Have you had success with any natural remedies for hormone headaches?

Caffeine.
Chewing Ice.
Eating chocolate.
Eating an apple.
Aromatherapy.
Drinking lots of water or Gatorade.
Mild exercise or a short walk is also known to alleviate headaches.
Maybe one or more of these will help you.

Are any of those particularly effective for hormone headaches? It’s my understanding that certain remedies work for certain headaches. Also, have you tried these and found them successful for hormone headaches?

Sometimes when I’m on my period I wake up with a really bad headache. I usually take a morning walk, about a mile or two..So whenever I do have a headache, I’ll walk for a couple of blocks…by the time I get home its pretty much gone, if not I take a small nap right after, and that usually does the trick. Chewing ice also helps me when I don’t have time for a walk. I think it can be somewhat stress related, so the fresh air and warm sun helps me relax.

Actually aspirin is a synthetic form of a material contained in white willow bark. Native Americans were well aware of its analgesic and antipyretic properties. Hippocrates left notes on a preparation from bark as far back as 377 BCE. So you might call that a holistic remedy of sorts. But certainly caffeine, which is in coffee, tea and chocolate among other things, is a great help for headaches. Excedrin Extra Strength is an analgesic targeted specifically at headaches. It combines equal parts of aspirin and acetaminophen (Tylenol™) with about the amount of caffeine you would get from a cup of coffee. Works like a charm, but the acetaminophen is definitely not a natural ingredient.

@xjustxxclaudiax Thanks!

@ETpro That’s really interesting. I should see if I can find some caffinated willow bark tea.

Some other plants also contain the compound in willow bark that relieves pain. My favorite is wintergreen, which can be found in just about any mixed forest. Most of the time, the natural preparations also contain compounds that help protect your stomach from the acidic nature of the analgesic compound.

@incendiary_dan “mixed forest”? What kind of natural preparations are you talking about (things I would have to do, or things already done)?

@bobbinhood Mixed forests are those with both coniferous and deciduous trees. The main preparation I was thinking of is an infusion, i.e. an herbal “tea”. Just get a handful of leaves in your cup and pour hot (not boiling) water over them, and let steep for ten minutes or so. I suggest gently bruising the leaves first, since wintergreen tends to be pretty stiff compared to other leaves.

@incendiary_dan Thank you! Now I get to go learn what wintergreen looks like and see if it grows around here. This is exciting!

Note: normally I wouldn’t send someone off saying “find this plant, it’s good for you” without physically showing them to someone, but wintergreen has no look-similars that are in any way toxic, or even unpleasant.

That’s good to know. I was a little concerned about it.