If you’re feeling distracted and scattered lately, you are not alone! Recent surveys show that in 2020 and 2021, a sizable majority of women report struggling with poor concentration. Women in their 40s and 50s — aka women in perimenopause and menopause — may be most susceptible to feeling unfocused.

Ready to clear the fog? Here are some easy tips for regaining your focus.

Check your hormones 

The cause of fuzzy thinking and poor concentration for women in perimenopause and menopause? It’s often hormones that have shifted out of balance. Loss of focus is tightly linked to hormonal changes; specifically, when estrogen levels fall into imbalance. Research shows that when women are post-menopausal, those with the highest levels of estrogen in their blood have better brain function. They remember more words and have better judgment, and they’re also less stressed by their tasks. Got a case of “menopause brain“? Restoring balance to hormones can be a first step towards rebuilding your ability to concentrate.

Banish morning brain fog by tapping

Whatever your age or stage of life, if you tend to feel sluggish and unfocused in the morning, even if you’ve had enough rest overnight, you may be experiencing lowered levels of the focus-enhancing neurotransmitter called acetylcholine (especially if you are under a lot of stress). How do you beat fuzzy thinking in the morning? Try fidgeting! According to researchers, small muscle motions, like tapping your fingers or wiggling your toes, can increase acetylcholine release by as much as 55%, boosting your ability to focus — especially early in the AM.

Keep your blood sugar steady with healthy snacks

Having a small healthy snack every few hours helps your blood sugar levels stay balanced and provides a steady supply of energy to keep you fueled and focused. Avoid sugary treats that lead to spikes and drops in blood glucose levels — the sugar roller coaster is what sabotages your concentration. For an easy snack, try carbohydrate-protein combinations like apple slices served with a serving of cheddar cheese or nut butter.

Stop multitasking 

You’re scrolling through your phone as you watch a movie…and halfway through, you realize you can’t even remember the plot or even recall what you just looked at on your phone. Sound familiar? When you multitask, your brain is unable to focus completely on any one thing (as it wants to do) and so as a result, it’s more difficult to concentrate and you remember less. To take back your ability to concentrate, stop multi-tasking and start uni-tasking! When you watch a movie, be all in. You’ll enjoy what you’re watching more! When you sit down to write up a report for work or spend time with your kids, shut off social media and put your phone on silent mode.

If you’ve been multitasking for years, switching over to uni-tasking can feel strange. Think of focus like a muscle that needs to be rebuilt. Give your focus and concentration a workout by completing puzzles, reading books (ideally a real paper book) and writing in a journal. Engage in only the single activity for a set period of time. If you keep up this practice, going into “deep focus mode” will become easier and easier.

After uni-tasking, you can give yourself a few minutes of checking Facebook or browsing the headlines (or whatever your favorite distraction is) as a reward.

For more easy tips, read our feature article: How to strengthen your focus & concentration.

The post Easy tips for staying focused all day appeared first on Women's Health Network.

It’s time to give daydreaming some respect.

Instead of being dismissed as a giant waste of time, daydreaming should get the credit it deserves. That’s because letting your “monkey mind” wander and explore freely — even when you’re meditating — has real benefits that can help you become calmer and more positive — about yourself and the world around you.

You may have heard that the goal of meditation is to draw the mind into single-pointed focus so you can be present and live fully in each individual moment. Well, meditation and the way the mind works are not that simple. Balance is beneficial, especially for our minds. We should consider easing up on rigid intentions to give our daydreams the chance to take us somewhere unexpected but worthwhile.

Daydreaming is an alternative to the traditional meditation process

Instead of controlling every aspect of the meditation experience with an “agenda” about how it should go, let’s think about cultivating a gentler unfolding of who we are. In place of feeling bad when we don’t reach some predetermined goal, let’s give ourselves the space to examine how we metabolize our experiences in life, and how we might embrace the real way we practice meditative activities.

Most meditation styles follow some kind of specific guideline. Often you are instructed to focus on one prescribed object — breath, mantra, compassion, a focal point with your gaze, etc. If you notice that you wander away from said point of focus, then you:

1. Acknowledge you’ve done so.
2. Let go of whatever stole your precious attention.
3. Come back to the focal point.

Clearly, the traditional single-pointed style of mediation is a great approach for many. Even science is proving its benefits. This style helps develop deep focus, presence in the moment and the strong ability to concentrate — all wonderful qualities!

But all too often, the mind wanders, as is its nature, and we must coax it back to the focal point. Again, and again.

Though that experience is good work too!

But, sometimes after meditating, we reflect and realize we had to try to come back a lot. Or perhaps we never ended up making it back and stayed distracted. That can leave us feeling disappointed, discouraged and insecure about our ability to meditate.

What happens when you let your mind roam freely?

Let’s wonder for a minute what might happen during meditation or while going about your daily routine if you just let yourself flow with your own natural rhythms.

You’ll still breathe and think, and there will still be effort, merit and benefit to the experience.

This is your “default mode network” and if you follow your daydreams for a bit and let this organic thought process have its way, where will it take you?

The default mode network — or just default network — is a pretty new concept in neuroscience. It refers to a group of brain structures that researchers say appears to be even more active when you’re in a resting state than when you are consciously paying attention. The default network is for daydreaming, imagining the future, replaying memories and wondering what others are thinking. It’s the mode our brains “default” to when not given a specific task but we can easily snap out of it.

Daydreaming doesn’t mean your mind isn’t engaged. In fact, something very powerful is going on in your brain when you let your mind wander.

The surprising benefits of daydreaming

Believe it or not, there are quite a few studies on daydreaming and they show it has real benefits at work and on your own personal time. Some even say that daydreaming is a side effect for smart people with so much brain capacity that they can’t stop their minds from wandering and exploring ideas. And daydreaming while meditating might actually bring on a more positive and peaceful experience.

So when you drop into a daydream, these are the qualities you’re feeding:

1. Creativity

When your mind drifts into default mode, a big crop of interesting ideas or thoughts can spring up. Since your mind isn’t being constrained or controlled, you make room for possibilities and the freedom to think about them. This freedom allows new ideas and points of view to arise. Creative thought bursts out. Solutions you’ve been seeking are suddenly just — there!

And remember your imagination? You may not have tapped into it in ages but you can access it by daydreaming.

Next time when you fall into a daydream, allow yourself to imagine the best daydream you’ve ever had and unleash those super cool and sometimes-suppressed creative brain cells.

2. Ability to envision the future

When we daydream, we expose our hidden dreams and desires to ourselves. What if this or that dream came true? We allow our minds to go there… and enjoy the feeling of it.

When I set intentions for my future, in my mind’s eye I give those dreams color, form and life. I have fun with it. I play out what needs to happen or get done in order for my wish to come to fruition.

I sit with it as a vision, a reality, a true feeling in my heart — I sit with this on my meditation cushion. I literally daydream about it. And when the future eventually presents me with this envisioned opportunity, I already have fun and creative ideas about how I want it to shape up.

3. Receptivity to new ideas

A daydream occurs when we are less rigid. When we allow for less structure, we become receptive to a larger range of experience. If we are no longer constrained by lassoing our attention to the tip of our noses and following every breath in and out, we make room for more possibilities and greater awareness.

Single-pointed awareness is beneficial but it is not the only way to go. Our ability to be with an experience as opposed to manipulating it opens us up to so much more of life. We can be receptive to and curious about the sensory sensations around us. We can hear outside sounds and not be in conflict with their ability to distract us.

Instead of resisting an experience that feels uncomfortable or wrought with pressure and rules, we can become available to receive that experience in a way that makes it feel freeing.

Being available and receptive to the power of awareness is one excellent reason for meditating — and daydreaming.

4. Inner discovery

When your mind wanders around a bit, you might stumble across new and worthwhile territory. You might be able to see something familiar and develop a deeper understanding of it.

Daydreaming offers the space for you to feel better acquainted with your inner workings, desires, dreams, fears and areas of resistance. You start to understand how you deal with issues and work out problems. It’s a safe way to explore uncomfortable thoughts and memories and release them. Or it might feel good to just jump on the daydream train and see where it leads.

Daydreaming is more productive than wallowing or brooding and it’s important to understand the difference.

Give your daydreams time to bloom

The benefits of meditation and daydreaming may not show up right away because they’re processes, not destinations. But what we push away will often push right back at us even harder. If you constantly suppress your natural tendency to explore your thoughts and dreams, how will you ever get to know your own mind?

Your mind has set up shop inside the body that you’ve borrowed for this lifetime so you might want to make friends with it. Give yourself permission to dig deeper to study yourself, study your mind.

A balance of focus, sweet breaths and dreams won’t hurt your meditation practice — it will strengthen it.

