Migraine and Its Rare Homoeopathic Therapeutics

ABSTRACT: Migraine includes severe head pain with irritability, nausea, vomiting and behavioral changes which may from hours to days. Avoidance of triggering and exacerbating factors may prevent the attacks. In modern medicine treatment of an acute attack is by simple analgesics but when it became a chronic one it is difficult to treat by conventional medicines.

KEYWORDS: Migraine, Hemi cranial headache, Homoeopathy

INTRODUCTION: WHO (World Health Organization) has characterized migraine as the primary headache which is the third most common disease in the world after dental caries and tension type headaches. Migraine begins in adolescence and generally affects persons aged 35 and 45 years. It is more commonly observed in women than men by 2:1. ⁽¹⁾

Migraines are recurrent with moderate or severe intensity. Usually it is one-sided, pulsating in quality with different aggravating factors but usually aggravated by routine physical activity, with duration of hours to 2-3 days. Nausea is the most often associated feature. Headache varies from one person to another and as the person’s pain varies its indicated medicine in homoeopathy also varies. There are some medicines in homoeopathy which are rarely used in cases of migraine.⁽²⁾

Table 1: Showing homoeopathic medicines with respect to Location, Sensation, Modalities and Associated complaints ^{(3), (4), (5)}

NAME OF MEDICINE	LOCATION	SENSATION	MODALITY	ASSOCIATED COMPLAINTS
ANHALONIUM	Frontal headache with occipital headache	Persistent headache and tired feeling in occipital region	Bad effects from intoxication   < on closing eyes, movement > Lying down	disturbed vision (visual zigzag vision)
ASPARAGUS	Forehead headache and root of nose.	Morning migraine headache with scotoma and aching pain in temples and heaviness in forehead	< pressure	Vertigo in forehead, head confused, dizziness in forehead
AVENA	Occipital and top of the head	Nervous headache which aching deep in brain and with burning at the top of the head	< menses during, mental exertion	with Phosphatic urine (concomitant)
CALCAREA ACETICA	One sided especially right side	Senses obscure while reading, migraine with great coldness in head	< reading while, open air	Sour taste in mouth
CHIONANTHUS	Frontal headache, over root of nose, over eyes, through temples	Dull frontal headache feels sore and bruised. Forehead very hot and dry	< stooping, motion, jarring	Perspiration on forehead and bilious vomiting
CROTALUS CASCAVELLA	Bones of head	Frequent sharp pain, lancinating pain in bones	< after sleep, cold washing, night	Hallucination (thoughts and dreams of death)   are marked and peculiar, a magnetic state is induced
EPIPHEGUS VIRGINIANA	Temples especially on left side	Weekly sick headache, pressing pain in temples from without inwards, headache from nerve tire	< preceded by hunger, mental and physical exhaustion,	Viscid salivation with constant inclination to spit
GUARANA	All over the head	Throbbing, congestive headache	< excessive use of liquor, grief,	Nervous exhaustion followed by vomiting and twitching of eyelids
INDIGO	Forehead	Sensation of band around forehead, undulating sensation through whole head and frozen sensation all over the head	< night, rest, sitting > pressure, motion, walking	Vertigo with nausea
MENISPERMUM CANADENSE	Forehead and temples, moving to occiput	Pressure from within outward and pain down back	< stretching and yawning	Restlessness with dreams of innumerable rats which creep under clothes.
NICCOLUM MET.	All over the head especially on left side and on vertex	Periodical headache, every two weeks. Pain on top as from a nail driven	< morning, noon, warm room	Headache all day in forenoon with vomiting of bile
ONOSMODIUM	Occipital headache chiefly left sided	Dull, heavy, dizzy pressing upward in occiput, feeling as if screwed pain up and down from occiput to shoulder	< morning on waking, on exertion	Eyestrain and sexual weakness
SCUTELLERIA	Frontal headache covering the base of brain	Explosive headache of teachers with frequent urination, nervous sick headache	< noise, odor, light > night, rest	Fear of some calamity, with lack of attention on one‘s work
THEA	All over the head	Rush of blood, radiating from one point with cold damp feeling at back of head, marked   tenderness can scarcely comb hair	< damp coldness > application of hand or warm cloth	Sleeplessness with restlessness and hallucination of hearing.

