Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This is a long review but I want to get this out there in case there are others like me with a similar history looking for relief. My symptoms began just over 10 years ago. I developed an ongoing cough and runny nose--as many do--and was diagnosed as having allergies and prescribed the usual daily dose of antihistamines. Allegra, Claritin, etc. seemed to work for a while and then the allergies would intensify again and I'd switch to the next latest, greatest antihistamine. About five years into this process, I noticed that on my most congested days I was extremely irritable in the mornings. Only a strong cup of coffee and some ibuprofen seemed to alleviate the irritability. The grumpiness started to combine with sore neck/shoulder muscles, painful bumps in the back of the head, and intense headaches. I saw several doctors and the only treatment suggested was checking for a sinus infection, doing an allergy test and then beginning long-term allergy shots. The x-ray for the sinuses revealed nothing and the allergy tests gave the usual suspects of "pollen, pet dander and dust mites". The prospect of paying $20/visit multiple times a week to receive shots for multiple years was unattractive to me so I sought out alternate forms of relief such as acupuncture, massage and Traditional Chinese Medicine. In addition to changing up my diet and beginning a 5 day/week exercise program, I also made drastic changes to my house to minimize exposure to these elements. Yet nothing seemed to alleviate the allergies and the related headaches continued to get worse with each passing season. I started taking Sudafed OTC along with my antihistamines and noticed that the congestion went away. For over a year, I took Sudafed OTC with a combined antihistamine on an almost daily basis. It felt like I was becoming hooked on it and if I didn't have it in the morning my headaches, intense coughing, runny nose, and swelling in the back of the head would stay for the day. Let's not to forget to mention how ridiculous it is to buy Sudafed OTC nowadays due to the new laws passed to make meth production harder. It felt like the number of headaches I was getting was increasing even though the Sudafed seemed to help on a tactical basis. There would still be days where the pain in the back of my head was so terrible that the only relief I could get was to ask someone to push very strongly on the affected spots to help relieve the tension. I always assumed this pain was some sort of sinus headache related to my allergies since the two problems went hand-in-hand. I had only experienced what I thought of as a "true migraine" once before when I had done some intense exercise without eating enough beforehand. In that case, I saw wriggly lines in my field of vision and had trouble seeing before the headache began. About 30 minutes later, I got one of the most intense headaches of my life and once again it took a dose of caffeine and ibuprofen along with a meal to get that back under control. I guess I had always assumed that migraines involve some sort of vision distortion, followed by nausea and then having to go sleep it off somewhere. But, as I began researching the different types of headaches in order to find some better relief, I discovered that there are actually two types of migraines: common migraines and classic migraines. Maybe these headaches I had been getting were actually common migraines after all. I watched for patterns and found that my headaches intensified right before my period, after drinking certain alcohol, eating certain foods and also during the rainy seasons when the weather changed suddenly. I thought of visiting my doctor again armed with this information but from what I read the medications used for treating migraines did not appeal to me at all: anti-seizure meds, anti-depressants, beta blockers, etc. So after reading about butterbur and feverfew I decided to order this product from Amazon first and give it a try. I have been taking one 75 mg pill in the mornings and one 75 mg pill in the afternoons for almost two weeks now. The amazing thing is that the morning dose gives me almost instant relief. My allergy symptoms dissipate and I can feel any swelling/tension in the back of my head/neck subside within about 20 minutes of taking the first pill. About six hours later, I start to feel the allergy symptoms return and that's when I take the second dose of medicine. Since starting the butterbur, I no longer need any antihistamines or decongestants to keep my allergies in check. I also read that the Sudafed OTC was probably causing me rebound headaches so I feel lucky to have finally broken this headache/migraine cycle. I did still get head swelling and some headache symptoms starting right before my period began but so far I've been able to manage that by continuing to take the butterbur and also making sure I eat, sleep and exercise according to a very strict schedule at that time. I think I'll probably still have to take ibuprofen around that time of the month but at least the number of headaches I'm getting has subsided and my allergy symptoms are now under control. I've also started taking the GNC Ultra Mega Women's vitamin this week to see if I get any further improvements by adding in a daily vitamin supplement that contains doses of Riboflavin, Pantothenic Acid and Magnesium. Will check back in later and advise whether adding in the supplement made any difference or if my pattern changes at all over the next few months. Update 29-Sep-2013: It's been two months since I started taking butterbur extract so I thought I'd check back in with an update. My migraines are still for the most part gone, other than some mild migraines when I am PMSing which I'm able to manage with ibuprofen. The multivitamin didn't seem to make much of a difference so I'm toying with my magnesium levels next as the multivitamin didn't have a strong dose of magnesium. Will be taking butterbur, the multivitamin (which contains 100mg of magnesium oxide and excellent doses of riboflavin and pantothenic acid) and 400mg of magnesium citrate daily for the next few cycles to see if I can get rid of the menstrual migraines. But even if they don't go away, I can safely say that butterbur has all but eliminated my non-menstrual migraines and reduced the severity of the menstrual migraines. I talked with a friend who was experiencing similar symptoms (minus the menstrual migraines since he is a guy!). I gave him a few days worth of butterbur extract and he got immediate relief and even purchased his own bottle. As for the allergies, I just got back from a trip to Asia where my allergies were non-existent. I don't know if it is the changing weather at home or the adjustment from travel but, upon returning, my allergy symptoms have picked up a bit although not nearly as severe as they were in the past. Update 12-May-2016: Thought I would check in again and let everybody know the latest status. I continued taking butterbur extract for over a year. I was unsure of the safety beyond that so for another six months I reduced my dosage to only times when headache symptoms began forming. When my husband and I started trying to get pregnant I opted to completely eliminate butterbur extract. While I will always remain grateful to this butterbur extract for helping me to break my migraine/headache cycles, I have learned how to keep my headaches under control without it. I eliminated as many headache triggers as possible, including alcohol and caffeine. But the biggest improvements I saw came from: 1) Improving my posture while sleeping, driving and sitting. The worst posture issue was looking down at my smartphone while seated or laying in bed. I now try to keep my phone at eye level as much as possible, which usually means laying on my side in bed or putting a bunch of pillows underneath it to elevate. 2) Performing self-massage on key muscles in the neck. If you suffer from frequent headaches, I encourage you to google "sternocleidomastoid trigger points" and "suboccipital trigger points." Also, watch some videos on Youtube that show you how to stretch and exercise these same muscles. The self-massage often brings immediate relief. I encourage you try butterbur if you are like me and need some training wheels but I also hope you try these long-term changes to get your headaches under control.