Daydreaming is one great way to be happy. Discover more dos — and don’ts — of happiness for any woman at midlife.

The post Daydreaming: does it have real benefits? appeared first on Women's Health Network.

I’m a neurologist and I have migraines. But my migraines aren’t nearly as severe as those of many of my patients. Still, I’ve suffered that throbbing pain, nausea and the overwhelming urge to just crawl into a dark, quiet room and hide.

Any woman who has experienced a migraine — even one — wants to do anything and everything possible to prevent another one. And a lot of women I see feel more than helpless when a migraine bears down on them. Especially if they are looking for a natural solution from supplements.

I understand. Here’s what I tell my patients.

What causes migraine headaches? A new approach.

We’re still trying to figure out exactly what happens in the brain before a migraine comes on. This can be extra frustrating when you’re trying to find an effective treatment. But we are learning more bit by bit.

We know that there’s a genetic connection that makes migraine headaches more common in certain families. For example, I get mine from my father’s side and both my sisters suffer from them too. Since all four of my children have a propensity for migraine headaches, I remind them you have to take the good with the bad when it comes to your genetic pool. We also know that, contrary to what we once believed, it is not likely that migraines are related to blood vessel activity in the brain.

The best hypothesis about the cause of migraines is known as the “spreading depression theory.” Scientists have found that the neurotransmitter glutamate may act on your cells in a way that triggers a migraine headache to spread like a wave through your brain.

The start of the “wave” causes the aura that may come before a migraine and then the reactions continue to surge, causing pain to spread out through and across your brain. An aura can come in many forms, but very often it’s a visual disturbance that lasts about 20 minutes. During an aura, you may see speckles, floaters, a blind spot or jagged lines.

Can you prevent a migraine with magnesium?

One effective way to prevent migraines is to block the binding action that glutamate uses to allow it to get into your cells and trigger your migraine. There’s good research that shows magnesium can help control glutamate in this way.

That’s why I always think of magnesium as the first supplement for my patients who want to prevent migraines naturally. There is good scientific evidence for its use, yes, but magnesium is also safe for women to take, even when they’re pregnant. Magnesium for migraine prevention has been shown to be most effective when taken:

• At a dose of 400-500 mg daily
• During different times of the day so that it’s absorbed well into your system
• Used daily for at least 12 weeks

While many people don’t have any problems taking that amount of magnesium, it can affect your bowel regularity. This can be helpful if you tend to be constipated, but is obviously not so great if you already have loose stools.

Other natural remedies for migraine prevention include butterbur, vitamin B2, COQ10 and feverfew, although the research isn’t as strong for any of those as it is for magnesium. You may see combination pills with all these ingredients. If you choose to try them, make sure they provide enough magnesium to be effective. And remember, migraines can be very complicated, so magnesium as prevention may not work for everyone.

When to try natural remedies for migraine prevention

Like many women, you may have many reasons for wanting to prevent your headaches naturally. You may prefer to try something on your own before seeing a neurologist. Maybe you don’t want to take a prescription every day. You may be pregnant or trying to get pregnant. You may be taking other medications or have a medical condition that contraindicates certain migraine medications. For example, if you have coronary artery disease, you should avoid taking triptans, which are commonly prescribed to treat acute migraines.

When it comes down to it, natural, non-prescription prevention can work well for many women. There’s just not as much scientific research done on the available remedies. The truth is, most medical research is funded by the big pharmaceutical companies that make prescription medicines so they don’t want you to seek out over the counter options.

3 migraine-related problems you may not be aware of

You may not have heard of rebound headaches, let-down headaches or the “postdrome” fatigue that follows for a few days after a migraine. Knowing more about these migraine issues can help you prepare your prevention and treatment plan.

1. Rebound headaches: is your medication causing even more migraines?

Here’s the scenario: Spend two days in bed with an excruciating migraine.
Take medication to feel better.
Repeat.
Repeat.
Repeat.

Sound familiar? At some point, you may find your migraine medication stops working and you start to get even more headaches.

Unfortunately, this is an extremely common problem called “medication overuse headaches (MOH)” or “rebound” headaches. In this case, taking too many pain relievers tricks your brain into a cycle of thinking it actually needs medication on a continual basis. You end up chasing your headaches away with pills, only to cause them to come back when the pills’ ingredients leave your system. Tylenol and Excedrin are very common culprits for MOH headaches, but any pain reliever can do it.

The only way to stop this vicious circle is a mini-detox process, which isn’t easy. You’ll need to quit taking all pain relievers for 3-5 days. And your headaches will likely get worse before they get better. I tell women to plan to unplug, sleep as much as possible and put ice on their heads while the pain is most severe. I know that’s really tough for many people, like working moms with small children, to do. But it is really the only way to get the medication fully out of your system so your “pain center” can reset.

2. Let-down headaches: stress as a factor

One thing is certain: stress is a factor in causing migraines, but not always in the way you might think. I actually hear from a lot of women who get migraines during the weekend, when they are on vacation or in another relaxed setting. It’s like they deal with all the stressors they need to, and then the migraine hits. This “let-down” effect can be an important component when you’re considering other aspects of self-care or trigger avoidance to prevent migraines.

3. Postdrome headaches: feeling terrible after a migraine

Another concern of my patients is how they feel after the most extreme pain of the migraine goes away. Many women tell me they feel fatigued, wiped out, almost hung over. Some compare it to a hurricane: the Category 5 storm has passed, but the tropical depression remains for several days. This is called the “postdrome” part of a migraine.

Finally, since I’m a headache specialist, a lot of my patients have migraines that are so severe, so frequent and so life-disrupting that a prescription for prevention is really the best choice. Sometimes medication, including over the counter pain relievers, can be the best choice once a migraine has started too, as natural options have only been shown to help for migraine prevention. Women should discuss these options with their healthcare practitioners.

In the end, while there can be a lot of trial and error when it comes to finding a migraine solution, it’s all about finding the right option for you. Be persistent until you pinpoint the combination of steps that helps you feel more in control.

Are your headaches caused by your hormones? Dr. Schwartzbard gives you more tips for relief in her article Menstrual migraines and other hormonal headaches.

The post What a neurologist wants you to know about preventing migraine headaches appeared first on Women's Health Network.

Your brain is always hungry and you need to feed it well, especially as the years go by.

In a perfect world, the food you eat would give your brain what it needs to keep running the entire show. But even under ideal conditions, your brain chews through a lot of energy every day just to keep you alive — up to 25% of your total calories go to feeding your brain.

But calories aren’t the whole story. You want to be able to think and focus and remember too, in addition to merely surviving. Well then, you have to keep the high quality nutrition pouring in day after day. You know about eating a Mediterranean diet (veggies, fish, legumes and whole grains) and you do your level best to drink water (half your body weight in ounces every day). That’s all good.

But no matter what you’re eating, you could be doing better to empower your brain. And it’s a lot simpler than you might imagine.

Best supplements and vitamins for your brain

Nutrient deficiencies happen to the best of us, even while we’re eating great diets. Vitamins and supplements can fill the gap. The good news: you don’t need to take mega-doses of anything. However, you do need to look for specific ingredients and forms. Otherwise, your body might not be able to use the nutrients.

Here are some best bets for boosting your brain power. 

Vitamin D

Vitamin D is a superstar nutrient that benefits your brain, but also your bones, heart, immune function and more. Your body needs sun exposure every day to make any Vitamin D at all. But can you get enough Vitamin D every day to maintain the level you need circulating in your blood? Probably not: up to 75% of Americans appear to be Vitamin D deficient. Low Vitamin D is common in patients with dementia and memory loss, as well as those suffering with multiple sclerosis.

Food sources of Vitamin D include egg yolks, sardines, beef liver and shiitake mushrooms. However, you want a steady, consistent level of Vitamin D every day, rather than have it jumping up and down according to the food you eat or don’t eat. Be honest: just how much beef liver are you prepared to eat every day? Taking a quality Vitamin D3 supplement daily is as simple as it gets and takes out all the guesswork. 

B Vitamins

Good, regular levels of B vitamins (B6, B9, B12 and others) are 100% essential for even the most basic brain health. You can get some B vitamins in everyday foods like chicken, eggs, dairy and leafy greens. However, it gets harder and harder to absorb B12 as we age, so getting it from diet alone may not be enough. And a huge chunk of the population — as much as 50% — with a certain genetic makeup can’t absorb most kinds of B9 (folate) well — or at all. To supplement, look for a multivitamin containing the Vitamin B complex, with the maximum safe amount of B12. 

Flavonoids

Flavonoids are the plant chemicals that give many fruits and vegetables their vivid colors. These everyday nutrients have giant potential to help, and safeguard, your brain. The polyphenolic compounds in flavonoids have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, and research shows they can enhance cognition and help protect neurons. Flavonoids are easy enough to find in foods — even the cocoa in chocolate contains them!