Mental symptoms associated with Common Migraine in above mentioned medicines are as follows ^3,6

1. Anhalonium- Patient loses conception of time with difficulty in enunciation. There is distrust and resentment present. Patient also presents with lazy contentment.
2. Asparagus- Patient exhibits constant anxiety and apprehension. Calmness of the mind with peevish and fretful condition.
3. Avena- Along with pain in head there is inability to keep mind on any one subject.
4. Calcarea acetica– Patient has anxieties with marked mental confusion.
5. Chionanthus- There is listlessness and apathetic condition is present. He feels worn out with no desire to do anything. Patient is hypochondriac.
6. Crotalus cascavella- Patient answers monosyllabic “no” to all questions with restlessness which gets worse on drinking. There is fear of night and fear, of being alone and fears that someone is behind him. He moans during sleep.
7. Epiphegus virginiana- Patient has marked confusion and makes wrong letters or words in writing. He fears death from heart palpitation and injury to  health from drugs.
8. Guarana- Intellectual excitement with mental hyperesthesia is present. Patient has extravagant behavior with grief and depression of spirits.
9. Indigo– Patient has sensation as if brain were frozen. There is gloominess and cries at night.
10. Menispermum canadense- Laziness and absent minded patient. He is low spirited but attends business rapidly. Patient is usually quick tempered.
11. Niccolum met.- There is dullness of mind and patient does not comprehend the conversation and is unable to relate in conversation. He gets angry on least contradiction with low spiritedness. There is marked irritability during headache .
12. Onosmodium- There is diminution of sexual desire in both sexes. There is sexual neurasthenia. Patient is depressed or as lost sexual life in women and acts as if born tired.
13. Scutelleria– There is fear of some calamity. Patient feels inability to fix attention with market confusion.
14. Thea- Patient has hallucinations of hearing with temporary mental exaltation. He is ill-humored

CONCLUSION: In homoeopathy, medicines are prescribed on the basis of totality of the patient but medicines such as Calcarea  acetica,  Avena,  Asparagus,  Anhalonium, Chionanthus, Crotalus Cascavella, Epiphegus, Virginiana, guarana, Indigo, Menispermum canadense, Niccolum met., Onosmodium and Scutelleria, can also be prescribed on the basis of therapeutics and character of migraine and better results may be found. These medicines are listed as rare medicines because they are not often used in day to day clinical practices. Still, they have proven useful in cases of migraine.

REFERENCES:

1. World Health Organization. Headache disorders. April 2016. [cited on 2020 Feb 13].Available at:https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/headache-disorders.
2. Turner DP, Smitherman TA, Black AK, et al. Are migraine and tension-type headache diagnostic types or points on a severity continuum, An exploration of the latent taxometric structure of headache. Pain. 2015;156(7):1200–1207. doi:10.1097/j.pain.0000000000000157
3. Boericke  W,  Boericke  O.  Pocket  manual  of  homoeopathic  materia  medica.  New Delhi:  B.  Jain  Publishers  (P)  Ltd.;  2012.
4. Hughes  R,  Allen  T.  The  encyclopedia  of  pure  materia  medica.  New  Delhi:  B.  Jain Publishers  (P)  Ltd.;  2011.
5. Clarke  J.  Dictionary  of  practical  materia  medica.  Delhi:  B.  Jain  Publishers  (P) Ltd.; 1995.
6. Murphy R. Lotus Materia Medica , 3rd edition ed. New Delhi: B. Jain Publisher (P) Ltd; 2006.

Dr Ankita Upadhyay & Dr Shipra Singh MD (Hom.) Part-II  Dept of Repertory Dr. M.P.K.H.M.C.H & R.C., Constituent College of Homoeopathy University, Saipura, Sanganer, Jaipur 

Dr Navita Sharma & Dr Priya Bhardwaj – MD (Hom.) Part-I  Dept of Repertory Dr. M.P.K.H.M.C.H & R.C., Constituent College of Homoeopathy University, Saipura, Sanganer, Jaipur