HeadOn Migraine Relief (Homeopathic)

odorousrex

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So I was at the gym, and saw a commercial for this migraine relief "GlueStick" (for lack of a better term) that you apply directly to your forehead (red flag #1 went up) to help relieve migraine pain. The happy migraine free woman on the commercial declares it's "all natural" (red flag #2)

I thought I'd look into it at least because my wife is a frequent sufferer of migraines, and the perscription medications such as Imitrix give her digestive distress.

Found it on the internet here:
http://www.drugstore.com/products/p...2=91467&trxp3=1&trxp4=0&btrx=BUY-PLST-0-BRAND

and immediately saw the "Homeopathic" (Red flag #3) which sealed the fate of this product as "snake oil" in my eyes.

Can anyone with homeopathic experience explain to me the ingriedient list in this thing?

Is medicine going thru the forehead, skull, to your brain even possible?
 
The homeopathic ingredients are a bad idea--Potassium Dichromate, ick! But one of its "inactive" ingredients is menthol--i.e., it works like Vicks Vap-o-Rub.
 
ChristineR said:
The homeopathic ingredients are a bad idea--Potassium Dichromate, ick! But one of its "inactive" ingredients is menthol--i.e., it works like Vicks Vap-o-Rub.
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I noticed that. Lending me to beleive it's one of those "Ah, it smells like medicine so it MUST be working!" tricks these guys are so clever at.
 
Huntsman said:
Actually, at the Homeopathic concentrations listed for this product, none of the active ingredients are contained in the product.
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6X is 1 ppm, which is plenty high enough for Potassium Dichromate.

http://www.jtbaker.com/msds/englishhtml/p5719.htm

- OSHA Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL):
For chromic acid and chromates, as CrO3 = 0.1 mg/m3 (ceiling)
- ACGIH Threshold Limit Value (TLV):
For water-soluble Cr(VI) compounds, as Cr = 0.05 mg/m3 (TWA), A1 - confirmed human carcinogen.
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But I'm not sure how to read the label, it looks like they didn't start with pure K2Cr2O7. In any case, there are several menthol based rubs/patches out there which you can use to relieve a migrane, if you find it helps you.
 
Christine:

They started with a .03% (30,000 ppm) solution, though. Dilute that to 6X potency, if there's any left I'd be suprised :)

On second thought, there might be some, but not enough to be physiologically active. After a 6X dilution, that's, what, .0000000003% (.03 ppm)? It weighs 5.67 grams, so that makes about .0000017 milligrams for the entire tube.

If there's any effect at all (highly doubtful), it's from something supposedly "inactive".

Edited because I forgot to add two decimal places for a percent to convert to decimal
 
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Barb, one of the forum homeopaths, told me about this. It really worked wonders for my migraines. I went from having about 20 migraines per month to 3 or 4. It's a device worn over the front teeth while asleep to keep the user from clenching the back teeth. I didn't even know I was clenching and that the clenching was the cause of my migraines.
 
Huntsman said:
Christine:

They started with a .03% solution, though. Dilute that to 6X potency, if there's any left I'd be suprised :)

On second thought, there might be some, but not enough to be physiologically active. After a 6X dilution, that's, what, .00000003%? It weighs 5.67 grams, so that makes about .00017 milligrams for the entire tube.
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Going back to what I quoted before, .05 mg/m^3 solution would correspond to .05 mg / 1,000,000 g water, or one part per 20,000,000,000 (20 (US) billion) or .00000000005%. So it's way, way past the permissible levels, although I'm not totally sure how to interpret those guidelines. Of course you're not going to bathe in the stuff, so maybe the .00017 mg is acceptable. Still, we're talking about very, very nasty stuff.
 
Maxalt RPD. Works. Is damned expensive though. :(

ETA:

And screw that "all natural" crap. Botchulism is totally natural. I won't be having any of THAT though.
 
ChristineR said:
Going back to what I quoted before, .05 mg/m^3 solution would correspond to .05 mg / 1,000,000 g water, or one part per 20,000,000,000 (20 (US) billion) or .00000000005%. So it's way, way past the permissible levels, although I'm not totally sure how to interpret those guidelines. Of course you're not going to bathe in the stuff, so maybe the .00017 mg is acceptable. Still, we're talking about very, very nasty stuff.
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Since we don't know how much of the homeopathic remedies each tube contains, we don't know the actual mg per tube. I suspect that it is mostly menthol and other ingredients (carriers and stabilizers) with a few drops of the "remedy"...

I suspect there is much less than .00017 mg of Cr per tube.
 
patnray said:
Since we don't know how much of the homeopathic remedies each tube contains, we don't know the actual mg per tube. I suspect that it is mostly menthol and other ingredients (carriers and stabilizers) with a few drops of the "remedy"...

I suspect there is much less than .00017 mg of Cr per tube.
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Unless they mean that .03% of the goop in the tube is the 6X solution.