Omega-3 Fatty Acids

Essential fatty acids found in fish oil have some good brain support research behind them. Maybe you want to see if fish oil will improve your brain function. But what if you don’t like fish? Even if you dine on salmon once a week, it will never be enough to provide the therapeutic levels that the studies are based on. For the sake of your aging brain, get yourself a high quality Omega-3 supplement and take it daily. 

Curcumin

An absorbable version of curcumin, a potent anti-inflammatory compound found in turmeric, is beneficial for brain health due to its ability to cross the blood-brain barrier and exert neuroprotective effects. Its antioxidant properties also aid in neutralizing harmful free radicals, further protecting brain cells from oxidative damage. 

Quercitin 

Similarly, quercetin, a natural antioxidant found in various fruits and vegetables, including onions and apples, provides neuroprotection by reducing inflammation and oxidative stress in the brain. Its anti-inflammatory effects may help alleviate symptoms of cognitive decline and improve overall brain function. 

Green tea

Green tea possesses powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that can support brain health. Regular consumption of green tea has been associated with a reduced risk of age-related cognitive decline and a lower incidence of neurodegenerative disorders. Catechins found in green tea are believed to enhance brain function, promote neurogenesis and protect neurons from damage, contributing to improved cognitive performance and overall brain health.

Our tips for good brain function as you age

As you get older, brain-function problems become more significant, and will make your life harder and less enjoyable. That’s no way to enjoy your third act in life!

Get yourself a basic brain health supplement and take it regularly. (It can’t help if you just take it now and then.) Give it at least 6 months before you decide whether it’s helping you. Nourishing your brain with supplements takes just seconds a day, and the basic nutrients aren’t expensive.

We think you’ll notice some improvements in how you think and remember. And if you complement your supplementation with a few commonsense lifestyle steps, you may see an even bigger difference.

Fuzzy thinking in menopause got you down? Here are 5 ways to get your brain back.

The post Best supplements and vitamins for brain health appeared first on Women's Health Network.

By WHN Editorial Team

When did you last wake up with a headache? While painful, for many of us, the occasional headache is so common we hardly even think about it. We just pop a few pain pills, head out the door and go on with our lives.

But then one day, you get a headache that just won’t go away. Maybe it feels more crushing than usual, or is centered in a different spot. That’s when you want to ask the question I hear almost every day as a headache expert:

When should I worry about my headache?

It’s a good, and important question — and here’s the answer.

Call your doctor right away if…

You suddenly get a serious headache that immediately feels unbearable — and you’ve never had one like it before — call your doctor right away.

Other signs that you should talk to your doctor about your headache include:

• Fever
• Vomiting
• Loss of coordination
• Change in vision, speech or alertness
• Headaches following an injury
• Weakness or numbness on one side of the body
• Neck stiffness

While most people never experience the symptoms above with their headaches, this information can help you recognize the ones that come with big red flags. But you may still be concerned if your headache doesn’t feel quite right.

What other types of headaches should I worry about?

If you’re a regular headache sufferer (I’m sorry!) and you notice changes in the type of headaches you usually get, make an appointment with your doctor to talk it over. For example, changes in the severity or frequency of your headaches, when they happen or when your normal remedy for pain doesn’t seem to help are all reasons to see your doctor.

Some women experience all the different types of headaches. Here are the three most common categories of headaches and what you can typically expect:

1. Tension headaches (stress headaches): You’ve probably experienced this extremely common type of headache. You know the one — it feels like there’s a vice tightening around your head. Or the ones with that dull constant pain vs. the throbbing pain we associate with migraine headaches.

Tension headaches are often caused by stress, so de-stressing is your first order of business. Often you can feel better by resting or using over the counter medications. There’s usually nothing serious to worry about with tension headaches, although you may need to make lifestyle changes for natural relief to keep them from happening over and over again. For women who experience frequent tension type headaches — meaning more than once a week — there are prescription options a headache specialist can offer.

2. Migraine headaches: Women suffer from excruciating migraine headaches much more often than men. Migraine pain usually throbs and can range from mild to crushing — although, surprisingly, there may not be any pain at all. That’s because migraines can present in a variety of ways.

Symptoms can include nausea and an aura before the head pain, as well as extreme sensitivity to light, sound and smell. When it comes to diagnosing a migraine, your doctor will want to know about your family history, as migraines run in families. I have migraines. So do my father, my sisters and my children. When it comes to pediatric migraines, kids often have significant gastrointestinal symptoms that are more predominant than head pain — and sometimes not recognized as migraines.

3. Hormonal headaches: Hormonal fluctuations can trigger headaches and menstrual migraines for women during perimenopause and menopause, even if headaches have never been an issue before. Most hormonal headaches take place when levels of estrogen are out of balance to progesterone levels, often right before menstruation starts.

Other women get hormonal headaches at the end of their periods or during ovulation. If you think your headaches might be related to your hormones, start tracking how your cycle is related to your headache symptoms. That can help you predict — and maybe even prevent — hormonal headaches.

Keeping track of your symptoms to find headache relief

I know how scary headaches can be and how important it is for you to identify the cause of your pain. One way you can help your doctor provide the best prevention and treatment plan is by giving her as much information as you can about your headaches. For example, I try to pull out as much detailed information from my patient as I can during her first visit. For many people, this appointment is the first time they’ve thought about what might be their major triggers, such as what they’ve eaten and how they’ve slept before their headaches come on.

That’s why it’s so helpful for me when my patients keep a headache diary. It’s an irreplaceable tool that helps me determine what kind of headache my patients have — and it often guides me to what should be the next step to help them feel better.

Here’s what your doctor will want to know about each one of your headaches:

• When did the headache start and finish (day/time)?
• How bad was the headache on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the most severe)?
• How would you describe the pain?
• How is the pain different from headaches you’ve had before?
• Did you experience any symptoms before the headache?
• Did you experience other symptoms with the headache?
• What were you doing before? Were there any known triggers, such as stress, lack of sleep, eating certain foods?
• What did you do to try to stop the headache?
• How did it work?
• Is this a hormonal headache? Could it be connected to your menstrual cycle?
• How frequently do you get headaches?

Over time, you may discover some patterns you didn’t even realize were happening. And sometimes these patterns can be essential clues that help you prevent your headaches altogether, rather than just trying to catch up and treat them. Now wouldn’t that be great!

For more information about brain health, see our article: 5 ways to beat fuzzy thinking in menopause.

The post When to worry about a headache appeared first on Women's Health Network.

Every fall, my teachers gently assured my devoted parents that I was smart, creative and articulate. But, as one particularly observant teacher said, “Her brain trips over itself.” After years of struggling with procrastination, anxiety, inattentiveness, and even mild depression, I was finally given the diagnosis of adult ADHD.

Adult ADHD can wreak havoc on your life. And, the side effects of conventional medication may be more disruptive than the ADHD. This was certainly true for me. I was initially prescribed stimulants for ADHD. Then sleeping sedatives for the stimulant-induced insomnia. Then antidepressants for the bizarre depression from the sedatives. And so on.

I became determined to find a more natural approach to managing my ADHD — without prescriptions.

6 ways I manage my adult ADHD

While ADHD is still considered “incurable” by conventional standards, the methods below helped me take control of my life while working synergistically with my body’s natural chemistry.

1. Happy gut, healthy mind: Patients who suffer from ADHD, anxiety and depression almost always have low dopamine and serotonin levels. That’s because 90% of the serotonin in your body is made in your gut. If our intestinal bacteria aren’t thriving, our mental health will suffer.

To improve the balance of beneficial bacteria, load up on proven probiotics with diverse strains. Eat fermented foods — particularly fermented vegetables —as often as possible. Another good idea is to cut out dairy, refined sugar and wheat, which often disrupt the ecology of our intestinal flora.

2. Sweat: Nothing clears my head and refocuses my mind quite like a long run or intensive cardio. Find a workout that motivates you, and stick to a regular schedule. Bonus: exercise-induced endorphins will boost dopamine levels in your brain. This helps to stave off the mild depression that often accompanies ADHD.

3. Diet: I’ve always been “healthy” according to conventional standards. But adjusting my diet to eat for my ADHD has had an impact beyond anything I could have ever imagined. Don’t get me wrong, the initial changes are really difficult — especially sugar withdrawal. But the benefits to your body, mind and spirit are absolutely worth it.

