Migraines and Candida

In order to understand how intestinal flora can cause a migraine, you have to first understand a little of the mechanics of migraines. A migraine starts with a clumping of platelets, and a release of serotonin from the platelets. This raises the free serotonin in the plasma. This free serotonin causes the constriction of blood vessels. During a migraine, there is also a release of a polyunsaturated omega-6 fatty acid called linoleic acid. This essential fatty acid in its free form will increase the loss of serotonin from platelets and thus increase the blood vessel constriction. This initial phase is followed by the painful rebound phase where the release of serotonin diminishes, and the blood vessels expand. This expansion is believed to be the source of the pain.
   
Those of us with poor intestinal flora are particularly vulnerable to migraines. Often we have food allergies, hypoglycemia, low magnesium, low taurine, low sulfates and low coenzyme B6. Sometimes our bowel flora creates substances that either dilate or constrict blood vessels, depending on what we have eaten. Going into a bit more detail, our intestinal flora affect our susceptibility to migraines because:

1.    Allergies cause platelets to clump together. This releases serotonin and can initiate a migraine. Many people have found relief from migraines by eliminating food allergies.

2.    Low taurine makes one more susceptible. Taurine helps keep platelets from clumping together. At 400 mg per day, taurine reduced platelet aggregation by 30%, and at 1600 mg per day, taurine reduced platelet aggregation by 70%. Unfortunately, the body dumps taurine when there is intestinal yeast/candida overgrowth. (If you have yeast overgrowth, be careful with taurine supplementation. It may increase yeast growth. Small amounts under the tongue might be tolerated better. Taurine should be taken at mealtime because taurine increases stomach acid secretion.)

3.    Hypoglycemia makes one more susceptible to migraines. (That is one reason why migraines are more common in the morning. The blood sugar is low after the night’s fast.) When blood sugar drops, the body releases free fatty acids into the blood. If these free fatty acids are mainly unsaturated, then it will cause a migraine. This happens because unsaturated free fatty acids cause a serotonin release. Unfortunately, those of us with Candida overgrowth often have a problem with hypoglycemia. At least we can diminish the probability that hypoglycemia will start a migraine by changing the fats in our diet. It may be helpful to avoid excessive use of unsaturated oils like corn, safflower, soy, cottonseed, peanut, canola and flax oils. Fish oil is unsaturated and excessive consumption of this would be a problem for the same reason. However, a small amount of fish oil in the diet will help prevent migraines because fish oil helps keep platelets from clumping together.

4.    Stress will also release oils into our blood stream in their free fatty acid form. Perhaps we can’t avoid stress in our life, but we can keep it from initiating a migraine by changing the type of fatty acids that are released into the blood. Avoiding polyunsaturated oils and substituting olive or coconut oil may help.

5.    More magnesium is often helpful in the treatment of migraines. Magnesium inhibits platelet aggregation and stabilizes platelets and mast cells. This keeps them from dumping their serotonin and initiating a migraine. People with Candida overgrowth are more likely to be low on magnesium. Magnesium is not absorbed well when the intestines are irritated. Also, people with Candidiasis are often low in thyroid. Low thyroid will cause the loss of magnesium. (Additional salt in the diet may be helpful because it helps to prevent urinary magnesium loss.)

6.    Intestinal bacteria can create substances that can initiate a migraine. For example, Clostridia is a generally harmful bacteria that is more likely to take over the bowel environment after administration of antibiotics. When Clostridia is grown in a medium containing casein (a milk protein), then the Clostridia produces the vasoactive amines of histamine, tyramine, agmatine, serotonine, putrescine and cadaverine. Since vasoactive amines expand or constrict blood vessels, these could initiate a migraine.

7.    One means by which the liver removes these vasoactive amines is by attaching a sulfate molecule to them. Many people with migraines have a weak sulfation pathway in their liver and thus have a more difficult time removing these vasoactive amines. Candidiasis enters into the picture by weakening this sulfation pathway. Sulfates are lost when the intestines are inflamed. If sulfates are low, the liver’s sulfation pathway is impaired.

Hence, there are many things that suggest our intestinal flora is a major factor in migraines.