Honestly, I'm having trouble understanding all this. If the goop is 1% "remedy" wouldn't that make is 6X1C?:boggled: Of course there's the added problem that you aren't eating the stuff. So you are rubbing an insignifigant amount of an chemically inert substance and supposedly getting the same result as if you had eaten a signifigant amount of the chemically inert substance?

It really irritates me when these guys can't even stick to their own rules.
 
Almo said:
Maxalt RPD. Works. Is damned expensive though.
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Wish it worked for everybody. My wife can't take triptans - makes her heartbeat fast & irregular, and doesn't touch the migraine to boot.
 
patnray said:
Since we don't know how much of the homeopathic remedies each tube contains, we don't know the actual mg per tube. I suspect that it is mostly menthol and other ingredients (carriers and stabilizers) with a few drops of the "remedy"...

I suspect there is much less than .00017 mg of Cr per tube.
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Good point pat, I was considering the entire volume of the tube. No idea on the amounts (unless the .03 was the percent that was the 6x homeopathic rememdy....Ah hell).

Oh, yeah, it's .0000017mg, not .00017. Made a mistake in my initial math.
 
I haven't used homeopathic meds for headaches, but do like them a lot for the other things I use them for. I have a great naturopath who suggests homeopathic rememdies when appropriate, but who also uses all sorts of natural remedies. Anyway, one good one for headaches is Petadolex for migraines. The site where I get my supplements,
Edited by Lisa Simpson: 
Edited to remove ad.
sells it. It has butterbur in it, and it works in the brain to improve blood vessel tone and circulation. It's very good for helping to prevent migraines if you tend to suffer from them on a fairly regular basis. I would also recommend trying to determine what triggers them for you. Good luck.
 
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Zombie thread!

Welcome to the forums, neuf08.
neuf08 said:
I haven't used homeopathic meds for headaches, but do like them a lot for the other things I use them for. I have a great naturopath who suggests homeopathic rememdies when appropriate, but who also uses all sorts of natural remedies.
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Do you know how your naturopath decides if a homeopathic remedy is appropriate?

Anyway, one good one for headaches is Petadolex for migraines. The site where I get my supplements, seacoastvitamins.com, sells it. It has butterbur in it, and it works in the brain to improve blood vessel tone and circulation. It's very good for helping to prevent migraines if you tend to suffer from them on a fairly regular basis. I would also recommend trying to determine what triggers them for you. Good luck.
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Interesting. I took a look at some butterbur/migraine trial abstracts and they showed positive results in many cases, as compared to placebos.
 
Dear god, have you seen the reviews of the product on the site? It's screaming out for a double blind trial using a menthol stick instead (oh wait, homeopathic treatments don't go through DBTs).

I did laugh at:

**The letters H.P.U.S. indicate that the components in this product are officially monographed in the Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia of the United States.
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Oh thank god for that. Here I was thinking there were unlicensed drugs in this product, but now I know that they are listed in the Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia I feel much better.
 
neuf08 said:
It has butterbur in it, and it works in the brain to improve blood vessel tone and circulation. It's very good for helping to prevent migraines if you tend to suffer from them on a fairly regular basis.
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I was under the impression that migraines happen because the vessels get too much blood? If this actually increases the blood flow and circulations, isn't it dangerous? Correct me if I'm wrong here.

Here's where I got my info:

http://www.migraines.org/myth/mythreal.htm

MYTH: A MIGRAINE IS JUST A BAD HEADACHE.

REALITY: MIGRAINE IS A DISEASE, A HEADACHE IS ONLY A SYMPTOM. IN ADDITION, THE CAUSE OF MIGRAINE PAIN IS THE OPPOSITE OF THE CAUSE OF HEADACHE PAIN.

Migraine is disease, a headache is only a symptom. Migraine pain is caused by vasodilation in the cranial blood vessels (expansion of the blood vessels), while headache pain is caused by vasoconstriction (narrowing of the blood vessels). During a migraine, inflammation of the tissue surrounding the brain, i.e., neurogenic inflammation, exacerbates the pain. Therefore, medicine often prescribed to treat a headache, such as beta-blockers, dilate the blood vessels and therefore can make a Migraine worse.
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neuf08 said:
I haven't used homeopathic meds for headaches <snip>
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A new user, on their 1st (and thus far only post) tracks down a thread from 6 FEB 06...and the "meaningful" contribution is the suggestion folks try a product bought from a website?

I'm thinking this is nothing more then a ad for the website & product mentioned in neuf08's post.
 
Locknar said:
A new user, on their 1st (and thus far only post) tracks down a thread from 6 FEB 06...and the "meaningful" contribution is the suggestion folks try a product bought from a website?

I'm thinking this is nothing more then a ad for the website & product mentioned in neuf08's post.
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neuf08 also doesn't seem to know the difference between homoeopathy and herbal medicine, by the way.
 
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