• The golden rule of the ADHD diet is to simply eat whole foods, straight from the earth, with minimal processing, and avoid any ingredients you can’t easily pronounce. This will help you eliminate artificial elements like preservatives, dyes, food colorings and additives. These make your ADHD worse, as they confuse your neurotransmitters and contribute to inflammation. Organic food is best whenever possible, because the pesticides and chemicals in conventional produce are toxic to any brain.
• Eat enough protein and healthy unsaturated fats like salmon, avocado and macadamia nuts. Protein, particularly animal protein, provides the amino acids that act as the building blocks for healthy neurotransmitters. Properly nourished neurotransmitters are a lot less likely to misfire along their delivery path than their nutrition-deficient counterparts.
• Say goodbye to sugar. Cut out sugar completely, at least at the beginning, and stick to a low-sugar lifestyle thereafter. Remember that refined sugar is an invention of the food industry. It’s intended to trick your taste buds into thinking that cheap junk food is appealing. For those of us whose neurotransmitters are already misfiring, consuming sugar is akin to adding gasoline to the fire of ADHD. Plus, blood sugar spikes contribute to emotional volatility and impulsivity. Believe me when I tell you that your brain will benefit from less of the sweet stuff.

4. Brain games: No, I didn’t say video games. Brain games — from mobile apps to wearable devices — teach you to master your mind and discipline your thought patterns through simple, playful exercises that are actually fun. What’s more, these exercises are designed to stimulate creation of new brain cells.

5. Connecting: Because people with ADHD are more inclined towards low self-esteem, it’s far too easy to fall into a negative pattern of reclusive behavior. This will only make pre-existing symptoms worse. Make time to connect every day, whether it be dinner with a friend or volunteering in your community. Positive social interaction also improves dopamine release, which will ease symptoms of ADHD.

6. Mindful exercises: Yoga, meditation and breathing techniques are increasingly popular for people in search of a better alternative. Meditation is particularly helpful to people dealing with anxiety or ADHD because it teaches you to consciously discipline your thought process.

Note that it’s crucially important to have basic bloodwork drawn before you embark on any healing regimen. This is especially true if you’re taking prescription medications. My own blood work revealed that I was suffering from hypothyroidism, severely low iron and amino acid deficiency. What’s more, my liver was essentially failing (thanks to my prescription meds…) Eliminating outlying variables will also increase your body’s receptivity to new treatments.

Attention Deficit Advantage?

It’s important to remember that there are incredibly beneficial advantages to having ADHD — if you choose to see them in a positive light. Those of us with ADHD are passionate, innovative and hyperfocused on projects that matter to us. Plus, we’re in good company. Some of the most iconic figures in American history used their ADHD to create tremendous competitive advantage. A few examples include Thomas Edison, Steven Spielberg, Henry Ford and Richard Branson.

Historically, conventional medicine has classified ADHD as a “disorder.” But thanks to ever-advancing science and the alternative remedies described above, it’s completely possible to manage your symptoms while leveraging the many benefits of ADHD. Who knows? Someday we may be calling it the Attention Deficit Advantage.

The post Managing my adult ADHD — naturally appeared first on Women's Health Network.

By WHN Editorial Team

Most of the time your brain is just trying to help, really it is. But sometimes, in the interest of physical and emotional survival, your brain does unspeakable things to your memory. After (and sometimes during) a traumatic incident, your brain will suppress, re-categorize or swap out the memory of that event so you can muster the strength to pick yourself up and move on.

Your body, mind and survival instinct are so deeply entwined that whatever occurs to one affects the others, whether you realize it or not. More often than you know, your brain uses the fight-or-flight mechanism in response to pending physical danger or extreme emotional stress.

In other words, your brain has mechanisms that tell your body to do whatever it must to keep you alive and thinking straight. And the stakes are high.

When forgetting is good: how (and why) your brain suppresses bad memories

If you undergo trauma or abuse, you need to heal physically but you’ll also need a few repairs to mend your mental and emotional health. In some cases, your brain can change bad memories to shield you from the aftereffects of pain, abuse or trauma. It’s a kind of “voluntary-but-invisible” forgetting that’s very effective.

Your brain also uses a couple of tricks to prevent bad, sad and awful memories from bubbling up: thought substitution and direct suppression. Each action uses a different mechanism but accomplishes the same goal: they functionally “break” the recall process so you can’t conjure all the pieces your brain needs to assemble the full memory. Then the real memory is forever altered, along with its devastating emotional consequences.

With suppression, your brain squashes a memory by tamping down activity in the hippocampus, an area that helps retain memories. Thought substitution taps other brain areas that pull a switcheroo with some of the more forgettable details of the event so the memory gets fuzzier almost immediately.

By disguising or burying miserable memories, your brain can help you get over a terrible event and heal, though it’s likely to change the way you remember on a larger scale. Even if they knew their brains were making these kinds of radical choices, many people would still say it’s a reasonable trade-off.

But you may not be able to outrun the unhappy effects forever. Even when you can’t consciously remember past trauma or abuse, it may well show up later as anxiety, depression or post-traumatic stress disorder.

Can your brain “erase” disturbing image-based memories?

Trauma and abuse often involve bad visual memories that stalk you long after the event has become ancient history. Unintended retrieval of these memories — disturbing images from the past pop into your head uninvited and unannounced — can affect your mental health and infiltrate your sense of wellbeing.

Even though you are consciously aware of these memories, they also leave an imprint on your unconscious — known as a “trace memory” — that can be reactivated accidentally.

A recent research study suggests that you can consciously ban images from your memory by actively trying to forget them. It may seem counterintuitive because usually when you try to put something out of your mind — you can’t think about anything else!

But study scientists found that trying hard to forget an image closes down brain areas, like the visual cortex, that help you consciously picture that memory. Then, as the conscious memory fades, so will the unconscious trace of that memory. This could make it harder for a visual memory to be triggered in the first place because little pieces of it keep falling away.

So it’s conceivable that you might be able to train your brain to begin erasing those memories that jeopardize your ability to live happily in the present. The truth is, your brain has several methods for managing miserable memories, and you may or may not have control over which one is selected.

We know for certain that your brain wants you to be healthy, strong and alert, but it also has a vested interest in helping you feel happy and content. Most of the time, your brain is doing its level best to take care of you mentally, physically — and emotionally.

So, here’s to forgetting what you don’t want to remember.

The post Traumatic memories – can we really forget them? appeared first on Women's Health Network.

Over the years, I’ve come to understand that headaches are my body’s way of telling me something is out of balance. In understanding this dynamic, I now know my daily choices play an active role in preventing my headaches. This means I can act first, not just react after I get a headache.

When I do my best at practicing what I preach — optimizing my diet, taking my core supplements consistently, drinking enough water, trying to sleep at least 8 hours a night and exercising regularly — my headaches are almost nonexistent, even during my period.

Having a healthy lifestyle that places a premium on nutrition and supports natural hormonal balance is the first step in any drug-free approach to preventing and treating frequent headaches. Most headaches have multifactorial roots, however, which means relieving them may require multiple strategies.

The story of your headache

There are many separate types of headaches, with a wide variation in triggers and differing components of the headaches themselves. What causes a headache depends on a woman’s individual situation — her nutrition, unique stress factors, body mechanics — and her medical history. But one thing is certain: in many cases, a headache is a symptom of something deeper going on in her life.

As a headache sufferer myself, I understand well the need to treat the pain in that moment. But to truly resolve your chronic headaches, you may need to figure out what stressors lie at the root. Once you familiarize yourself with any pattern, you can often treat and — ultimately prevent — them from recurring.

To be fair, I think it’s important to note that there is a component of genetic propensity, particularly with migraine headaches. Although there are lots of strategies a woman can employ to attempt to minimize her headaches, in some cases genetics reign, and she may get that headache no matter what. While I always recommend doing what you can to reduce the likelihood of getting headaches, I don’t want you to start blaming yourself for them, especially when you are trying to do “everything right.”

That said, there are many helpful options to try. Let’s look at the most common types of headaches and then discuss strategies for prevention.

Different types of headaches — a brief overview

The two major categories into which most chronic headaches fall are tension headaches and migraine headaches. Let’s take each major type separately, and also touch on cluster and rebound headaches and the less common but serious form of headache known as temporal arteritis. There are many other subtypes — from caffeine withdrawal headaches to menstrual headaches, and the lines between many of these can be blurry. If you are unsure what type of headache you suffer from, it may be helpful to see your healthcare practitioner for a diagnosis.

Please note that we are talking about most moderate headaches — if your headaches deviate from their normal presentation, change or worsen in any way that seems alarming, seek medical attention immediately.

Tension headaches

Tension headaches may be the most common type of headache women experience. They are typically described as a band-like vise that creates pressure and pain uniformly around the head, and may involve the neck as well. Tension headaches can occur episodically or chronically, depending on the individual and aggravating factors. They can even progress to include migraine-like sensitivity to light or sound, and even become a trigger for true migraines in some cases.

