they experience improvement,” say the researchers from the Department of General Practice at Maastricht University, writing in the journal Family Practice.
“The advice to increase the daily water intake could be a feasible first step intervention for patients with headache,” they say.
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Thanks for the post! I agree that fluid consumption is very important and my doctor is always reminding me to rehydrate. When I get a severe migraine and if I can find someone to drive me, I will go to my doctor’s office for an “infusion” (I think that’s what its called). They hook me up to an IV and I just get two hours of fluid, and then injections of Phenergan, Torodol and a narcotic. Now if its really bad and the pain hasn’t simmered down, then they have one other cocktail they will do before sending me home. I’m always amazed at how much liquid my body will take in that two hours. I am very mindful of my fluid intake and to drink as much as possible, but whenever I get a severe headache and I am hooked up to an IV (whether at the doctors office or ER), I’m always surprised how truly dehydrated I am.
Hi Lori
Goodness, I’m sorry to hear of your suffering. Just had a quick flick through your blog; it sounds like the level of your condition is very debilitating.
Hydration, whilst at first glance should be simple and easy… sometimes isn’t.
How much water you drink (and doing this on a daily basis) is important but so is how you drink it. I tell my clients, if you were a robot – you’d be programmed to have 2-3 sips every 10-15 minutes. Obviously, living our lives, this is not always possible but it gives you some idea on how water is best consumed. With the best of intentions, some people consume a whole glass in one go. This does not hydrate the body and of course means frequent trips to the bathroom!
Also consider factors that may dehydrate you (heat, stress, tea, coffee and alcohol for example) and variables that influence your body’s ability to hang on to water.
One critical factor in hydration is your magnesium status. Magnesium influences all the other electrolytes and thus is required in order for intracellular water balance. Optimum cell levels of water are ultimately what hydration means. Notably magnesium is also the most common nutrient insufficiency.
Unfortunately, a blood test is a completely inaccurate way to measure tissue levels of magnesium because only 1% is even found extracellularly (this includes our bloodstream). Many people are incorrectly assessed using serum testing, and it is also worth considering even a small insufficiency (as opposed to a gross deficiency) can have a powerful impact on our organs. As magnesium is an intracellular ion it is best assessed looking inside our tissues:
– Intracellular free magnesium can be assessed using a definitive and non-invasive method called nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Sadly this is not a routinely available test.
– A sublingual magnesium assay is a safe and non-invasive test that accurately measures the level of magnesium inside cells.
– You could also look at a magnesium loading test. It’s inconvenient to perform but is able to identify individuals with even mild degrees of magnesium deficiency. It is considered the most accurate test when renal function is normal.
Additionally, insufficient magnesium also impacts potassium and phosphorous levels as well.
Interestingly, available evidence suggests that up to 50% of people during an acute migraine attack have lowered levels of ionised magnesium. Magnesium could be of particular importance for you if you experience the pro-dromal or auric phase prior to the onset of pain. I’ve used magnesium in these situations to successfully abort a migraine.
Sorry – this has ended up being a very long reply. It is not my intention to diagnose or treat here, and of course there are lots of other factors with migraines including blood sugar, hormones and structural issues. But for what it’s worth, I hope you’ve found the information helpful.
Wishing you the very best on your journey back to wellness,
Amie
Thanks for the information, Amie. It was actually very interesting, Gave me some things to think about.