Natural remedies may help, without the common side effects seen with our usual preventives. Petadolex is an improved form of the herb butterbur, where the molecule that we worry about in butterbur is limited. Petadolex is effective, and held up well in randomized controlled trials. It was popular in a number of countries – for instance, in Germany where Petadolex was the number one preventive. I find it is more effective than feverfew, etc. In my years of experience with Petadolex, very few side effects have been reported. Occasionally, there is an upset stomach, or a bad taste in the mouth. There is still a concern with carcinogenic properties, particularly with the parent compound of butterbur. We stop the Petadolex periodically for 1-2 months. Most people in the USA order Petadolex directly from the company (1-888-301-1084, Petadolex.com), or from Amazon. We also use magnesium oxide or citrate, 400-600 mg daily. I believe that Petadolex and magnesium are the most consistently helpful of the natural supplements. Feverfew lags behind as far as efficacy, but it is fairly safe. I have not found vitamin B-2 (200-400 mg daily) to be very helpful in the long term, but occasionally it has been effective.
Advanced Headache Therapy 2015
Lawrence Robbins M.D.