There are many stressors that can make a woman prone to tension headaches and that may explain their prevalence. These include poor head and neck alignment and other posture issues, prolonged computer work, more serious prior cervical spine strain (such as whiplash), poor jaw alignment and other dental issues like nocturnal teeth grinding (bruxism), need for eyeglasses, weather changes, stress at home or at work — the list is almost endless!

Fortunately, these headaches often respond remarkably well to natural prevention techniques and occasional treatment when needed. When these interventions don’t work, there are medications that a neurologist can prescribe to alleviate these kinds of headaches. It is so important to remember you have a range of options when trying to find relief. When you’re partnering with a neurologist, you will want to first discuss all the benefits and risks of drug therapy.

Migraine headaches

Migraine headaches are characterized by a series of four phases that occur with some regularity but which vary widely among sufferers: prodrome, aura, headache and postdrome.

The prodrome phase may take place anywhere from a few hours to days before onset of a migraine headache, with symptoms that can include mood changes, fatigue and cravings for certain foods that may themselves be migraine triggers.

Some migraine sufferers also experience an aura, with sensations of flashing lights, numbness and tingling, or altered vision before or during onset of the severe head pain. This aura experience is generally short-lived (usually about 20 minutes) and considered part of the classic migraine sequence, but the majority of migraine sufferers do not experience an aura. The aura phase can occur on its own, with no subsequent headache pain, which is known as optical migraine or acephalalgic migraine. But most migraines occur without any aura, and are known simply as common migraine.

Pain during the headache phase is generally described as severe throbbing or a pulsating sensation that occurs on one side of the head or temple. Migraines can last anywhere from two hours to several days. This type of headache is usually associated with sensitivity to light (photophobia), sound (phonophobia) or smells (osmophobia) and is frequently accompanied by lightheadedness, nausea, gastric upset and vomiting. It is important to remember that pain is not necessary to define a headache as a migraine, and the severity of the pain accompanying the headache isn’t migraine specific either. Instead a migraine is defined by the features that go along with it: nausea, throbbing, photophobia, phonophobia and photopsias (flashes of light).

By the postdrome phase, the pain has usually subsided, but sufferers are typically left feeling tired and worn out. Some also report experiencing negative psychological effects such as slower thinking or feeling “flat” after a migraine, and in some cases these after-effects can last several days.

Women may also experience migraines at the onset of their monthly cycle, with these hormone-related headaches often referred to as menstrual migraines. Approximately 70% of migraine sufferers are women, and there’s no doubt that chronic migraines can have a significant impact on a woman’s quality of life. The higher incidence of migraines in women may be related to our hormonal fluctuations, or the way we respond to stress in our lives — but as we know, these two are interlaced.

Migraine theories

Historically, many experts considered migraines to be a vascular disorder caused by constriction, then sudden dilation of the blood vessels to the neck, brain and scalp. Then the throbbing pain of migraine was thought to be brought on by an abnormal release of the neurotransmitter serotonin, bringing about additional constriction of the arteries supplying blood to the brain. This theory has been debunked by modern neurology, and we now understand more about migraines thanks to improved imaging of the brain.

The new migraine theory proposes that migraines start with electrical “hyperexcitability” in an area of the brain, meaning migraine sufferers may simply have a hypersensitive nervous system that makes them prone to these headaches. A lifestyle or environmental trigger such as hormonal fluctuation or exposure to a certain food or chemical can provoke an attack.

In any event, migraine pain is best prevented and treated — both conventionally and naturally — at its onset. While debate continues about the biochemical basis of migraine headache, it’s important to recognize that with a little detective work you can learn to recognize your personal triggers, and, in many cases, abort a migraine before it turns painful. The key part of treating an active migraine is doing it quickly. If you wait too long to intervene, it is often too late to achieve quick relief.

Cluster headaches

This type of headache seems to affect men more than women. Patients describe the pain of a cluster headache as severe, usually one-sided, and often associated with symptoms such as nasal congestion, a bloodshot or tearing eye, or facial perspiration. The pain of a cluster headache is intense, often prompting restless, pacing behavior. It often begins during sleep, and may be present for several days in a row, but a series of cluster headaches can also recur months or years apart. People often mistake the name “cluster” to mean multiple headaches in a short time period. But actually, “cluster” refers to the tendency of the headaches to cluster around the same time of year. They can then spontaneously resolve until the next year or for many years.

Some people have chronic cluster headaches which do not remit spontaneously. Others can have a “cluster-migraine” variant which involves symptoms of both headache types and doesn’t fit neatly into one definition or the other. Oxygen therapy with deep breathing can be an effective abortive therapy for cluster headaches. Also, some of the medications which are used to abort migraine headaches often work with cluster headaches as well.

Rebound headaches

Another common type of headache is the rebound headache, often referred to as medication overuse headaches. Many people don’t realize that regular overuse of prescription and non-prescription headache medications is a very common cause of chronic daily headaches. The brain becomes dependent on the substance that once helped relieve the headaches. Weaning off the overused product is the only way to break the cycle, though this process can be difficult because the sufferer is stuck with headache pain and must slowly taper off the meds. If you do not detoxify from your daily analgesic regimen, then all other interventions, both natural and/or prescribed, will not work!

There are, of course, alternative measures that can help alleviate symptoms of withdrawal from these meds, such as acupuncture. I encourage anyone with rebound headaches to see a headache specialist or neurologist for consultation. Working together from here, you can develop a plan to really support your body through the withdrawal and stabilization periods.

Temporal arteritis

One rare type of headache that you should be aware of is temporal arteritis. Temporal arteritis, also known as giant cell arteritis, is an inflammatory condition affecting the medium-sized blood vessels that supply the head, eyes and optic nerves. It is an uncommon affliction, but women are approximately four times more likely to suffer from temporal arteritis than men, and it occurs most often after the age of 60. It should be ruled out in women over 60 who experience unusual headaches with localized temple or scalp tenderness and affected vision in one eye (eventually in both).

Temporal arteritis can include other associated symptoms, including fever, nausea or jaw discomfort. There is a risk of permanent vision loss if left unidentified and untreated with corticosteroids in the acute stages. If you experience an unusual headache or a headache with symptoms matching these, seek medical evaluation promptly from a specialist or an emergency room physician. A simple blood test can often confirm or rule out this condition.

Headache treatments: the conventional approach

As a headache sufferer, woman and healthcare practitioner, I am a big believer in pain relief. While my colleagues and I want to prevent headaches as effectively and naturally as possible, we also accept the reality that once a headache has taken hold, a woman may need help with the pain. Women need to work and be able to function for themselves and their families, so turning to the medicine cabinet once in a while may be their best recourse.

There are plenty of headache medications, or “rescue treatments,” available. But just as important is recognizing that headaches are your body’s way of getting your attention and highlighting an imbalance that needs to be addressed. Simply treating the pain without addressing the underlying imbalance will leave you vulnerable to further headaches and can lead to other, more substantial issues over time. And while there are effective natural headache remedies, the best place to begin is with natural prevention.

Natural prevention — start with a headache diary

Most chronic tension headaches can be relieved by dietary and lifestyle changes. Migraine headaches are somewhat different as they may stem from other issues, but they also usually respond well to natural measures.

A headache diary is one of the most useful tools available for this purpose. Over time, tracking your headaches, their quality, quantity and duration, allows you to spot your personal triggers. You can keep a daily record of your eating, sleeping, drinking and exercise habits, along with the time and place you begin to feel a headache coming on. You can also mark down where you are in your menstrual cycle, if and when you take medication or HRT, and how these factors may relate to your headaches. When in doubt, write notes on behavior and events. All of this information can reveal surprising patterns when recorded consistently for two to three weeks. Premenopausal women should log a headache diary through at least one menstrual cycle, ideally two.

Some of my patients who began headache diaries found that their headaches were directly related to previously undiagnosed food or environmental sensitivities, underlying muscle tension, teeth grinding (a major culprit in TMJ headaches) — even sleeping on a bad mattress! One of my friends consistently developed a migraine the day after visiting her mother-in-law — a trigger she was unaware of until she began keeping a record of her daily activities.

Assessing the support you give yourself in relation to the demands and difficulties in your life is absolutely the first step in determining how to help yourself.

Once you have a broad idea of your habits and the kind of headaches you suffer from, you can choose to adopt a few or all of the following natural measures. You may want to consider trying our programs. Either way, you are treating your headaches from the ground up, not just at the surface and it may take a little time. But if you’re prepared to stick with it and tune in to the elements creating your core imbalance, these measures can often provide full relief from chronic headaches.

Ten ways to eliminate headaches naturally

1. Focus on diet and optimal nutrition.

Headache sufferers should take a close look at their diets. For many people, sugar and alcohol are headache triggers. While it may not be possible for you to eliminate them from your diet, gradually reducing your intake may decrease the frequency of your headaches. Ensuring that your body has all the essential vitamins and minerals it needs to work efficiently will also help reduce headache frequency and intensity. A balanced diet rich in all the food groups that focuses on whole, natural foods forms a solid base. We recommend women take a top quality daily multivitamin that includes calcium, magnesium and essential fatty acids in addition to a healthy diet.

A note about caffeine: Caffeine itself isn’t really a headache trigger. It’s the caffeine withdrawal that triggers a headache. Caffeine can actually be effective in aborting migraines and so quitting caffeine may need to be done gradually to avoid headaches.

2. Consider testing for food and environmental allergies and sensitivities.

Many women get a lot of information from blood testing for food and environmental allergies and sensitivities. Headache-aggravating foods worth investigating include alcohol (wine especially), dairy, aged and fermented foods, and highly processed food products. Substances in foods of greatest concern to headache sufferers include tyramine, nitrites, chocolate, MSG, sulfites, histamines, tannins, prostaglandins, artificial colorants, preservatives, and sweeteners such as aspartame (NutraSweet).

Since, depending on your unique physiology, a headache could be triggered by just about any substance, get a handle on what’s affecting you by being tested. And don’t forget examining your environment: mold, scented candles, air fresheners, cosmetics, cleaning products — even soap — are all suspect. Some find NAET (Nambudripad’s Allergy Elimination Techniques) successful at diagnosing and clearing both food and environmental issues.

3. Reduce inflammation with regular detoxification.

Much of the inflammation in your system fans out from inflammation of the gut. Good digestion and regular daily bowel movements are signs of efficient detoxification. One of the first signs of sensitivity to a toxin is a headache, and chronic headaches may indicate that your body is trying to process a heavier toxic load. Magnesium at bedtime and a daily dose of probiotics can really help. Consider a biannual detox and colon cleanse if you have any issues with IBS or constipation.

4. Adopt stress management and relaxation techniques.

Once people start tracking their headaches, they may conclude that mild to moderate headache sufferers always feel better when they’re on vacation. Why? The answer is simple — stress reduction. An interesting phenomenon often seen in migraines is the concept of the “let-down” headache. This phenomenon has been well studied in the medical literature and it seems that many migraine sufferers will develop a migraine after a stressor. For example, the headache often comes on the weekend, on vacation or after a big exam or presentation at work. Sort of the opposite of what you might think when linking stress to headaches.

We cannot escape stress, but we can develop better coping strategies for daily challenges — at home, where we actually tend to feel the most stress, and at work. This takes attention, self-care and awareness. Begin with the small steps you’re most sure about to ease your stress, or manage individual stressors. These will help you build momentum toward a greater shift.

Sometimes a therapist, behavioral counselor or life coach can help you explore your emotional roots so you can get past any behaviors that no longer serve you. Don’t forget the possible triggers of physical stress — poor ergonomics at work, staring at a screen or too much driving — even carrying a heavy purse or wearing an ill-fitting bra can cause muscle tension that leads to headache.

Many women use yoga, meditation and deep breathing exercises to reduce tension. Others prefer more active antidotes to stress like running or swimming. And still others find peace from a new hobby or artistic technique. With a little experimentation and an open mind, you can find what soothes and relaxes you and then do it more consistently. Try building “mini-vacations” into each day — little respites for breathing deeply, enjoying nature or just unwinding and being still. Counselors, doctors, books and classes are good places to start — I often recommend the book The Relaxation Response by Herbert Benson.

5. Get enough sleep.

Sleeping soundly for a good amount of time can help headache sufferers in many ways. Most of us thrive on seven to nine hours per night, with less in summer, more in winter for some. If you have trouble falling asleep or wake in the night, take a look at what you do before going to bed.

Set the stage for a better night’s rest by making a few simple adjustments. Some women need a small bedtime snack to keep their blood sugar stable. Other women do well with extra adrenal or serotonin support that can shift their physiology into a deeper, more restful sleep cycle. You might consider a short-term course of phosphorylated serine or 5-HTP for these purposes. Additionally, some women benefit from taking melatonin to help normalize their sleep cycles. If hormonal fluctuations are contributing to restless sleep, these may be influencing your headaches as well.

Most women find that calm, relaxing activities during the two hours before bedtime translate to more peaceful sleep. No More Sleepless Nights is a good resource that details successful sleep hygiene techniques and has proven to help my patients sleep.

6. Stay well hydrated.

Many of my patients’ headaches experience dramatic relief once they focus on drinking more water daily. Most have no idea they are dehydrated! Increase water consumption slowly, working up to 8–10 glasses a day by increasing one cup per day every three days. Sipping throughout the day is better for you than guzzling large quantities of water in one sitting, but we encourage you to experiment and do whatever works best for you and maintains good results. Many people are convinced they don’t need so much hydration, but if you suffer chronic headaches, nothing is easier than drinking more water.

7. Evaluate body mechanics and alignment.

Posture and head and neck alignment are huge factors in nearly all types of headaches. Many of us are unaware how significantly our body architecture affects our joints until we have pain. Chronic headaches may be your body’s telltale sign that something is misaligned and not working for you.

It is critical to make sure your desk and overall work environment are ergonomically correct for your body’s dimensions and activities — especially with repetitive or computer tasks. Consider strength and alignment training with a certified yoga or Pilates trainer and pay attention to how you move through life every day. Are you sleeping in a healthy position? Cradling the phone between your head and shoulder? Driving and gripping the wheel? Carrying your purse? All of these activities can add up to major physical stress and lead to head and neck pain over time.

Talk with your dentist about your bite and whether or not you grind your teeth. Ask if you might benefit from an occlusal adjustment — a process that realigns the way the surfaces of your teeth strike each other when you bite down.

8. Get regular exercise and stretch daily.

We all need exercise for its many benefits — to the heart, circulation, muscle tone and stress reduction. Most tension headache sufferers find immense relief with the addition of exercise — and there is the added advantage of deeper breathing and better oxygenation. Just remember to pace yourself if you are beginning a new routine, and to support your workout with good nutrition and plenty of water.

9. Explore alternative therapies like massage and acupuncture.

Many headache sufferers respond well to massage therapy and acupuncture. In fact, many forms of bodywork or physical therapy can help reduce stress and may release endorphins into the blood that help relieve pain. If you pursue traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture, find a licensed practitioner. If these methods work to alleviate your headaches, I would try to integrate them into your monthly routines. You may want to explore biofeedback as well, which has been shown in some studies to decrease headache frequency by 50%.

10. Support with supplements.

In addition to a full-spectrum multivitamin that includes adequate daily Vitamin D, we recommend some specific supplements to reduce headaches. Research — and our own medical experience — indicates that magnesium, probiotics, fiber and newer discoveries like quercetin and green tea leaf extract can all be helpful. Regular use of herbal products containing standardized, purified extracts of butterbur (Petasites hybridus) and feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium) can help prevent migraines.

A custom homeopathic or flower essence formula is also worth consideration, as both are very safe and yield good results — especially in combination with the above measures — in our natural approach to headache relief for women. Most women can definitely find the headache relief they need and in the process, they’ll find other benefits as well.

The post Natural relief from chronic headaches appeared first on Women's Health Network.

Many women’s bodies react to hormonal fluctuations with head pain, often in a cyclical fashion that corresponds to the monthly ebb and flow of estrogen and progesterone. Conventional doctors and headache specialists often overlook this common headache trigger, and even when they don’t, little is offered in the way of long-term solutions. Most primary care physicians will write a prescription for a pain reliever or birth control pills or refer these patients to their ob-gyn.

I am happy to report that many women find their headaches become less frequent or disappear altogether once they address their hormonal imbalance through diet, optimal nutrition, and sometimes short-term bioidentical hormonal supplementation.

Even if headaches have never been a concern for them before, many women may become more sensitive to their own hormones as they get older. As they enter perimenopause, women may begin to experience hormonal headaches or menstrual migraines for the first time. The majority of these women experience a dramatic improvement in their headaches post menopause.

Addressing the root causes of hormonal headaches and migraines with a holistic approach can be effective. It can take a bit longer than popping a pill, but I assure you, there are many additional, long-term benefits following relief from your headache.

Who gets hormonal headaches?

Women who are susceptible to hormonal fluctuations often suffer with menstrual headaches or migraines just prior to the onset of menses when there is a natural drop in progesterone levels. But headaches may also occur when estrogen and other hormones spike, or during menses itself, when estrogen and progesterone have bottomed out.

Hormonal headaches can come on suddenly or become more unpredictable in perimenopause or at menopause, when hormones are really shifting. Some women who have never experienced headache or migraine before begin to suffer with regularity. In my practice, I have seen women with incapacitating migraines in their initial year of menopause, similar to those they recall experiencing at puberty/menarche. But for the 40 years in between, they had no headache pain! Every woman is different, and tuning into your body’s own unique signals is the first step in any kind of natural prevention or treatment.

As with any other kind of headache or migraine, tracking the onset of your pain using a journal will help you get a handle on any pattern and potential cause. If you are still menstruating, I recommend charting the days of your period for a few months with the same journal. This will help you understand the basic ebb and flow of hormones in your system each month and how these may relate to your headache or migraine.

You should be aware that most headaches are multifactorial and may have overlapping triggers. Hormones are often part of the headache/migraine cascade, even if they haven’t been officially identified. Any woman with regular headaches or migraines can benefit from improving her overall ratio of estrogen and progesterone.

The estrogen–progesterone connection

Most hormonal headaches occur when levels of estrogen are out of balance in relation to natural levels of progesterone. As noted above, for many women this may be correlated with the naturally lower levels of progesterone that are normal before their period starts, when progesterone levels naturally drop off. Or less frequently, it may be a state of true progesterone deficiency because some women, especially during perimenopause and menopause, may have unnaturally low progesterone levels that require supplementation. Only a blood test or saliva test can tell you what your levels actually look like.

At Women’s Health Network, we recommend having progesterone levels tested during the mid-luteal stage of your menstrual cycle. Depending on the number of days in your cycle, this usually occurs after ovulation, somewhere around day 21 of a classic 28–day cycle. Some practitioners provide a simple saliva test; others recommend the more expensive blood test.

A typical finding in women of all ages during these tests is that “baseline” progesterone levels are acceptable but the ratio of progesterone to estrogen is off. This doesn’t mean your estrogen levels are abnormal (although, if you’re worried, you can test your estrogen levels as well with a blood panel). Most of the time it simply means the level of estrogen is out of sync with the progesterone level.

How does the ratio of estrogen to progesterone go awry? It may be that you are “estrogenic” and your body readily converts progesterone into estrogen. Or you may be susceptible — as many of us are — to the rising level of xenoestrogens and other endocrine disruptors in our environment. These substances mimic estrogen in the body and can tip your delicate hormonal balance. (You may also have other dietary or stress–related triggers in addition to your hormones). Once you suspect that your headaches or migraines have a hormonal component, you can do something about them.

Preventing hormonal headaches naturally

Getting to the root of these hormonal headaches means dealing with a temporary or chronic imbalance of estrogen in relation to progesterone. A healthy diet that avoids or eliminates simple carbohydrates, refined sugars, and processed foods is always the first step. Our lifestyle and nutritional guidelines can get you started.

The second step is to decrease or eliminate toxins that can be exacerbating your hormonal imbalance. It’s always a good idea to be on the lookout for endocrine–disrupting chemicals in your environment and avoid them as much as possible — even the perfume in your cosmetics can trigger a migraine.

The third step is to fill in any dietary gaps with nutritional supplements. Good choices to begin with are core nutrients like those offered in our Health Programs — a rich multivitamin, essential fatty acids, and calcium/magnesium. Believe it or not, all are crucial to supporting your hormone balance and restoring a good progesterone-to-estrogen ratio. Additional nutritional measures include non-GMO soy, fresh ground flax seed, or other foods high in fatty acids, fiber, and isoflavones (red clover).

Specific supplements can nip migraines in the bud. Certain herbs have been used to prevent and treat headaches by herbalists for thousands of years, with at least two now solidly confirmed by scientists as effective in clinical trials: butterbur (Petasites hybridus) and feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium). The mineral magnesium and vitamin B2 (riboflavin) have both been demonstrated to decrease migraine frequency in people who normally have multiple migraines a month. By effective, I mean at least a 50% reduction in migraine frequency in some women.

Today there are various safe, over-the-counter migraine prevention formulas that combine these natural ingredients, and I’d encourage you to look into them because they can be especially helpful in combination formulas. For example, Migravent contains all four of the above ingredients: feverfew, butterbur, magnesium, and riboflavin.

There are additional plant extracts and foods long used in various cultures to ameliorate headaches and other symptoms associated with fluctuating hormones, including soy, black cohosh (Cimicifuga racemosa) and dong quai (Angelica sinensis). While I generally recommend that anyone considering the use of naturopathic remedies consult the advice of a qualified practitioner, you can also talk to your regular healthcare practitioner or call one of our Advisors. For many women, changes in diet, nutrition level, and lifestyle are all they need to feel better.

Once you’ve established a basic core of nutrition, you may find that adding natural hormone supplementation, specifically bioidentical progesterone at the right time of the month, provides great relief. I recommend you work with a qualified healthcare practitioner to explore the use of bioidentical hormone therapy. Here are some guidelines from Women’s Health Network to discuss with your practitioner:

A word about hormone use and hormonal headaches

While we believe that natural (bioidentical) hormone supplementation is an important therapeutic for some women, and can be particularly useful in treating hormonal headaches, hormones — even if they are natural — are very powerful. That’s why we recommend a blood test for any woman who is interested in using hormones, especially if she is nearing menopause. We think of any kind of hormonal supplementation as a bridge to natural, self-sustaining hormonal balance, not an end solution.

If you are still menstruating or within a year of menopause, you may want to discuss a trial of low-dose bioidentical progesterone, as described above, with your healthcare provider. In combination with other lifestyle changes it may help your body become more progesterone–balanced without further supplementation. For headache or migraine relief, I do not suggest the use of synthetic progestins like Provera or synthetic HRT combinations because they act more as vasoconstrictors and can actually worsen headache symptoms. The pharmacokinetics of real, bioidentical progesterone are entirely different as it is metabolized instinctively by the body.

Even with a low-dose, bioidentical hormone you should continue to exercise caution and tune in to your body’s signals. If you are using bioidentical progesterone and experience increased headache or other PMS symptoms such as breast tenderness, or you begin to sense these symptoms at ovulation, you may be hard-wired to convert extra progesterone into estrogen, in which case additional progesterone may not be a good choice for you. With any persistent heavy bleeding, unusual spotting, breast tenderness, or other serious symptoms while using bioidentical progesterone products, discontinue use and contact your healthcare provider — further evaluation may be needed.

Rescue treatments for hormonal headache pain

Becoming aware of the timing of your hormonal headaches or migraines can certainly help you decrease their frequency with preventive measures, and I encourage you to read our article on chronic headaches, particularly the section on migraines, to learn more about migraine patterns and theories. Nevertheless, even women who adopt the healthiest lifestyle and dietary habits and hormonal–balancing measures can get the occasional painful migraine. Life is full of stressors and you can’t be on top of all of them all the time. When hormonal headaches and migraines arise acutely despite your best efforts, prompt use of rescue treatment as early as possible will deliver the most effective relief.

There are a few rescue meds to have in your medicine chest but use these with caution. Take only as directed, and never use any drug without discussing your lifestyle and other prescriptions with your practitioner first.

• NSAIDs. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs) can be particularly helpful if used early and at your optimal dose. I suggest ibuprofen (brand names Advil or Motrin) with food, up to 800 mg every 8 hours, no more than two days in any given week (max is 2400 mg per 24-hour period). However, some women really respond well to plain old-fashioned aspirin, and some swear by Excedrin Migraine, which contains acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine.If you are in the habit of taking NSAIDs, please read the section of our chronic headache article on avoiding rebound headaches. If you are trying to conceive or are pregnant, acetaminophen (aka paracetamol, or brand name Tylenol) is the only recommended choice in the NSAID category. Ibuprofen and aspirin can cause birth defects and other serious problems, so be sure to discuss it with your midwife or obstetrician before using any medications. Fortunately for hormonal headache sufferers, pregnancy is often a time of reprieve.

• Triptans. These anti-migraine agents were once believed to work by binding to serotonin receptors in the brain to constrict blood vessels and reduce inflammation. This theory is being challenged and although it remains unclear how the triptans work, this treatment can help some women. Some headache experts suggest that women who observe that their migraines or debilitating headaches occur predictably on certain days, e.g., day 1 or 2 of menses, take a triptan once or twice a day on those days as prophylaxis. Although this usage has not been formally approved by the FDA, you can ask your headache specialist about this option.Imitrex, a popular brand of triptan, and others are pain formulations with long-acting effect. Again, they work best when taken as close to the migraine onset (prodrome) as possible. If one triptan doesn’t work well for you or you had side effects, another formula may be better — so don’t despair, and try another one. We’re all different with individual responses and it may just take time to figure out the right solution for you. Triptans are not advisable for use in pregnancy, and must be used with caution if you’re also on an SSRI antidepressant. Triptans come in pills, orally-disintegrating tablets, nasal sprays, subcutaneous injections, and transdermal compressed medication (patch).

• Other prescription migraine treatments. For a complete list of migraine treatments used in conventional clinical settings, visit the website of the National Headache Foundation. Many of these treatments were developed to address other medical conditions, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, depression, congestion, etc., but were coincidentally found to help prevent the acute pain of migraines Although these treatments can be effective, they can take about a month to kick in and need to be taken every day in order to work. All of these drugs must be taken under strict medical supervision. If you are currently taking any of these medications, it is still safe to consider all of the other natural measures we’ve discussed above.As headaches have so many potential contributing factors, I also suggest you review our list of ten ways to eliminate chronic headaches naturally. Implementing these practices, too, will certainly help with hormonally-driven headaches and migraines. Hopefully, with time, you will find yourself relying less and less on heavy-duty pain-relievers and more on your body’s innate mechanisms for staying balanced and healthy.

Balanced and pain-free

While headaches may seem to be “all in your head,” the most effective treatment for any health problem takes into account the needs of your whole body. Unlike conventional medicine which only treats the pain, an integrative approach restores the baseline ratio of hormones. If you and your practitioner think hormones are causing your headaches, it may actually be good because it means that you have the opportunity to take effective proactive measures.

By focusing on nutrition, proper supplements, and a healthy lifestyle, with careful use of natural hormonal support when needed, you can decrease both the frequency and intensity of your hormonal headaches. You may even find that other symptoms dissipate as well. This approach may require a few months for full results, but once you get there, you may find your are completely free of headaches!

NOTE: Severe, blinding pain that comes on suddenly with no prior migraine history should be taken seriously. If you are experiencing new or different headaches, severe headaches, or headaches with associated sensory or neurological symptoms, seek immediate help at your local hospital’s emergency department. DO NOT WAIT. 

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Call it fuzzy thinking, zoning out, feeling spacey, or being in a fog — lack of focus and concentration is worrying millions of women who are desperate to stay sharp for as long as possible. We’re nervous about losing our edge at work, being inattentive at home and being distracted while driving.

“I don’t focus on what I’m up against. I focus on my goals and I try to ignore the rest.”

Venus Williams
Pro tennis player

When you’re fully focused, you’re calm and relaxed but alert and paying attention. You have steady energy without feeling stressed or wired. You’re able to persist as you focus on your goal and you experience the joy of satisfaction when it’s complete. When is the last time you felt like that?

More and more women are finding it hard — or even impossible — to concentrate when it matters most, and it’s scaring the heck out of us. We fear our “senior moments” may be more than momentary brain glitches. Menopausal women, in particular, struggle with feeling foggy on top of other issues like insomnia, depressed feelings and physical symptoms because menopause, mood and mental fitness are tightly linked.

Staying on task, feeling sharp and being able to focus like a laser make you feel strong, smart and aware. They’re also key indicators of a healthy brain, and a healthy life. Several easily identified factors can blur your focus and disrupt your ability to concentrate, but you can, and should, do something about them — before another day goes by.

Focus breakers

It seems that it takes just one nanosecond for your focus to drift but an eternity to get it back. That’s because your ability to focus is generally at the mercy of your ability to be distracted. You can be focused like a laser on a project ‘til you hear a noise outside — or a random thought dances into your mind. Even an itch on your arm can derail your train of thought.

We also get distracted when we’re bored, sad, mad or confused. Any strong emotion — frustration with a co-worker, troubles at home, even gleefulness — can shatter your focus. And restoring focus is no cake walk, partially because of multitasking: we’ve trained our brains to juggle a variety of things simultaneously but to focus sharply on exactly none of them.

Distractions can undermine the best attempts to concentrate but there are other factors at play when it comes to losing focus that you can’t blame on a scattered mind. If you want to blame something for your inability to focus and concentrate, choose one of these focus breakers:

Noise
Nothing steals your attention like a loud, unexpected noise — a truck backfiring, a horn honking, the ringing phone. You might jump up to take care of the interruption or see what’s going on, but when you sit back down… now, what exactly were you working on anyway? If you’re trying to concentrate in a noisy space, you won’t be very productive. Workplaces are best when they have both quiet areas for individual focusing and noisier venues for group collaboration and discussion.

Lack of sleep
Getting enough sleep is a key element for learning, memory and the ability to focus. You already know what it’s like to read or work while drowsy. Your very consciousness is altered when you’re sleepy and your brain changes too. While you are in the process of falling asleep — even when it’s unintentional — your brain experiences a shift in “spatial attention,” very much like stroke patients who have difficulty keeping alert.

Menopause and hormone shifts
Loss of focus is tightly linked to the hormonal changes women undergo in perimenopause and menopause, when estrogen levels begin to drop. Research shows that later, when women are post-menopausal, those with the highest levels of estrogen in their blood have better brain function. They remember more words and have better judgment, and they’re also less stressed by their tasks.

Stress, pressure and trying too hard
You may think you work better under pressure, but external influences that encourage you to rush can force you off track. Rushing raises your heart rate which can have a negative effect on your work, and your sense of wellbeing. Feeling pressured and hurrying to finish something can feed negative thoughts — “I’ll never get this done!” or “I don’t have enough time to make this good!”

These “interfering cues” don’t inspire you, instead causing you to focus intently on what you can’t do. Focus-splitting negative cues also include anxiety about the quality of your work, and fearful thoughts about what might happen in the future. Another focus buster is simply trying too hard because sadly, overachievers often lose sight of the goal they mean to focus on.

Being on auto-pilot
All of us may be less focused than we realize. Studies shows that we operate on auto-pilot about 95% of the time as we follow our deeply ingrained routines and patterns. An example of this “failed focus” is driving and arriving home without remembering specifics of the ride.

Clear your focus and feel better about your brain function

You can resharpen your focus using the same steps that support and enhance memory function. Because you need to remember what to focus on, the brain mechanisms that hold information in your working memory correspond with the ones that control your ability to focus. And if you have a good working memory you are more able to stay on task even when it’s a tough challenge.

There are four top guidelines to improving focus and the ability to concentrate.

1. Supply your brain with the nutrients it absolutely must have for healthy function. To get enough of each, look for a supplement that includes a range of high quality B vitamins, the powerful antioxidant quercetin and vitamin D. The latest research on a cutting-edge ingredient — curcumin — shows that it can support and enhance memory, so seek that out as well.

2. Gradually switch your diet to the Mediterranean-style of eating. Add whole grains, heaps of vegetables, plenty of fruit and choose fish more often for protein.

3. Exercise about a half hour a day, or more, four to five times a week. On top of the physical support, working out or walking can clear your mind.

4. Try meditation to offset the effects that stress and tension have on your ability to concentrate. Start by bringing your focus to your breath, noticing — but not overreacting — when your mind drifts. Calmly disengage from any thoughts, letting them slip by like leaves floating on water. Bring your focus back to your breath and hold it there. For beginning meditators — from my college-age daughter to patients — I recommend the website Headspace. It makes meditating much more accessible, engaging and useful.

There is an endless supply of tips to help you focus — here are my absolute favorites:

• • Avoid distractions in the first place. Start with a to-do list but keep it spare and doable. Structure your time well and stay in the present moment as you work. You have to notice you’re drifting in order to change it.
  • Plan breaks and eat on time — don’t get ravenous. You’re more easily distracted when you’re hungry, uncomfortable or tired. Refresh your mind by taking a walk or exercising. Physical movement also reinforces old neuronal connections in the brain and forges new ones.

• Multitask effectively: sing when you’re doing housework, check emails and eat lunch while participating in an informal discussion at work. But focus fully at important times: for a child in distress, when you’re taking a yoga class, and when you’re purposefully relaxing.
• Schedule distractions as rewards, such as checking email or Facebook, having a healthy snack, and listening to music.
• Don’t rush, even under a time crunch. Keep breathing steadily through your nose — don’t hold your breath because you’re in a hurry! Rushing breeds mistakes, increases frustration and adds stress.
• Do everyday tasks with your eyes closed or try using your non-dominant hand to brush your teeth or use the mouse on your computer. This retrains your brain, engages your senses and reduces distractions.

Be more focused — not more stressed

When we become more focused, we improve our odds of success at whatever we want to do, and vice versa. Oddly, we usually don’t notice when we are focusing well but are painfully aware when we feel distractible.

I read a quote from the poet and peace activist, Thich Nhat Hanh that says, “It’s very important that we re-learn the art of resting and relaxing…it allows us to clear our minds, focus, and find creative solutions to problems.” That makes a lot of sense and it applies to most functions in the brain. Yes, we want to be focused and alert, but we’ll be better doing just that if we stay calm and relaxed at the same time.

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